Boss Huang was on the headlines again. After all, becoming a chieftain of a country was indeed big news.
However, Boss Huang had too many big news stories. Thus, this time, the matter of being enfeoffed as a chieftain did not seem to cause much international stir.
Logically, the domestic reaction should have been significant. But the actual result was that there was no public outcry domestically either, because all the national media were focused on reporting another matter.
Although Boss Huang had changed many things, making the present world very different from another world.
Yet, there were some things Boss Huang could not change. For instance, a certain computer company was suddenly exposed for selling computers in the United States at prices higher than those in China.
Just like in another world, this news, once exposed, caused an uproar across the internet, with countless angry netizens accusing the computer company of its actions.
After a long period of silence, finding that silence could not quell the online outcry, Huanxiang Computers reluctantly issued a statement, claiming that the prices in both countries were actually the same.
It was just that the tax on computers in the United States was lower than in China, hence the final price was also lower.
In addition, Huanxiang Computers subtly indicated in its announcement that since many expensive components of the computers were produced in the United States, and US computer parts coming to China incurred an import and export tariff, it ultimately led to higher costs for Chinese computers compared to American ones.
It was just that Huanxiang Computers was no longer a Chinese enterprise, but an international one, and therefore, they pursued a unified pricing strategy for the global market. They were willing to incur losses to maintain consistent base pricing for both markets, but it was due to tax issues that the post-tax prices were higher.
It had to be said that the creator of this announcement was highly skilled, successfully shifting the blame to tax rates, causing many netizens who were initially dissatisfied with Huanxiang Computers to redirect their anger towards taxation.
It was precisely through such means that Huanxiang in history successfully resolved the first wave of doubts about the pricing differences in its two markets. This continued until later, when it voted for Qualcomm in the 5G vote.
While that single vote did not hold much significance for the overall voting outcome, at the time, all participating Chinese companies, including Tengda, cast their votes for their own enterprises. Huanxiang Computers becoming the only company to betray its own interests led to a complete public opinion explosion that was impossible to clean up.
The ultimate result was that Huanxiang Computers' reputation was completely ruined, and the matter of Ni Guangnan was also gradually unearthed during this period. Domestic computer users then realized that such a short-sighted decision had occurred more than twenty years ago, ultimately causing China to lag behind in the chip field for more than 30 years.
It was also through this opportunity that a certain failed author learned about Academician Ni Guangnan's deeds and then began to exploit him fiercely, making him a main character in two novels at once.
As mentioned before, many things remained unchanged in this world, but many things were also altered.
For example, the public opinion storm that would have been suppressed by successful public relations in the past underwent some interesting changes this time.
“Mr. Huang, what is your comment on this price difference incident?” As soon as Boss Huang deplaned and returned to China, he was intercepted by the media.
To be fair, Boss Huang's personal whereabouts were always kept highly confidential, and his plane was a private jet, using exclusive VIP channels for airport entry and exit. It was rare for reporters to intercept Boss Huang at the airport.
But for some reason today, perhaps the VIP channel was temporarily closed. Boss Huang actually emerged from the ordinary channel, and was caught by a reporter who happened to be interviewing nearby. Excited, the reporter rushed forward with a microphone for an interview.
“What price difference incident are you talking about?” Boss Huang seemed to be in a very good mood. After all, becoming the chieftain of Florence meant he was half a nobleman, and he had also gained a large piece of land for free, so it was natural for him to be in a good mood.
Therefore, even when facing this sudden interview, Boss Huang was all smiles and had no intention of refusing.
“It’s about some companies’ computers having different prices for products sold in China and the United States. The prices in our country are actually higher than in the United States. Do you think this is reasonable?” the reporter quickly asked.
“That’s very reasonable. US companies would naturally sell at lower prices in their own country. And prices in our country would naturally be higher. Just like Apple computers, the domestic price is about 10% higher than the foreign price. This is very reasonable, nothing to be surprised about!” Boss Huang said with a smile.
“Uh, the company I’m referring to is our own Chinese company!” the reporter quickly stated.
