noveltune Chapter 427 Investing in Hanvon Technology
Chapter 427 Investing in Hanvon Technology
March 15, 2003, Beijing, Hanvon Technology.
Liu Yingjian stood at the company entrance, wearing a dark gray jacket and with his hair neatly combed. He saw Ling Yun get out of the car, quickly walked up to him, and extended his hand.
"Mr. Ling, welcome."
The two shook hands, and Liu Yingjian stepped aside, leading Ling Yun inside.
Hanvon's office is much larger and cleaner than UCWEB's, and looks more like a legitimate technology company.
The hallway was carpeted, and Hanvon product posters—writing tablets, styluses, and OCR scanners—hung on the walls. There was no smell of instant noodles in the air, only the mixed smell of ink and paper.
In the conference room, Liu Yingjian poured Ling Yun a cup of tea. "Mr. Ling, Hanvon has been doing handwriting recognition and OCR for over ten years. Technically, we are a leader in China. But the market isn't big. Handwriting tablets are mainly sold to middle-aged and elderly people, and OCR is mainly sold to libraries and archives. We want to move into mobile devices, but we haven't found a suitable entry point."
Ling Yun said, "In the future, handwriting input will be a very important interaction method for smartphones. Not everyone is used to using Pinyin, especially middle-aged and elderly people. Hanvon's technology will be of great use in mobile phones."
Liu Yingjian's eyes lit up.
"Spark Group invested 20 million yuan, acquiring a 15% stake. At the same time, the two parties established a joint laboratory to specifically develop handwriting input methods for mobile devices. The goal is to make handwriting input on mobile phones as smooth as writing with a pen on paper."
Liu Yingjian asked, "President Ling, is Xinghuo making mobile phones?"
Ling Yun nodded. "Although we can't announce it to the public yet, our direction has been determined. Hanwang's technology is exactly what we need."
Liu Yingjian readily picked up the pen and signed the contract.
After signing his name, he looked at Ling Yun and said, "President Ling, our technology finally has a place to be used. In the mobile era, the input method is the gateway. We must seize this gateway."
Ling Yun said, "Okay."
Liu Yingjian put down his pen and suddenly said, "President Ling, there's something I need to tell you. At the end of last year, people from Microsoft came to see us."
Ling Yun looked at him. "Microsoft?"
"Yes. They wanted to acquire Hanvon's handwriting recognition technology. They offered a very high price. But I didn't agree."
Why?
Liu Yingjian paused for a second. "Because I know that Microsoft didn't buy it to improve the technology. They just wanted to eliminate a potential competitor. I've been in this industry for over a decade and have seen too many examples like this. Foreign giants come in, throw money at the problem, buy up domestic technical teams, then disband them and shelve the technology. They're not here to cooperate; they're here to eliminate their rivals."
Ling Yun looked at him. "So you chose Starfire?"
Liu Yingjian nodded. "Spark is a Chinese company, and you're making operating systems and mobile phones. You need input methods, you need to truly put this technology to use. If I sell it to you, my technology can survive. If I sell it to Microsoft, this technology will be very difficult to apply."
Ling Yun paused for a few seconds, then said, "President Liu, I can assure you that Hanvon's technology, in Xinghuo's hands, will grow and will be incorporated into tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of mobile phones. It will make handwriting input on electronic products as convenient as writing with a pen on paper."
Liu Yingjian's eyes were a little red. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and put it down. "President Ling, I believe you."
After leaving Hanvon, Ling Yun got into his car. He took out his phone and sent Li Mo a text message: "Hanvon signed it. Handwriting input method, pre-installed on StarPhone."
A few seconds later, Li Mo replied: "Received. UCWEB plus Hanvon, two more pieces have been added to the ecosystem puzzle."
Ling Yun looked at the text message and put his phone back in his pocket. He remembered what Liu Yingjian had said—"Selling it to Microsoft will kill it." This wasn't just Liu Yingjian's concern.
Over the past decade or so, countless Chinese technology teams have either been acquired and sidelined or dragged down by price wars in the face of the financial offensives of tech giants.
Very few survived.
