Tech Giants: Starting from Bankrupt Companies

212: Chapter 212 The ”Declaration of War” of the Seven-Day FeastOn the afternoon of April 23, three strangers appeared at Xingchen Military Industry.

The first: Hypersonic missile expert, Gu Xinghe, 58 years old, former chief designer at a research institute of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, ’retired’ three months ago.

The second: Drone system expert, Wang Yunfei, 52 years old, former deputy director of the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group drone institute, ’resigned’ two months ago.

The third: Robotics expert, Li Zhenhua, 49 years old, former researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation, ’jumped ship’ one month ago.

They all brought their complete teams and signed the highest-level confidentiality agreements.

When Chen Feng received them, he sighed with emotion: ’President Su is truly far-sighted; he had already stockpiled this talent.’

He did not know that these three were ’rewards’ from the system, and in the system’s settings, they ’had long been recruited by Spark Technology and had been secretly conducting research and development.’

The technical handover only took three days.

On April 27, the three research institutes were officially established.

Deep in the Gobi Desert, a new laboratory began construction.

And the first ’Jinwu-1’ prototype missile had already started producing parts.

April 28, 9:00 AM, Shenzhen.

On the 38th floor of the Spark Technology building, the strategic conference room, which could hold a hundred people, was packed.

All subsidiary CEOs, core executives, and technical leads were present.

Su Chen stood on the podium with a large screen behind him.

’Everyone, you are all here,’ he began. ’I have called everyone here today for only one thing: to announce the ”Spark-Xingchen 2018 Technology Innovation Conference”.’

The large screen lit up, and the poster appeared.

The design was highly impactful: on the left were the nanowires of a chip, looking like a golden galaxy under an electron microscope; on the right was a rocket launching, its tail flame cutting through the darkness; in the middle, they were connected by a DNA double helix, symbolizing everything from microns to space, from code to life.

Theme: ’From Microns to Space, From Code to Life.’

Date: May 1st - 7th.

Location: Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center (Halls 1-5 fully booked).

’Seven days, seven press conferences, seven fields.’ Su Chen switched the page. ’The schedule.’

Date | Theme | Product Launch | Highlights

5.1 | Consumer Electronics | Huaxing HX2 phone, new drone, smart VR glasses, 360° panoramic camera | AI photography, 8K video.

5.2 | Power Battery | Solid-state battery mass production, super fast charging (15 minutes to full), vehicle-grade battery pack | 1200km range, safe without fire, third-generation three-electric system.

5.3 | Red Flag Automobile | H7 high-end sedan, X2 performance SUV, L4 autonomous driving, Xingchen car | Benchmarking Mercedes-Benz S-Class, 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds.

5.4 | Materials + Military Industry | New generation composite materials, dual-use technology | Lightweight, high strength, stealth coating.

5.5 | chip | 16nm ’Flint 2’ mass production, 14nm ’Flint 3’ official release, 7nm/5nm roadmap | 95% yield, performance surpassing Intel.

5.6 | Spark Industry | High-end screen, industrial robot, precision machine tool, LiDAR, mobile phone camera module | Domestic substitution, intelligent manufacturing.

5.7 | Grand Finale | Xingchen Heavy Industry + Xingchen Electric: Super engineering equipment | 5000-ton press, intelligent factory solutions, precision machine tool.

At the end of the schedule, there was a striking line of red text:

’All press conferences will accept global orders on-site. Prices, specifications, and delivery times will all be public. For more surprises, please watch the live press conferences. Global simultaneous live streaming, supporting 28 languages.’

Whispers broke out in the conference room.

Seven press conferences in seven days, covering consumer electronics, new energy, automobiles, materials, chips, equipment, and construction machinery...

This was an unprecedentedly dense release schedule.

’President Su, won’t this be... too dense?’ Spark Electronics CEO Zhang Yang asked cautiously. ’Every press conference requires careful preparation. Running them for seven consecutive days will exhaust the team.’

