Chapter 2 The second chapter is immature Huawei, breaking out of the ground
"Entrepreneurship is difficult and full of battles." Entrepreneurship is a difficult process, full of risks at all times, and it is a tempering of life.Ahead is a road full of thorns. Entrepreneurship requires overcoming obstacles and experiencing countless failures and setbacks; it requires a strong will and unremitting efforts.At the beginning of Huawei's founding, Ren Zhengfei proposed to rely on technology, be independent, and never bow to multinational giants. For this reason, he "splashed money like water" and guaranteed to invest 10% of sales revenue in research and development every year, and gathered a large number of research and development personnel. With the pressure of debt and bankruptcy, he was undaunted.It is with this stubbornness that Huawei's road is getting wider and wider.
"The Gold Rush" by film master Charlie Chaplin, with the discovery of gold in California in the middle of the 19th century as the background, vividly depicts the scene of people rushing to get rich by panning for gold. In the 1980s, China also experienced a "gold rush".At that time, Shenzhen was in the stage of buying and selling, and the theory of "knowledge is useless" was very popular, and then experienced the bubble economy (real estate, stocks), and many people made a fortune from it.
For nearly two decades, Shenzhen has been the most desirable city for young Chinese.There are too many self-made miracles and get-rich-quick myths, creating well-known companies such as Huawei, ZTE, and Vanke.People from all over the world gather together and rush to this emerging hot land for just one dream: to become famous, to make a fortune and to earn money.
However, Ren Zhengfei did not have such complicated ideas when he first came to Shenzhen. In his mind, there are two words that are most important: "survival".
When a series of setbacks hit Ren Zhengfei, although he firmly believed that all this would pass and he had to straighten his spine under such circumstances, he also had doubts: Where is the road ahead?
As the saying goes, "Mountains are heavy and rivers are full of doubts, and there is no way out, and there is another village with dark willows and flowers." Once a "very accidental" opportunity, a friend who made program-controlled switches asked Ren Zhengfei to help him sell some equipment, so Ren Zhengfei "accidentally" made Acted as an agent for the program-controlled switchboard. In the 1980s, program-controlled switches had just entered the Chinese market, and Ren Zhengfei had no idea what they were.
While working in Nanyou Group, Ren Zhengfei once wrote a "military order" to the boss of Nanyou, asking him to take care of a company under him, but failed.At this time, a high-tech product for the Chinese at that time attracted Ren Zhengfei's attention, that is, a digital program-controlled telephone switchboard.
In 1876, the world's first telephone was born in Bell Laboratories in the United States.To get through a fixed telephone, the core equipment is the switch, which undertakes all switching functions, like the brain of the entire network, through access network, transmission equipment, billing equipment and other intermediate layer auxiliary equipment, connects various end users with telephone lines phone.
In 1965, the United States successfully developed the world's first computer-controlled telephone switchboard - program-controlled switchboard, which was a major breakthrough in telephone switching technology.Compared with traditional electromechanical switches, program-controlled switches have fast connection speed, clear voice quality, and work efficiency increased by tens of thousands of times, while the volume is only one-tenth of the electromechanical switches, and soon became the mainstream equipment in the telecommunications networks of various countries in the world. .
Until the 1980s, telephones in our country were not yet popular, and the original fixed telephone network equipment was transforming from the traditional step-by-step system and crossbar system to digital program-controlled switching.Construction projects are booming across the country, and the demand for telephones is doubling every year. The first thing many businessmen want to buy is a telephone. At this time, China cannot produce program-controlled switches, and the West restricts high-tech exports to China. The technology cannot be obtained through import.
Many smart people choose to act as an agent for the program-controlled switch business, and some even produce OEMs.They bring all kinds of switch products from Hong Kong and Taiwan into the customs to resell them, or put their own labels on them.Xu Ruihong, an early influential figure in Zhongguancun, Beijing, and the owner of Huake Company, moved imported components into the empty classrooms of the summer school, recruited a group of students to assemble the machines, and taught them to insert components and weld. He didn't even have a production license, so he posted "Huake 100" The labels are actually in short supply.In one summer vacation, 500 sets of 120-door small subscriber switches were installed, each cost 20,000 yuan, and could be sold for 75,000 yuan. From this, I earned more than 20 million yuan in one summer vacation.
Excessive imports, low-price dumping and smuggling of imported switches have seriously impacted the domestic market, affected the normal production of domestic enterprises, and hindered the development of my country's original vertical and horizontal switch industry.Due to the rapid development of communication and the large market of program-controlled switches, many domestic manufacturers want to seize this market, but it is difficult to achieve a breakthrough due to technical bottlenecks.
Ren Zhengfei, who comes from a technical background, is sensitively aware of the importance of this technology and quickly grasped the business opportunities it brings. He is also dissatisfied with the flooding of switches with various labels in the domestic market, and believes that state-owned enterprises should play a role in this field.It is said that he immediately applied to the company's board of directors for the establishment of a digital program-controlled switch research and development group, and persuaded the company's leaders to agree to allocate funds for research and development.A year passed quickly, and at a cost of 1 million (astronomical figures at the time), the project was unsuccessful.He applied to the board of directors for another year of research and an additional 2 million yuan. One year later, he still failed, and Ren Zhengfei resigned.
In October 1987, in two "simple houses" in a place overgrown with weeds by the Shenzhen Bay, Ren Zhengfei and others jointly invested 21,000 yuan to establish a small company, named "Huawei", and registered as a collective enterprise. It is engaged in the development and production of small-scale program-controlled switches, fire alarms, and air floatation instruments, as well as related project contracting and consulting.In the first two years, the company mainly sold HAX switches in Hong Kong as a consignment, profiting from the price difference.In this way, Huawei was born.But at that time, no one thought that this small company, which was born in a dilapidated factory building, would become a big company going global and rewrite the history of China's and even the world's communication manufacturing industry.
In the early days of Huawei's founding, Ren Zhengfei lived in a very poor life with his parents and nephew in a small room of more than ten square meters, cooking on the balcony.In order to save money, my parents bought dead fish and shrimp to eat, and only went out to buy vegetables at night when the vegetable market was about to close.
After several years of development, Huawei won the first pot of gold by acting as an agent for a program-controlled switchboard of a company in Hong Kong.
