129: Chapter 129 Sanctions Descend, the Curtain Rises!

Yu Chengdong's voice dissipated in the conference room.

No one replied.

The air froze.

Everyone could hear their own breathing.

Giving up profits is equivalent to giving up the future.

Not giving up is equivalent to dying right now.

This was a multiple-choice question with no answer.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun's hand, placed on the table, opened its five fingers, then slowly closed them.

He let out a long breath and stood up.

He walked step by step toward Guan Yi, who was by the conference table.

Guan Yi pulled an agreement from a stack of documents.

The agreement was pushed in front of Lei Jun.

A pen was placed beside it.

Lei Jun picked up the pen.

The tip of the pen hovered over the paper, pausing for several seconds.

It fell.

Scratch.

The pen tip glided across the paper.

Two characters, written very slowly.

After finishing, he put the pen down.

The pen made a light sound as it touched the tabletop.

Lei Jun looked at the name on the contract and stood for a long time.

Guan Yi reached out, took back the contract, and put it into a folder.

Lei Jun turned and walked back to his seat.

He leaned back against the chair.

Looking at the lights on the ceiling.

The first person had fallen.

The second, the third...

The person in charge of OV stood up.

He did not have the struggle that Lei Jun had.

He walked straight forward, picked up the pen, and signed.

He put down the pen and turned around.

The whole process took less than a minute.

Next was ZTE.

Then the other second-tier manufacturers.

They stood in a line.

One after another.

Stepping forward, signing, leaving.

There were only the sounds of footsteps and the pen tip gliding across paper in the conference room.

This scene was somewhat familiar.

More than a century ago, there had been a similar scene on this land.

Only today, the one sitting in the dominant position was one of their own.

The folder in front of Guan Yi was getting thicker and thicker.

She put the last signed contract into the folder.

The folder was organized and placed in Chen Xu's original position.

From today on, the rules of the Chinese mobile phone market had changed.

There would be no more chaos.

Only one voice.

A new order where Star Technology set the rules, controlled the core technology, and distributed the core profits.

The door to the conference room was pushed open.

Chen Xu walked in.

He glanced at the thick folder on the table.

Then, his gaze fell on the faces of those "new allies."

On their faces, humiliation and unwillingness still remained.

"Everyone."

Chen Xu spoke.

His voice made everyone look up.

"This is not an unequal treaty."

His words caused some people to show mocking expressions.

"But a covenant to stand united against the outside world."

Chen Xu continued.

"From now on, we have only one opponent."

He paused for a moment.

"Fruit Group."

These three words changed the atmosphere in the conference room.

The sense of humiliation was replaced by another emotion.

A sense of mission, forced together to face an external enemy.

"Your brands, your channels, your manufacturing capabilities are all precious assets."

Chen Xu walked to the screen.

"Xingchen ecosystem needs these."

"I need everyone, together with me, to pull Apple down from the throne of the world's number one."

His words ignited a fire in the hearts of some people present.

Especially Huawei's Yu Chengdong.

His goal all along had been to surpass Apple.

"I announce."

Chen Xu's voice raised.

"Effective immediately, the 'Chinese Smart Terminal Ecosystem Alliance' is established."

"Star Technology will provide full core technical support."

"Each alliance member will leverage their own manufacturing and channel advantages to jointly develop the global market."

He gave a specific goal.

"Within three years, compress Fruit Group's global market share to below ten percent."

This goal shocked everyone.

This was a crazy goal.

But combined with the terrifying strength of "Kunlun" and "Zhoutian OS," it did not seem impossible.

The conference room, which had just been dead silent, began to show a trace of vitality.

Some people started to discuss the feasibility of this goal in low voices.

Light reappeared in some people's eyes.

They saw another possibility.

Although they lost software profits, if they could use Xingchen's technology to achieve top global sales, the increase in hardware profits and brand value might compensate for the losses.

Just as everyone's emotions began to rise.

The phone Guan Yi placed on the table lit up and let out a harsh buzzing sound.

All discussions in the conference room stopped abruptly.

Everyone looked at Guan Yi.

Guan Yi picked up the phone.

Her fingers swiped across the screen.

She only took one look.

Her expression became very ugly.

She looked up at Chen Xu.

"Boss."

Guan Yi's voice carried a weight never seen before.

"The United States Department of Commerce has just issued an emergency announcement."

She walked to the master console and connected her phone.

The content of the phone screen was projected onto the main screen of the conference room.

It was a screenshot of an official announcement webpage.

Red title, black text.

[Announcement on Implementing Emergency Export Controls on Star Technology and its Technical Alliance]

On the screen was dense English text.

Guan Yi scrolled directly to the most critical part.

A paragraph of text marked with a red box.

[In view of Star Technology's malicious technical monopoly behavior, as well as coercing peers to form an illegal technical alliance, which seriously endangers the fairness and security of the global technology industry chain. It is hereby decided to list Star Technology, as well as all partners who have joined its technical ecosystem, into the highest level of the 'Entity List'.]

[Any enterprise or individual that provides any parts, software, or services containing United States technology to the entities listed in this list will face sanctions of the same level.]

The content of the announcement made every big shot at the scene feel a bit dazed.

This meant that it was not just Star Technology.

Huawei, Xiaomi, OV, ZTE... all the manufacturers who had just signed their names on the agreement had their global supply chains cut off.

Their screens came from Samsung, but the driver chips contained United States technology.

Their memory came from Hynix, but the controller patents could not bypass the United States.

Their radio frequency chips, their camera sensors, their charging management chips...

Everything was over.

The factories would have to stop production tomorrow.

The big shots, who had just had a glimmer of hope and were ready to make a big move.

The color drained from their faces.

Someone leaned back, hitting the back of the chair, making a dull sound.

Someone's cup slipped from their hand, fell onto the carpet, did not break, but water spilled everywhere.

Together, they slowly turned their heads.

With questioning gazes, they looked at Chen Xu.

In the conference room, there was only the light projected by the announcement.

Chen Xu stood in the light and shadow.

Looking at the sanction terms on the screen, looking at those terrified faces.

He picked up his tea that had already gone cold and took a sip.

Then, he looked at everyone, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Everyone."

"Welcome to the real war."