"Heh, they don't even dare to put our Jiangnan Group's name on it. I can't believe they think this announcement can scare us Jiangnan Group!" Boss Huang scoffed dismissively after reading the ferocious announcement.
"That's right, I remember a classic line from our ancestors: Any contract we haven't signed is just waste paper."
"I think this announcement is worse than waste paper; it's too rough even to wipe your backside with," Boss Huang said heartily.
"..." The office was silent for a moment.
"I say, Xiao Hu, your mental state is a bit off. Why aren't you commenting today?" Boss Huang asked with some exasperation. Usually, when he said something arrogant, Hu Jing would always retort a little, but today she seemed unusually quiet.
Moreover, Hu Jing seemed preoccupied, indeed not right!
Boss Huang touched his nose, then knocked forcefully on the table. Hu Jing said irritably, "I heard everything you said, and I have no opinions about it, nor am I refuting you. Are you naturally a masochist, boss, needing me to argue with you to feel comfortable?"
"Never mind, is the meeting arranged?" Huang He asked.
"Atari has everything arranged. Weren't you planning not to attend?" Hu Jing asked curiously.
"It's different now. Motorola is making such a fuss; I'm very interested to know how many companies will attend my banquet!" Boss Huang looked at the list on the announcement again and chuckled, "There are 34 mobile phone brands jointly signing this. We've also invited these 34 brands. How many do you think will attend the meeting?"
"I don't think it will be more than 10," Hu Jing said.
"Why do you guess that?" Huang He asked back.
"Does that need asking? They just released an announcement opposing us, so why would they come to our banquet the same day? They wouldn't be that shameless, would they!" Hu Jing said.
"They each definitely have their integrity!" Huang He nodded. "But their companies certainly don't have integrity!"
Malik's banquet was scheduled for 8 PM that evening. This was truly a banquet; at least the meeting venue was filled with various delicacies and alcoholic beverages, a completely different class from the empty banquet held by Edward Zamp yesterday.
After all, yesterday's banquet didn't even have a single drink, and people only went for the meeting.
Boss Huang hadn't originally planned to attend this banquet, but after seeing their announcement, Boss Huang came with a cheerful smile, staying on the second floor of the banquet hall and quietly watching the parade of people coming and going at the entrance.
"It's already 7:50. How many guests have arrived?" Boss Huang asked with a smile.
"Only two guests have arrived. It seems I've won this time!" Hu Jing said with a smile.
"Really?" Boss Huang couldn't help but feel a little dejected. Had he really mistreated these Americans?
Then, at 7:52, a car finally stopped at the entrance of the banquet hall, and a man in a suit and tie got out of the car. It was the representative from Samsung Group who had spoken at Motorola's banquet earlier.
The appearance of this representative seemed to signal something, and subsequently, more and more representatives began to appear. Within a short span of eight minutes,
From the representative of Samsung Group who appeared first to the representative of Nokia Group who appeared last, out of the 34 company representatives who attended Motorola's meeting, 33 company representatives arrived as scheduled.
As for the only one who didn't show up, it was none other than the representative of Motorola Group itself.
"Interesting. They all crowded into the last eight minutes to show up. Their mentality of wanting to come but not wanting to come, and finally showing up reluctantly, is quite amusing!" Boss Huang mocked mercilessly from the hall. Hu Jing, on the side, looked somewhat displeased. These people actually all came.
"Dear ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this evening banquet hosted by our Jiangnan Group. On behalf of Jiangnan Group and Atari, I offer you our sincere gratitude! Let us raise our glasses together and celebrate our reunion tonight." At 8 PM sharp, the banquet officially began, and Malik Omar appeared before everyone with a beaming smile and said.
This person raised his glass perfunctorily, and then someone said with a smile, "Mr. Malik, I believe you have seen the statement released by several of our companies last night. As the operator of Tianxing phones in the United States, how has your company decided?!"
This question also voiced what everyone present wanted to ask. In fact, they regretted jointly signing and issuing the statement, feeling they had acted too rashly. Therefore, they had held a meeting among themselves, planned together, set a unified response, and then set off together.
This was why everyone arrived within an eight-minute window – they had a pre-meeting and then departed from the same location to come here.
Through the previous small meeting, all the representatives present had formed a unified opinion: today, they would use this banquet to exert appropriate pressure on Atari and the Jiangnan Group behind it.
What is "appropriate pressure"?
It means applying some pressure on the other party, but never pushing them to a corner where they have no choice but to fight back, leading to a complete breakdown of relations, because they genuinely could not afford the cost of a supply chain disruption for more than three months. This was truly a matter of life and death.