However, Ren Zhengfei was not reconciled.At that time, most of my country's large office machines and user machines came from large foreign companies and their joint ventures in China. People in the communication circle were very aware of the huge risks in this industry.There is no big risk in being an agent, and you can get stable profits. What is Ren Zhengfei not willing to do?
Although acting as an agent can also make money, Ren Zhengfei is a tough guy who will never admit defeat and is unwilling to "make wedding dresses" for others.In Ren Zhengfei's view, he will never see his future like this. He does not want to take this path, sticks to his beliefs, and wants to find a way out for his own development.
In the early 1990s, the domestic communication equipment market was almost entirely dominated by foreign companies, and no one would believe that Chinese companies could manufacture their own program-controlled switches.At that time, the development of Chinese enterprises had just started, with backward technology and insufficient strength, and they were not in the same breath as those established enterprises.In the fierce competition, the "big guys" don't take them seriously.
The huge business opportunities contained in the Chinese market have attracted manufacturers of program-controlled switches from all over the world to come to China to seek gold.At that time, the telecommunications bureaus at all levels from the province to the county had the right to purchase. Since many foreign products had government loans, they could be built and put into use immediately. In addition, it was said that "you can go abroad for inspection if you buy a machine." No, the situation is rather chaotic.In the end, the famous "seven countries and eight systems" in the history of China's communications was formed, that is, Japan's NEC and Fujitsu, America's Lucent, Canada's Nortel, Sweden's Ericsson, Germany's Siemens, Belgium's Bell and France's Alcatel jointly divided up the Chinese market.
These switches are expensive: the switch prices of European and American manufacturers are generally US$300-400 per line, and Japanese manufacturers are cheaper at US$180.Relying on monopoly technology, multinational giants are merciless in slaughtering people and making a lot of money.In the past, Chinese people had to charge 5,000 yuan for the initial installation of a phone (later gradually reduced to 3,000 or less than 2,000 yuan), and it could not be installed in time. You had to wait in line for several months or even a year, and you had to give cigarettes, gifts, and dinner before you could do it. Plug it on.Moreover, these switches from different countries and standards do not communicate with each other, causing confusion in the communication market.
As a soldier, Ren Zhengfei saw the "seven countries and eight systems" ravaging the land of China, and the people of the country were oppressed by "foreigners", and his anger burst out immediately.This just confirms Nietzsche's words: "In the strong and load-bearing spirit, there is dignity; in the proud dignity, there is willpower; Craving; in craving there is the explosive force of desire."
In order to survive and defend the sacred motherland, Ren Zhengfei embarked on a bitter entrepreneurial road full of sweat and tears after leaving the army.In his thirties, he has no family or political background, so the difficulty of starting a business can be imagined.Ren Zhengfei often said: "The market has no time to wait for our growth. It is not a mother. It has no patience or mercy."
Starting a business at the age of 20 is based on youth, and you are not afraid of all kinds of troubles; starting a business at the age of 30 depends on strength, and conquering the world after bitterness and sweetness; starting a business at the age of 40 is bitter.The famous entrepreneur Qiu Yonghan said: "25-35 years old is the best time to start a business, 40 years old is quite late, and after 40 years old is the exception among the exceptions."
However, Ren Zhengfei started his arduous business after his forty years.He gritted his teeth, and in order to "defend his family and the country", he survived the most difficult moment and achieved Huawei's later glory.
Ren Zhengfei once said impassionedly: "On the battlefield, the mission of soldiers is to defend the dignity of national sovereignty; Its own scientific research support system and corporate status are just empty words.”
Li Ka-shing said: "The key to the success of the strong lies in whether we can adhere to our correct ideals and principles with our own will; we can practice our beliefs, responsibilities and obligations with our perseverance, and use our knowledge to create a rich spirit and a rich home. .”
More than 50 years ago, the Chinese People's Volunteers enthusiastically responded to the Communist Party's call to "defend the home and the country" and sang the volunteer army's war song, "Cross the Yalu River with pride and courage" to support the Korean people in repelling the aggressive attacks of US imperialism.The West Point Military Academy regards "responsibility, honor, and country" as its school motto, and as a soldier, it is the responsibility to defend the honor of the country. In the 1980s, my country's communications market had been "carved up" by multinational corporations, leaving little left. Ren Zhengfei, who came from a military background, erupted with strong national pride and anger at the same time.
Ren Zhengfei said indignantly: "Foreigners come to China to make money. They will not teach the core technology to the Chinese, but expect us to introduce, introduce, and re-introduce. The company has never been independent. The market for technology, the market Lost it all, but no technology has been truly mastered. And the core competitiveness of an enterprise is actually technology.”
"Jiangshan" has been completely lost. Without core technology, we can't talk about competitiveness. We can only watch others grab high profits and "squeeze" our hard-earned money.
Ren Zhengfei believes that technological self-reliance is fundamental. Without its own technological support system, industrial independence is empty talk. Without independent national industries, there will be no national independence.Only oneself can save oneself. There has never been any savior, and there is no fairy emperor. If China wants to develop, it must rely on self-improvement.Therefore, Ren Zhengfei set a clear goal for Huawei from the beginning: to develop national industry, based on its own scientific research and development, keep up with the world's advanced technology, occupy the Chinese market, open up overseas markets, and compete with foreign "giants".
Only self-reliance in technology can be self-improvement, which is not only for the country, but also the foundation for the survival of enterprises.To survive, an enterprise must occupy the market and realize value-added.In order to gain a firm foothold in the fiercely competitive market, relying on "bringing doctrine" is not enough. You need to have core technology, and only with core technology can you have core competitiveness, compete with those big names, and have equal opportunities to compete.It is an inevitable choice to build the Chinese people's own brand and realize self-improvement and self-reliance.
Ren Zhengfei, a stubborn soldier and a brave fighter, is determined to create a national brand and create a new world in order to "defend his family and the country" and to be self-reliant.
The choice of direction is the first priority of entrepreneurship.do what?Make products!However, if you know how to make products, you can only bump around like a headless fly. "Unfortunately", this kind of mistake caused Ren Zhengfei to put on red dancing shoes for himself.Looking forward to the future in the dilapidated houses, thanking God for his perseverance, intelligence and general momentum, Ren Zhengfei led the weak Huawei to a ride to success.
