Chapter 324 In full swing
The last day of February 2011 was a milestone day for Tenda Technology Group, which stood at the top of the Internet industry.
On this day, the number of global users of its core products WeChat and WeChat finally exceeded 600 million, marking a huge success for the group's multinational strategy.
The next day, WeChat and Wechat updated their versions globally and launched two groundbreaking features, official accounts and subscription accounts.
The official account is mainly aimed at enterprises, organizations and institutions, focusing on customer service and business functions.
Subscription accounts focus on media, individuals or content creators, with an emphasis on information dissemination and fan operations.
On the sunny morning of March 2nd, at the Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou, all the group’s top executives gathered for an important meeting.
Ma Jieke sat at the head of the conference table, fiddling with his phone, curiously studying the two new features WeChat had launched yesterday: public accounts and subscription accounts.
“Has everyone noticed the WeChat version update?”
Lu Zhaoxi, the group's executive president, was the first to respond: "Mr. Ma, as soon as WeChat was updated, I asked my subordinates to study it in depth."
Ma Jieke sat up straighter and became interested: "Tell me, what is the significance of Tenda developing these two products?"
"Tengda's layout is extremely terrifying!" Lu Zhaoxi had a serious face, holding the heavy analysis report in his hand.
Upon hearing this, several executives present looked at each other, focused their attention, and listened carefully to Lu Zhaoxi's speech.
“The significance of these two products from Tenda is absolutely nuclear-level! First, they complete the closed loop of WeChat ecology, attract content producers through subscription accounts, and enrich WeChat content ecology;
Connect to corporate services through official accounts, extend social scenarios to business scenarios, and form a closed loop of "social-content-service"!
Secondly, the emergence of official accounts has reduced the cost and traffic problems of companies developing independent apps, helping traditional industries to quickly move online.
Subscription accounts provide a low-threshold entrepreneurial platform for self-media, giving rise to the content economy. They have promoted the commercialization and digital transformation of society.”
As soon as the two viewpoints came out, everyone present was talking about it. Even Ma Jieke's expression was no longer relaxed as before, but was replaced by solemnity and contemplation.
Lu Zhaoxi frowned and continued, "Users can get information and services without leaving WeChat, which will increase the time they stay on WeChat.
At the same time, through its unique big data technology, Tenda can accurately push content to users, greatly strengthening WeChat's position as a "super portal" and enhancing user stickiness and platform value.
From the perspective of commercial profit model, enterprises need to pay authentication fees to use service accounts, and subscription accounts share revenue from traffic and advertising. WeChat can monetize data and traffic.
At the same time, it accumulates user behavior data and feeds back to the precise advertising delivery system, forming a virtuous cycle.”
After listening to Lu Zhaoxi's analysis report, Ma Jieke savored it carefully for a moment, his face full of admiration: "The layout of Song Ci is so profound that it is beyond the reach of ordinary people."
CFO Cai Zhongxin also said with emotion: "I have heard that Songci regards WeChat as the first core product of Tengda Group, and only today did I realize the huge influence of WeChat.
Today, this app has hundreds of millions of users around the world and almost dominates the mobile IM field. The trend is set!"
"Mr. Peng, what impact do these two products have on Alibaba?" Ma Jieke collected his thoughts and got back to the point.
“The specific impact is not yet known, and a large amount of data is needed for further analysis and comparison. After all, Tenda does not operate an e-commerce business.
But one thing is certain: in the future, Tenda's control over traffic will be taken to a higher level."
Ma Jieke's eyebrows were twisted into a "川" shape, and he secretly groaned in his heart. Alibaba was already at a disadvantage in the area of Internet traffic, and would be increasingly controlled by others in the future.
He sighed helplessly and said, "Tell the marketing department to study it as soon as possible."
"Boss Ma!" At this time, Lu Zhaoxi suddenly called out. His urgent words instantly attracted the attention of Ma Jieke and everyone else. He then said word by word, "There is a big event that is imminent."
"What's up?"
Lu Zhaoxi picked up another document on the conference table: "After the New Year, Tengda Group launched the QR code payment function on WeChat. Users can conduct transactions and transfers by scanning the WeChat QR code!
In order to promote its WeChat payment, Tenda is actively connecting with major supermarkets and shopping malls across the country, not only installing transaction scanning equipment for free, but also providing certain subsidies to merchants who use WeChat payment.
"Tengda is promoting mobile payment!" Ma Jieke's heart was alarmed, his eyes suddenly became sharp, and he immediately asked: "How many days has the WeChat payment QR code been online?"
