bullyxtreme Chapter 121 Murata's Backstab
Chapter 121 Murata's Backstab
Monday, January 2020, 8.
It has been more than two weeks since the press conference.
At 7:30 a.m., Su Chen arrived at the company early as usual.
As he walked down the corridor on the second floor of Hongyuan's headquarters, the employees who came towards him greeted him warmly.
Good morning, Mr. Su!
"Good morning."
Su Chen smiled and nodded in response.
He was indeed in a good mood. As of today, the cumulative pre-orders for the Asuka S1 have exceeded 20,000 units. Although production capacity remains a major issue, every new order is a vote of confidence from the market for the Asuka S1.
Furthermore, Dr. Li Wei of Suzhou Microchip Sensing has confirmed a meeting next week, and Attorney Fang Xu is also preparing a preliminary due diligence plan.
Everything is proceeding according to plan.
"Beep beep beep—"
Su Chen's phone suddenly rang.
He picked up his phone and saw it was Zhou Ming.
Zhou Ming is the administrative director, and he doesn't usually make phone calls at this time unless it's an emergency.
Su Chen's expression instantly turned serious.
"Zhou Ming, what's up?"
"President Su, something terrible has happened."
Zhou Ming's voice was visibly tense:
"Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. sent us an email early this morning stating that due to 'production capacity adjustments,' they are unable to continue supplying us with high-precision MEMS gyroscopes!"
Su Chen suddenly stopped walking.
When did this happen?
"I received the email at 4 AM this morning; it was sent from Japan at 5 PM this afternoon. The email was very polite, but the meaning was very clear—starting with the next shipment, they will no longer accept our orders."
Su Chen remained silent for two seconds.
How many MEMS gyroscopes do we currently have in stock?
"I've already had Zhao Jiancheng check," Zhou Ming's voice grew even heavier. "We previously ordered in bulk; the last batch was 30,000 MEMS gyroscopes. We've already used about 18,000, leaving about 12,000 in stock."
Twelve thousand.
Each Flybird S1 requires three sets of MEMS gyroscopes, three in each set, for a total of nine.
The inventory of 12,000 units is only enough to produce about 1,300 Asuka S1s.
1300 yuan!
The number of orders awaiting delivery has exceeded 20,000!
Su Chen's heart sank.
But his expression didn't lose control; his voice just became lower and deeper.
What was the reason Murata gave?
"They call it 'capacity adjustment,' prioritizing orders from long-term major clients."
"Production capacity adjustment..." Su Chen repeated these four words, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Production capacity adjustment.
What a tactful excuse.
Murata Manufacturing has an annual production capacity of over one billion MEMS components, while Hongyuan's annual order volume is only a few hundred thousand units, which is less than one ten-thousandth of Murata's total production capacity.
This is not a "production capacity adjustment" at all.
There is pressure coming from behind.
"I understand. Immediately contact Bosch in Germany and TDK-InvenSense in the US to see if they can procure high-precision MEMS gyroscopes of the same specifications. At the same time, contact all available MEMS suppliers in China, regardless of their level."
"OK!"
Zhou Ming quickly agreed, but his tone still carried worry: "President Su, why did Murata suddenly stop supplying us? Although our order volume isn't large, it's always been stable and our business credit is excellent. There's no reason for them to suddenly stop supplying us..."
"I'll look into it. You go and deal with the alternative supplier issue first."
"clear."
After hanging up the phone, Su Chen quickly walked into his office and closed the door.
He sat down at his desk, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The inevitable still happened.
In my previous life, there were countless instances of Chinese tech companies having their supply chains disrupted by external pressure. Although the situation is different this time—it's not national-level sanctions, but commercial pressure from industry giants—the essence is the same.
When you threaten their interests, they will use every means to crush you.
"Beep beep beep—"
The phone rang again.
Su Chen opened his eyes and glanced at the screen, his pupils contracting slightly.
Han Shijie.
Han Shijie of Xingyao Technology.
A phone call so early in the morning can't be anything good.
