[Chapter 530: Dimensional Strike]
The Japanese people certainly couldn't keep up. Unless some unexpected factors came into play, they would need at least twenty years. The economy might recover, but restoring people's confidence wasn't that easy.
Accompanying the box office success of GoldenEye was the explosive sales of new mobile phones. When placed next to that big brick, you'd notice that the phone's size had shrunk by three-quarters. The standby time had even reached eight hours.
Well, when it came to call quality and such, you shouldn't stress too much. If it could be just a bit stronger, that already came at a huge cost.
Due to outsourcing to Japan and Taiwan, Motorola's capacity issues, which had long plagued them, finally ceased to be a problem.
This new phone, named StarTAC, swept through the entire mobile phone industry. Forget Korea; even several European brands were easily choked out.
[T/N: The phone was originally named T168, symbolically represent "a smooth path to prosperity" in Chinese.]
"Can anyone tell me why there's such a huge gap?" Lee Kun-hee was furious. Forget about their current products; even those still on the drawing board couldn't compare.
"Chairman, this phone is too small. Our existing components simply can't be used."
"Then just go buy it. This phone isn't made in the U.S. If Japan can produce it in bulk, you guys are telling me we can't?"
"Okay, Chairman, we'll purchase it right away. Should we pause the phone design project?"
"Pause what? Cancel the plan immediately! We produce electronics, not antiques."
The underling left obediently, but Lee Kun-hee remained frustrated. He simply couldn't understand why Motorola's R&D strength was so formidable.
What he didn't know was that several European companies had completely given up the competition in analog phones. To them, Motorola had already reached the peak, and continuing to spend on this project was a complete waste.
...
"How's it going, Filson? Are the old-timers bothering you anymore?"
"Heh, they were scared off by this week's sales data. Six hundred thousand phones sold -- that's an astonishing figure."
"Unfortunately, I didn't expect to produce this phone this early. Even opening molds in the factory isn't cheap."
"I think they've realized their mistake, and they'll be more obedient for a while now."
"Yeah, speed up the development of digital phones. This is the last analog model; it might just see minor updates."
The prematurely launched new phone formed a crushing trend. The most shocking part was that the price dropped below $1,500.
Some more adventurous carriers even pushed the price down to $999. Of course, with such low pricing, the monthly communication fees couldn't be cheap.
Mobile communications had evolved to the point where it was no longer a small business. Forget about the phones; even those transmission towers and equipment were astronomical expenses.
In hindsight, that once-mentioned ten million users wasn't a fantastical dream. Forget the global market; just in the U.S. alone, there could easily be ten million users.
If their thoughts were known to William White, they would definitely get a scornful look.
A ridiculous ten million -- if the U.S. had less than 100 million users, it wouldn't even be worth William White's time.
...
"Sir, Motorola's stock has risen for a week straight. It seems we misjudged the market size."
"Heh, misjudged? I think not. At the very least, William White didn't misjudge anything. To create that much buzz over a mobile standard? Wow."
"If we had known it would be like this, we wouldn't have agreed."
"Hah, are you kidding? Did we have a choice? Since he acquired Bell Labs, the negotiating power shifted. I'm sure our European friends are furious."
The old man's judgment was pretty solid. After all, for big M, the communications industry wasn't an unfamiliar terrain. The current little Bells had some connection to them, one way or another.
...
Meanwhile, a group of Wall Street elites was helping William White calculate the figures.
Damn, in just a week, it was hundreds of thousands of units sold. Roughly calculating, a million a year didn't seem unrealistic, right?
Holy cow, even at $1,000 a phone, that meant a hundred billion business annually.
What? What if they can't sell them later?
People who raised such a question were usually looked down upon. Don't you know when the last James Bond film came out?
This meant that this new phone had already been finalized a year ago. Back then, the streets were still filled with big bricks.
Holy smokes, this telecom company could go public. Even if they went public now, the valuation wouldn't be low.
Wow, William White scored another bargain, just like with that CPU department. It was practically a steal.
...
Onlookers could think this way because of information asymmetry. Motorola's board members wouldn't. Facing William White, they definitely lacked confidence. Besides, if they really ticked off that hot-headed guy, Motorola would suddenly find itself with an unnecessary competitor.
So, regarding William White's arrogance, the board chose to ignore it. As long as he brought them benefits, the rest didn't really matter.
In fact, they deeply regretted it. This phone was essentially a forced early launch, and the losses could only be measured in billions.
Of course, there were still plenty of stubborn folks around; they just didn't dare to say it to his face.
William White and Motorola's partnership puzzled many. Logically, it made no sense; he didn't lack research power or funds.
However, things weren't that simple. Making a phone wasn't a walk in the park. Especially this analog model, just a single RF engineering module was enough to give William White a headache.
William White knew his business. If he was playing in the smartphone arena, he'd definitely be a front-runner.
Analog phones?
Heh, in his mind, they were basically antiques.
William White decided that for the next generation of phones, they had to support multiple languages. If there was a texting feature, it couldn't be limited to just English; he couldn't afford to fall behind and needed to prepare ahead.
Using the ultimate version of the phone to penetrate the market indeed broke a balance. Before this, Motorola's market share was above 80%, but there were still other competitors.
As for now?
Heh, they were really gone. Unless someone was particularly sentimental, there was probably only this single brand left.
*****
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