"Copying is... iCQ?" Huang He's words once again silenced the reception hall. Little Ma's mouth opened, wanting to retort, but he couldn't.
Because Little Ma himself knew that QQ was a copy of iCQ, and oo did look similar to iCQ. Therefore, Huang He personally admitting to copying iCQ was absolutely fine, and logically, he could even get a perfect score.
Moreover, this was akin to shoving a mouthful of excrement into Little Ma's mouth. Especially the part about "brother," if he called oo a copycat and QQ was his brother, didn't that mean brothers working together to copy?
oo, QQ, iCQ, would there be ii and CC emerging later to complete the set?
Little Ma felt a profound sense of powerlessness. That statement completely stripped him of any standing.
"Hahahaha!!" Sun Zhengyi suddenly burst into laughter, tears even streaming down his face.
"Interesting, truly interesting. Mr. Huang, my biggest gain today is meeting you and Mr. Ma!" Sun Zhengyi took out a handkerchief and covered his eyes. After a while, he stopped laughing and said, "Mr. Huang, Mr. Ma, Old Ma, please both sit down. Since we are all gathered here, do me a favor. Let's not be enemies for now, but four newly acquainted friends, how about it!"
"Yes, everyone please sit down. Although there are many unpleasantries in the business world, what if we were to be friends for today?" Old Ma also tried to smooth things over. Little Ma was seeking a favor and had nothing to say, so he obediently sat down. Boss Huang glanced at Sun Zhengyi and also sat down.
"Mr. Huang, you're not here today specifically to argue with our Little Ma, are you!" Sun Zhengyi said with a smile.
"No..." Huang He originally wanted to say that he was here to acquire Forty Thieves, and if he could also buy Tengda, that would be excellent. Unfortunately, Sun Zhengyi himself, without thinking, said, "That's right. Mr. Huang, you must be short of money somewhere, but it's not oo, is it? Then I'd really find it difficult to decide. How about I just invest in both QQ and 00? That way, we'd be one family, and then we could merge..."
"Hold on!" Huang He realized that if Sun Zhengyi continued, his oo might already be his. "oo is in a period of rapid development, and I'm not short of money. I don't intend for oo to seek financing!"
"I see..." Sun Zhengyi's expression instantly turned unhappy. But that was normal; his wishful thinking had come to naught.
"Then Mr. Huang wants financing for that phone in your secretary's hand!" Old Ma's eyes lit up, and he suddenly understood.
"Oh, but that phone that can take pictures!" Little Ma's observation was very keen. Cold Zhiruo had only taken out her phone and struck aćç § pose, yet Little Ma had already spotted the difference in the phone.
"So that's how it is, Mr. Huang, could I take a look at your phone?" Sun Zhengyi asked with some surprise.
"Alright!" Huang He originally wanted to refuse, but then he thought about it. In the mobile phone industry, it was easy to make counterfeit phones, but to become a branded phone recognized by the world with independent intellectual property rights, like Apple, was extremely difficult.
If Tianxing Mobile could get investment from Sun Zhengyi, it would also gain the support of Sun Zhengyi's vast commercial network behind him, which would undoubtedly be very important and powerful for the development of Tianxing Mobile.
If Sun Zhengyi could invest in Tianxing Mobile, that wouldn't be bad either; it would save a lot of detours.
So, Huang He changed his mind and thought it might be worth a try.
"Zhiruo, show Mr. Sun our product!" Huang He gave a look, and Cold Zhiruo presented the "Man Tian Xing" in her hand to Sun Zhengyi.
This Man Tian Xing was the second-generation product produced by Liu Nian, or rather, an engineering prototype. After more than a week of in-depth discussions with Huang He, Liu Nian handed over the company's operations to others and devoted himself to the research and development of the new generation of Tianxing mobile phones. Three months later, this purely hand-crafted Man Tian Xing engineering phone was born.
The biggest difference between this engineering phone and the previous Tianxing phone was that it was much thicker. This extra space was to accommodate an electronic digital camera.
After Huang He proposed that mobile phones plus digital cameras were the future of mobile phone development, Liu Nian managed to acquire a set of rB digital camera components and developed this Man Tian Xing phone.
If rB hadn't launched a mobile phone with a lens last year, this would have been the world's first camera phone.
However, even though the rB people had taken the lead, this Man Tian Xing was still the first camera phone in China, which was something Huang He was very proud of. He had claimed to be seeking investment for the mobile phone and had Cold Zhiruo show this phone, partly to show off his technology and capabilities.
He wanted to shock this investment god of the era before 2018, as the impact of camera phones was similar to the impact of the first iPhone.
Deep down, Huang He was extremely confident. He believed that as long as Sun Zhengyi saw this stunning work, investing in Tianxing would be a certainty. What he needed to consider was keeping his investment and Sun Zhengyi's investment below 30% to prevent Sun Zhengyi from gaining control of the company.
However, to Huang He's utter dismay, Sun Zhengyi played with the phone for less than a minute before tossing it back to Huang He and saying with a smile, "I'm very sorry, I believe SoftBank's current investment direction does not involve the mobile phone industry, and I don't see investment value in it. Therefore, we cannot cooperate on investment matters!"
"Huh!" Boss Huang was stunned. Were these words spoken by a human?
The world's number one electronics industry in the future, a device owned by everyone, a product that could change the entire 21st century, was being called a product without investment value? Were these words spoken by a human?
If the person in front of him were not Sun Zhengyi but an ordinary investor, Huang He would have considered him ignorant. But this was Sun Zhengyi! Could he really be so shortsighted?
Well, perhaps he was indeed shortsighted. After all, Sun Zhengyi's investment track record after 2018 was terrible. But that didn't detract from Sun Zhengyi's vision in the 2000s.
"Why? Why do you think mobile phones have no value?" Huang He couldn't help but ask.
"You've misunderstood. I'm not saying mobile phones have no investment value, but rather that in China, mobile phones have no investment value!" Sun Zhengyi said very naturally. "Firstly, no matter how well your mobile phones are made, they cannot form a brand effect internationally. Therefore, your mobile phones can only rely on a low-price strategy to sell in your own country! You only have the domestic market."
"But in your country, mobile phones are directly defined as luxury consumer goods. And considering your country's economic situation, even within the next twenty years, 80% of the population will not be able to afford luxury goods like mobile phones. Therefore, your company's market is not large. Furthermore, mobile phones require huge cash flow. Once the funds are interrupted, all my investment will go down the drain. Therefore, I do not consider mobile phones to be an excellent investment product, and there is a high probability that I will lose all my capital!" Sun Zhengyi said very frankly.