When Huawei was first established, it was located on the fifth floor of a dilapidated seven-story building in Nanyou Industrial Zone, Nanshan District, Shenzhen.Behind it is a building called Elite, and a Sino-Italian joint venture company named Shenyi Piezo occupies the entire building.An old employee recalled that at that time, he was very envious of this big company and felt very proud to work there.But "10 years later, it's still the same, it hasn't changed at all."Later, Huawei moved to another building in the Nanyou Industrial Zone.Every floor of the building I was in at that time was a warehouse-type house, and Huawei occupied more than a dozen warehouses.
Although the environment was simple, it did not stop the enthusiasm of Ren Zhengfei and his colleagues. They were full of pride and prepared to fight hard.
On the other side of the warehouse, a wall of bricks was built to separate the single rooms where the employees lived.There are very few windows in the warehouse, and there is no sunlight in these separated single rooms. The partition walls are only built as high as one person, and there are no tiles on the roof. The "slanting wind and drizzle" is unstoppable, so there is no need to worry about forgetting to bring the key to the dormitory. Just go over the wall of the warehouse.The warehouse is full of switch parts and assembled machines from Hong Kong companies. Employees develop SKD parts for accessories in a corner of the warehouse, and then assemble the purchased parts into complete machines.
After earning the first pot of gold, Ren Zhengfei became restless. What he thought was that Huawei should make its own products.
Here, we have to applaud Ren Zhengfei, who bravely stood up like a knight.Chinese people like knights, and the spirit of bright swords spread among ancient knights.When these knights meet their opponents on a narrow road, no matter how powerful the opponent is, even if they are number one in the world, they must show their swords, even if they lose miserably, they will be defeated with honor.This is the true spirit of the Chinese nation, which is commendable.
The value of Ren Zhengfei lies in his courage to show his sword and challenge the most powerful opponent.For the independence of the national industry and to gain a foothold in the market, he worked hard on research and development, determined to build his own brand to compete with foreign giants.
Making products is easy to say, but it is even more difficult to do.Doing business requires keen vision, flexible mind, quick execution and complex interpersonal network, and of course courage and guts.It is different when doing business, especially R&D-oriented high-tech enterprises.From product research and development, production quality control, raw material procurement, finished product sales, after-sales service to related personnel management, organizational design, and process operation, it is full of challenges. There are many variables in it, and continuous seriousness and pragmatism are required. will.Dare to start a business is a kind of courage, and it takes a kind of courage to dare to risk bankruptcy and prepare to jump off a building to engage in research and development.
Human potential is infinite.There was a real incident, a British woman was so thin that she couldn't even move a TV set.In a big fire, she carried the TV set with her left hand and the safe with her right hand in spite of herself, and escaped from the fire scene safely.She showed her potential in crisis, from a weak woman to a mighty warrior.
Ren Zhengfei believes that he and his partners have this potential.
At that time, Ren Zhengfei was followed by a group of simple-minded young people, most of whom were highly educated, and full of enthusiasm and expectation for making contributions, came from the mainland to the special economic zone.With his excellent eloquence, Ren Zhengfei used his passion, agitation and sharing weal and woe to build this group of young people into an iron army with simple goals and passion, and everyone's wisdom and creativity exploded unprecedentedly.Ren Zhengfei made all the people believe that what they are engaged in is a promising career. As long as the company can survive, everyone will have an extremely bright future.Ren Zhengfei said something very provocative, asking employees to choose a south-facing house with a large balcony when buying a house in the future, so that they can use the money they get in the future. This is the origin of the legend of "selling money" later.
Everyone wants to develop independently, but without technology and talents, where do we start?
At that time, several state-owned units under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of my country were already producing 34-port and 48-port small switches for units. Huawei’s first product under the Huawei brand was called BH01. Assembled products.Huawei will buy back the parts, make packaging, write instructions, and then brand Huawei, and then find agents across the country to sell their products.
Huawei's first product, BH01, is just a 24-port private switchboard, which is a low-end machine, which limits the market and can only be used in small hospitals and mines.Moreover, Huawei at that time could not do a buyout. It can only be said that Huawei's BH01 and other BH01 were sold in the market at the same time.However, Huawei insists on building its own brand and injecting its own high-quality services into products with the same functions and appearance as other companies.The first self-owned brand product sold by Huawei is to replace the manufacturer's address and brand on the BH01 leaflets of other manufacturers with Huawei's, and send a fax to the customer.
The advantage of controlling the spare parts by yourself is that you can control the spare parts of the equipment, which has great advantages in improving the technical response to customers and the quality of service.Owning your own brand, you don’t need to spend money to buy agency rights like being an agent of others, and you have to pay a deposit more than half a year in advance to order an order.Once your own brand is well established, you can also develop your own agency throughout the country and collect agency fees yourself, which can also ease the tension in cash flow.
However, to order parts, it is necessary to provide a larger order to the manufacturer.The stapler can also be ordered one by one, and the minimum order for loose parts is at least dozens of pieces, which also requires the company to have stronger working capital and market sales channels.And because the manufacturers who supply spare parts also sell them themselves, Huawei's supply is often not guaranteed.Unexpectedly, due to Huawei's good service and low sales price, the first product BH01 is in short supply in the market.The spare parts purchased by Huawei were also cut off from the supply, and the customer's money was collected, but there was no goods to send.
At this time, Ren Zhengfei realized that he must break through independent research and development in the shortest possible time to realize his own control of production and products. Otherwise, customers would catch up with them and ask for refunds, and the company would face the danger of being cut off and closed.
In 1990, Huawei began to carry out circuit design and software development with independent intellectual property rights based on the circuit and software of BH01. In order to give customers the impression that the model has continuity, this time the model is called BH03, and it also started from 24 ports.From the customer's point of view, it has changed to a more beautiful case, and the other functions are similar, but the design of each circuit board in the BH03 and the research and development of the attendant console software are all done by Huawei itself.
The research and development of program-controlled switches is a technical task. Compared with the previous development experience, Ren Zhengfei has more freedom this time and can let go.The whole floor is divided into four sections of veneer, power supply, general testing and preparation, plus warehouse and kitchen.There are more than a dozen single beds lined up against the wall, plus a floor made of foam cardboard with mattresses, which is the residence for everyone.People use this as their home, eat and live upstairs, and often don't even know if it's raining outside.
