Chapter 649
Alliance
Chapter 649 Alliance (4k)
LeEco's mess in China was not properly dealt with, and Jia Yueting, who was abroad, turned around and attacked Silicon Carbon Group, which was about to be listed in Hong Kong... This does not seem too unexpected.
However, this interview further proves that his plans for LeEco and car manufacturing are fickle, and that his business empire is just a story bubble.
After LeEco's stock market opened, it experienced four consecutive days of limit-down trading. Related securities firms and banks successively applied for measures to save their own interests. After the company's board of directors passed a resolution, Jia Yueting was removed from his positions as chairman, president, and a series of other management positions. The company is now in a state of temporary suspension of trading.
Rumors suggest that Sun Hongbin may become the chairman of LeEco and is considering how to save the company.
Domestic media outlets have widely reprinted the attacks on Jia Yueting, and many are hoping to see a response from Mr. Yu, but neither he personally, nor Silicon Carbon Group, nor Guoshanfeng have made any move.
On the Baixiaosheng Forum, some people commented that Mr. Jia has become a stray dog. He couldn't even get a formal short-selling report from Guoshanfeng before, so naturally he is no longer cared about.
On the contrary, Jia Yueting's brother, Jia Yuemin, earnestly advised the other party during the call not to offend the big short sellers again.
Jia Yueting gritted his teeth on the phone: "Everyone says I've become a homeless dog. Anyway, I've become a homeless dog, so what do I have to be afraid of? LeEco won't be good, and I don't think Silicon Carbon will be any better."
The first thing he felt upon arriving in New York was the short selling of Tesla and the similar pessimism surrounding Silicon Carbon Group, the latter of which vaguely became a source of comfort.
This media interview was not only an emotional release, but also a consideration of future business opportunities in a foreign country. The Faraday Future story is not completely over, and using this opportunity to criticize silicon carbon and short sellers to gain access to more resources in the financial world is also within the scope of consideration.
Yu Xing naturally noticed the messages Jia sent from abroad, but he really didn't have the time or inclination to pay attention to them.
The investment and catalyst for Pinduoduo also need to be discussed within Carbon Silicon Data Company.
Zhong Zhiling is not opposed to investing in Bi Sheng's company, but he is hesitant about the form to take. Douyin has not yet started commercialization. At this moment, the most important question about cooperating with Pinduoduo is whether to simply display advertisements or to fully integrate the platform.
Douyin will definitely want to launch its own e-commerce business to monetize its platform in the future.
He approached his senior twice, and both times he was told that he respected the management's ideas. However, his conversation with Bi Sheng yielded the idea of "full integration."
After learning about his senior's trip to Hong Kong, Chung Chih-ling came to discuss the matter face-to-face.
After listening, Yu Xing was not in a hurry: "Pony is leading the push now. We can see what form everyone else is using. I think Pinduoduo's page on the Tencent WeChat official account is pretty good. You can place an order directly after clicking in, and you can pay without any extra page redirects."
“That’s not difficult to accomplish. What I’m thinking about now is whether we should try to get more seats on the board of directors at Pinduoduo,” Zhong Zhiling said thoughtfully. “What if Bi Sheng fails to meet the performance target? Where will this company go then?”
Yu Xing glanced at his junior brother with some surprise: "Considering defeat before victory, that's quite good."
“If it doesn’t work out then, we can use it for practice,” Zhong Zhiling said, explaining his idea. “Xing-ge, what exactly do Baidu, JD.com, Meituan, and Tencent mean?”
"Don't overthink it. Right now, Alibaba wants to dominate the domestic market, and nobody really wants to see that happen. Now that Pinduoduo has a weapon like that, let's give it a try." Yu Xing said with a smile, talking about the latest news. "President Xu said that Baidu is willing to cooperate. She is currently talking to JD.com, and I think there is a good chance that it will be finalized."
He discussed JD.com's position with Xu Xin.
JD.com is still growing rapidly, but it also faces fierce competition from Tmall, while Pinduoduo is a potential market rival, so it has a complicated position.
Yu Xing's view is that because JD.com is an asset-heavy B2C platform, it may not gain much market benefit from investing in Pinduoduo at this stage, but Alibaba will definitely suffer more losses than it. As for the future, who can say for sure?
Xu Xin thought this lobbying approach was quite good, so she actually put it into practice.
Liu Qiangdong first heard the suggestion from Penguin, and only after he declined did he see Xu Xin come to visit him.
His reason for refusing was straightforward: there were opinions and preparations within JD.com to create "JD-made products," and the current scope of consideration included low-priced white-label products. It would not be wise to fund competitors in this field at present.