“Is that so!” Boss Huang’s smile became somewhat stiff. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Actually, there is some rationality to this. In special circumstances, for example, if these computers are all assembled abroad and then imported into China for sale, an additional 17% value-added tax on electronic products would be levied. With these taxes, it is understandable for the domestic prices to be higher!”
“However, according to our understanding, apart from the core chips, almost all other components in the computers that have price differences are accessories produced domestically by China. So, do you think it is commercially rational for a company to transport these domestically produced parts all the way to the United States for assembly, and after assembly, to pay an additional 17% value-added tax and transportation costs to ship them back to China for sale?”
The reporter’s words completely stumped Boss Huang. After a good while, Huang He said, “My dear reporter, out of commercial courtesy among colleagues, please do not ask me which company it is or to comment on this company. I will not answer even if you ask.”
“Then I can tell you some facts that I know!”
“That is, first of all, if the main parts of a computer, excluding the chips, are all domestically produced, then regardless of which country it is sold in, the production cost in China will be far lower than in other countries. Because, as you said, the cost of simply transporting these parts back and forth already far exceeds the taxes, not to mention that labor costs in the United States are much higher than in China. So, if I were to choose, the assembly plant would definitely be located in China.”
“As for whether the price in the United States should be cheaper than in China, I can only tell you that in terms of tax rates, the average tax rate for electronic products in the United States is around 10%. In China, although the legally stipulated tax rate is 20%, various regions will introduce corresponding tax reduction and support policies. Not only will there be zero tax rates for a certain period, but subsidies will even be provided.”
“Take our Jiangnan Group’s own electronic products, for example. The average tax rate is also around 10%.”
“However, each country and region has its own different tax policies, and it is rather difficult to explain the issues here in detail. So, let me give you a practical example directly.”
“For our Jiangnan Group, through some reasonable and legal optimization policies, the actual cost of products sold abroad is about 1.2% higher than products sold domestically. However, to be fair to all consumers, we have adopted a unified pricing rule in the global market.”
“That is, with the RMB pricing as the core, the final selling price of products in various markets is determined by converting according to the exchange rate on the day of release!” After saying that, Huang He ended the interview and left in a hurry.
This interview was naturally broadcast on major national media platforms immediately, causing another earth-shattering uproar.
The market and public opinion environment, which had initially calmed down for Huanxiang Computers, became turbulent once again.
Although Boss Huang’s words sounded complicated, the final conclusion was very clear: the production costs in the two markets were actually almost the same, and the cost in China was even lower than in the United States, and the tax rates were also the same.
Yet, Huanxiang Computers’ prices in the United States were a staggering 20% higher than in China. This was completely incomprehensible.
After all, as Boss Huang said, even Apple computers' domestic prices were only 10% higher than their foreign prices!
Apple computers were American companies, so no one could say anything. But Huanxiang Computers was a Chinese company, so how could both its feet and its backside be on the American side?
For a time, the entire Huanxiang Computers was once again at the center of the storm. And this time, it was not as easy to resolve as the last time. After all, Boss Huang’s words were there. Unless Huanxiang Computers could completely refute Huang He, they would not be able to cover up the matter.
Thus, the next day at noon, Boss Huang, who had just woken up after adjusting to the time difference, learned from his secretary that the current chairman of Huanxiang Computers had called him over a dozen times.
“Put him through!” Huang He said indifferently, and the call was directly connected to Huang He’s terminal.
“Mr. Huang, when did our Huanxiang Computers offend you? Why are you doing this to us!” the chairman of Huanxiang Computers asked angrily over the phone.
“Do you want to hear the false or the true?” Huang He suddenly retorted.
“……” The other side seemed not to have considered that Huang He would retort like this, and was momentarily speechless.
“Then I’ll tell you both!” Boss Huang said expressionlessly. “The false version is that I happened to be caught by a reporter, and he didn’t tell me which company it was about, so I vaguely said some things. I hope you won’t be angry, and I have no intention of targeting Huanxiang Computers.”
“And the true version is that everyone in China knows I’m a nationalist. You dared to make money from our own people and then subsidize Americans. I’ve been unhappy with you for a long time!”