sbdcsierra Chapter 421 The Concept of Smartphones
Chapter 421 The Concept of Smartphones
Ling Yun sat in his study; it was already dark outside. On the table sat a white iPod, the latest model sent to him by Steve Jobs. Next to it was a silver-gray Spark M2. He picked up the iPod, ran his finger along the scroll wheel, and the menus on the screen scrolled. He put the iPod down and picked up the Spark M2. The M2's buttons were arranged in a row, clicking smoothly, and felt good to the touch, but compared to the iPod's scroll wheel, it always felt like something was missing.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. An image flashed through his mind—a device a size larger than an iPod, its front almost entirely a screen. He could tap, swipe, pinch, and zoom with his fingers. No scroll wheel, no buttons. The screen itself was the interface. He could make calls, browse the internet, listen to music, watch videos, take photos, and navigate. All these functions were packed into this palm-sized device.
He opened his eyes, picked up a pen from the table, pulled out a sheet of white paper, and began to draw. He drew a rectangle, about the size of his palm. The front was a screen, almost borderless from top to bottom and left to right. Below the screen was a round button, like the scroll wheel on an iPod, but smaller. The back was silver metal, with a small hole in the upper left corner for the camera. There were several buttons on the side: volume, mute, and power.
He wrote a few words next to it: touch screen, mobile operating system, app store, mobile chip.
He finished drawing, put down his pen, and looked at the sketch. If someone else had also traveled from another time, they would immediately recognize it as a copy of the iPhone 4. Unfortunately, apart from Ling Yun, no one knew that in this timeline, Ling Yun was the original creator.
He picked up the phone and dialed Chen Lingling's number. "Notify all core executives that there will be a strategic seminar tomorrow afternoon."
After hanging up the phone, he folded the sketch and tucked it into his notebook. He knew that the launch event, that thing called the iPhone, would shock the world a few years later. But this time, Xinghuo wouldn't just be a spectator.
The next afternoon, a strategic seminar was held. A dozen or so people sat in the conference room. Ling Yun stood in front of the whiteboard, pasted the sketch onto it, and secured it with magnetic pins.
"In the next decade, the center of personal computing will shift from PCs to mobile phones. Not the kind of mobile phones we have now, but smartphones. They will be able to access the internet, install apps, take photos, navigate, and do most of the things that computers can do, because of the powerful computing capabilities of CPUs. Mobile phone systems will no longer be single-process. Whoever masters the core technologies of mobile phones will dominate the next era."
He looked around. "What Xinghuo is going to make is this phone; it's called StarPhone."
No one spoke in the meeting room; everyone stared at the sketch. Ling Yun handed a pen to Li Mo.
"Li Mo, you're in charge of the mobile chip. ARM architecture, low power consumption, high performance, integrated CPU, GPU, and baseband interface. Codename: 'Star Core'."
Li Mo took the pen, drew a circle on the sketch, encircling the four words "mobile chip", and wrote "star core".
Ni Guangnan raised his hand. "We don't have baseband chips. Spreadtrum is still working on it."
Ling Yun said, "We're walking on two legs. On one hand, we're collaborating with Spreadtrum, and on the other hand, we're developing our own technology. Baseband is an unavoidable hurdle; we have to master it ourselves."
Wang Jianguo raised his hand. "What about the operating system?"
Lingyun said, "Spark OS. It's based on the Spark desktop kernel, but the interaction logic needs to be redesigned. Touch priority, power consumption priority, you do it."
Chen Zhongming raised his hand. "The supply chain. Screens, touchscreens, batteries, cameras, structural components—everything has to be custom-made. When the quantity is small, suppliers may not be willing to take the order."
Ling Yun said, "Then raise the unit price and use money to pressure them into taking the job. Keep doing it until they're willing to accept it."
The meeting lasted four hours. Every task was assigned, and every deadline was set. After the meeting, Ling Yun remained in the conference room, staring at the sketch on the whiteboard. It was surrounded by densely written words—chip, OS, screen, touchscreen, battery, camera, baseband, app store. Each word represented a mountain.
