Chapter 157: Military Headquarters

Dojin Industries, Strategic Conference Room.

It had been a week since the first post about the Titan 4 explosion appeared on the KTalk feed.

Those gathered in the strategic conference room were wearing bright expressions.

“The recall has been announced.”

Hong Chung-ki, Senior Executive Vice President, said.

Seong-hwan connected his laptop screen to the screen.

[Breaking News] Ahsung Electronics decides to recall all Titan 4s. Possibility of cell expansion when charging at high temperatures in some models…… Measures taken for consumer protection.

“They kept insisting it was user error, but I guess they couldn’t hold out in the end.”

I muttered to myself.

Seong-hwan nodded in agreement.

“It’s amazing they held out for a week after the explosion post came out. The feed is already overflowing with videos, photos, and reviews. No matter how big Ahsung is, they can’t hold out any longer, considering their brand image.”

Seong-hwan clicked the mouse a few times to bring up another screen.

It was a dashboard summarizing our data.

“Last week’s Quantum 2 sales. We were selling about 70,000 to 80,000 units a day, but yesterday alone we sold 480,000 units.”

“See? I told you. Everything that didn’t sell will sell all at once, didn’t I?”

Before the launch of the Titan 4, the Quantum 2’s average daily sales were about 250,000 units.

Those sales plummeted after the launch of the Titan 4, then soared above previous levels due to battery issues.

“We’re getting a flood of requests to bring forward the launch of the Quantum 3.”

Senior Executive Vice President Hong Chung-ki smiled and continued.

“Why don’t we bring the launch schedule forward to next month? Anyway, the production line tests are over, and according to Hwang Chil-bong, the software stabilization is in the final stages.”

I shook my head.

“It would be better to schedule the launch of the Quantum 3 after the launch of the entry-level Quantum 2-A.”

The Quantum 2 series had not yet been fully digested.

It was too early to launch the Quantum 3.

And there was no rush……

I looked at Chil-bong.

“How’s the preparation for the entry-level Quantum 2-A going?”

“It’s an improved version of the existing 2GB RAM, eMMC 5.1 storage-based model, with only the memory controller improved. The actual perceived speed is 70% of the premium model, the Quantum 2-S.”

Seong-hwan showed interest.

“How much is it?”

“It’s set at 700,000 won, higher than the Quantum 1-A. The manufacturing cost is about 480,000 won, so from this model onwards, we should be able to secure a significant profit even in the entry-level lineup.”

“With the launch of the entry-level Quantum 2 in this atmosphere, we should be able to push the feature phone market out of the way for good.”

I nodded at Senior Executive Vice President Hong Chung-ki’s words.

“Is Cheongwoon’s production preparation okay?”

“Yes, we’ve adjusted the production ratio of the Quantum 1-A and 2-A to allocate 10 million units of the 15 million unit monthly capacity to the Quantum 2-A.”

“I think we can say that Ahsung’s mobile division is finished now, brother. No, President.”

Seong-hwan’s address, wavering between ‘brother’ and ‘president,’ was funnier than usual today.

But in my current mood, it didn’t really matter.

As he said, one of Ahsung’s giant pillars was crumbling.

It was clear just by looking at the KTalk feed.

There were 137,000 posts containing the word ‘Quantum’ yesterday alone.

Hashtags like #TitanUnstable, #QuantumStability, and #LunarIsTheBest were at the top.

＊＊＊

Ahsung Group Emergency Response Conference Room.

In the midst of a heavy silence.

Chairman Cheon Ho-tae sat in the center of the conference room with a blank expression on his face.

His expression was close to blank, but the pile of Titan 4 loss reports in front of him spoke of his anger.

“I never thought it would get this bad.”

The words were calmly uttered.

But there was a bitter anger in his voice.

Director Kim Seong-jae, who had been feeling out the mood, cautiously opened his mouth.

“……The number of Titan 4s recalled so far is 28 million. Including the expected additional recovery volume, it’s 35 million units, and the recall cost, including parts and logistics, is estimated to be around 5.7 trillion won.”

Chairman Cheon closed his eyes and took a breath.

“Moreover, with the surge in Quantum 2 sales, the existing Titan 3 and Titan 4 inventories are also subject to total loss. The inventory loss is approximately 1.6 trillion won……”

“What about feature phones?”

Director Kim answered in a lower voice to the heavy question.

“It’s down 67% from last week. The market has been mostly eaten up by the Quantum 1-A and Quantum 2-A.”

At that moment, Chairman Cheon Ho-tae stood up from his seat.

The conference room held its breath.

“Where is Jun-young now?”

“He’s……discussing countermeasures with the development team.”

“What kind of meeting is that guy having? He launched the product knowing there was a battery problem!”

His anger was reaching a critical point.

If he had been in front of him, he would have grabbed him by the collar.

He slammed the table and looked around the conference room.

“If this continues, the entire Ahsung Electronics could be shaken. Semiconductors are B2B, so they’ll hold up, but what about the mobile division?”

The Strategic Marketing Director cautiously suggested.

