Top of the Great Era

Chapter 2938 Display Screen

After the meeting, everyone was in a happy mood, without any of the seriousness and tension that had been there, as if everyone here was concerned about the country and the people and worried about the future of Europe.

The reality is ironic.

When I was in the meeting, I was still worried that there were fewer and fewer intellectual property rights in Europe. What should I do?

The intellectual property rights of China, the United States, South Korea and Japan account for an increasing share in Europe and their influence is growing. What can we do?

  Doesn't this mean that the four major powers will divide Europe?

After the meeting, they came to see Zhou Buqi, and the first thing they asked was what technical patents Estar needed, and they would help as much as possible.

What I said in the meeting just now sounded like a fart.

Zhou Shaoning listed more than 120 items in one breath, of which France had the most, with more than 70 items, and Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands also had some.

The total cost is expected to exceed $10 billion.

One billion dollars may seem like a lot, but in a patent lawsuit, it is nothing.

Recently, a US court ruled on a case, saying that Samsung had allegedly infringed Apple's patents on smartphone controls and demanded compensation of US$10.25 billion.

If Zhou Buqi had not already made a comprehensive plan and reached cooperation with Apple in many fields, especially by using the right to use the "iPad" trademark, which blocked Apple's way to sue Asda in one fell swoop, Asda would probably have suffered the same fate as Samsung.

An EU Commissioner named Campinos said with a smile: "I know a law firm that has been engaged in patent transactions for more than 20 years and has rich operational experience. If you hand this case over to them, I believe they will be able to get a result that will satisfy you."

"Okay, that's certainly the best choice!"

Zhou Buqi agreed without hesitation.

Campinos is still very young and has great development opportunities within the EU. Many people believe that he will be the next director of the European Patent Office.

It's really extraordinary.

A consensus was reached quickly.

Zhou Shaoning naturally knew what was going on. After the meeting, he left and said with a smile, "That law firm must be related to him."

"Well, this is probably where he worked before, or where he will go after he retires." Zhou Buqi didn't find it strange at all. "Anyway, it's fine as long as this thing is done."

Zhou Shaoning said: "They can earn at least several million euros from one case."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "If you were to do it, you might not be able to get it done even if you spend money! Letting the legal department of Astar come forward may not necessarily cost less than a third-party law firm, and the success rate will be greatly reduced."

Zhou Shaoning nodded, "Of course, as far as I know, Samsung also hired a third-party law firm."

"Huh?" Zhou Buqi was slightly startled. "Samsung is also buying patents in Europe?"

Samsung and Estar are nothing alike.

Samsung has been developing in Europe for more than ten years, and applies for thousands of patents here every year. After so many years of accumulation, Samsung has tens of thousands of patents in the EU. Do they still need to spend a lot of money to buy patents in the market?

With such strong accumulation, the company has already formed a very powerful patent portfolio.

In the United States, it was Apple that sued Samsung, and Apple has the upper hand. In Europe, it was Samsung that was staring at Apple and biting it, wishing it could peel off a layer of the skin from Apple.

Because Samsung's demands were too excessive, the EU even stepped in to mediate and talked to Samsung, saying that Samsung should just do enough and that the demands it made were too excessive and suspected of patent abuse. It was necessary to lower its demands, otherwise it would be suspected of monopoly.

If Samsung's request is agreed and Apple is fined too severely, the EU will also be under great pressure.

In the current mobile phone industry, there are only three giants: Apple, Samsung, and Asda, each with three major bases.

Apple is native to the United States, and Asda is the domestic market.

Samsung’s core market is not South Korea. The South Korean market is too small and can be ignored for Samsung mobile phones. Samsung’s real core market is Europe.

The reason why these three parties can "coexist peacefully" is because they have great influence in their respective bases.

Although Astar's strength is very weak, its domestic market consumption power is far less than that of the United States and the European Union.

  Humph, but I’m not afraid!

Because China has the lifeline of smartphones - the global smartphone manufacturing industry has basically moved to China.

