[Chapter 482: There's a Stubbornness Called Motorola]
Tesla's Model B101 was ready for production. However, the capacity of the two new factories was indeed limited. Even if they didn't want to engage in hunger marketing, there was little they could do about it.
Although there was a flexible assembly line, changing the model was a big deal. Not only would capacity decrease, but quality could also decline. Nonetheless, this was Tesla's established strategy, which was not up for debate.
Faced with a boss who was set in his ways, the factory workers felt helpless. They were working hard, and production was steadily increasing. A sudden change in model made it difficult for them to adapt.
But the boss was the boss. If you didn't accept the changes, you would be let go immediately.
William White didn't see himself as stubborn. Employees had their own opinions, and the marketing department had theirs. In his view, the marketing department's ideas should take priority.
No matter how great your car was, it needed buyers. If you didn't produce other models soon, your image would become fixed in the minds of consumers. They knew your compact car was good, but, well, Tesla didn't have a midsize vehicle at all.
This was the marketing department's biggest worry, and it was something William White cared about deeply. So even if the advertising budget didn't seem cost-effective, he still decided on promotion. He needed target customers to know that he could produce not just compact cars but larger ones too.
...
"Sir, the new flip phone is selling like hotcakes. At this rate, a million units won't meet market demand."
"Ha, mainly because it's cheap. Are those carriers offering any deals? The call rates are still a bit steep."
"They're really pushing this time; the biggest one is planning to subsidize $500. Right now, production capacity is a major issue. They clearly don't have enough machines to sell."
"Dang, what's going on at the factory? At this rate, we still need OEM."
"Sir, looks like that's the only way."
"This bunch of old sticks, I've been saying we need to expand capacity, and here we are again."
Motorola's mobile division was chaotic. Phones were selling wildly, but the factory couldn't ramp up production quickly enough, leaving a horde of carriers frustrated. Some were even just waiting at the factory. As soon as a unit came off the assembly line, they would pay cash immediately.
...
"Sir, the billionaire seems quite upset and is already looking for OEM manufacturers. This time, he really overstepped and completely ignored the board."
"Ha, even if his shares don't give him a controlling stake, most of the voting power is in his hands, though he hasn't exercised that power before."
"I really don't understand how Motorola agreed to such ridiculous terms in the first place."
The old man smiled without answering. Ridiculous? Maybe, but it brought benefits to the shareholders. Hundreds of millions of dollars in business were being done effortlessly.
...
Meanwhile, there was fierce arguing among Motorola's upper management. The CPU department was like this, and so was the communications department. This incident was too embarrassing; what they deemed worthless was thriving in someone else's hands, and it was pretty darn awkward.
They had halted the subsequent architecture development for the CPU yet still managed to produce the 6890 chip. Besides being a bit power-hungry and hot, it performed comparably to Intel's 80486.
Fine, this might have been the chip department's last PC product as they had fully transitioned. The focus was now on industrial CPUs.
Though their products were inferior to Intel's, they were certainly more profitable, operating on a completely different profit margin.
The mobile phones were even funnier. The Motorola brand was quickly dominating the global market, leaving all competitors in despair. But the control wasn't in their hands.
Now, the rich guy wanted to increase production, but they disagreed. Since they still had an overlap in upcoming digital systems research, William White wasn't too pushy.
It seemed they had erred again. Phones were simply not enough to sell. What kind of boneheaded move was that?
Now the billionaire was furious and ready to throw reason out the window. Since they couldn't produce, he might as well go straight to OEM.
This time, though, he wouldn't even give them a heads-up.
While the old-timers were angry, they had to admit that the current situation was indeed brought about by their decisions. All the customers lining up at the factory were waving crisp green bills.
Facing off with William White could lead to a complete split.
Well, that was certainly an option. As long as they paid a hefty breakup fee, William White wouldn't necessarily refuse.
And then what? Did they really think leaving Motorola would mean they stopped producing phones?
The hot-selling flip phone was developed by him, after all. Motorola's design department hadn't played a significant role.
This realization left them particularly speechless; William White had separated the design from the phone itself. That gorgeous device was designed by Europeans.
Phones had become more than communication tools; they were now akin to fashion statements, with fewer people caring about their primary function.
William White was already famed as a marketing mastermind. It was widely believed that the OEM strategy was part of his grand design, and they were merely collateral damage.
...
William White found their thoughts amusing. Initially, he hadn't fully understood how to produce a phone, which led him to choose a partner. If he had known it would turn out this way, he likely would have ventured out on his own much sooner.
To him, there seemed to be an abundance of old fogies at Motorola. It was hard to imagine that a high-tech company could house so many antiquated thinkers. Ironically, this bunch had produced some great inventions.
While they hadn't developed either the pager or the cellphone, they did produce the first commercial product. Just that foresight alone surely accounted for something significant.
"Filson, they aren't blowing up over there, are they?" William White raised an eyebrow with a mischievous smile.
William White's tease caused Filson to smile wryly. "Not just mad; they nearly flipped the table. Sir, while they might be unhappy, they'll definitely agree."
"This group of old fuddyduddies... what about the satellite phones? Have they found a way to lower the call costs?"
"Sir, they seem optimistic about the current rates."
"Optimistic? Even I wince at the prices, and they think it's optimistic? Ugh, never mind; guess it's not my problem."
While mobile phones sold well, Motorola insisted that satellite phones had greater operational room. The cost of cellular tower infrastructure was steep, and upgrading digital communications would be another heavy expense in the future.
Satellite communication was great, except for one hassle: you had to be under the sky to make calls. As for William White's warning about lightning strikes, they brushed it off, thinking, "Can't you just install an external antenna?"
*****
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