Research and development work is proceeding in an orderly manner.There is no air conditioner in the building, only ceiling fans. People work day and night under the high temperature of the machine, designing and manufacturing circuit boards, operator consoles, soldering circuit boards, writing software, debugging, modifying, and re-debugging.Smoke when you are tired, take medicine when you are sick, and sleep on the table or on the floor for a while when you are really sleepy, and then continue to work when you wake up.Sometimes I slept until midnight when goods came suddenly, and I immediately got up and unloaded the heavy equipment before going back to sleep.There were too many mosquitoes at night, so the employees on duty covered themselves from head to toe with the plastic packaging of the cabinets, and then dug a few holes in their faces to ensure breathing. Now they are no longer afraid of mosquitoes.
It doesn't matter if the office conditions are a little bit tough, it's enough to endure it, but the company is still facing the problem of a shortage of funds.After the product is developed, it needs special testing equipment for testing. What if there is no money to buy equipment?
This is not a problem for Ren Zhengfei and his partners. They give full play to their ingenuity and replace it with some local methods.Technicians use multimeters and oscilloscopes to test the switches, and use magnifying glasses to examine the thousands of solder joints on the circuit board one by one.When encountering a high-traffic test of the switchboard, it is often necessary to call all the people together, and each person picks up two phone microphones at the same time to test the performance of the equipment.People test during the day and meet at night to discuss breakthroughs.After the equipment was tested, the people present, regardless of workers or managers, and regardless of their education background, college or doctorate, packed the equipment together and nailed corner irons, and carried and loaded the equipment together for delivery.Although the environment is difficult, people are full of confidence in the future and have the drive to move forward.One engineer was so tired that his cornea fell off that he had to be hospitalized for surgery.
Not buying test equipment can save a lot of money, but Huawei's cash flow is still very tight, and it has encountered obstacles everywhere when it wants to borrow money. Even the contract advance payment that has arrived has been invested in production and development.Customers from all over the world kept calling, telegramping, and faxing goods, and every Huawei employee felt unprecedented pressure.At that time, Huawei's wages were not high, and there were no subsidies or overtime pay. It was unable to pay wages for six consecutive months, and had to borrow usury at an annual interest rate of 24% to develop products and pay employees. Shareholders, including Ren Zhengfei, not only There is no profit, but you have to keep emptying your own pockets to keep the company running.It is the dedication of the older generation of Huawei people to "produce first and live later" that has survived the company's most difficult years and led to the great Huawei it is today.
Ren Zhengfei went to the site almost every day to check the progress of production and development, held meetings to study the difficulties faced, and divided labor to coordinate and solve various problems.When it was time to eat, Ren Zhengfei and the leaders of the company would have dinner with everyone at the food stall, and the person with the highest position would pay for the meal out of his own pocket.
Lenovo founder Liu Chuanzhi once said: "The relationship between the top leader of an enterprise and the subordinate employees is the relationship between a big engine and a small engine. What you drive is not a gear or a screw. Employees can also become an engine, and can be with you. Synchronization. If this can be done, the vitality of this enterprise will be very strong.”
At this time, Ren Zhengfei not only drove his full horsepower, but also let his employees work hard. Relying on everyone's potential and creativity to the fullest, Huawei in its infancy was finally able to survive strongly.
In December 1991, the BH-03 switch developed by Huawei finally passed all the basic function tests. Calls were made smoothly, with good sound quality, and passed the acceptance of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and obtained a formal network access license.The first batch of 3 switches worth hundreds of thousands of yuan was shipped out of the factory.At this time, the advance payment received by the company has all been used up, and the funds in the account are almost close to zero. If it fails to deliver the goods, it will go bankrupt.
On the evening of December 31, 1991, all Huawei employees held a celebration party in this historic building. They used a simple buffet to celebrate the first product with Huawei's intellectual property rights and brand to leave the factory.The victory of this desperate and last-ditch battle has become a key step in Huawei's entrepreneurial rise.
Traditional Chinese people pay the most attention to concentration in learning. "Ten years of cold windows", not only must be able to sit still, but also be able to sit for a long time. Only in this way can one become a master of the generation.This is also the reason why there are no masters in modern China.Temptation and impetuousness permeate the whole social atmosphere, looking around all day long, worrying about gains and losses, so impetuous that people can't sit down at all.This is true for learning, and it is also true for business.Staring at the money in front of you all day long, rushing to see what makes money, and rushing to leave when it sees no profit, such a business will definitely not last long.
Just when Huawei people were excited about their ability to independently develop communication products, an economic storm no less than a ten-level typhoon blew up.
In January 1992, after Deng Xiaoping's speech on the southern tour, after three years of governance and rectification, the economy entered a restorative high-speed growth.However, the fiery investment and rapid expansion made the economy start to "fever".Hundreds of billions of real estate funds flew to several regions in the south, including 80 billion yuan in Hainan, 30 billion yuan in Beihai, and 15 billion yuan in Huizhou, which quickly set off a frenzy of speculation.
"Construction is starting everywhere, the house has not been built, and there is only a blueprint for sale. The project is sold first-hand, second-hand, and third-hand. Those who develop the project are not making money faster than those who are hyped. The developer may earn 500 yuan per square meter. People who speculate can earn 1,000-2,000 yuan per square meter." A person who once experienced the scene recalled, "At that time, even the government departments of various provinces in the country raised funds to make a fortune in Hainan, and one person could make money overnight. become millionaires."
As the "window" of reform and opening up, Shenzhen is not immune, and another kind of madness is unfolding. In August 1992, Shenzhen issued 500 million yuan of new shares by issuing a lottery form for subscription.Starting from August 8, millions of stockholders marched into Shenzhen, and formed a long queue in front of 302 sales outlets in Shenzhen, hoping to buy a lottery form worth 100 yuan each. When the sale started on the morning of August 9, the order was still orderly, but the turmoil was surging, and the speculation became higher and higher. A subscription certificate was flipped to thousands of yuan, which led to "chaos in the world". On the morning of August 10th, all the lottery forms were sold out.On the evening of that day, thousands of stockholders who had not bought the lottery tickets marched on Shennan Middle Road in the city, unfurling slogans about anti-corruption and demanding justice, creating a situation of besieging the city government and the People's Bank of China.This is the famous "8.10" storm in the history of Chinese securities.
