As the companies under the four major consortia announced their moves, the Jiangnan terminals, which had been absent from the US market for nearly two years, suddenly flooded into the US market like a tide.
Of course, this was not initiated by Jiangnan Group, as Jiangnan Group did not engage in large-scale personal terminal production. These terminals were introduced by the companies under the four major consortia themselves. They purchased them directly from the platform of the China International Electronic Industry Development Alliance.
Jiangnan Group could not refuse legitimate procurement of various parts, equipment, and technology. xxs壹贰
What was even more miraculous was that these companies had announced they would modify Jiangnan Group's products and technology themselves. This should have required at least half a year to a year of R&D. After all, the US had not yet launched a mature quintal product, so announcing modifications to Jiangnan Group's quintal products at this time seemed incredible.
However, they only took less than two weeks to announce a technological breakthrough, indicating that the modifications were complete. All imported quintal terminals now fully met US technical requirements and could be openly sold to all citizens.
Thus, the long-awaited 5-quintal terminals reappeared on the shelves. Although the modification and upgrade costs made these terminals generally about $500 more expensive than foreign products, it was still much more cost-effective than buying directly from Mexico.
Moreover, traveling abroad itself incurred significant costs. Those Americans who had been waiting for a long time could only grit their teeth, borrow a loan from the bank, and then happily purchase the quintal terminals, which were $500 more expensive, equipped with holographic projection technology.
Many technical experts expressed their astonishment, marveling at how US technology had advanced to such a degree that it could overcome technical hurdles that had remained insurmountable for over a decade in just two days.
Consequently, these experts chose to begrudgingly pay an extra $500 for a device, then proceeded to dismantle and inspect it. Their conclusion was astounding: the device had undergone no changes whatsoever, neither hardware nor software. It was identical to products sold in other countries.
If there was any change at all, it was that the Jiangnan Group logo on the terminal chips had been completely ground off and replaced with their own company's logo.
This outcome inevitably reminded many of twenty years ago when a daring Chinese individual purchased Motorola chips from the US. He then ground off Motorola's logo, replaced it with his company's logo, and thus claimed it was a domestic high-tech chip, successfully defrauding hundreds of millions of yuan in subsidies.
This time, it was a complete reversal. US companies procured chips from China, ground off the original logo, replaced it with their own, and then claimed to have changed the technology, earning an additional $500 per device.
Indeed, the world is constantly repeating itself, and each time brings a different kind of surprise.
Of course, such investigation results were only disseminated on a small scale within professional circles. No one dared to spread this news online. After all, the four major consortia were behind this. One would have to be excessively bored with life and foolishly court death to dare provoke them.
Anyway, they were exploiting their own customers. Why bother to interfere?
Indeed, the four major consortia had struck gold. Due to the immense market demand, 50 million personal terminals with holographic projection technology were sold within a year. With a profit of at least $800 per unit, this amounted to a net profit of $40 billion, an incredibly satisfying return.
While the four major consortia rejoiced, Apple, Qualcomm, and Google suffered heavy losses.
With the roundabout strategy of the four major consortia, a large number of quintal terminals eventually returned to the US market. This meant that the market Apple terminals had secured through special means was once again lost entirely.
Apple's monthly terminal sales had even dropped to less than 10,000 units. Recouping their investment was impossible. The tens of billions in R&D funds invested upfront were destined to become a black hole on their financial statements.
This led to the collective implosion of these three companies.
Google fared relatively well. They still dominated the search engine market and had numerous other global businesses. Their shareholders even included Mr. Huang himself.
Therefore, although this setback significantly reduced their profits, they were still profitable overall. While their stock price also dropped considerably, they ultimately managed to stabilize the situation.
Apple's situation was more precarious. In this world, having lost the massive smartphone market from another world, Apple could no longer enjoy the astonishing cash flow of hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Apple still had to rely on its own computers to maintain its finances.
As a result of the huge losses on Apple terminals this time, Apple's cash flow was directly broken. They managed to survive by raising funds, but it was clear to everyone that unless Apple could launch another revolutionary product, the nearly 50-year-old company would also become a tear in the annals of history.
As for Qualcomm... please, that company had already gone bankrupt long ago.
While the world was abuzz with discussions about groundbreaking new terminals, Chinese football continued its steady progress.
After failing to advance from the group stage of the 2030 World Cup, the Am team sent all their main players back to their respective European leagues. They then recalled a group of players who had been long-term substitutes in Europe and were clearly out of contention for the main squad. These players were brought back to help the Am team participate in various FIFA point-accumulating matches in 2031 and 2032.
These players were merely substitutes who couldn't get playing time, but their strength was still top-notch in Asia. Therefore, apart from traditional powerhouses like Japan, South Korea, and Australia, whom they still found difficult to defeat, the Am team could generally dominate other countries. They also frequently defeated the Chinese national football team.
As a result, the Am team's FIFA ranking steadily rose. By the time of the new World Cup qualifiers in 2033, the Am team's FIFA ranking had reached 38th globally and 4th in Asia, which was a very strong standing.
Meanwhile, the Chinese youth training teams, still playing in the five major leagues, also achieved explosive results.
Perhaps it was because all their main players had turned 18. The physical disparities among these youth training teams had significantly reduced, while their skills and experience were constantly improving.
Most importantly, the talent of this batch of players was top-notch. They were all super prospects meticulously selected from tens of millions of children in China.
With the vast population base for selection, coupled with improved physical condition, experience, and training, these five teams displayed incredible strength.
In 2031, the Italian youth training team was the first to break into Italy's Serie A, becoming the first of the five youth training teams to enter one of the world's top five leagues.
By 2032, the Spanish, English, and French youth training teams had also successively entered their respective countries' top leagues.
In 2033, the last German youth training team successfully entered the Bundesliga. Thus, all five teams had successfully entered the world's top five leagues.
These teams participated as guest invitees, and under emergency regulations enacted by their respective football associations, they could never earn points in the top leagues nor qualify for the playoffs. They only had the opportunity to play two matches against their respective clubs.
However, this was already an unprecedented achievement. Fans in various European countries were shouting praises.
However, the world's top leagues were still top leagues. Despite breaking in, these five youth training teams were no match for these top teams. Over the course of a year, they lost more than they won, generally lingering at the bottom of the league standings. This provided some comfort to the European public.
However, the major European football associations could no longer tolerate this situation. They could not tolerate a team from another country playing in their own top five leagues.
Even more critically, they realized that they might be cultivating a formidable opponent.
Consequently, the football associations of the five major leagues collectively announced that the relevant football training programs would officially end in 2033. The five youth training teams from China would depart after the end of this season, and there were no plans to approve similar programs again in the near future.
The reason given was perfectly legitimate: by 2034, all players would be over 18 years old, thus no longer meeting the age requirements of the youth training program, and would naturally have to return to their own countries for training.
This meant that 2033 was the last chance for these five European youth training teams to play in the top five leagues. After that, these players would collectively return to their country, as Europeans would not continue to cultivate opponents for themselves.
Upon learning that it was their last year, the players of the five teams unleashed immense power, successively defeating many heavyweight opponents. Among them, the French youth training team defeated opponents ranked in the top three of the league for four consecutive matches.
However, such performance further solidified the major football associations' decision that their course of action was correct and that they absolutely could not continue to cultivate their opponents.
Thus, at the end of 2033, the five major youth teams, who had been training abroad for nearly eight years, collectively returned to their country.