Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 134：Self-Rescue

After the meeting concluded, the Beautiful Country, in collaboration with its domestic internet companies, imposed a ban on Dragon Country smartphone brands from using their mobile operating systems.

This undoubtedly proved to be the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Until then, the domestic smartphone brands in China were barely holding on, hoping for a swift agreement between their country and the Beautiful Country to lift the sanctions on chips, which would allow them to survive. Yet, what they received instead was an embargo on the mobile operating systems.

The most crucial hardware in a mobile phone is the chip, and the most essential software is the operating system. The Beautiful Country had sanctioned both, effectively cutting off any potential path for Dragon Country smartphone brands.

Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, immediately proposed convening a self-rescue meeting for China's domestic smartphone industry. The meeting took place in Beijing, attended by nearly all of China's homegrown phone brands, including Ren Zhengfei of Huawei, Huang Zhang of Meizu, and executives from LeTV, BUBUGAO, and many other brands.

As the host, Lei Jun looked around the room and asked, "Why isn't Liu from the Red Pepper phone brand here?"

"He's already declared bankruptcy," one of the brand owners replied.

Lei Jun sighed deeply. Red Pepper had once been Xiaomi's main competitor, flourishing for a time. However, it could not withstand the economic sanctions from the Beautiful Country.

Taking a deep breath, Lei Jun adjusted his mood and addressed everyone.

"Everyone, now the Beautiful Country is even sanctioning mobile operating systems. This is an attempt to kill us off completely."

"Lei, from a national standpoint, we're merely victims of this conflict. The Beautiful Country is not targeting us specifically..."

"No matter what the Beautiful Country' intentions are, the reality is that if we don't find a way out, we won't survive."

At that moment, Lei Jun suddenly remembered something and turned to Ren Zhengfei, the CEO of Huawei. "Brother Ren, didn't you mention two years ago at a conference that you were starting research on a mobile operating system? How's it going?"

"Developing mobile OS software is even harder than hardware. Our company has been working on it for three years, and the system we've developed is still far behind Apple's iOS and Android," Ren Zhengfei replied helplessly.

Two years ago, when Huawei was gaining ground in China, Ren Zhengfei had begun researching his own smartphone chips and operating systems. Since these two components are the most critical for a phone, and they had to rely on imports from the Beautiful Country, Ren Zhengfei feared that the US would one day use these technologies as leverage against them.

What he hadn't expected was that this day would come so quickly. When the Beautiful Country sanctioned both the chips and the operating system, they were left defenseless.

In just twenty days, China's domestic smartphone brands were on the brink of collapse.

"Brother Ren, we should have listened to your advice back then and jointly worked on developing chips and operating systems. Maybe we wouldn't be in this situation now," someone remarked.

"Yeah! If we had followed Brother Ren's advice and invested one-third of our profits into research, we could have developed our own mobile operating system and chips in two years with all our companies pooling resources," another added.

"It's our fault for focusing on short-term gains and not considering the long-term. Looking back, Brother Ren had the vision, but now it's too late to regret."

Two years ago, at a conference, Ren Zhengfei had earnestly urged everyone to join forces and develop mobile operating systems and chips. Yet, no one agreed. They mocked him, thinking he was just throwing money away.

R&D, they said, was an endless pit—a complete waste of money. They thought it was better to let the Beautiful Country handle the research and simply buy the technology. After all, the World Trade Organization (WTO) prohibited interference in international trade, ensuring free economic exchange.

It was only now that they understood—the WTO was simply upholding the interests of Western nations.

"Alas, it's no use regretting now. We need to focus on finding a way to save ourselves," one of them said.

"But the US won't supply us with operating systems and chips. How can we save ourselves now? Even if we start R&D now, time is running out," another lamented.

"I suggest we focus on attracting investment and holding out until the US lifts its sanctions on China," one person proposed.

"Attract investment? Right now, China's domestic smartphone brands are barely alive. Who would dare invest, unless they're a fool?" someone else retorted.

...

After discussing for more than two hours, they failed to come up with any solution.

In the end, they nominated Lei Jun of Xiaomi and Ren Zhengfei of Huawei to represent them and seek assistance from the government.

...

Now, twenty days into the Beautiful Country' chip sanctions, domestic smartphones had completely exited the Dragon Country market. Foreign brands dominated the market, and without local competition, their sales soared like rockets.

Furthermore, due to the high demand for Apple phones, Apple announced on its official website that the price of iPhones in China would rise by 20% due to the increased sales.

This triggered dissatisfaction among Dragon Country consumers, who began voicing their displeasure online.

Netizen 1: "Why is Apple charging extra in China? Are they treating us like fools? @Apple, give us an explanation!"

Netizen 2: "Apple is taking advantage of us! All patriotic Dragon Country should boycott Apple!"

Netizen 3: "Get out of China!"

Netizen 4: "Honestly, they should have raised the prices earlier, so those poor people can't afford iPhones. It'll highlight our status!"

Netizen 5: "@Netizen 4, are you even human? What's wrong with you, did you eat something weird this morning?"

Netizen 6: "What happened to Huawei, Xiaomi, Meizu, and all the other domestic brands? Why are they all off the shelves? What's going on?"

Netizen 7: "You guys don't know yet? The Beautiful Country imposed economic sanctions on us, and now they're almost bankrupt!"

Netizen 8: "Damn! The US is despicable! They've sanctioned our domestic phones and are raising prices on their own brands! Let's boycott them!"

...

Shortly after, Apple's official website issued an announcement: In ten days, the iPhone 10 would be released, priced between 12,000 to 15,000 yuan. The qualification codes would be available at 8:00 PM tonight, and only users with a qualification code could pre-order the iPhone 10, which would be available ten days later.

Just after Apple's announcement, Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant, also made an announcement: Samsung smartphones in China would increase their prices by 30% starting today.