This is also the main reason why Zhou Buqi spared no effort to lead the development of the domestic mobile phone industry and Aisda wanted to become the industry leader. Apple and Samsung's mobile phones must be manufactured in China, which is like being strangled by someone. Who dares to act rashly?

Not only that. With the improvement of the domestic supply chain system and the advancement of domestic technology, the domestic mobile phone supply chain industry has also developed by leaps and bounds. Major mobile phones have gradually begun to use "domestic" parts to replace those expensive foreign parts.

Even for high-end phones, except for chips and screens which must be imported from abroad, everything else can be replaced with domestic products.

That means costs.

Apple's current net profit can reach 40%. If there is no domestic mobile phone manufacturing industry, they can't even reach 20%. In dealing with the matter of Asda, they have to be extremely cautious. Coupled with Zhou Buqi's operation, Apple and Asda are now in a stage of friendly confrontation, and there is no patent lawsuit between the two sides.

In short, the market integration of the three giants, Apple, Samsung and Asda, mainly lies in balance.

Want to develop in the United States?

Samsung and Asda should be more polite to Apple in the European and Chinese markets respectively, and not go too far.

Want to develop in Europe?

Apple and Asda should be more polite to Samsung and not go too far.

Want to develop in China?

Then Apple and Samsung cannot wipe out Asda over patent disputes. Asda's patent power in the domestic market can be said to have no upper limit. If you are accused of infringing, you are infringing.

HTC did not have such good treatment in its previous life. It is a mobile phone manufacturer from Taiwan.

It is easy for Apple and Samsung to strangle it in a patent war, leaving it with no room for resistance.

Over the past few years, Samsung has always been the company that has applied for the largest number of patents in the EU and has built a strong foundation in the field of intellectual property.

Zhou Shaoning said: "Samsung wants to buy patents, but they are not buying patents related to mobile phones. They really don't need this aspect, they are already strong enough. Their recent patent purchases in Europe are mainly for OLED screens."

“OLED screen?”

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

Zhou Shaoning said: "Well, it used to be LCD screens. Since last year, a new trend has emerged, which is OLED screens. Although the cost has increased, the effect is better than the previous LCD screens. Now, the two major display manufacturers, Samsung and LG, are actively developing this field. They are all betting that OLED screens are likely to become the representative of the next generation of display screens."

"Uh……"

For Zhou Buqi, he didn't need to judge at all.

He is very familiar with this.

  OLED screen, this is the direction of future displays!

If a mobile phone does not use an OLED screen, it must be a low-end phone.

Zhou Shaoning said: "There is a company called Cynora in Germany, which is a startup company that specializes in OLED screen-related research and development. It is a leader in this field. Samsung wanted to take the initiative and acquire this company. The acquisition of this company is fake. In fact, the more important significance is to acquire the intellectual property rights and technologies related to OLED screens in the hands of this company, and then restrict its competitor LG."

Since Zhou Buqi had seen it, he certainly didn't want to miss it, so he asked, "Do we have a chance?"

"what?"

Zhou Shaoning was slightly startled.

Zhou Buqi said: "I know about OLED screens. Didn't Sony launch a super TV with an OLED screen this year? The 95-inch one... My family bought one and spent more than 1 US dollars. I watched it several times and it's really worth the money. The effect is great!"

Zhou Shaoning opened his eyes wide and understood what he meant, "Do you think OLED screens are a good direction?"

"Well! Very good!" Zhou Buqi said solemnly, "In the field of display screens, Samsung has only one rival, and that is LG. However, both of them are Korean companies. From the perspective of strategic risk management, this is not good for Estar. If Estar can take the lead and acquire the German company you mentioned, then in the field of display screens, we will at least have a certain say in the future!"

Zhou Shaoning hesitated, "OLED is a new technology, and its stability still needs to be verified by the market..."

This is indeed reality.

  Who dares to bet?

The display screen market used to be dominated by Japanese technology companies, but they bet on the wrong track and placed all their bets on plasma screens, and then lost everything.

Samsung and LG took their place and rose to prominence.

Even LG, another giant in the display industry, is very restrained when it comes to today’s OLED screens and doesn’t dare to place a bet!

Does Boss Zhou dare?