Su Chen took a deep breath and answered the phone.
"Good morning, Mr. Han."
"Good morning, Mr. Su." Han Shijie's voice carried an undisguised apology. "I'm really sorry to call you at this hour."
"Speak, what is it?"
Su Chen's tone was calm, but he had already vaguely guessed what was going on.
"President Su..." Han Shijie paused for a moment, then slowly began to speak:
"That's right. Our previously agreed-upon chip manufacturing partnership has encountered some... obstacles."
"What obstacle?"
"DJI called last night."
Han Shijie's voice became somewhat bitter:
"They didn't explicitly say I couldn't do OEM for you, but the meaning was clear—they said the allocation of OEM orders for the second half of the year might need to be 'readjusted,' and advised us to be 'more cautious when introducing new OEM projects.'"
Su Chen closed his eyes slightly.
DJI.
"Readjustment" and "more prudent"—these diplomatic phrases were all too familiar to Su Chen.
In plain terms: If you dare to manufacture chips for Hon Hai Precision Industry, I will reduce your manufacturing orders.
"President Han—" Su Chen's voice was calm, "What do you plan to do?"
Han Shijie was silent for a moment, then said:
"Mr. Su, to be honest, I'm in a difficult position. DJI is our largest customer, with annual OEM orders exceeding 300 million yuan. Our OEM cooperation with Hongyuan hasn't even started yet, and the estimated scale for the first year is only 20-30 million yuan..."
Su Chen nodded slightly—he completely understood Han Shijie's situation.
Given the choice between 300 million and 20 or 30 million, any shrewd entrepreneur would know which to choose.
"I understand," Su Chen said calmly.
"President Su, I'm truly sorry..." Han Shijie's voice was filled with sincere apology. "However, while the benzene film manufacturing has been disrupted, the H-Link licensing agreement remains unaffected. DJI didn't mention this, perhaps because they think the licensing agreement doesn't involve hardware manufacturing—or perhaps they simply don't know the details of our licensing agreement."
"Boss, Xingyao's packaging and testing production line can still handle orders from other customers—as long as it's not manufacturing chips for Hongyuan under Xingyao's name. We can figure something out—"
"Mr. Han, no need," Su Chen interrupted him, his tone devoid of any resentment. "Don't make things difficult for yourself."
Su Chen knew very well that Han Shijie had done his best. Under pressure from DJI, maintaining the H-Link protocol licensing partnership was already the limit.
Moreover, Han Shijie took the initiative to call and inform them, instead of quietly delaying, which in itself demonstrates his sincerity.
"However, Mr. Su, I still want to remind you of something—" Han Shijie hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice:
"The person who called me was Chen Jiaming from DJI's Corporate Strategy Department. But from what I understand, DJI isn't the only company pushing this—there may also be Hangxindatong and some capital forces behind it."
Su Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
The strength of Hangxindatong in terms of both capital and resources.
He Zhiqiang and Xia Kanghao.
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Han." Su Chen's voice was calm but firm. "I understand."
"President Su—" Han Shijie said softly as a final word, "Take care."
Thank you.
After hanging up the phone, Su Chen leaned back in his chair.
The office was so quiet that only the low hum of the air conditioner could be heard.
Murata has cut off the supply of MEMS gyroscopes—the inventory of Asuka S1 is only enough to produce about 1,300 units.
Xingyao's OEM manufacturing is under pressure from DJI – production capacity bottlenecks cannot be overcome through OEM manufacturing.
Two heavy blows came down at the same time—one to cut off the supply chain, and the other to cut off production capacity expansion.
The methods behind it were skillful, ruthless, and highly targeted—each strike precisely aimed at Hongyuan's weak points.
A cold smile curled at the corner of Su Chen's mouth.
DJI, Hangxindatong, Haotai Capital—
He whispered the three names.
"It seems I have indeed affected the interests of all of you, making you all extremely anxious."
Su Chen stood up and walked to the window.
It was early August in Shenzhen, and the sunlight outside the window was already quite dazzling.
