Reinventing the Millennium

"Following the ITC's preliminary ruling that Yike infringed on two Nokia patents, on the morning of April 2, the ITC ruled that Apple also infringed on one of Nokia's key patents."

"Apple and Nokia launched appeals at the same time. The former insisted that there was no infringement, while the latter believed that Apple infringed on more than one patent."

"On the evening of Thursday, April 2, Apple's stock price fell 4.7%."

"If Nokia's demands are ultimately supported, Yike and Apple will become the second and third mobile phone manufacturers banned since the beginning of the year."

“Considering the litigation process between LG Electronics and Yike in the second half of last year, Motorola, which was newly sued this year, may also be following the ban on sales.”

"At the same time, even Nokia has to face the problem that LG and Motorola are facing: how to bypass Yike and Apple's patent layout on capacitive screens."

"In 2009, more and more mobile phone manufacturers are involved in what can be described as brutal patent wars. Winners such as Nokia may not necessarily win in the end, and losers such as Yike may not always lose."

"This also makes us reflect on why there is such a crazy situation in the obvious direction of mobile phone product progress, and whether the current patent-related laws are still imperfect."

Tick ​​tock.

In the office of the CEO of Yike America, Fang Zhuo clicked the mouse, closed the browser page, thought for a while, and said to his secretary Liu Zonghong: "This press release seems a bit too formal."

This is a press release sorting out this year’s patent competition among mobile phone manufacturers.

But it sounds too routine.

What Fang Zhuo wants is the kind of public opinion that can spread spontaneously.

Or, it would be fine if Summers, who is now in charge of NEC in the United States, read the draft himself. That would be because the character has his own weight, and the ordinary press releases interspersed with it are not very exciting.

Liu Zonghong remembered that the opinions of the general manager below needed to be conveyed to the two directions of lobbying leader Zhao Zhishan and the New York Economic Institute.

As the frequency of interaction between Yi Keduo and Kong Kong has decreased, the public opinion creation of patent trolls has been put at the forefront of the case again.

This is an all-round public opinion. Now the level of competition among manufacturers has become quite confusing. Basically all well-known manufacturers have lost their jobs. Each has its own camp, and there are also giants like Microsoft and Oracle. Different information appears almost every day.

Fang Zhuo has been working part-time on Twitter Fake News at fixed evening hours for the past two days. He has also seen the efforts of some media resources. Two companies that are fighting for power, including "Nokia" and "Eco", have been patented. rogue.

Being impartial is a fair life.

Another report manuscript popped up from the lower right corner of the computer.

Fang Zhuo couldn't stand it after reading the beginning.

"No matter how the long-short confrontation between Yike ends, Sina has become the biggest loser, with its stock price falling by more than 15% in three days."

He shook his head, clicked downwards, and sighed: "Sina is also disappointing. No wonder the stock pledges don't cost much. Banks are afraid that Sina's price will drop. It's really going to drop for you."

Liu Zonghong did not express his opinion. The financial market did not believe in tears, and Mr. Fang also did not believe in tears.

As long as Yike can win this time, everything will be fine in the future.

Fang Zhuo continued to quickly browse several report emails and gave some of his own thoughts and opinions in a targeted manner.

Just as today's public opinion work was about to end, Liu Zonghong received a call from lobby leader Zhao Zhishan, and then he immediately reported the emergency situation to Mr. Fang.

"Motorola suddenly held a press conference to accuse us of abusing patents!"

"They also said that we violated the SEP and FRAND principles and will sue us in federal court for patent abuse and alleged monopoly!"

Liu Zonghong recounted what had just happened, observed Mr. Fang's expression, and said, "The press conference is still in progress. I asked Mr. Zhao to send things related to SEP and FRAND principles."

Fang Zhuo waved his hand: "I know this. In our words, SEP is a standard essential patent matter. The principle is to follow the principles of fairness, reasonableness, and non-discrimination. There is no need for her to sort it out. The angle Motorola is looking for is also very innovative. , it’s worth learning from, and look for its press conference.”

Liu Zonghong didn't expect that his boss knew two professional terms. He muttered silently in his mind while using his notebook to search for Motorola's press conference.

This was a press conference hosted by Motorola's new CEO Sanjay Jha. There was no live broadcast on the TV channel. Only a personal account using the YouTube live broadcast function was found near the end.

Because all the explanations and prosecution decisions had been made, the press conference ended with an emotional outburst.