Lu Zhaoxi glanced at Peng Lei sitting opposite him without leaving any trace, and answered truthfully: "It was online on Valentine's Day! It's been more than two weeks!"
Ma Jieke's face changed drastically, and his already serious expression became even more frosty. He looked angrily at Alipay President Peng Lei:
"Tengda launched WeChat Pay to compete with Alipay in the third-party payment market, but your department didn't hear anything about it?"
Although Penglei is a lesbian, she is able to become a senior executive of Alibaba Group and be in charge of Ali's core business, Alipay. Her means, knowledge and courage are no less than those of the men present.
Facing the chairman's anger, he remained calm and unhurried: "Boss Ma, Boss Lu, our department had insight into Tengda's actions ten days ago, and we also held a meeting to study and discuss it.
However, given the current conditions of the group, I am sorry that I cannot do anything to launch similar functions like Tenda in a short period of time. "
As the founder of Alipay, Lu Zhaoxi was very dissatisfied with Penglei's answer and was furious: "What do you mean by existing conditions? Is the group's support for Alipay not enough? Is it a lack of technical personnel or a lack of support funds?"
Ma Jieke is an open-minded and pragmatic leader. He waved his hand and signaled Lu Zhaoxi to calm down first: "Penglei, if you have any difficulties, please speak up. We must unite as one in the face of a powerful enemy."
“Mr. Ma, we can overcome the technical problems. What restricts us most now is the operating license!” Peng Lei spoke succinctly and directly pointed out the biggest pain point facing Alipay.
"In July last year, the central bank issued the first nine third-party payment licenses for the pilot of Internet finance. Tenda successfully obtained one, so now we have the confidence to promote QR code payment in a big way.
Alipay, the leader in the domestic third-party payment field, did not even obtain a license. This has sounded the alarm for us.
In July this year, the central bank will issue the second batch of payment licenses. Compared with last year, under the framework and constraints of the group, I think there has been no substantial change in Alipay.
In fact, due to the rise of Tenda EasyPay, our market share has actually decreased a little.
If no changes can be made in the short term, as the president of Alipay, I am pessimistic about Alipay's ability to obtain the second batch of payment licenses."
Peng Lei paused for a moment, and her tone became extremely heavy, with a clear understanding of the current situation of Alipay:
"Once you miss some opportunities, there is no room for maneuver. The relevant departments cannot continue to allow unlicensed operations!
The second batch of licenses from the central bank in July this year is crucial to Alipay. If we fail to get them, we will be shut down.”
Ma Jieke's eyes were deep, and he knew that Penglei was not exaggerating. The proportion of foreign capital in Alibaba's shareholders was too high, which was the key reason why Alipay could not get a license. It was urgent to separate Alipay from Alibaba.
Ma Jieke took a deep breath, his expression solemn, and warned Peng Lei: "I know the core of the problem. This is not your fault. I will leave all the technical matters to you, and I will take care of the license issue myself."
Peng Lei nodded gently: "I'll trouble the chairman to pay for the license."
Ma Jieke raised his hand and rubbed his temple. Splitting up Alipay was an extremely tricky matter, but time waited for no one and it could not be delayed any longer.
At the moment, it seems that I can only go to Japan again to discuss with Masayoshi Son and find a solution.
At the same time, thousands of miles away at the headquarters of Tengda Group in Beijing, Song Ci was also holding a meeting with a group of company executives.
"WeChat official accounts and subscription accounts are the core carriers of the group's "connect everything" strategy. The former opens up business services, and the latter activates the content ecosystem. Together, they upgrade WeChat from a social tool to an operating system covering all life scenarios..."
On the podium, the richest man was in high spirits and spoke in a loud voice to the executives below, discussing the future application scenarios of WeChat.
“In the next step, the group will implement a strategy to bring offline services online, such as actively connecting with the government and opening government accounts to provide convenient services.
Allow hospitals to register and pay through official accounts, reduce patients’ waiting time, and promote the development of a “contactless society”. . . ”
More than an hour later, the meeting ended and Song Ci returned to the office.
"Boss, the meeting is over!" There was a person waiting in the room. When he saw Song Ci coming back, he smiled and joked.
"You've made me thirsty." Song Ci took a few sips of tea to relieve the dryness in his mouth before turning his gaze to the guest on the sofa. "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time, Haozi. Did your trip to the United States go smoothly this time?"
The person who came was Lin Hao. Some time ago, he was entrusted by Song Ci to go to the other side of the ocean.
"I stayed with the American for almost a month, and I finally got the job done as expected."
Upon hearing this, Song Ci hurriedly sat down opposite his good brother and said excitedly, "Thank you for your hard work! Tell me about your trip to the United States."