After hearing this, Xu Xin considered for a while and then asked a question: "If JD.com wants to manufacture it itself, it certainly can't be entirely done by you. It will still need to be branded, right?"
Liu Qiangdong nodded: "Yes, we want to do joint design, which means finding established factories to do OEM. They have already decided on their research direction, and the first batch will be home furnishing products."
“Mr. Liu, I understand that you want to create ‘Jingzao’ products, but how much time and products can you actually produce on this path in the next few years?” Xu Xin was very familiar with JD.com. “Can you make 100 or 200 SKUs in the first batch? That means you can’t possibly make a large number of different styles of products, right?”
Liu Qiangdong remained outwardly calm, but his mind was stirred. In reality, JD.com didn't even have 100 SKUs; they only planned to make 50 SKUs as a trial run in the first batch.
“JD.com wants to produce its own products and cooperate with factories, which will definitely require small-volume, high-quality products. But Pinduoduo is different,” Xu Xin said. “It doesn’t care about these things. Basically, it wants to be a low-priced Taobao. JD.com will have potential market conflicts with it, but Taobao is a serious conflict.”
"If Pinduoduo can achieve 100, JD.com will lose at most 10, while Taobao will lose 90. This business is worth doing."
Xu Xin adopted a persuasive stance of hoping her colleagues would die.
Liu Qiangdong is truly in love this time.
However, after hearing about the performance-based agreement Pony was going to sign with Pinduoduo, he changed his mind, believing that it was impossible to reach an agreement.
"We aim for 2500 billion in revenue this year. This company, which is only two or three years old, wants to achieve 1500 billion in GMV next year. Mr. Xu, isn't that wishful thinking? We can invest in JD.com and cooperate with them, but we can't cooperate with something that is destined to fail."
Liu Qiangdong believed that this matter would fail and would ultimately end up as a complete mess.
“Your revenue is different from their GMV. Baidu is willing to invest in traffic, Tencent is willing to take the lead, and Silicon Carbon is also planning to open up Douyin’s traffic.” Xu Xin advised, “Pony’s resources and Mr. Yu’s vision are trustworthy.”
Seeing that Liu Qiangdong was still silent, she rolled her eyes and said vaguely, "This kind of betting doesn't necessarily mean sticking to the terms. Even if Bi Sheng can't do it, if it's you or President Yu, things will be even easier."
"If it were me? I wouldn't..." Liu Qiangdong stopped mid-sentence, thinking of the other person in the conversation, and said with a question, "If the bet isn't finished, does President Yu intend to usurp the position?"
Xu Xin shook her head: "Not to that extent, but the dominant force in Lingang is quite strong."
Liu Qiangdong considered the matter carefully and suddenly sighed, "What wouldn't President Yu, that big short seller, do now? No one in finance has a soft heart. He's really hiding his true colors." Xu Xin agreed, "Who can argue with that?"
Since the exposure of the "King of Short Sellers," the topic has become a go-to for any occasion, whether it's a formal meeting room or a private dinner. It seems like you can talk about him anytime and never go off-topic.
“Then let’s see what Mr. Yu’s judgment is like this time.” Liu Qiangdong agreed to JD.com’s investment cooperation, but then changed the subject, “But I have a condition: if this doesn’t work out, then it won’t work.”
Xu Xin focused her attention: "President Liu, please speak."
Liu Qiangdong slowly said, "Douyin is going to open up its traffic to Pinduoduo, right? JD.com wants it too."
Xu Xin hesitated: "This...this probably needs to be discussed."
"Then let's talk," Liu Qiangdong insisted. "If we can reach an agreement on this, then we can do that one too."
Xu Xin conveyed the cooperation terms from JD.com: the huge amount of traffic shouldn't just go to Pinduoduo; Liu Qiangdong also wants it.
Yu Xing received the call after arriving in Hong Kong. He then pulled Xu Xin, Zhong Zhiling, and others into CC's online meeting room to discuss this unexpected condition.
Zhong Zhiling wasn't opposed to it. Instead, he said, "E-commerce on short videos needs to be tried. If JD.com is willing to do it, we at Carbon Silicon Data welcome it. For Douyin, this is also an exploration. But right now, whether it's Pinduoduo or JD.com, Douyin can only provide an embedded ad display. The purchase process can be optimized, and the ad display can be more precise. As for the direction of the updated format..."
"Douyin may open its live streaming function at the end of the year. First, it will find some high-quality creators to test the waters, and then it will create live e-commerce content."
