Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3001 The Cleanest Business Decision

If someone else had said this, Lee Zairong might still be hesitant.

But the person sitting opposite him was Zhou Buqi.

This gives you a lot of say.

Especially the cooperation between the two parties and their joint participation in the fight against Qualcomm made Lee Zairong feel more empathetic and realize more deeply the huge influence of Boss Zhou in the industry.

  Originally, China and Europe had no intention of taking action against Qualcomm, and Apple had no intention of turning against Qualcomm. However, under the operation of Boss Zhou, various forces took action one after another, all targeting Qualcomm!

It can be said that the reason why Qualcomm is in such a desperate situation and facing such a big predicament now is largely due to this boss Zhou.

If this is the case with Qualcomm, what about Samsung?

Li Zairong couldn't help but worry.

Boss Zhou's business methods can be described as unpredictable. They are not all under the sun, but also involve many conspiracies and tricks. This time he can cooperate with Samsung to attack Qualcomm. Next time he can cooperate with Apple to put pressure on Samsung.

Does Samsung really have the strength of Qualcomm?

Lee Jae-yong doesn't think so.

This is not about the market value of the company, but there is a fundamental difference between the two companies. Samsung is a Korean company, and Qualcomm is an American company. Once international vicious competition occurs, it will easily turn into a political confrontation between the two countries.

In fact, it is true.

In taking action against Qualcomm, Zhou Buqi can be said to have been busy running around, gathering the forces of all parties, especially luring Apple out of the domestic US market and getting Apple to join in the attack on Qualcomm.

But when it comes to dealing with Samsung, it actually doesn't require that much trouble.

In the past, after Samsung mastered the patent for diamond arrangement, it could be said that it was "unique" in the OLED screen industry.

LG also wants to produce OLED display panels with diamond arrangement, but Samsung simply refuses to grant patent authorization.

LG can't do anything to Samsung.

At this time, it was Apple that stood up.

Apple cannot allow Samsung to be the only supplier of panels. They must find a replacement besides Samsung to prevent their own strategic crisis. Apple intervened and required Samsung to license the diamond arrangement patent to LG, another major supplier of Apple!

In the end, Lee Zairong had no choice but to back down and license the diamond arrangement patent to his biggest competitor LG, allowing LG to produce top-level OLED displays and meet Apple's purchasing needs.

There is no need to unite all forces and concentrate their strength to deal with the problem like they did with Qualcomm.

All Apple needs to do is step in and it will be enough to defeat Samsung and make it surrender.

In comparison, the situation in China is not so good.

Although domestic mobile phone manufacturers are fighting each other at the new phone launch conferences, as if their mobile phones can crush the iPhone, it is just a marketing trick. When it comes to a real head-on confrontation, they can't even reach the edge of Apple, and Samsung doesn't care at all. Its international influence is not enough to deter South Korea. It is impossible to push Samsung to license the diamond arrangement to BOE.

This life is different.

A big man emerged who was capable of rivaling the entire Apple company with his own strength—Zhou Buqi!

It is obvious that Li Zairong could not withstand the pressure from his boss Zhou.

Zhou Buqi went on to say: "Everyone knows that monopoly is the most profitable, but monopoly also brings risks. Now even Qualcomm is in dire straits. What will happen if Samsung really monopolizes the OLED display market? If OLED screens really replace LCD screens and become the dominant force in the industry, this will be an inevitable link for smartphones. I believe that all parties will not allow Samsung to take over the entire market."

Li Zairong took a deep breath and asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Monopolizing a small market is far less effective than controlling a large market. What do you think?"

Lee Zairong laughed and said, "This is the idea of ​​the Internet. Which model is better... is still up for debate."

Monopolizing a small market will make less money, but it is stable and you can continue to make money.

Controlling a large market means making more money, but the risk is extremely high and you may be surpassed if you are not careful.