It turns out that going with the crowd is both fashionable and risky.At that time, the well-known Stone Group made great strides in diversification, kept up with the trend, and set foot in real estate.Liu Chuanzhi, who has always advocated "thinking about it before doing it", couldn't bear it anymore and invested in real estate in Huizhou. However, he had to change his plan and use the name of "International Computer City" to attract investment, and finally had to use it as his southern production base.Liu Chuanzhi said, "If I were asked to do it again, I would probably still choose this way."
As the saying goes, concepts determine destiny, and ideas determine the way out.Shortly after the birth of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei proposed the goal of "being a world-class and leading telecommunications equipment provider", and he talked about it with everyone.His wish is: "Ten years later, the world's communication industry will be divided into three parts, and Huawei will account for one part."
Ren Zhengfei has not been moved by temporarily attractive interests, and has always focused on developing independent technologies. He has led Huawei on a road of research and development full of unknown risks.
The competition in the telecommunications industry is very cruel. If you don't develop, you will perish. There is no middle way.The same is true for Huawei. There is no retreat, and development is the only way to survive.Ren Zhengfei gritted his teeth and insisted, "At the juncture of the life and death of the national communication industry, we must do our best to develop from the bottom up in fair competition, and never back down or bow our heads" and "not to be knocked down by those powerful companies."
Management guru Winston Churchill.Anthony Hsieh said: "Never follow the fashion of the industry and do what other companies are unwilling to do. At the same time, don't do what other companies are already doing or may do in the future."
The successful development of the BH-03 switch made Ren Zhengfei heave a sigh of relief.However, he was not as excited as the employees, and a practical problem occupied his mind again: the function of the product is still very single, and the effect of use is still unclear.Compared with foreign products, perhaps the price is the only advantage.Is such a product popular in the market?
After the product was put on the market, Ren Zhengfei couldn't sleep or eat, his heart seemed to be hanging in the air.
However, the results of user feedback made Ren Zhengfei finally relieved, and the product performance was stable without any problems.
Thus, the BH-03 switch began mass production.With the expansion of the user base, the popularity of the product is getting higher and higher, and the supply is basically in short supply.
The first product was made according to other people's products, and it was very popular with customers, so what to do next?Eat the money of BH-03?Of course not, this will lead to poor skills, and you will have nothing to do.
What Ren Zhengfei thought of was that the second and third products should be launched immediately.Although he wanted to make his own products, Huawei did not have more technical strength at the time, so Ren Zhengfei found Huazhong University of Science and Technology (then called Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Tsinghua University and other universities, and widely invited professors to bring teachers and students to visit Huawei. Visit, seek the possibility of technical cooperation.
Once, a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology took his graduate student Guo Ping to visit Huawei. At that time, Guo Ping had just graduated from graduate school and stayed at the school as a teacher.The young and promising Guo Ping was immediately attracted by Ren Zhengfei's unique entrepreneurial ambition, enthusiasm and sincerity.Ren Zhengfei immediately "took down" Guo Ping, and a passionate conversation made Guo Ping think that the 21st century was none other than Huawei, and he wished he could show his talents at Huawei tomorrow.Ren Zhengfei immediately left Guo Ping in Shenzhen and made Guo Ping the project manager for Huawei's second independent product development.This product is HJD48 small analog air-separation user exchange, which is a new product that can support 48 users in one machine (at the time, in order to give customers continuity of the product, it was called BH03U at the beginning, and the original BH03 was changed to BH03K).
After Guo Ping came to Huawei, he not only took on the job of the person in charge of independent research and development, but also became a "headhunter" for Huawei to attract outstanding talents from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.Under the exemplary role of Guo Ping's teaching by example, Guo Ping persuaded his classmate Zheng Baoyong to visit Huawei.
Zheng Bao used Huawei to meet Ren Zhengfei, which is no less than the "Jinggangshan meeting" between the Red Army Zhu De and Mao Zedong in the history of Huawei's research and development.
Zheng Baoyong also studied undergraduate and master degree at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.After Zheng Bao used Huawei, he immediately fell in love with Huawei, and never went back to Tsinghua University, nor did he give up his doctorate.Zheng Baoyong is quick thinking, easy-going, and straightforward. Everyone calls him "A Bao".
Zheng Baoyong followed Guo Ping to develop HJD48 in Guo Ping's project team at the beginning, and became the main force of HJD48's software and hardware development.
Zheng Bao used the arrival of this technical genius to suddenly improve Huawei's technical level and the organizational form of Huawei's R&D.Under Zheng Baoyong's talents, Huawei soon launched the HJD48 small analog air-separation user switch, one machine can support 48 users. HJD48 has made a new breakthrough in technical realization. One board can support 8 users, compared with Huawei's previous two products BH01 and BH03, which can only support 4 users per board, which greatly improves the product integration.Similar products with the same functions reduce the space occupied by the product, increase the capacity, and greatly reduce the cost of the product.After the product was put into the market, it was praised by many unit users for its high quality and low price.
After the HJD48 project ended, Zheng Baoyong became the deputy general manager and first chief engineer of Huawei, responsible for the strategic planning and new product development of Huawei products.At that time, everyone had no concept of strategic planning, and Zheng Baoyong's responsibility was understood by everyone as "as long as it is a product that is not produced or delivered, Zheng Baoyong is responsible for all products that are not produced."
Zheng Baoyong led the development of the HJD-04 500-door user machine. One machine can support 500 users. It uses photoelectric circuits and high-integration devices.Zheng Baoyong also made plans for Huawei and led the R&D personnel to successfully develop a subscriber switch with 100, 200, 400, 500 and other series of subscriber switches, which greatly filled the gap in the market.In 1992, the series of user switch products started under the leadership of Zheng Baoyong brought Huawei a sales performance with an annual output value of more than 100 million yuan and a total profit and tax of more than 10 million yuan.
This year, a large number of Huawei's products entered the market, and its popularity was unprecedentedly high, with more than 100 employees, accumulating experience and laying the foundation for further development.Ren Zhengfei decided to invest all his profits in the development of C&C08 switches with higher capacity and better performance. Huawei officially turned from a switch agent to a manufacturer, but a new test of life and death is still waiting for Huawei and Ren Zhengfei.
Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world. There are two ways to climb Mount Everest: one is the southern slope in Nepal, which has a mild climate and a smaller slope, and it is easier to climb; the other is the northern slope in Tibet, China, where the climate is harsh. Straight and steep, it can be called the "Valley of Death".
