Reinventing the Millennium

It’s embarrassing that the stock broke immediately after it was listed on the market.

But the reasons for the break have cast a pall over Morningstar's prospects.

That evening, the atmosphere at the listing celebration dinner held by Morningstar was a bit dull. Shareholder Fang Zhuo did not attend because of other important matters, and several senior executives were listless.

It was business as usual for the leader, Liang Gongwei, but he held an impromptu meeting after the dinner to discuss the new situation that had arisen in the afternoon.

"35.5 Hong Kong dollars is very good. We are now a large company with a market value of over 10 billion."

"Oh, that's a lot more than that."

What Liang Gongwei said earlier made everyone feel a lot more relaxed. Yes, even if it breaks, Morningstar Semiconductor's market value is now HK$15.6 billion.

He added: "I know everyone will inevitably have concerns when they hear the news about the cooperation between Meiling and MediaTek. To be honest, I am the same, but haven't we faced enough challenges from 2002 to now? Aren't they all the same? There are new challenges at every stage, and now, when we become a tens-billion company, new challenges are already on the table."

"I don't know if you have confidence. Anyway, I raised a few million to start the company. At that time, I was not afraid at all. Now, Morningstar is listed and has tens of billions, and I don't know what it means to be afraid."

"Whether it is MediaTek or the richest man, Morningstar has entered a new development fast lane."

Liang Gongwei spoke leisurely. Although he did not name anyone, everyone present knew who the "richest man" was talking about.

When the leader spoke, naturally some people followed suit.

"What does Meiling mean? What does Mr. Fang mean?" Yang Weiyi, the co-founder and general manager of the company, frowned. "We all know that Meiling and Fang always wear the same pair of pants. First, there were changes in the Yike chip cooperation, and then Meiling is increasing its cooperation with MediaTek. Is Mr. Fang our shareholder or MediaTek’s shareholder?”

He continued to say seriously: "MediaTek is an opponent we must pay attention to. It has now entered the field of TV chips. We must maintain competitiveness and understand Mr. Fang's intentions."

One of the reasons for today's break is that MediaTek once again expressed its interest in the TV chip business and made further moves.

The core that supports Morningstar Semiconductor's market value is its position in the field of TV chips. Now Meiling's cooperation seems to have opened a hole, and outside the hole is the eyeing and powerful MediaTek.

Regardless of MediaTek's desire to obtain mid-to-high-end mobile phone chip business, its development in recent years is no slower than that of Morningstar.

"MediaTek is afraid of birds!" Vice President Zhu Lianghong said angrily, "MediaTek's revenue last year was 18.2 billion, and our revenue last year was 7.2 billion! Mr. Liang is right, there is nothing to be afraid of, we are the leader in the field of TV chips !”

Grass!

Wei Boyun was scolding his mother in his heart, a flatterer, and now he comes to flatter her!

He couldn't help but said: "Mr. Zhu, please unify the currency unit."

It is true that MediaTek’s revenue last year was NT$18.2 billion, but when it came to Morningstar, it was converted into NT$7.2 billion. The actual revenue was NT$1.6 billion.

In other words, MediaTek's revenue in 2007 was more than 11 times that of Morningstar Semiconductor.

It is true that MediaTek has only just entered the field of TV chips, but the market has given a very clear response and is worried about the competition faced by Morningstar.

Zhu Lianghong was quite senior and a Taiwanese native. He was not afraid of Wei Boyun at all and retorted: "What's the matter? Do you want to embolden others? Which part of your heart does it prick now? Meiling is the one you ran for, right? Now this What's going on? Are you going to report to Fang again later? "

Wei Boyun was furious and stood up directly: "If you want to discuss business, talk realistically. Who are you fooling with your 18.2 billion and this 7.2 billion? Okay, Meiling stabbed you in the back. I'll go find Fang Zhuo right away." Ask clearly in person!”

"Even if we break up and try not to cooperate in the future, we must let him make it clear! Let's see if he is playing tricks behind his back!"

He turned to leave the conference room.

The people next to him quickly grabbed the angry Vice President Wei and tried to persuade him not to be impulsive. If you have something to say, say it properly. How could you let him get angry?

"Okay, Mr. Wei, please sit down and let's discuss this matter in the long run." Liang Gongwei spoke up to stop the chaos.

When Wei Boyun saw the leader trying to stop him, he sat down angrily.

Forget it, since everyone says so, let’s sit down first.

Otherwise, I will be killed in front of Mr. Fang tonight...in front of Mr. Fang's bodyguards!

