Looking at his thriving business and the nearly $1 billion sitting in his bank account, Mavi suddenly set a small goal for himself: to keep spending and investing, ensuring his wealth remained within ten figures—unless he earned so much that resistance became futile.
Considering that it was already 2001 in this parallel world and smartphones had yet to appear, Mavi felt that something was missing from his life. So, he decided to kick off a spree of acquisitions, aiming to bring all the key components required for smartphone production under Google's umbrella.
This included the development of the Android operating system—whatever was needed, he would buy it. After all, the future smartphone market promised enormous profits, just waiting to be revolutionized by smart devices.
Each smartphone required parts from over 200 suppliers, including CPUs, camera modules, LCD screens, and more.
---
"Hello, Segal? I need Google to investigate something for me." Mavi called the president of Google.
"Hello, Chairman Mavi! Please feel free to instruct me!" Segal responded respectfully.
"I'm planning to acquire a few companies and bring them under Google. Send someone to investigate which CPU manufacturers and system developers are suitable for acquisition," Mavi said casually over the phone.
As for battery, screen, and casing manufacturers, he had no intention of handling those himself—outsourcing was the way to go. Otherwise, it would be too overwhelming.
"CPU manufacturers and system developers? Chairman Mavi, are you planning to enter the computer industry?" Segal asked curiously. The computer industry in the U.S. was already monopolized by giants like Intel, AMD, HP, Compaq, IBM, and Apple.
Any new company trying to enter this space was typically crushed before it could gain traction.
Mavi was well aware of this, so he had no intention of making such a rookie mistake. "Not the computer industry—I'm talking about smartphones."
"Smartphones?" Segal was stunned. In this world, Nokia and Motorola still dominated the market with bar phones and flip phones. Very few companies had even considered making a phone smart.
"That's right—smartphones. Devices with an independent operating system and dedicated processing power, allowing users to install software, play games, use navigation, and connect to the internet, just like a personal computer."
"Smartphones are the future of the world, and we must seize this opportunity." As someone who had lived through it before, Mavi had personally witnessed the downfall of Nokia and Motorola.
Although Motorola had launched an early smartphone—the TianTuo A6188—in 2000, its operating system, display, and overall design were fundamentally flawed.
Then, in 2007, Apple's first iPhone debuted, completely disrupting the traditional phone industry. Nokia scrambled to acquire the Symbian system and develop its own smartphone, but it was too late. Apple had already pulled too far ahead, leaving competitors in the dust.
Now, Mavi had six years. Whether he could outmaneuver Apple this time depended on his leadership.
"Understood, Chairman Mavi. I'll get right on it!" Since Mavi had decided that Google would enter the smartphone market, Segal, as president, naturally followed orders diligently.
After all, in the year he had worked with Mavi, Segal had witnessed countless successes.
---
### Three Weeks Later
Segal sent Mavi a detailed report listing potential CPU manufacturers and system developers.
Upon receiving the email, Mavi launched into full acquisition mode.
The first target was Qualcomm, a 15-year-old company still in its early growth stages. In his previous life, Qualcomm had played a crucial role—it supplied processors for Apple's first and second-generation iPhones.
In China, companies like Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Hisense, and Haier also relied heavily on Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors.
In 2001, Qualcomm's market value was less than $150 million. Without hesitation, Mavi spent $190 million to acquire it, instructing Qualcomm's ARM semiconductor division to accelerate the development of the ARM11 series microprocessors—the core CPUs for smartphones.
With the CPU settled, the next priority was the operating system.
The Android OS used Java, which was far less efficient than Apple's Objective-C. This inefficiency caused Android phones to slow down over time, making the user experience inferior to iOS.
In reality, many of the original Android developers had defected from Apple to Google. Meanwhile, Apple's iOS was an evolution of its Mac operating system.
So, Mavi decided to poach top system developers directly from Apple. He put up a $10 million bounty—whoever could develop a smartphone OS that met his standards would claim the prize.
As the saying goes, "A great reward breeds great warriors."
Before long, Google successfully recruited a wave of high-level Apple engineers. Apple had no choice but to increase salaries and bonuses to retain talent, but the effort was in vain.
After all, Mavi was throwing around insane amounts of money. A senior system developer's annual salary was only $150,000 to $200,000, while the bounty alone was $10 million—enough to make them work like madmen.
---
Aside from these key acquisitions and investments, Mavi also planned to establish smartphone assembly factories in Russia and China—similar to the well-known Foxconn.
This move would not only boost the economies of Russia and China but also create numerous jobs.
By the time everything was set up, Mavi had spent nearly $300 million, bringing his bank balance down to $510 million.
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### Unexpected Call from Russia
Just as Mavi was deeply engrossed in his smartphone empire, an unexpected message arrived from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
"Young Master, the call is from Miss Yuna, the secretary of the Defense Minister. She says the Minister wants to meet you," said Ivan, the butler, holding the phone carefully.
"The Defense Minister? Wants to see me?"
At that moment, Mavi was at home, playing with a bear and teasing a tiger. He had no idea why the Russian Defense Minister would be looking for him.
"Hello? This is Mavi. Please speak." He casually picked up the phone.
"Hello, Mr. Mavi. I'm Yuna, secretary to General Grilov, the Minister of Defense. Our Minister would like to meet with you tomorrow or the day after at the Federal Ministry of Defense."
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(End of Chapter)