What Spark aims to do is not just survive itself. It aims to help these skilled and persistent Chinese teams survive and grow together.
March 18, 2003, Spark Systems Technology.
Lingyun stood in front of the whiteboard, with a dozen product managers and designers sitting in front of him.
The whiteboard shows a sketch of an app store interface—a search box and category navigation at the top, and app cards in the middle with icons, names, ratings, and prices.
The bottom is the navigation bar, which includes Homepage, Leaderboard, Updates, and Personal Center.
"Spark App Store is the core of the mobile ecosystem. Whoever controls the distribution channels controls the entire ecosystem."
He wrote a number on the whiteboard: 70%.
"The revenue split is 70% for developers and 30% for us. The review process will be strict but not cumbersome. App submissions will receive a review result within three days. The payment system will be integrated with Xingyu Payment, so users won't need to repeatedly bind their cards. The rating and review system will allow user feedback to determine the app's ranking."
A product manager raised his hand. "Mr. Ling, how are the review criteria determined?"
Ling Yun said, "There are three red lines. First, there can be no malicious code. Second, there can be no infringement of user privacy. Third, there can be no illegal content. As for the rest, such as technical specifications and content regulations, you can decide those."
Another designer asked, "What about the developer backend? When will it be released?"
Ling Yun said, "We will release a developer beta version before the end of the year. Next year, it will be officially open to developers."
After the meeting, Wang Jianguo stayed behind. He walked over to Ling Yun and whispered, "President Ling, there's a problem regarding the app store that we need to consider beforehand."
Ling Yun looked at him. "What's the problem?"
"Competitors. Symbian now has its own app distribution channel, although it's very rudimentary. Microsoft is also making an app store for Windows Mobile. If we're just making the same thing as them, why would developers come to us?"
Ling Yun said, "You've hit the nail on the head. So we can't just do the same thing. Spark App Store needs to do three things."
He held up three fingers. "First, the revenue sharing. How much of the revenue does the developer get from Symbian and Microsoft?"
Wang Jianguo said, "Symbian accounts for about 50%, and Microsoft accounts for 60%."
"We'll offer 70%. That's the appeal."
"Secondly, the review speed. How long does it take for Symbian to review an application?"
"At least two weeks."
"We'll take three days. That's efficiency."
"Third, and most importantly, Spark App Store is not just about distribution. We aim to provide full lifecycle services for developers. From development tools, testing environments, user feedback collection, and data analysis, to operation and promotion, and traffic support, everything is integrated into the Spark Developer Platform. This allows developers to not only upload their apps, but also to place their entire development and operation process within the Spark ecosystem. That's the ecosystem."
Wang Jianguo jotted down a few notes in his notebook. He looked up and said, "President Ling, this way, what we're making won't just be an app store. It'll be a complete developer service platform."
Ling Yun said, "Yes. We want developers to feel that developing applications in the Spark ecosystem is easier, more profitable, and more promising than on any other platform. Only in this way can the ecosystem truly be established."
Wang Jianguo nodded. He closed his laptop and suddenly said, "President Ling, I've heard some news about Microsoft's 'Great Wall Project'."
Ling Yun looked at him.
"They're not just targeting Spark. They want to tie OEMs to Windows. For any manufacturer that pre-installs Windows, Microsoft will increase licensing fees if they also pre-install other operating systems. If the manufacturer only pre-installs Windows, the licensing fees will be discounted. It's a carrot and stick approach."
Ling Yun was silent for a few seconds. "Is the information reliable?"
"Reliable. It came from an insider at an OEM manufacturer who has already been notified by Microsoft."
Ling Yun stood up and walked to the window. So that's what the Great Wall Project meant. It wasn't a technological blockade, but a commercial entanglement. Microsoft was using its monopoly in the PC market to force OEMs to choose between them.
"Don't spread this around yet." Ling Yun turned around. "I need to think about it."
Wang Jianguo nodded, pushed open the door, and went out. Ling Yun stood alone by the window. Microsoft had made its move—not a technology war, but a business war. This move was even more ruthless than a technology war. A technology war is about products; a business war is about ecosystems and distribution channels. And Spark was far inferior to Microsoft in terms of distribution channels.