Wei Boyun breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes, the relationship between Taiwanese and mainland employees, marketing and R\u0026D, and new and old employees is more sensitive. However, he has gained a lot of credit with Mr. Fang. There are changes there, and he really It's difficult to handle.

"Mr. Fang has indeed given us a lot of help in our development. The business of Meiling and Changhong has given Mr. Fang face. Let's not talk about these two companies now. We must continue to maintain good relationships with manufacturers such as Haier, TCL and Hisense." Liang Gongwei did not act out of emotion. He knew that some of the words in the conference room were based on their respective positions. "What we need to be wary of is that MediaTek will copy our development experience and gradually poach market share."

What Morningstar has achieved so far is its high quality and low price, its ability to quickly handle feedback from manufacturers and customers, and its ability to take advantage of various positive factors that affect the market.

However, MediaTek has a similar aura.

"Mr. Fang still communicates more, and we can't let go of any factors that are beneficial to us. Don't talk about breaking up or not. These are our own shareholders." Liang Gongwei gave the bottom line, "But don't worry too much about the TV chip. In this area, let’s take a step back and say that it’s Meiling and Changhong.”

He continued to talk about mobile phone chips other than Morningstar Semiconductor's main business, and also talked about the relationship with Yike without any taboo.

"Without Yike, would we have given up on mobile phone chips?"

"Without Yike, we still have to do things, upgrade, and actively lobby various manufacturers. Next year will definitely be a year of explosive development of smartphones. Even if we really don't get orders from Yike, we still have a lot. Chance."

"Having said that, this doesn't mean that we won't fight for what we should fight for. I also want Morning Star to have a smoother path forward."

Liang Gongwei's attitude is very clear: don't be afraid of losing, but you must fight hard.

The meeting ended and Wei Boyun was left behind.

"Wei Boyun, what do you think this person always wants to do?" Liang Gongwei has been thinking about it from yesterday to today, and he still doesn't quite understand Mr. Fang's changes.

The same was true for Wei Boyun. He carefully made a hypothesis: "Mr. Liang, as far as I know, Meiling has changed its head. The current Zhang Xuebin was from Skyworth earlier. Later, he jumped to Meiling and took over Changhong. Skyworth I also had some unpleasant experiences with Mr. Fang."

"Mr. Fang has a very good relationship with Ni Runfeng, Changhong's predecessor. Could it be that Zhang Xuebin's relationship with Mr. Fang is not that close."

"Is it possible that we have overcomplicated this matter, or that MediaTek's efforts just happened to be effective?"

Liang Gongwei is thoughtful, and it makes sense.

Wei Boyun continued: "Mr. Fang is our shareholder, what reason does he have to ruin his own fortune? Even if he is the richest man, this share is worth more than 2 billion. I don't believe he doesn't care. The better Morningstar develops, he will be in a year's time The more money you can get, the more money you can get.”

Liang Gongwei nodded slightly, yes, this is all his own money.

He mused: "Let's take another look. The top priority is the performance of chip products. As for Mr. Fang, take advantage of his recent visit to Xiangjiang and ask as many questions as you can. If necessary, let Mr. Yang talk with us."

Yang Weiyi is from the mainland and holds a high position, but he is not the leader after all, so he still has room for maneuver if there are any problems in the negotiations.

Wei Boyun nodded solemnly: "I'll try to talk to Mr. Fang tomorrow."

He left the conference room and when he walked around the corner of the corridor, he saw Yang Weiyi and Mr. Yang went to communicate with Mr. Liang alone again.

Wei Boyun had a headache. Mr. Fang's incident really troubled all the senior executives of Morning Star.

Back in the room, he thought about it and still felt that he should communicate with the company's shareholders in a timely manner.

Wei Boyun called Mr. Fang.

This time it was connected quickly.

"Mr. Wei, if you have something to say, please tell me." Fang Zhuo was simple and direct.

"Meiling and MediaTek are cooperating today, which is bad news for Morningstar." Wei Boyun was also very simple and direct, "Mr. Fang, I have some doubts about such business changes."

Fang Zhuo: "Huh?"

Since Wei Boyun made the call, he tactfully expressed some of the company's internal thoughts and attitudes. By the way, he also vaguely mentioned the speculation about changes in the heads of Changhong and Meiling.

Fang Zhuo: "Oh, so that's what I thought."

Wei Boyun: "..."

"Okay, that's what I'll say when Mr. Liang asks." Fang Zhuo agreed with Mr. Wei's logic.

Wei Boyun was silent for a few seconds: "Mr. Fang, don't be kidding me. Even though Morningstar broke today, its market value is still 15.6 billion."

Fang Zhuo heard the implication of the other person's words. Morningstar, with a market value of 15.6 billion, the shares he held were also money.