’That is why, starting now, all teams are entering ”wartime status”,’ Su Chen said. ’Eat and sleep at the company, work in three shifts, and prepare with all your might. Overtime pay will be tripled, and upon completion, bonuses for everyone will be doubled.’

He scanned the room: ’I know it’s difficult. But we must do this. Why?’

He pulled up a summary of external news:

The Wall Street Journal: ’America considers adding Huawei to the entity list.’

Financial Times: ’Japan and South Korea follow America in reviewing Xingchen technology exports.’

Nikkei News: ’Japan Semiconductor Association calls for restrictions on equipment exports to China.’

’The knife of sanctions has already fallen,’ Su Chen raised his voice. ’We cannot always be on the receiving end of attacks. We must fight back and show our strength—let everyone see that sanctions are useless against us and will only make us stronger.’

’These seven days are not ordinary press conferences; they are the Shangganling of technology. We will use products, technology, and strength to tell the world: Chinese technology has stood up.’

Applause broke out.

At first it was sporadic, then it spread throughout the room.

All the executives stood up.

They understood: this was a battle, a battle that could not be lost.

One hour after the press conference schedule was announced, the global tech world was shaken.

Silicon Valley, America, Apple headquarters.

CEO Tim Cook looked at the schedule in his office, his face grim.

’May 1st, Huaxing HX2...’ he muttered. ’Our iPhone X is scheduled for September, but if the HX2’s specs are really as rumored...’

The assistant said cautiously: ’Rumors say the HX2 is equipped with a 14nm chip, AI photography, 8K video... and holographic interaction features.’

’Holographic interaction?’ Cook frowned. ’How did they achieve that?’

’Not sure. But Spark has made breakthroughs in display technology; it might be related to their screens.’

Cook was silent for a moment: ’Adjust our press conference time. The spring conference originally planned for May will be postponed to June. We cannot clash with Huaxing.’

’But it has already been officially announced...’

’Find an excuse, just say the product needs more polishing,’ Cook said. ’We cannot go head-to-head with Spark while they are in the spotlight.’

Detroit, General Motors headquarters.

CEO Mary Barra was holding an emergency meeting.

’Red Flag H7, benchmarking the Mercedes-Benz S-Class,’ she pointed to the screen. ’And L4 autonomous driving. If this is true, what will happen to our Cadillac CT6?’

The technical director pulled up the data: ’Judging from Red Flag’s previous E-MINI and H8, their three-electric technology is indeed leading. Plus, Spark has self-developed chips and AI, which gives them an advantage in autonomous driving.’

’Buy plane tickets,’ Mary said. ’I’m going to Shenzhen to see it for myself. The technical team is coming too, bring the testing equipment.’

’But the visa...’

’Get it expedited. This is a strategic-level threat and must be taken seriously.’

New York, Wall Street.

Goldman Sachs analysts urgently released a report:

’Xingchen Seven-Day Conference: A Grand Review of Full Industrial Chain Capabilities.’

Summary:

’If these seven conferences from Xingchen are all delivered, they will form a comprehensive crushing blow to all their competitors. Consumer electronics (Apple, Samsung), automobiles (Tesla, traditional automakers), chips (Intel, TSMC), equipment (Siemens, General Electric)... all tracks will face impact.’

’Recommendation: Short relevant sectors in the short term, and pay attention to Xingchen ecosystem investment opportunities in the long term.’

After the report was released, Apple’s stock fell 2%, Tesla fell 3%, and Intel fell 1.5%.

Panic was spreading.

Tokyo, Toyota headquarters.

President Akio Toyoda smashed his cup.

’They were making cheap electric cars a year ago, and now they are releasing L4 autonomous driving? And they want to make heavy trucks?’ he roared. ’This is impossible!’

The technical director lowered his head: ’President, the intelligence we received shows that Spark has indeed made breakthroughs in AI and chips. Moreover, they are deeply cooperating with China’s BeiDou system, and the high-precision map data is very complete.’

’Then speed up our autonomous driving project!’ Akio Toyoda said. ’Double the budget, halve the time! We cannot lose to the Chinese!’