He picked up a pen and wrote a line below the sketch: StarPhone, target launch in 2004.
He finished writing and put down his pen. He knew this mountain was very high. But Xinghuo had already crossed many mountains. This one wouldn't be much more.
Ni Guangnan raised his hand, "President Ling, can mobile chips and PC chips share the same architecture?"
Ling Yun said, "Yes, they can. They're both based on the ARM architecture. But mobile chips have higher requirements for power consumption and integration. The baseband, GPU, ISP, and DSP all need to be integrated into a single SoC. The design concepts are different, but the fundamentals are the same. Our experience with ARM can be used."
Li Mo asked, "What about the operating system? Can the Spark System be used directly on a mobile phone?"
Ling Yun said, "No. The interaction logic of desktop systems is completely different from that of mobile phones. A mouse and keyboard are two different things from a touch screen. We need to redesign a mobile operating system based on the Spark system kernel. The code name will be 'Spark OS'."
Wang Jianguo raised his hand. "What about the screen? Current mainstream phone screens are only about two inches, with very low resolution. If you want to make this kind of large screen, can the supply chain keep up?"
Ling Yun said, "Xinvino's OLED production line is running smoothly, and they can produce small-sized, high-resolution screens. For touch screens, Fingerworks' multi-touch technology is accelerating its commercialization. The supply chain is not the problem; the problem is that we need to plan ahead and define our technology roadmap."
Chen Zhongming asked, "What about the baseband chip? We don't have it."
Ling Yun was silent for a few seconds. "Baseband chips are our weakness. Spreadtrum is working on TD-SCDMA, and we can invest and cooperate. But in the long run, we must develop our own."
After looking around, he finally said, "Establish the 'Spark Mobile Business Unit,' with myself in charge and Li Mo as the technical lead. Four things will start simultaneously. First, mobile chips: design a low-power, high-performance SoC based on the ARM architecture, codenamed 'Star Core.' Second, mobile operating system: redesign based on the Spark system kernel, codenamed 'Spark OS.' Third, touch screen technology: accelerate the commercialization of Fingerworks' multi-touch technology while supporting the domestic supply chain. Fourth, application ecosystem: establish a mobile application store in advance, and start designing developer tools, review mechanisms, and revenue-sharing strategies now."
A few seconds of silence filled the conference room. Then Ni Guangnan said, "President Ling, each of these four matters is a tough battle. Do we have enough manpower to fight four battles simultaneously?"
Ling Yun said, "If we don't have enough, we'll hire more. Money isn't the problem; talent is."
After the meeting, Li Mo stayed behind. He walked over to Ling Yun and whispered, "Mr. Ling, regarding the baseband chip, I went to Spreadtrum last week. Their TD-SCDMA chip is progressing well, but for WCDMA, Qualcomm has built a very tight patent wall. Even if we develop it, it will be very difficult to bypass it."
Ling Yun looked at him. "What are your thoughts?"
"I was thinking, could we try a different approach? Let's skip the roundabout way and just buy it. Let's find a company that owns core WCDMA patents but is poorly managed, and acquire it. That way, we'll have both the patents and the team."
Ling Yun thought for a moment. "Do you have a goal?"
Li Mo pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and revealed several names written on it. "I've narrowed it down to three. One is in Finland, one in Israel, and one in the United States. The Finnish one is the most valuable; they have a group of engineers who came from Nokia in its early days and hold dozens of fundamental WCDMA patents. But their financial situation is very poor; they almost went bankrupt last year."
Ling Yun took the paper and read it through. "Finland. Contact them and sound them out."
Li Mo nodded, turned, and left. Ling Yun looked at the name on the paper and suddenly recalled the scene years ago when he acquired Alienware in Silicon Valley. Back then, Nelson and Alex were also at their wits' end, with only a prototype and a mountain of debt. Now, Alienware is the benchmark for high-end gaming laptops worldwide.
Baseband chips might be able to replicate this approach.