Sanjay Jha is the CEO of Motorola who jumped from Qualcomm. He used many emotionally strong words such as "shocked", "disappointed", "shameless" and "violated industry standards". By the way, he also expressed his determination to lead Motorola out of the predicament.

Fang Zhuo looked at this section and happily said to Liu Zonghong: "That's it. Sanjie's press conference was quite good."

Liu Zonghong knew that Yike was not afraid of lawsuits and this kind of press conference, but that the scene was not big enough or lively enough.

He reminded: "Mr. Fang, Sanjay had good communication with Google and us when he was at Qualcomm. He is so tough this time..."

"Maybe there is a certain element of performance, right? After all, not long after I arrived at Motorola, it was a mess, and the image is very important." Fang Zhuo nodded slightly, guessing what the secretary meant, "Let's get our work done first, Motorola Not urgent."

He thought for a while and said with emotion: "We also have a day when the defendant has a monopoly, which can be regarded as an achievement."

Because it anchored Nokia, a common opponent, the cooperation between Yike and Apple has really blocked key patents that are difficult to circumvent in a short period of time, forcing HTC's size to surrender, and Samsung's size to be conditionally interchangeable. With Nokia's size, it's important to strike first.

Motorola was busy with Blind Jiebao before, and being dragged into the battlefield this time was purely intentional by Yike.

Because this is a pure American company and the overlord of the previous version, which is very benchmarking.

Liu Zonghong recorded for a while his boss's experience in muddying the waters, and then helped Mr. Fang pour a cup of tea before leaving the office.

Public opinion discussions about "patent trolls" are gradually rising. This is not only related to the real market situation, but also something companies like Motorola, BlackBerry and Yike are happy to see and contribute to.

There is a confrontation between bulls and bears in the financial market, survival of the fittest in mobile phone competition, and intrigue on the battlefield of public opinion.

Let's make a mess, let's stir it up.

…

At the beginning of April, Yike's stock market continued to be unusually quiet at the end of last month. The stock price fluctuated around US$100 in the first two days. As the stock repurchase continued, the stock price completely stabilized above US$100. .

On Monday, April 6, Yike’s share price closed at US$105.13, with its market value exceeding US$30 billion.

Because of the iconic nature of such an integer, many media outlets observing the situation made similar headlines.

it's over?

Did the bears retreat?

Short-selling institutions are very quiet, the stock price has risen steadily, the market value has hit new highs, and even out-of-print machines are selling well through various channels.

Does this mean that Paulson and others are retreating?

A week is neither long nor short. The financial media are still paying attention to Yike's performance, and more media are attracted by various hot events in the world.

On Tuesday, April 7, there were only eight days left before Nasdaq disclosed its short position again.

At noon that day, Kong Yu came to see Mr. Fang and discussed the information obtained by the Chicago Horse Agency this month. The market value of 30 billion US dollars did have more appeal with the ITC ruling.

Also, he was very puzzled that the message sent by the ice core on the 3rd of this month did not seem to be captured by everyone.

From the 3rd to the 7th, for four days, there was no news.

Considering the position disclosure on the 15th, Kong Yu has been very patient.

"Is it possible that Goldman Sachs is too ethical this time?" Kong Yu was sitting in the office thinking about this matter. "Is it possible that Goldman Sachs is extra good this time and strictly keeps confidentiality because it charges us service fees for repurchasing stocks? .”

This time, Bingxin contacted Goldman Sachs personally from Fang Zhuo. When it came to the value of 10% of the shares, the other party agreed very well and would evaluate it as soon as possible or help find investors.

Because Goldman Sachs itself is a shareholder, such contact is natural.

Fang Zhuo thought for a while: "Could it be that Goldman Sachs is still keeping this information strictly confidential, but the reason for keeping it secret is that it wants to eat a big one?"

Kong Yu: "..."

After eating the service fees, you will also eat the profits from short selling.

Apart from thinking that Goldman Sachs is too malicious, it is quite consistent with the current situation.

Kong Yu immediately said: "Then contact other companies immediately. Whether Goldman Sachs wants to do short selling maliciously, it is really tight-lipped. Our time is very tight."

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly and agreed to the Gasoline Man's arrangement.

He added: "We are not afraid of malicious short-selling now, but we are afraid of malicious short-selling. If Goldman Sachs really joins in, I am afraid that the appetite will not be small, and the positions may have been filled by now."

However, this is difficult to confirm.

