"What? Tengda is in talks with Microsoft, and Microsoft is interested in acquiring the QQ business!" As soon as Boss Huang stepped off the plane, he received this laughable news.
At this moment, Boss Huang was on the Cayman Islands, enjoying the afternoon sun, when he received this not-so-pleasant news. The meat that was almost in his mouth had attracted the attention of others.
"Yes, Fan Jie revealed this to us. It is said that Microsoft China has already sent representatives to Tengda, who are contacting Zeng Qing, and Microsoft China has already made an offer," Hu Jing said.
"What's the offer?" Huang He asked curiously.
"Zeng Qing quoted 1 billion RMB. I don't know Microsoft China's reaction, but they should still be negotiating!" Hu Jing said.
"Quoting 1 billion and still negotiating, meaning Microsoft actually thinks this number is worth discussing!!" Huang He was shocked. How could Microsoft be so out of its mind to be willing to spend 1 billion RMB to buy QQ?
"I heard that it wasn't the person in charge of Microsoft China who was dispatched this time, but a senior executive from the United States!" Hu Jing said.
"Oh, if it's an American, then it's not entirely incomprehensible, after all, Americans don't understand the current Chinese market!" Huang He nodded thoughtfully.
If Microsoft China's president were in charge of this matter, they would not accept a quote of 1 billion RMB, as even a fool could see the dominance of Jiangnan Group.
However, senior executives from the US headquarters might not be the same. These people simply don't understand the Chinese market, and any decision they make can be understood.
---
"Mr. Kiard, 1 billion is too high a price. We believe that QQ is worth at most around 300 million RMB. Anything higher than this price is not worth discussing further." The president of Microsoft China advised this Mr. Kiard, who had suddenly appeared from the US headquarters, "Furthermore, I don't think we should acquire QQ at all. This is already a company on a downward trend. China's domestic Jiangnan Group is too strong, and OO is also very powerful. It will be difficult for QQ to defeat its opponents!"
"Tang, are you trying to tell me that the headquarters' plan to promote MSN globally and make MSN the largest instant messaging software in the world is also wrong?"
"Are you trying to tell me that MSN is destined to fail in China?" Kiard glared at Tang Jun. Tang Jun smiled awkwardly; he wouldn't dare say MSN would fail.
"However, your opinion is valuable. Based on the data, Jiangnan Group and its OO do have an advantage. So if our MSN wants to defeat its opponents, we must get more help!"
"And QQ is our best help. Although QQ has declined, it still has a 35% market share and over 5 million active users. We will be launching MSN's China service in mid-June this year and rolling out the MSN software accordingly. If we can get the support of QQ's 5 million active users at this time, we can instantly open up the Chinese market. Do you understand how important this is for MSN's development?"
"Of course I understand!" Tang Jun agreed forcefully. "But Jiangnan Group and its OO really have a huge advantage, and they also have Facebook, a brand new social networking site. I think we need to plan long-term and prepare a solid plan. Also, there are still a few months before MSN enters the Chinese market. We can use this time to slowly negotiate with QQ, wear down their fighting spirit, and let them gradually lower their prices. I think we can eventually acquire the entire QQ business within 500 million RMB!"
It must be said that Tang Jun, who was later known as the "Emperor of Labor" but also had a lot of dark history, had a relatively accurate view of the market. At least he understood that OO was a very difficult opponent to defeat.
It's just that Kiard didn't think so.
"Tang, you are too cautious, and you are overestimating the advantages of your opponents. You know, OO is backed by an unknown Jiangnan Group, but MSN is backed by the world's greatest computer company, the great Microsoft Group!" Kiard spread his arms, speaking with great pride.
"As far as I know, OO didn't exist two years ago, and a year and a half ago, it was just a newborn challenger. At that time, QQ was already the king of the Chinese market, with over 95% market share."
"But in just a year and a half, OO defeated QQ and captured the main market share. So, isn't it natural for the same thing to happen to our MSN?"