早在20世纪90年代，柳传志就说过：“在中国IT界，华为和联想是两家完全不同的企业。华为崇尚技术立足，就像一直在爬喜马拉雅山的北坡，陡峭险峻；联想是从平缓的南坡向上，缓和迂回，走的是贸工技的通路，最后也能爬上山顶。两家登顶的路径不同，但异曲同工。”
任正非简直是“一根筋”，“不撞南墙不回头”，甚至撞破了头也要“撞出个洞”，坚决从陡峭、人迹罕至的北坡出发，向技术的制高点挺进。“开发可不是一件容易的事，你要做好投入几十个亿，几年不冒泡的准备。”他已经做好准备，从困境中走出一条全新的路。
刚刚开始自主研发的华为，步履蹒跚地在1993年步入了全新的领域：电信局用交换机。从“单位用交换机”到“电信局用交换机”，就差了两三个字，可无论是产品的技术要求，还是市场竞争的激烈程度，都有天壤之别。
“无知者无畏”，华为血气方刚的研发团队，刚刚在自主研发“单位用小交换机”的胜利中尝到了甜头的华为年轻人，无畏地进入了“电信局用交换机”市场。
然而，一开始华为在这一全新的领域，却一败涂地。一意孤行，结果却是一败再败。
道路如此崎岖，且荆棘密布，该改变方向还是坚持走下去？
在任正非的带领下，华为开发出了自己的空分用户交换机HJD48系列产品，并利用已经建立的销售网络取得了一定的销售业绩。
1992年，凭借自己开发的HJD48空分用户交换机系列早期的单位用户机产品，华为销售额首次突破1亿元。自主研发的决策被证明是正确的、有效的。
1993年年初，在深圳蛇口的一个小礼堂里，华为召开了1992年年终总结大会，全体员工参加。当时员工有270多人，大家第一次目睹任正非满脸沉重、噪音沧桑地流露真情。
会议开始后，任正非第一个发言。他坐在用几张桌子搭成的简陋的主席台上，双眼饱含深情地环视了一下台下一张张年轻的面孔，哽咽着说了一句“我们终于活下来了”，就泪流满面再也说不下去，双手不断在脸上抹着泪水。台上台下每一个人无不为之动容。一个堂堂的中年男人，和一帮年龄只有他一半的年轻人，一起奔波在市场的一线、生产的现场，为了企业的生存什么都干过；他为了企业的生存所付出的艰辛、所承载的委屈之重可见一斑。
为了纪念“我们活下来了”，任正非还特地到香港定制了100枚金牌，发给在公司最艰难时刻不离不弃，共同努力的100位优秀员工以及香港鸿年公司。辛苦归辛苦，钱已经挣到了，1993年，不到200人就有了过亿元的销售额，华为下一步该怎么走？有人提出大家辛苦了这么多年，自然该享受享受了，把挣来的钱给大家多分点奖金。
任正非也很理解一些人的这种想法，但他是一个团队的统领，关注点会更高、眼光也会更长远。英明的企业家总是能在自然选择之上，做出必然的选择。任正非没有把挣的钱分了，也没有简单地谋划将销售额再增加一两倍，而是做出了一个大胆、有挑战性的决定：开发局用交换机，进军公用电话电信领域。
其实，华为自主研发局用交换机设备的工作，早在1992年就已经开始了。这次任正非又着重重申一下，隐意就是公司要把这项工作当作头等大事来抓。对于当时只有100多人的小企业，这的确是一个非常大胆的决定。华为以前做代理的产品以及自主研发的HJD48都是用户交换机，主要面对的是各种事业单位、企业等机构，是电信网络的终端用户。用户交换机的客户是各种各样的个体单位，一个设备最多开通1000用户，销售分布较广，单次销售数量小。而局用交换机的客户就是各级的电信运营商，客户数少但销量大，如北京海淀区一个地区的电信运营商至少需要开通几十万用户；交换机是按用户数来计算设备价格的，搞定一个地区的电信运营商产生的销售量，就相当于几十家不同行业或地区的单位，因此，局用交换机的销售额远高于用户交换机。
前景虽然很诱人，但要进军局用交换机，华为不仅面临技术上的挑战，更面临市场关系要另起炉灶的难题。用户交换机的购买客户是各个公司或单位，而局用交换机的购买客户是邮电部管理下的电信局。华为1992年以前没有做过电信局的生意，缺少客户积累，没有面向这种大客户的市场销售经验。
一个更加严重的问题是，在局用交换机领域里，华为面临的竞争对手与单位用交换机的竞争对手相比不是一个数量级的。这个领域里的竞争对手全是世界上最知名的通信巨头，如美国AT&T、日本的NEC、法国的阿尔卡特、瑞典的爱立信、日本的富士通等，它们在1993年时已在全世界拥有几十万名的员工，年销售额达上百亿甚至数百亿美元。在这个领域，华为将面临着比自己强大数百倍的竞争对手。
以目前华为的情况看，要走这样一条道路，不仅仅是困难的问题，它更是一个关乎企业生命的鬼门关。综合评估，市场和技术的难度相当大，而资金问题更是火烧眉毛。90年代初，正值国家宏观调控时期，像华为这样的民营企业根本无法从银行贷到款。
任正非说：“研发成功，我们都有发展，如果研发失败，我只有从楼上跳出去。”他的话语充满了悲壮。该怎样评价任正非的这一偏执的决定呢？
耶稣说：“你们要走窄门。因为引到灭亡，那门是宽的，路是大的，去的人也多。引到永生，那门是窄的，路是小的，找着的人也少。”
余华写了一部领悟人生真谛的小说《兄弟》。小说的主人公两兄弟，二个选择了正确、善良的窄门，另一个选择了隐忍、狡猾的宽门。于是，他们的生活在裂变中裂变，悲喜在爆发中爆发，这本书诠释了一个看似荒诞透顶、细品却暗合阴阳转化的至理。小说后记的点睛之笔是：“无论是写作还是人生，正确的出发都是走进窄门。不要被宽阔的大门所迷惑，那里面的路没有多长。”
走宽门是一条捷径，能够省许多力气，很多人都喜欢走，但是从宽广开始反而会越走越窄，而从狭窄的地方却可以走出宽广。
几十年前，一个美国大经销商打算给盛田昭夫10万美元的订单，要求把索尼换成自己的牌子。在艰难中挣扎的索尼迫切需要10万美元，但是盛田昭夫拒绝了。他要创立自己的品牌，坚决不做代工。几十年后“索尼”品牌享誉全球。