Goldman Sachs has hedge funds, but hedge funds are only required to disclose major positions according to regulations. People like Paulson and Andrew who proactively disclose the amount of Yike's short positions do so to hit the stock price.

However, that kind of behavior is just a taste.

Hedge funds are engaged in put options and related financial derivatives, which can be exercised in advance in the United States. They are all waiting for the final ruling of the ITC. At that time, in addition to options, they will desperately try to sell Yike in the secondary market. share price.

Just when Kong Yu was about to leave the office, the landline phone rang rapidly.

Kong Yu stopped and saw his boss's face became obviously serious as the call progressed.

Soon, he learned the latest news.

At 1 o'clock in the afternoon on April 7, Verizon, one of the four major telecommunications operators in the United States, announced that in order to protect consumer rights, it would remove two Yiko Mars1 and Mars2 mobile phones from its shelves.

There is no doubt that this news is very important and powerful.

In the afternoon, Yike's stock price fell 6% to close at 98.7 US dollars, falling below the 100 mark. The 30 billion market value just acquired disappeared in less than a day.

Verizon had previously shown signs of joining forces with Samsung, which Fang Zhuo considered to be an unreliable partner.

However, neither he nor Yu Hong nor anyone else expected Verizon to strike so decisively.

The ITC only made a preliminary ruling, and even before the final ruling and the two-month implementation period, Verizon removed the product from sales channels on the grounds of protecting consumer rights, shaking the confidence of the financial market and the mobile phone market.

Fang Zhuo started holding an emergency meeting as soon as he received the call. He did not immediately contact Verizon, which did not say hello, but contacted his hardcore ally T-Mobile to ensure that it was not shaken.

To say that the Iron Triangle is worthy of being the Iron Triangle, it did not lose its chain at the critical moment.

T-Mobile once again reiterated the basis of cooperation between the two parties and will not remove products from the shelves in advance like Verizon did. However, it also said that it will only abide by relevant regulations on the last day.

Fang Zhuo expressed his understanding and gratitude for this.

At the same time, it is confirmed that T-Mobile will announce a new cooperation strategy tonight. This year’s latest generation of Mars will have more discounts than the previous two years, which will attract more customers to the operator.

After confirming the cooperation with T-Mobile, Fang Zhuo contacted AT\u0026T, but AT\u0026T's attitude was ambiguous. It owned Apple and was willing to take another look at the development of the incident, and also wanted to wait for new conditions from Yike.

Fang Zhuo also expressed his understanding and welcomed further negotiations and contacts between the two parties.

From afternoon to evening, Yike, which had lost important channel partners, officially released news on its official website after T-Mobile announced greater cooperation - this year's Yike press conference will be advanced to May 10. A range of products named "Selfy" will be launched.

The word Selfy was first used by Fang Zhuo when he took a selfie, and then spread on the Internet. It has fully represented the meaning of "selfie" and was registered as a brand by Yike.

This year, Yike will release two mobile phone products, the third generation Mars and the first generation Selfy.

Many things were arranged and executed urgently.

Fang Zhuo’s last call was to Google CEO Schmidt.

As a result, the call didn't go through.

Fang Zhuo felt that this action from Verizon was probably due to the internal competition in the Android camp. He thought that Schmidt might be able to mediate it a little, just by delaying it, but...

To say that the Iron Triangle is worthy of being the Iron Triangle, it is not surprising that the chain will fall off at critical moments.

On April 8, Yike's stock opened, and it was still on a downward trend. This time it was obvious that the confidence of ordinary investors had been hit.

The main force took orders and ultimately maintained the stock price at around US$95.

In addition to some concerns about the risks in the next week, the financing costs of Simple Yike Company and Fangzhuo have actually decreased.

However, that night, Paulson, who had been silent for a long time, knocked on Rich's Fangzhuo on Twitter.

"I heard that someone is selling shares of his semiconductor company? Is this also false news?"

Fang Zhuo didn't reply.

Paulson teased again: "I'm quite optimistic about your ice core. Are you willing to sell me the 10% share?"

Fang Zhuo still didn't reply.

Paulson himself lamented: "We will soon witness the fall of a dark horse in the mobile phone industry."

Fang Zhuo remained silent.

Paulson is still very rich, and I am afraid that eating it just once may not necessarily witness his downfall.

There is not much time until the middle of the month, and it will be soon before returning to China. I hope to face Paulson again in Shanghai by then.