"OO is just a barbarian potato that has sprung from the soil, but our MSN is a naturally noble king. It comes from America and Microsoft Group, from the world's most powerful country, and the richest man in the world. This is a born king with supreme bloodline, and he is destined to reign supreme anywhere in the world!" Kiard said proudly.
This statement sounded quite strange, almost unreasonable.
But in the Western mindset, this was a natural thing: noble bloodline was the destined king.
It might be hard for many who have fantasies about the Western free world and believe it to be a paradise of equality to believe this, but in reality, the Western world is a world that values bloodline the most. Equality is just a propaganda slogan.
The simplest example is that the Western world still has a large number of aristocrats.
These aristocrats are not just nominal titles, but real titles with political interests. These aristocratic titles still hold considerable extra-legal privileges in the Western world.
And beyond these overt things, the concept of aristocratic bloodline is deeply ingrained in Western thought.
This is deeply ingrained in Western literary works, especially in movies, which are hailed as Western fantasy epics like "The Lord of the Rings." The protagonist is a Hobbit named Frodo.
However, there is another protagonist, Aragorn, the human warrior, who is no less important than Frodo.
When he first appeared, he was just a poor, dirty, wandering ranger, but in the subsequent plot, he gradually ascended and eventually became the king of men.
So, what made Aragorn the king of men?
You can certainly say that Aragorn has many excellent qualities, and there is no problem with that, but if you carefully observe the fundamental condition for Aragorn's ascension to the throne, it is that he is actually the last direct descendant of the Gondorian royal family, equivalent to a born crown prince. Therefore, it is natural for Aragorn to ascend to the throne by virtue of his bloodline.
Of course, you can say that Aragorn also made many achievements, and without these achievements, he could not have ascended the throne.
Then let's look at Aragorn's achievements. The greatest of them is leading the ghost army in the Battle of Minas Tirith and defeating the orc army.
So, how could Aragorn command the ghost army?
It is because Aragorn's ancestor cursed this army, and Aragorn's bloodline and oath could lift this curse. Thus, because of Aragorn's bloodline, the ghost army participated in the battle and ultimately won the great victory.
In summary, although Aragorn's ascension to kingship included his own efforts, the contribution of his bloodline accounted for more than 80%.
Moreover, if you look at all Western fantasy works, there are always various magical powers and supernatural abilities that are passed down through bloodline.
If you think these literary works are just literary works, then you can directly look at American politics and see how many politicians inherit their father's careers and how many presidential political families there are.
Also, the deep-rooted racial discrimination in the United States actually stems from the perception of bloodline. Black people are criminals, Asians have narrow eyes, and white people are the most perfect race in the world, and so on. These things are deeply ingrained.
In short, in the subconscious of the Western world, the theory of bloodline has always existed. Therefore, products born from the great Microsoft company must also be noble and destined to win easily.
This is Kiard's thinking, and many people within Microsoft think the same way.
In fact, Kiard is considered good. After all, he has conducted some investigations in China and believes that MSN still needs some effort to win.
But at Microsoft headquarters, many more people do not believe that MSN will encounter any major difficulties after entering the Chinese market; victory is a foregone conclusion.
"Tang, don't you believe me? In fact, I have met many of your entrepreneurs these days and chatted with quite a few employees. When I asked them what their choice would be if MSN entered the Chinese market, they immediately said that they would switch from using QQ or OO to using the more beautiful and refined MSN!"
"Also, I have visited some of your relevant forums and asked my translator to help me translate those posts discussing instant messaging software."
"Do you know what I found? I found that whether it was your QQ or OO, there was a large group of people criticizing them, saying they were the worst software in the world."
"But when someone mentioned MSN, which had not yet landed in China, almost all of your netizens gave a thumbs up, saying that MSN is the best instant messaging software in the world. Once MSN truly arrives in China, in your Chinese words, it will be 'crushing'!"
"That's right, everyone in China believes that MSN is the best software, and as soon as MSN appears, it will immediately crush all Chinese domestic software!"
"These people have no connection with Microsoft, and they would never deliberately flatter us to please us, let alone the entire forum being full of praise for MSN. Therefore, I believe these praises are sincere, and they are anticipating the arrival of MSN!" Kiard said confidently.