“Chairman……what about bringing forward the development of the Titan 5? We can quickly improve the battery, which is the cause of this problem……”

“Titan 5?”

Cheon Ho-tae’s eyes widened.

“Do you call that a word? Do you not know what kind of image the Titan has for consumers now? The Titan is now a ‘bomb’! Consumer trust has completely collapsed. Now they won’t even touch our products. Just search, and you’ll see nothing but ridicule, and if an article comes out, there are thousands or tens of thousands of malicious comments.”

Chairman Cheon sighed deeply.

“There’s no more possibility. Ahsung is withdrawing from the mobile business.”

A heavy silence engulfed the conference room.

“Chairman, still……isn’t that too hasty a decision……”

“No, it’s over. Dojin hasn’t even launched the Quantum 3 yet, and they’ve devastated us. The longer we hold out, the bigger the deficit will be. We might end up shaking the entire group just to save face.”

Chairman Cheon Ho-tae closed his eyes and opened them slowly.

His eyes were full of determination.

“Liquidate the Mobile Communications Division, overseas subsidiaries, and development centers……and absorb the remaining personnel into semiconductors, displays, and home appliances.”

Director Kim Seong-jae bowed his head and answered.

“Understood, Chairman.”

＊＊＊

A few days later, when the news of Ahsung Electronics’ withdrawal from the mobile business was announced, this phrase appeared on the KTalk feed.

A new era has begun in the smartphone market.

The Age of Quantum #LunarRevolution #DojinVictory

“Brother, Ahsung has finally given up on the mobile business.”

“I saw it.”

Dojin Industries, my office at the top floor.

Seong-hwan and I toasted a modest victory.

It took 12 years, from lens and camera modules to this point.

It was the time it took to start with nothing and bring down one of the pillars that supported Ahsung.

A long time, if it was, and a short time, if it was.

But the emotion I felt was never light.

There were still giant pillars left, such as Ahsung Semiconductor, Ahsung Motors, Ahsung Display, Ahsung Finance, and Ahsung Bio.

But now I had built a foundation to confront them.

“Brother, your goal was to create a company that surpasses Ahsung, right?”

I nodded at Seong-hwan’s words.

“Right.”

To be precise, the goal was to bring down Ahsung.

The arch-enemy that made me choose death in my previous life.

I had to give Cheon Ho-tae the same despair.

‘We’re almost there.’

“There’s virtually no competition in the mobile sector except for A-ple, so are you going to focus on semiconductors from now on?”

Seong-hwan also knew that I was secretly developing semiconductors with Park Sang-bae and Chil-bong.

But my interest wasn’t only there now.

“Semiconductors still have a long way to go. Before that, I’m going to cut off one of Ahsung’s cash cow businesses one by one.”

“Cut them off?”

“I have to cut off their money first, so that I can gain a much more advantageous position in the semiconductor competition later.”

Semiconductors are ultimately a battle of ‘technology + money.’

So thorough preparation was needed before entering into full-scale competition.

“So what are you going to do first?”

There was no need to think about it.

“Ahsung Defense!”

“……Defense industry? Are you going to make weapons?”

“You’ve checked it out too, haven’t you? How much blind money there is in the defense industry.”

Seong-hwan nodded immediately.

After the NCC project, Dojin Frontier had been doing various businesses with the Ministry of Defense.

The scale was not large, but the profit margin was beyond imagination.

“How are the defense division’s performance outside of Dojin Frontier’s construction division?”

“Wait a minute.”

Seong-hwan connected his laptop to the screen.

A report summarizing the performance and key progress of Dojin Frontier’s defense division appeared on the screen.

“This is the business Dojin Frontier is currently pursuing with the Ministry of Defense.”

[Logistics Vehicle and Field Command Post Protective Panel Project]

-Annual Sales: 230 billion won

-Expansion of application to ammunition depots and strategic communication network security zones planned

“Sales have increased a lot since the acquisition of Hwareung Industries.”

“Yeah, now they’ve passed the test for high-strength fiber composites with a protection intensity of over 1,000 MPa, and they’ve been certified by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration for missile fragment response tests.”

“The second one is the localization of EMP CBRN shielding materials, right?”

When I asked, skimming through the data, Seong-hwan nodded.

“It’s been piloted at four communication bases on the northern front, and two of them have been converted to operational field communication networks.”

In addition to the EMP-related business, the defense division was simultaneously pursuing several projects, including the construction of a distributed backup facility for the Ministry of Defense Cyber Center, tactical batteries, and high-heat shielding materials.

The total scale was close to 2 trillion won per year.

“With 2 trillion won in sales. The profit is 450 billion won?”

“I just found out while organizing this, but defense business is really a gold mine.”

That’s why businessmen try so hard to get into the Ministry of Defense’s supply chain.

“Have you checked Ahsung Defense’s performance too?”

“Wasn’t that the purpose from the beginning? To expand into the defense industry.”

“Right. So, have you checked it?”

“Wait a minute.”

Seong-hwan manipulated the mouse to bring up new data.