But if Jiangnan Group truly entered the mobile phone industry, it would undoubtedly be a huge blow to them, as they couldn't surpass their competitors in terms of cost.
If all the phones they sold were cheaper than theirs under the same configuration, then the fight would indeed be difficult to fight. After all, everyone present knew that as the market continued to decline, their target users had shifted from the middle class to the proletariat. These users could not afford excessively high prices. There was only one way to develop these users: a price war.
To win over these users with the highest cost-effectiveness. And as the Jiangnan Group, which controlled upstream channels and supply chains, if they truly intended to engage in a price war, then no one could truly defeat them.
Therefore, they had set a goal: to exert appropriate pressure while maintaining a bottom line. If the Jiangnan Group insisted on entering the mobile phone industry, it wasn't impossible, as long as they maintained the current state. Selling mobile phones through blind boxes was fine; this was the bottom line, and mass production and traditional sales were absolutely not allowed.
With this unified decision, their attitude towards the Jiangnan Group became even more curious.
However, to everyone's disappointment, upon hearing their question, Malik Omar smiled and shook his head, then said, "Gentlemen, I cannot answer this question for you because Atari is only involved in games and mobile communications. We ourselves are not involved in the development and marketing of mobile phones, so we cannot tell you how Jiangnan Group will decide!"
"If that's the case, then we won't disturb you!" Upon hearing Malik Omar's words, someone immediately said, preparing to leave directly.
"Hey, ladies and gentlemen, why the rush to leave? If Malik Omar cannot answer your question, I can!" a voice said with a chuckle. However, everyone couldn't understand it. Fortunately, someone soon translated it into fluent English.
"Who is this guy?" Many representatives looked at the suddenly appearing Chinese person in front of them, wondering what capability he had to answer a question that even Malik Omar couldn't answer.
However, several other representatives clearly showed surprised expressions, looking at the suddenly appearing Oriental with great astonishment. Some even began to bow slightly.
Well, although almost all Westerners, especially these noble white elites, looked down on Chinese people from the bottom of their hearts, they also respected wealth from the bottom of their hearts. Therefore, although they generally suffered from facial blindness towards people of East Asian descent, they firmly remembered Boss Huang's face. And upon seeing him, they bowed respectfully, a sign of respect for wealth!
Others who didn't recognize Boss Huang's identity were not foolish. Although they still didn't know who Boss Huang was, seeing the respectful expressions of those who were usually arrogant around them, they knew this was probably someone who truly had the final say in Jiangnan Group.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My surname is Huang, and my name is Huang He. My current identity and position is the Chairman of Jiangnan Group!" Boss Huang introduced himself very straightforwardly, without playing any more pretense.
After all, in such an occasion, pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger wouldn't make him look impressive, only extremely foolish.
"Hello, Mr. Chairman!" Upon hearing Huang Boss reveal his identity, everyone present stood up somewhat nervously and bowed to Boss Huang again, fully demonstrating the etiquette of a Western gentleman.
There was no way; in the face of wealth, one absolutely could not be rude. Moreover, the highest status of these people was at most a vice president of a company. Even a president was essentially a high-level employee, nowhere near the authority of Huang He, who held all the shares of the entire Jiangnan Group. Some people even felt a little nervous deep down.
"Please sit, please sit. Today is a friendly banquet, so let's not make it so stiff and formal!" Boss Huang said with a smile and sat down, also gesturing for others to sit. Then, he suddenly and directly said, "Regarding the announcement you gentlemen and ladies released last night, my attitude is singular!"
"Here it comes! Everyone's heart tightened, knowing that Jiangnan Group was about to issue its final ultimatum, and this ultimatum would likely be irreversible once uttered, as it was the final ultimatum spoken by Chairman Huang He himself. There would be no room for higher-ups to backtrack."
"I hope it doesn't escalate completely. Boss Huang, please leave some room!" everyone thought, but they all felt it was unlikely. They had all studied the history of Jiangnan Group's rise and knew that he was a man who kept his word, especially someone who couldn't tolerate any unfair treatment.
Simply put, he truly dared to challenge all mobile phone manufacturers simultaneously, much like the Empress Dowager from over a hundred years ago.
"I represent all of us at Jiangnan Group!" Boss Huang paused here and then smiled, "We firmly support the industry's announcements and statements, and we also severely condemn and punish certain enterprises that disrupt industry harmony. If necessary, Jiangnan Group will cooperate with you to jointly implement the three-pronged approach of supply cut, connection cut, and technology cut against these enterprises to maintain industry harmony and development!" Boss Huang said righteously.
He then added, "I am on your side."