Zhou Qunfei, the founder of Lens technology, is the world's richest self-made woman in the technology sector.
Even with lots of difficulties and struggles, see achieved which seemed impossible at a time. Even achieving so much in her life, she is still a grounded person and never hesitate to sit as a worker to work in her company.
Traveling back and forth from China, Silicon Valley, and Korea, Apple and Samsung became the biggest clients for her company. Her story is the inspiration for millions of women in a man's denominators society.
Early Life
Born in 1970, in Xiangxiang, Human Province, in a family with a bad financial condition. Her father was a retired army person. He was partially blind and lost a finer in an industrial accident before Zhou was born. She lost her mother when she was five.
Her father used to make bamboo baskets, chairs and repairing bicycles for a living. Zhou used to raise animals to earn small profits to help her family financially.
Zhou completed her secondary education locally and moved to her uncle's family in Guangdong at the age of sixteen, to become a migrant worker in Shenzhen.
Career
She took a job near Shenzhen University so that she could complete her studies along with the jobs. She completed multiple certifications in the subjects including, computer operation, accounting, and customs processing. She even got licensed for commercial vehicles.
Zhou established her company in 1993 at the age of 22, with her savings. The company appealed to people to provide high-quality watch lenses. In 2001, the company grabbed the biggest order to make phone screens for the Chinese electronics giant TCL.
Lens Company & the Struggles
In 2003, the company got another breakthrough for making glass screens for Motorola. Following this, the company started making touch screen maker Lens technology.
Zhou saw the darkest side when they got a contract from Motorola. Her rivals got jealous and teamed up with the suppliers to through her out of the game. The suppliers changed the industry norms and demanded full payment before delivering any material.
To overcome this, Zhou sold her house and other valuables, but that wasn't enough. She even tried to jump off the platform at Hung Hom Station in Hong Kong, thinking it will end up all the troubles.
She changed her mind, when her daughter called her, which pulled her back to reality. She sent an email to Motorola, and with their help, she overcame the challenges.
After these struggles, the company started receiving orders from other mobile phones including, HTC, Nokia. In 2007, the company started producing touch screens for Apple's iPhone, Lens technology becomes the ruling player in the game.
In March 2015, Lens Technology become a public company and reached a net worth of US $10 billion, making her the richest woman in China. In 2018, she was named the world's richest self-made woman, with a net worth of $9.8 billion.