Lin Hao nodded and said slowly: "After the New Year, I went to Wall Street. Through your introduction, I met Paulson. With his help, I gradually sold your Facebook shares and bought all Tesla shares according to your request."
After saying this, Lin Hao looked puzzled: "I only got the news when I arrived in the United States. Facebook is going to go public next year. It would be a pity for you to sell off your shares at this time."
"As Tencent and Facebook are competing fiercely in the global social networking field, my Facebook shares are hot potatoes. Rather than keep them and cause trouble, it is better to sell them as soon as possible.
As WeChat grew bigger and bigger, Zuckerberg used various means to cause trouble for me and WeChat, and Tencent spent more than 30 million US dollars on public relations fees in North America alone.
Fortunately, the money was not wasted, the trouble was temporarily resolved, and WeChat gained valuable development time. "
At this point, Song Ci sneered: "The stronger WeChat is, the weaker Facebook is. When it goes public next year, it is still unknown whether Facebook can maintain its current valuation.
The market is changing rapidly, so I simply sold all my stocks and exchanged them for some US dollars.
Besides, these shares were only exchanged for a domain name and a few hundred thousand US dollars. If they cashed out more than a billion US dollars, they would have won a lot long ago. "
"Well, you plan three steps ahead, worthy of being the richest man." Lin Hao gave a thumbs up with admiration.
"How's the other thing going?"
"I went to several places and helped you collect more than 50,000 bitcoins. Later, I returned to China because there was no interest in bitcoins on the market, but I entrusted the broker to continue purchasing.
Those who collect Bitcoin all ask for different prices. Some only ask for one dollar, while others ask for three or four dollars. Is there room for this thing to appreciate in value?"
Lin Hao scratched his head, unable to understand why virtual currency, which is essentially an encrypted digital code, could be so valued by the richest man.
"It's just what the times require." Song Ci didn't explain too much about the future, but in order to thank his good brother for his hard work, he changed the subject and said, "Fatty, Bitcoin will still be worth something in a few years. Do you want me to give you some?"
Boss Song's generosity made Lin Hao feel a little embarrassed: "Well, I saw you collecting these things, so I also stocked up a thousand of them myself."
Song Ci scolded with a smile, and reminded: "You kid! Keep it for a few years first, don't rush to sell it."
Lin Hao chuckled: "I'm not stupid. Since Bitcoin is something that the richest man values, it must have value. I can still copy it."
Knock, knock, knock. "Come in."
Liu Yan, the female president of Weibo, pushed open the office door holding a document in her hand. When she saw a man sitting opposite the chairman, she quickly apologized: "Mr. Song, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a guest. I'm sorry to bother you. I'll come back to report to you later."
Song Ci waved his hand: "It's okay, come in and talk."
Liu Yan entered the office, stood beside the chairman, and handed the document in his hand to him: "Mr. Song, this is the Weibo Night process plan, please review it."
Song Ci took the document and pointed to the empty seat next to Lin Hao: "Sit down and talk. This is my good brother, Lin Hao, the president of Shanhai Capital. You should get to know him."
Liu Yan was startled and secretly shocked. Shanhai Capital is the major shareholder of the group. He greeted politely: "Hello, Mr. Lin, I am the person in charge of the group's Weibo platform, Liu Yan."
Lin Hao has an easygoing personality and replied with a smile: "I've heard that Mr. Song has a beautiful CEO who keeps her Weibo in good order. It turns out to be you. I've heard a lot about you."
"You are too kind."
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Lin Hao, Liu Yan sat down at the side and said, "Director Song, please take a look at the seating arrangement for the guests and the winners of the major awards. If there is anything you are not satisfied with, we can revise it."
Song Ci nodded slightly and quickly flipped through the materials, reviewing them one by one.
Song Ci flipped through the papers and read ten lines at a glance. He soon saw the last few pages and couldn't help but frowned. "One of the most important awards, Weibo King, was awarded to Cai Yongkang. I don't even know this person. Is he very popular?"
Seeing the chairman’s unhappy expression, Liu Yan panicked and hurriedly explained: “Cai Yongkang is the host of the popular variety show Kangxi Is Coming.
He is also a well-known writer. Although he is not as rich as you, he is still in the top ten and is quite popular. "
"How popular can a variety show host be? Replace him with a first-line male star. The Queen has also been replaced. Why do you choose people randomly?"
Seeing that the chairman was extremely dissatisfied, Liu Yan quickly stood up and said, "We will change it immediately. I will go back and think about it. I will send the new list to you for your review later."
(End of this chapter)
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