Listening to Lin Chen's seemingly whimsical yet very reasonable speech, everyone gasped in astonishment. No wonder he's so rich; with that kind of brain, I could do it too.
Lei Jun was also very excited when he saw the two design drawings, and he kept praising them.
"Alright, alright, bro, which one do you suggest we use?"
"Let's use this design that we copied from the iPhone 4 for now. We need to launch the phone as soon as possible. We can refer to the iPhone in some aspects using this design. Also, that other design is a bit too advanced. We need some more time. It can serve as a direction for future development."
After finishing speaking, Lin Chen turned to the crowd and repeated, "Everyone, remember, our only opponent is the iPhone."
After finalizing the design, Lei Jun gave some instructions and then the meeting adjourned.
After everyone left, Lei Jun noticed that Lin Chen was still there and asked, "Brother, is there anything else?"
Lin Chen replied, "Brother Jun, do you know Gaode Maps?"
"I've heard of it. It's currently the best navigation manufacturer in China. The navigation system in my car is Gaode."
"Brother Jun, could you ask someone to pull some strings? I'd like to talk to them about some business related to Huasuan.com."
"Okay, I'll ask a friend."
Lei Jun immediately took out his phone and made a few calls.
“I found out. I have a friend who’s buddies with Cheng Congwu from Gaode Maps. When are you going? I’ll take you to find him.”
"The sooner the better, Brother Jun, when do you have time?"
Lei Jun thought for a moment. The design was finalized, and the work had been arranged. All that was left was for the team members to start making the first phone.
"Then let's do it tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll go book the tickets."
Lin Chen returned to the 26th floor, went to An Rou's office, knocked on the door, and said, "An Rou, come with me to Beijing on a business trip tomorrow. Book the plane tickets and hotels. There will be four of us: me, you, Lei Jun, and Zhang Yiming."
"Okay, hehe, I couldn't go to Beijing last time, but I'm finally going this time."
The next day, Lin Chen drove the three of them to the airport.
On the way, Lin Chen turned to An Rou and asked, "An Rou, do you think it's appropriate to always have the boss drive?"
"Hehe, I was just worried about missing the flight. I'll drive next time when I have more time."
Lin Chen felt it was time to buy An Rou a car, otherwise her driving skills would never improve. He would buy one after returning from this trip to Beijing.
Upon arriving in Beijing, Lei Jun's friend picked him up at the airport.
Lin Chen took a look and recognized He Xiaopeng. Many people would recognize the name Xiaopeng; it's the Xiaopeng from XPeng Motors. However, XPeng Motors didn't exist in 2010. He Xiaopeng is currently working on UC Browser.
"Hey Lei Jun, what brings you to Shanghai? I can't even find you to have a drink with."
"Haha, I'm here to pursue my dreams and set sail for Shanghai. Come, let me introduce you. This is Lin Chen, the vice president of Xiaomi and also the owner of Huasuan.com."
"Oh, it's General Manager Lin. I've heard so much about you. Almost all the young people in our company use Huasuan.com."
"Mr. He, it's a pleasure to meet you. I used UC Browser all the time back in high school."
"Haha, since you're Lei Jun's friend, let's not stand on ceremony. Let's go, I'll take you to Gaode Maps. I've already called Cheng Congwu."
The five of them got into a seven-seater van and headed straight for Gaode's headquarters.
"Lao Cheng, let me introduce you. This is Lei Jun from Xiaomi Technology, and this is Lin Chen from Huasuan.com."
"Hello, Mr. Cheng."
"Hello, hello, please have a seat, I'll make you some tea."
Before the tea was even finished brewing, someone rushed in in a great hurry.
"Old Cheng, Gaode must transform; it can't rely on its past achievements anymore."
Lei Jun looked up and realized, "Hey, isn't this my old colleague Xiao Jun?"
"Xiao Jun!"
"Hey, Mr. Lei, what are you doing here?"
"We've come to discuss some business with Mr. Cheng."
Cheng Congwu served tea to Lei Jun and the others, then said to Xiao Jun, "Xiao Jun, didn't we say we'd discuss this again? We invested so much money in developing the Gaode Maps iPhone version, and even recruited a group of software development talents. But what's the result? You've seen it yourself. Not only are the results mediocre, but we can't see any profit points at all. Most importantly, free mobile software is directly affecting the development of our navigation business. The navigation business is our foundation. Aren't you putting the cart before the horse?"
Xiao Jun said anxiously, "Oh dear, this is only temporary. Once the smartphone market becomes more widespread, the download volume will definitely increase, and advertisers will naturally come knocking on our door."
"Then we'll do these things after the smartphone market has become more widespread."
"Then it will be too late. The market has already been taken over by others. Haven't you seen that Baidu has already started making maps?"
"Baidu is an internet company, so it doesn't need to hire an extra batch of developers. Moreover, its internet profit model is already very mature, so it doesn't need to worry about losses."
"But……"
Xiao Jun wanted to continue arguing, but Cheng Congwu waved his hand to interrupt him.
"Alright, I have other guests here, let's talk about this another time."
Xiao Jun glanced at Lin Chen and the others who were watching the drama unfold, and knew that the occasion was inappropriate. So he said to Lei Jun, "Mr. Lei, I'm sorry, I got too excited. You guys go ahead with your work, I'll be going now."
After saying that, he left in a hurry.
Cheng Congwu sighed and sat down.
Lin Chen couldn't help but ask curiously, "President Cheng, could you tell me what exactly happened?"
"Well, there's not much to say, it's just about the company's transformation. You know, Gaode has always been a provider of in-car navigation, but with the internet developing so fast, Xiao Jun suggested in a previous meeting that we make an iPhone Gaode map. Nobody thought much of it, thinking it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. But the release of free map software has greatly impacted our physical in-car navigation business. Many car manufacturers have told us that customers don't need in-car navigation anymore since they have free navigation, which means we can't sell many navigation systems when we're selling cars."
So that's what happened. Indeed, the emergence of Gaode's free navigation directly impacted the ecosystem of physical navigation. However, Lin Chen never expected that Gaode would actually be impacting his own navigation business.
However, from Lin Chen's perspective as a reborn person, free mobile navigation apps are the future trend, and physical car navigation systems will inevitably decline. Therefore, company decision-makers need to have keen insight and great courage.
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