中国许多企业都喜欢走“宽门”，借壳国外品牌迅速崛起，然而只是为他人做“嫁衣裳”，看似辉煌，背后却危机四伏。当它们发展起来以后，就会面临二次选择。当年柳传志与倪光南的贸易与技术之争，最后柳传志还是选择“宽门”，走贸工技道路。但是时至今日，联想又开始重新选择，重视技术研发。海尔借助国外驰名品牌迅速崛起，然而利润空间被压缩，品牌之路也要好好考虑了。长虹、TCL。等企业在利润空间日益缩小的情况下，也需要重新定位。
在中国企业界，恐怕只有华为一家是走“窄门”的。在任正非的带领下，华为义无反顾地投入了局用交换机的开发。
这是华为的一个重大的转折点，意味着华为正式进入电信设备供应商的行列。公司不但把这前年挣的钱全部投入到新产品的开发中，而且向其他企业以高利率拆借资金来投入。现在回头看，如果不是任正非的这个果断决策，华为就会像许多当年生产用户机的厂家一样被淘汰出局。
而这也立马让刚“活过来”的华为陷入了一场新的生存危机。本以为“我们活过来了”，结果又迈入了自找苦吃之路。不过，凭着一股初生牛犊的精神，那时华为还是“雄赳赳、气昂昂”的，并没有察觉到真正的风险。
任正非坚持走“窄门”，无疑是要经历一段灰暗时期。
1992年，任正非任命郑宝用为主帅，开始进行局用交换机的研发。郑宝用带领十几个开发人员开始了工作。以前只开发过模拟空分用户机，所以在开发局用机时，他们决定先开发模拟空分局用交换机。华为第一个局用交换机命名为JK1000，郑宝用总负责，徐文伟负责硬件，王文胜负责软件。徐文伟是从华为当时所在地附近的亿利达挖过来的，在硬件开发上有一定的经验，之后徐文伟成为JK1000的项目经理。王文胜是刚从中国科技大学毕业的学生，初生牛犊不怕虎，他一个人开发了JK1000的所有前台软件，在软件开发方面很有天赋，也深受任正非的赏识。
在技术上投入了巨额的开发费用和全部的开发力量后，历经一年的艰苦工作，JK1000在1993年年初开发成功，并在5月份获得邮电部的入网证书。而此刻在市场上，华为与20多家电信局合资的莫贝克（华为电气）也在筹划成立中，华为与电信局的市场通道正式打开。技术与市场的障碍同时扫除，公司上下做好一切准备，要在市场上大力推广JK1000。
1993年5月，任正非亲自主持召开市场部经理会议，确定公司今后一段时间的工作重点是向市场大规模推销JK1000局用机。为打好这场销售战，任正特别强调，要各地办事处主任亲自挂帅，负责本地区内的促销活动；培训中心负责产品的宣传策划与展示活动，开发部也派若干精练的技术人员参与推销。通过这些安排，华为期待1993年在稳定用户机市场的同时，能够在局用机的销售上获得大丰收。
1993年7月4日，江西乐安县邮电局公溪支局第一个正式开通了JK1000局用机。随后，又有多家单位开通了华为的JK1000局用机，前景似乎很光明。
应该说，华为推出基于空分模拟技术的局用机JK1000，80%的原因是出于当时公司的技术实力，20%的原因也是对中国市场短时期可能达不到向数字化转换的估计。
1990年我国通信行业的实际情况是，固定电话的普及率仅为1.1%，在世界185个国家中居113位，仅相当于美国20世纪初的水平，而同时期发达国家（如美国）在1990年的电话普及率已达92%。华为在1992年认为，中国电信产业总体发展目标来看，到2000年也就是把电话普及率提高到5%-6%，因此通信业务仍以打电话即话音业务为主，对刚刚起步的非话音业务（如传真等），也主要在金融、铁路、电力、统计、国防等专门的部门或行业中使用。
但是，我国通信事业的实际发展情况与华为的预测严重不符。到2000年我国电信产业的固定电话普及率已达到50%，而不是预测中的5%，巨大的需求是其中的主要原因，而技术的快速发展也是一个重要的原因。这注定了在技术方面JK1000已经被甩在了后面，在1993年推出来的时候，空分局用交换机已经走到末路。这时候，由于计算机技术的发展，数字局用交换机出现了，它在功能、性能、成本上都大大优于空分局用交换机。因此，数字局用交换机取代空分局用交换机已不可避免。
更致命的是，在我国电信运营商的主战场上，华为面临的竞争对手是比原来向一家家单位推销用户交换机时的竞争对手更强劲的国外巨头。此刻的力量实在不对等，华为是销售刚刚过亿的小公司，而竞争对手已是上百亿的国际型大企业。
这些国际型大企业也的确不是吃素的，一出手就是要命的封喉剑。它们向电信局提出了“通信网建设一步到位”的思路，也就是说即使在广大农村，也开始逐步采用光缆进行传输，于是要求交换机与传输的改造同步，避免重复投资，以赶上通信业迅猛发展的潮流。这些国际型大企业的超前建设观极具煽动力和影响力，迎合了多数地区特别是发达省份的建设思路。“一步到位”的观点逐步波及全国，各地家庭用电话的通信网设备选型的首要标准就是要满足“一步到位”的建设思路，有的地方干脆认为上了数字程控机就是“一步到位”了，这样，数字程控交换机与“一步到位”的思路之间画上了等号。
这样一来，华为的JK1000空分交换机刚刚推出即面临没有市场的尴尬局面。
难道把刚出生的“孩子”掐死在摇篮里？谁能有这样的狠心啊！华为显然不甘心自己耗费巨大力量开发出来的产品就这样被淘汰。技术部、销售部都拼命在各种场合为JK1000空分交换机造势。华为多次组织电信局人员（主要是农话的）来公司举行技术讨论会，并在自己的内部刊物《华为人》报上发表文章，有针对性地宣传电信网络建设“一步到不了位”、“综合到位要量力而行”等思路，就是希望国内很多地方还是先上空分交换机，等到2000年后才过渡到数字程控交换机。
在这里，我们摘录了1993年9月《华为人》报关于“有朋自远方来不亦乐乎——农村通信技术和市场研讨会在华为举行”的报道：