He pointed out a problem in Mr. Wei’s logic: “It’s not bad.”

Wei Boyun: "..."

He suddenly discovered a misalignment. He and others, including Mr. Liang, believed that the shares held by Mr. Fang were very valuable bargaining chips. However, for Mr. Fang, the rich man who has been the richest man in the mainland for a long time and will soon have another real estate company listed, Do you think so too?

After a while, Wei Boyun asked the most fundamental doubt: "Mr. Fang, what do you want?"

Fang Zhuo smiled and said: "It seems that I haven't said enough today, but your goods are not beautiful enough, bad boy."

Wei Boyun sighed: "I thought Mr. Fang wanted Morning Star."

"It's not impossible if Morning Star is cheaper." Fang Zhuo replied lightly.

Wei Boyun wasn't sure how sincere his answer was.

He changed his mind and said, "Mr. Fang, do you have time tomorrow? Our Mr. Yang wants to treat you to dinner. He is also a little confused about the direction of IC design."

"I'm going to the Bank of China in the morning, Huo's house in the afternoon, and there's a banquet in the evening." Fang Zhuo casually smoothed over the itinerary and said, "Let's just leave it at that. I'm waiting for your chips in December. I'd like to see Morningstar getting better and better. , if you have anything, please contact Liu Zonghong or the company."

The phone was hung up.

Wei Boyun put down his phone with a bit of confusion.

He thought for a long time and made a decision. He would play "Fruit Assassin" later. Mr. Fang would like Morning Star, not Morning Star, want Morning Star, not want Morning Star, want, not...

…

"Morningstar is still developing rapidly, and its revenue growth rate in the first half of this year is still very high."

"Senior Vice President and Marketing Director Wei Boyun has done a good job in the market. His immediate boss, Lin Yongyu, is in charge of Morningstar's China business. All of his employees are from Mainland China and not a single one is from Baodao."

"Lin Yongyu was born in Zhejiang University and is the younger brother of Morningstar General Manager Yang Weiyi."

"Yang, Lin and Wei, these three people represent the important mainland factions within Morning Star."

"Morning Star is different from MediaTek. MediaTek fully relies on Taiwanese cadres in the Chinese market, while Morning Star's mainland faction has a very large say."

On the morning of September 10th, Liu Zonghong reported on his observations and summary of Morningstar Semiconductor.

Fang Zhuo listened while eating, and occasionally asked some small questions.

The information in Liu Zonghong's hands is very comprehensive, including information disclosed by Morningstar's listing, as well as summaries obtained from mainland manufacturers, and even evaluations from MediaTek, which can answer the boss's questions very well.

"Well, ask Xu Fei to follow up on this matter, and you'll keep an eye on it." Fang Zhuo was very satisfied with the secretary's work and ordered another administrative assistant to follow up on the observation of Morningstar's business.

Morningstar's products have been recognized by many manufacturers. This is a basic disk. Even if it is MediaTek, competition will not take effect immediately.

However, the financial turmoil will inevitably accelerate changes, and the Morningstar model, which uses both services and prices, will find it difficult to continue its current momentum.

If you want the morning star, you need some means and some patience.

What Fang Zhuo wants is a relatively complete Morning Star, and the mainland factions with the right to speak can help achieve the goal.

Liu Zonghong agreed. He felt that this was a test of his ability by his boss.

"Come to Xiangjiang, let's socialize." Fang Zhuo pushed away the bowls and chopsticks and stretched, "After all, the richest man in the mainland has landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange."

He also saw the media coverage.

Liu Zonghong knew about the invitations that fell like snowflakes in front of his boss. Although there seemed to be some friction with the rich people here in the past, there were still many people who wanted to meet Mr. Fang.

We entertained like this until eight o'clock in the morning on the 13th.

Fang Zhuo overlooked Victoria Harbor and suddenly received a message from his golf friend Austin.

In an hour, a discussion about Lehman Brothers will be held in the New York Fed conference room.

Attendees included Goldman Sachs' Blankfein, Merrill Lynch's Thain, Morgan's Mack, Chase's Dimon, Citigroup's Pandit, BNY Mellon's Kelly, as well as Credit Suisse's Dugan, BNP Paribas Bank's Schenck, Royal Bank of Scotland's Alemany and UBS's Wolff.

As well as US Treasury Paulson and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Cox.

"Stop making coffee and get me a Coke."

Fang Zhuo put down his phone and ordered his secretary.

Liu Zonghong was a little surprised. This was really not in line with the boss's habits.

Soon, Fang Zhuo was drinking Coke, overlooking Victoria Harbor, and heard the sound of a storm brewing in the distance.