His mind raced, quickly processing the current situation—
First, the most critical issue is the disruption of MEMS supply. Inventory is only enough to produce 1300 Flybird S1 units; if no alternative supplier can be found, Flybird S1 production will cease within a week.
Secondly, Xingyao's OEM manufacturing has been blocked. This means that even with MEMS, production capacity cannot be increased and will remain capped at 1.23 yuan per month.
Third—and most importantly—the joint action of these three parties demonstrates one fact: they no longer have the confidence to defeat Su Chen on a technological level. Therefore, they chose the most primitive, yet most effective, method—cutting off the supply chain.
But conversely, this also proves one thing—
Hongyuan's technology has become so powerful that it has instilled fear in them.
Su Chen turned around and walked back to his desk, opened a drawer and took out the "Domestic MEMS Sensor Industry Chain Survey Report".
On the third page, the name "Suzhou Microchip Sensing Technology" was circled in red and made particularly eye-catching.
Su Chen originally planned to take two or three months to gradually make contact, carefully evaluate, and then make a decision.
But now—
There's no time to take it slow.
Su Chen picked up his phone and dialed Fang Xu's number.
"Fang Xu, the meeting with Suzhou Microchip Sensing can't wait until next week. Please schedule it for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Fang Xu's voice was filled with surprise. "So soon?"
"The situation has changed." Su Chen's voice was calm but firm. "Murata has stopped supplying us."
There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.
"I understand. I'll contact Dr. Levi right now."
"And also—" Su Chen paused, "Don't just approach them under the guise of investment. Tell Dr. Li Wei that Hongyuan's interest in Microchip Sensing isn't just financial investment, but a strategic partnership—we might become their biggest customer."
Fang Xu quickly understood Su Chen's meaning:
"You need to speed up."
"Yes. I need to speed up."
Su Chen put down the phone and opened another drawer.
The design drawings for the MEMS inertial navigation chip that unlocked the system lay quietly inside.
Su Chen picked up the blueprints, staring at the parameters that far exceeded contemporary standards, his eyes becoming colder than ever before.
He originally planned to invest in Microchip Sensing first, and then gradually release the technology on the blueprints through "joint research and development".
But now—
Since you're going to wage a supply chain war, then I won't hold back.
Su Chen put the blueprints back in the drawer, then picked up the pen on the table and quickly wrote a few lines on the paper:
Solution:
Urgent: Contact Bosch/TDK to find alternative MEMS suppliers.
Mid-term: Accelerate acquisitions/investments in Microchip Sensing to establish an independent and controllable MEMS supply chain.
Long-term goal: To achieve a comprehensive breakthrough in domestically produced MEMS by utilizing system MEMS blueprints at Microchip Sensing.
Counterattack: Let them know that cutting off the supply chain will not help Hungyuan, but will allow Hungyuan to achieve self-sufficiency more quickly.
After finishing writing, Su Chen stared at the paper for a few seconds.
Then he added another line at the very bottom:
5. Notify Zhou Zhenguo. Lianchuang Group's MEMS supply chain may also be affected; this is an early warning.
Su Chen put down his pen and stood up.
The sunlight streaming through the window fell on his back, casting a long shadow.
His expression was calm, as calm as the sea before a storm.
It's not that things are calm, but rather that strength is being gathered.
Four years ago, when he took over Hongyuan, there were only two million in the account and fewer than thirty employees.
Back then, Hongyuan was not even worth a second glance; no one would give him a second look.
And now-
DJI, Hangxindatong, and Haotai Capital—three industry giants—have joined forces to deal with him.
This in itself says it all.
A smile that only he could understand appeared on Su Chen's lips.
It's not that I'm laughing at how strong the enemy is.
Instead, they laughed at themselves for finally becoming powerful enough to be united against.
Who could have imagined this four years ago?
"bring it on."
Su Chen said softly, his voice low but filled with a heart-stopping determination.
"In my previous life, I didn't get to see the rise of China's low-altitude economy. In this life—no one can stop me."