This is a direction that Douyin considered shortly after its establishment. Both text and video can serve as advertisements, but the latter can definitely be more efficient if it has the real-time nature brought by real anchors. To achieve this, the live streaming function must also be well developed.
Carbon Silicon Data Company has made internal plans and made advance considerations.
Xu Xin hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's start with regular advertising and inlay work. We can discuss your subsequent considerations later."
She didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble, and she couldn't figure out what changes live streaming could bring to e-commerce.
Yu Xing simply set up a meeting room to listen in. After hearing that both sides had reached an agreement, he asked Xu Xin, "President Xu, if we've settled things with JD.com, then it's just Meituan left. What's the latest news from Pony?"
Baidu, JD.com, and Meituan all have their headquarters in Beijing, making this a very convenient place to visit.
Xu Xin smiled and said, "Meituan's response is very positive, Mr. Wang, yes, very positive, no problem."
Yu Xing, unsuspecting, said, "Then this matter is basically settled. There's no need to announce it now. Let's first set the terms and conditions, let Pinduoduo run it, and then burn money. We can't outspend this number one giant in China. Let's all set fire to its headquarters together. That would be a pretty good experience."
Although there were differing opinions along the way, a consensus was eventually reached.
As a key figure in this round of lobbying, Xu Xin reflected on the change in everyone's attitude and felt that the surge in Alibaba's business was indeed a major factor.
Upon returning to Shanghai, Xu Xin was asked about her trip to Beijing by Li Song, in which the smooth operation of Meituan raised questions.
“Meituan’s meaning is very simple, and Wang Xing’s meaning is also clear.” Xu Xin gave a simple summary: “Neither side is a good thing, but he can be counted as one of them who stabbed Alibaba.”
Li Song was taken aback: "Both sides, is he referring to Alibaba and silicon carbide? Or is he also including Tencent?"
"Can you still talk about penguins in front of Pony? Do you think he's Yu Xing?" Xu Xin shook her head. "Meituan had a very unpleasant falling out with Alibaba last year, and Wang Xing and Ma Chuan also had a very unpleasant falling out."
She chuckled as she said this, "Maybe Wang Xing would say that none of the three sides are any good people if they talked about this in private."
Meituan's move to join Tencent has infuriated Alibaba.
Ma Chuan rarely makes such a strong statement, saying, "We will definitely make Wang Xing pay the price." Wang Xing, in turn, criticized Ma Chuan's integrity in a media interview, saying, "I still believe that Ma Chuan has integrity issues. He has damaged Huaxia's reputation for many years. They tried to get away with lies and even tried to shift the blame to higher-ups, claiming that they were forced to do so, which is not true."
More importantly, the food delivery industry is still burning through cash, with Ele.me and Meituan offering subsidies of up to 15-20 yuan per order at one point.
In the past two years, Alibaba has been burning through cash in various ways, leveraging its financial advantage.
Such aggressive tactics have effectively burned through the resources of smaller platforms, leaving mainly Meituan, Ele.me, and Baidu as the major players. However, Baidu has the smallest market share and is feeling significant pressure.
Li Song muttered, "This has actually created an anti-Ali alliance."
Xu Xin said, "Most importantly, this is about fighting deep into Alibaba's territory. We'll see how Pinduoduo grows this year and when Alibaba will be able to react."
Li Song understood what was meant. When Pinduoduo's rapid growth was noticed before, Alibaba had discussed its positioning, believing that this business model was to cultivate user habits for Alibaba, and that users would naturally be integrated into the Alibaba system.
However, Pony, Yu Xing, Liu Qiangdong, Wang Xing, and Li Yanhong clearly disagreed with that view to varying degrees, and they took practical actions to test the waters of Alibaba's core business moat.
Xu Xin chatted about the lobbying for a while longer, then suddenly asked, "Do you think Mr. Yu might take this opportunity to short Alibaba for profits? It seems he also has funding issues that he might need for a settlement in the lawsuit."
Li Song was about to shake his head, but then stopped himself: "I don't know, I can't see President Yu clearly."
He knew that President Yu had paid close attention to the litigation issues of Shanfeng and was already considering using other cases as settlement conditions. He even knew that President Yu would meet with the trader informants in the investment bank who were worried about being blamed during his trip to Hong Kong.
However, based on my actual experience, Mr. Yu doesn't seem to be particularly worried about potential funding issues.
Li Song had a vague guess in his mind that either he had made a huge profit before crossing the mountain peak, or he might have a big surprise in store after crossing the mountain peak.
(End of this chapter)