商丘地区邮电局农话科长张荣钧谈道：“商丘地区也上了一些用户机，但是不尽如人意，尤其是雷击问题更是令人头痛。这几天来，看了华为的机器，觉得华为交换机的性能比较完善。”同时张科长又谈道：“我们国家的通信正在发展，今后可能会采用数字微波，而现在我们用的是模拟中继板，到时不知可否换板，这样既可以更新我们的设备，又可以降低成本。”
任总听完风趣地说：“对于使用了一两年之后的元器件已经老化完毕的，正好是进入青壮年时期，又可以半价转让给其他地方，何乐而不为呢？或者也可以通过整个农话局的维修中心，在全省范围内调剂。另外根据我们的市场预测，JK1000到2000年是不会落后的。目前日本1/3的交换机还是纵横制的，英国也将近1/3。”
If you pay, you will be rewarded.华为凭着自己反复地、锲而不舍地宣讲，通过一些市场关系在1993年还是卖出去了200多套JK1000。
但是，随后而来的是各种各样的问题。华为毕竟是第一次开发局用交换机，在很多技术上都不过关。而局用交换机对质量的要求比用户机要高得多，局用机不像用户机，如有中断故障发生，造成的影响将很坏，如果开不通局那就更是玩完了。俗话说“好事不出门，坏事传千里”，华为JK1000在电信局里使用出现的很多问题，逐渐被行业内人士所共知。最严重的问题是电源的防雷问题。打雷的时候，有好几台使用中的JK1000都起火了，差点把机房烧掉。这也害得好几个与华为关系比较好的电信局长提前“下课”了。因为邮电部有规定，电信网中断两小时，局长自动免职。好几次，华为的宣传部门刚刚在报纸上登载华为的交换机能防雷击，华为就收到了来自用户关于在打雷时华为交换机出事故的投诉。
此时，我国通信行业的形势也与华为的理想背道而驰。新技术的发展是任何人都无法阻挡的。到了1993年年底，“一步到位”的思路取得了完胜，空分交换机已经没有市场了，取而代之的是数字程控交换机。JK1000还没来得及改进和稳定就被淘汰了，华为在这个产品上的投入都付之东流。
1993年的华为，是个非常年轻的公司，市场经济对中国来说还是个新生事物；整个国家对高科技产品非常陌生。从用户机的成功，到局用机的失败，一成一败，给华为带来的收获是巨大的。这个因技术上相对落后一步就成为失败品的产品，给华为上了沉重的一课。
我国先秦哲人老子说过：“祸兮福之所倚，福兮祸之所伏。”好事可能会引出坏的结果，而坏事也可以引出好的结果。华为倾力研发的JK1000交换机刚一推出就遭遇了失败，看似是一种极坏的结果，然而，华为却从这极坏的结果中收获了意外之喜。
JK1000大多开在农村地区，少数开的市话也只在县城一级，所用线路相对较差，导致调试设备很难。这些偏远地区所配的局机型五花八门，性能不稳，当地的维护技术较差，这些都给开局造成了很大的难度。为此，华为组织了一支技术力量、责任心都很强的装机队伍，直接面对用户，要和用户相处好，做好用户培训工作，提供先进、优质的售后服务。任正非对装机队的要求是：“在外面就是华为公司的代表，一定要让用户对华为公司留下良好的印象，言行举动都要体现华为的风范。”
1993年年中到1994年年初，华为装机队全体员工不辞辛苦，走遍大江南北，开通了200多台JK1000局用机。正是他们，初步建立了华为人吃苦耐劳的服务形象：无论塞外高原、边防海岛，还是山区小镇、革命老区，市场部把战火点到哪里，哪里就有他们忙碌的身影。他们常年奔波，居无定所，忍受了孤独与寂寞，克服了饮食上的不习惯与语言上的障碍，让那些沉寂了千年的乡村第一次响起了电话铃声。他们代表华为给那些穷乡僻壤送去了文明的象征、致富的纽带，赢得了用户的信赖和广泛的市场影响。
JK1000给华为带来的意外之喜，就是无形的宝贵经验和服务口碑。一是在开发JK1000中的失败教训和在失败中成长起来的研发人员，为在下一步开发局用数字程控交换机打下了坚实的技术基础，以及对电信局用设备高质量的要求的技术掌握。二是华为安装设备的优质服务，给各地电信局留下了深刻的印象，这后来发展成华为战胜国外设备的一项“独门绝技”，要知道国外的设备厂商无论如何也是做不到组织一支“装机小分队”奔走于中国广袤的农村和艰苦的偏远山区的。三是华为优秀的售后服务承诺让各地电信局都大开眼界。
在华为推出电信局设备前，网上运行的主要是国外厂家的设备，这些国外厂家的设备在软件升级、设备备件以及维护等服务上收费高昂。而华为表示，只要是华为的设备，不管时间多长，软件升级全部免费提供。华为以省为单位建立一个培训中心，不论你买不买华为机器，都提供培训机会，做到每个县市最起码有一个维护人员。另外建立一个备件中心，以提供充足的备件，如还有什么重大问题，可以与该省的办事处联系。华为公司的服务之所以享誉中国市场，就是因为在全国29个办事处的市场人员都是技术人员，都可提供快捷的技术服务。
总结JK1000研发的教训，华为建立了自己的服务体系和服务理念，并提出了自己的服务口号：切实保障服务质量，提高客户网络的整体效能，帮助客户树立网络竞争优势，优化网络性能，增加客户业务收入，协助客户培养优秀维护人员。经多年努力，华为此后在国内建立起业界最为完善的客户服务体系；在国内29个办事处设立技术支援中心和备件中心，各分支机构通过各种数据专线互联；同时，客户问题管理系统、培训认证系统、客户信息系统、备件管理系统、经验案例系统等技术支持管理系统也趋于完善，给予客户服务以有效的IT支撑；此外，为进一步加大对客户网络的支撑能力，华为已将服务体系延伸至本地网，在本地网设立服务经理，负责协调公司资源，及时响应客户需求。服务好，已成为客户选择华为的重要理由。
JK1000的失败也使华为在实践中逐渐了解和学会了掌握市场的规律，而不是简单地做市场关系或推出一个自己认为先进合适的产品。“市场不相信眼泪！”“理想再好，止步于竞争对手！”这些可能是年轻的华为和年轻的华为人从这个失败的产品上得到