The current Internet giants all adopt the second option. No matter what kind of business they do, they first actively expand the market and build up the market scale. Even if they only occupy a part of the market and have a dominant position, it is enough to support a market value of hundreds of billions of dollars. Zhou Buqi said: "There is nothing to argue about. The old business theories should have been broken long ago. Now is the era of the Internet. Look at Tesla. Didn't they open source most of their patents some time ago? After opening up, more people can participate in making electric cars, and they can build up the electric car market together. Tesla does not need to monopolize the market, it only needs to have a leading position in the electric car market... It is no exaggeration to say that a market value of 1 trillion US dollars is not an obstacle!"

"Uh……"

Li Zairong twitched the corner of his mouth.

Boss Zhou is really arrogant this week!

The current market value of Samsung Electronics is only US$2000 billion.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "With Samsung's strength in the display panel field, are you still afraid of being surpassed by competitors? Besides, the patent for diamond arrangement is not for you to open source, but to prevent you from monopolizing it and to share it appropriately."

Zhou Shaoning added: "Yes, appropriate sharing is fine. If a competitor really gains momentum and shows signs of surpassing Samsung, you can also use your control over the diamond arrangement patent to appropriately shrink or significantly increase the patent fee to restrict it."

Li Zairong hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "I didn't mean to monopolize it. Since President Zhou is also optimistic about the future of OLED displays and diamond arrays, we can definitely cooperate."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "That's the best!"

Li Zairong asked tentatively: "How about we both invest together and buy the American optical company?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Sure, half for each family!"

Li Zairong wanted to take more, and frowned slightly, "This control..."

Fu Sheng smiled and said, "The investor is not Astar. I will set up a patent company in the United States and I will be the CEO of this company. This company has nothing to do with Astar or Apple. It is just a personal company engaged in patent business. It will only make decisions that are in its own interests and has nothing to do with any other third-party company."

Li Zairong's eyes lit up, "That's good!"

Fu Sheng said: "After completing the acquisition of the optical company, Samsung can be responsible for the strategic and business arrangements. It only needs to maximize the interests of my company, maximizing the interests without risk."

In this way, all hidden dangers are solved.

In order to maximize Fu Sheng's risk-free interests, two conditions need to be met: first, there must be no monopoly, as monopoly involves risks; second, the patents for diamond arrangement must be licensed to as many people as possible to earn more patent fees.

In this way, Samsung's monopoly on the diamond arrangement patent can be broken, and the patent can be licensed to more companies producing display panels, such as China's BOE.

Samsung has not lost its control and dominance over the industry.

This kills two birds with one stone.

Fu Sheng's patent company made enough money, BOE will be able to produce diamond-arranged OLED panels in the future, and Samsung will also maintain its industry dominance to the maximum extent.

Zhou Buqi said, "If both parties hold 50% of the shares, this equity structure is not very suitable. It just so happens that the team of the optical company does not want to sell the company as a whole, and also wants to retain some equity... I think it is better to leave it this way, and let them retain 10% of the shares, and we each hold 45%."

Lee Jae-yong was delighted, "I think it's OK!"

Zhou Buqi waved his hand, "That's settled! Take action! There's no need for vicious bidding. Raising the price against each other will only harm everyone's interests. Win-win cooperation is the business philosophy I have advocated most over the years."

Each holds 45% and no one has absolute say.

Whoever wants to take the lead needs to win the consent of the 10% of small shareholders.

this point is very important.

Zhou Buqi had no intention of leading this optical company at all.

Once he takes the lead, the domestic authorities will come to him and ask him to use his dominance to participate in some non-commercial competition, which will be too troublesome. As long as Samsung and the small shareholders of US stocks disagree, he will not do something that does not conform to business logic.

At the same time, Samsung cannot be allowed to completely dominate.

Samsung should not be allowed to sacrifice the interests of the company for its own strategic purposes. With the presence of small American shareholders, they can maximize their own interests instead of being led by Samsung, the major shareholder.

A certain balance is formed among the various forces.

Everything is following the business logic of the market. Making money for the sake of making money often leads to the cleanest business decisions.