Chapter 2208 Smart Nokia

"Collins," Feng Yiping was a little surprised and moved when he saw the gray-haired Collins getting out of the car, "There's no need for you to come here in person,"

"Haha, long time no see," Collins, who was wearing a woolen coat, hugged Feng Yiping warmly, "It's a rare visit for you, so of course I have to come in person."

"It's cold, get in the car quickly,"

It's really cold, and there's still snow on the streets of Chicago right now.

Several years have passed since the first meeting, but Collins looks like he hasn't changed much.

This should be the norm for all those who are older, but have always held great power and are at the peak of their careers. Their 60s and 50s will seem to change, but there will really be no changes at 65 and 60. What a change.

And now Collins can be said to be at his most high-spirited.

In the 2006 ranking of the top 100 fastest-growing companies published by Business Week, NAVTEQ, which he runs, ranked fifth!

The other brands on this list are Cleaning and Volkswagen, which everyone is very familiar with, but NAVTEQ is probably the first time many people have heard of it.

Even though they have actually been using NAVTEQ services for years, such as the navigation device in their car, when they use Google Maps search service... they are actually using NAVTEQ.

NAVTEQ, which was originally a secretive person, suddenly became so famous, which naturally made Collins look more energetic and youthful.

"Are you tempted this time?" Feng Yiping asked.

Collins looked at Feng Yiping as if to say how could you tell.

"This is the first time you have asked me to participate in the board of directors because of the acquisition," Feng Yiping said softly.

"Oh, right," Collins nodded somewhat self-deprecatingly.

Before this, companies from time to time, such as Garmin, currently the largest car navigation system manufacturer; Garmin's biggest competitor, TomTom; and Yahoo, which has been buying non-stop purchases of Death Stars over the years, have expressed this. Intention to acquire NAVTEQ.

But those few times, Collins didn't bother Feng Yiping at all.

This time, he specially invited Feng Yiping to come and attend the board of directors on this issue, which naturally showed his attitude.

“The main thing is, there are quite a few shareholders on the board who are on board this time,” Collins said.

Feng Yiping thought that the most important thing was because Collins himself was moved.

Looking at the gloomy and cold sky outside, "Have you seen the iPhone released by Steve Jobs? The spring of our electronic maps is coming," Feng Yiping said.

"Yes, if smartphones are approaching Apple in the future, it is certain that the software business on smartphones will be bigger than the smartphone market in the future," Collins said.

Feng Yiping looked at him in surprise. Would he even have such an opinion now?

The original meaning of his words was that in the future, electronic maps will become a standard feature of smartphones, which means that a market larger than car navigation is about to start.

Because there are certainly many people who use smartphones and may not have cars.

But could Collins see another revolution brought about by smartphones?

As far as he knows, even Jobs himself is actually very reluctant to allow his mobile phone to install applications developed by other developers. Many people within Apple are still arguing with him on this issue.

On this issue, he actually looks further than Steve Jobs?

This is a bit unusual.

"Can I ask, which company proposed this acquisition proposal that moved your heart and that many shareholders agreed with?"

Collins took his phone out of his pocket and said, "This one,"

Feng Yiping took a look and saw that it was a mobile phone with distinctive features: full metal shell and sliding cover.

There is no doubt that this is a Nokia phone, N91?

"Nokia?"

"Yes, it's Nokia,"

Nokia wants to acquire NAVTEQ? Feng Yiping really had no impression of this at all.

At least, this explains why Collins has such a clear understanding of the software market on smartphones.

His point of view naturally comes from Nokia.

"So, their offer should also be very exciting?"

"Initial offer, $6.5 billion," Collins said in a low voice.

But Feng Yiping could clearly hear the excitement in his words.

When he first heard this figure, Feng Yiping was also a little excited. So, his investment of US$50 million in 2003 has now become at least US$650 million?

In more than 3 years, the return has been more than ten times. From a purely investment perspective, this is definitely a very successful investment.

"Feng, what do you think about this?" Collins looked at his face and asked.

"Me?" Feng Yiping looked out the window, "I don't have any opinion,"

I have to say that Nokia's vision is indeed good.

Feng Yiping is very clear about how important LBS, or location-based services, will be for many industries in the future.

This can be seen from the fact that when we install an APP on our mobile phone, no matter what APP it is, a permission request to obtain your location will pop up.

In the future, where will only cars be needed for navigation and positioning?

Nokia, perhaps, no, it should be definitely not clearly seen this, but they keenly perceived the importance of accurate electronic maps to smartphones.

This can be considered a wrong move.

Feng Yiping is not too sure whether NAVTEQ was acquired by Nokia, and its development after the acquisition, but based on his understanding of the future, he can conclude that, just like Chief Yang's investment in Alibaba, the acquisition of NAVTEQ was a smart decision for Nokia.

So, all these well-known companies are not simple, even Nokia, which was still somewhat indifferent after Jobs released the iPhone, and still stubbornly guarded its Symbian system, so it had to sell itself a few years later.

This is also the reason why he is a little unhappy.

He actually really wants NAVTEQ, one of the world's top electronic map companies, but, gosh, Nokia's offer is $6.5 billion, and the final transaction price may be $7.5 billion.

For Feng Yiping, this is also a very large amount.

This amount is not impossible to raise, such as selling part of Facebook's shares, but considering Facebook's future development, this may not be a cost-effective deal.

If we consider the subprime mortgage crisis next year, it is not rational to take out such a large sum of money now.

In fact, in the final analysis, his current strength is still a little insufficient.

Alas, I haven't felt short of money for a long time.

No matter when, this feeling is not very good.

It's just that Nokia!

I don't know how much cash reserves this giant, which is still in its heyday, has at this time, so that they are so arrogant and have such a large-scale merger and acquisition all of a sudden.

You are so arrogant, you will have no tears to cry next time.

It just so happens that I haven't made up my mind whether to make smartphones, so can I acquire Nokia in the future?

By the way, who acquired Nokia later, Google or Microsoft? ...

He thought far ahead, and Collins' words pulled him back.

"Although we may not have such excellent negotiation skills as you, Feng," Collins said, "we all saw your wonderful performance in the sale of Skype,"

"But this time, if we can get the authorization of the board of directors, the final transaction price will definitely be higher than 6.5 billion US dollars,"

"Have you leaked the news to Motorola?" Feng Yiping asked.

As the two giants in the mobile phone market at this time, Nokia and Motorola are also competing fiercely in all aspects.

At this time, no one can replace Motorola's role in raising prices.

"Not only Motorola, but also Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, including Garmin and TomTom, should have received the news at this time," Collins laughed.

This old guy is quite black-hearted.

However, this is normal. If you don't think of ways to raise prices at this time, you are a fool.

"Then this drama will definitely be very exciting," Feng Yiping said.

"Feng, what do you think?" Collins asked again.

Obviously, he was very tempted by this acquisition proposal.

"We all know Nokia's strength in the mobile phone field, and we can also imagine the future application of electronic maps in the mobile phone field, so joining Nokia will obviously be very beneficial to the company's future development," he said.

He was worried that Feng Yiping would think that the reason he agreed to this acquisition proposal was just for money.

After all, everyone has to save face.

"Before discussing this issue, I would like to discuss another issue with the board of directors," Feng Yiping said. "I hope we can first discuss the acquisition of NAVTEQ and the joint venture of Gain Capital in China, Gain Capital Electronic Maps," Feng Yiping said.

Collins was stunned for a moment, then said happily, "I will add this item to the agenda of this board meeting,"