Apple iPhone will go on sale at 6pm on June 29th.
In addition to brand fans, digital geeks, passers-by who have been attracted by Apple's recent promotions, and several related online and offline media, I am afraid that the ones paying most attention to its situation are Yike and T-Mobile.
According to the news received by Fang Zhuo, manufacturers in the mobile phone industry have not given any obvious attention.
Or, their concerns are not expressed through public channels.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Fang Zhuo, Yu Hong, Pan Ben, one of the people in charge of the European market, and others held an online meeting to go over the recent work, and inevitably talked about the launch of Apple's iPhone.
Among them, one of the key points is advertising.
When the meeting was about to end, because the cooperation negotiations with the operators went relatively smoothly, everyone discussed their own advertising styles in a relaxed manner.
A large-scale advertising push for the iPhone involves holding the phone with one hand and operating it, which is very unpretentious.
Of course, it’s not that Apple can’t shoot gorgeous advertisements, but touch-screen mobile phones are still new to consumers. At this time, they need to use pragmatic “explanatory advertisements” to let more people understand what’s going on.
But for Yike, the publicity choices can be more unrestrained.
“Google contacted us specifically to inquire about the arrangements for August and wanted to put YouTube ads on us in mid-August.”
Yu Hong talked about the situation of partners.
Today I’m talking about advertising precisely because Google takes this seriously.
YouTube is the most popular video website on the Internet today. Since it was taken over by Google, its popularity has increased almost every month, and August is the time when it plans to test the site's profitability, and will run 10-15 seconds of advertisements before the video is played.
Because it was the first time to try advertising, Google was afraid of a backlash, so it did not plan to let Yiko Mars push it immediately, but at the second time in the middle of the month to observe the user's reaction first.
When Fang Zhuo saw Google's thoughtful explanation, he really sighed sincerely - being so considerate is really the honeymoon period within the honeymoon period.
A group of people discussed for a while, and Pan Ben, who was in Europe, laughed and said: "Actually, we already have advertisements."
"When Deutsche Telekom started pre-sales two days ago, it cut a section directly from the press conference. I feel that this is the first advertisement of Yike Mars."
"I took a look and the effect is really good."
Pan Ben knows the details better than Silicon Valley.
"Oh? Then you can send it after the meeting and I'll take a look at it." Fang Zhuo was curious.
Pan Ben nodded in agreement.
This meeting has come to an end.
However, just as Fang Zhuo and Yu Hong were discussing the iPhone situation and watching Pan Ben send advertisements from Europe, secretary Liu Zonghong promptly sent Nokia's reaction to smartphone sales in Finland.
"Deutsche Telekom started pre-sales 4 hours after the press conference. It didn't matter that I hurriedly edited the press conference clips in these 4 hours. It even included Finnish. It was really efficient." Yu Hong expressed to Deutsche Telekom.
Evaluation of operations.
Regardless of whether it is Laitu or the European headquarters, their explanation of the solo pre-sale is relatively vague.
But looking back in hindsight, it seemed quite premeditated.
"Well, after all, it is a 10 million US dollar business. The 10 million US dollars are used to test and leverage a project worth at least several hundred million US dollars. This hundreds of millions of dollars project is related to a huge 3G communications market. If it were me, I wouldn't do it.
It will be as hasty as the words show." Fang Zhuo drank tea and opened the fax document handed over by his secretary.
Deutsche Telekom's pre-sale of 100,000 units requires a deposit of US$99 per unit, and a total of US$9.9 million in pre-sale fees.
The tiered sales volume currently discussed between Yike and Deutsche Telekom is based on the sales volume of 3 million units. This starting point alone involves US$597 million, and this contract price also involves at least two years of phone packages.
As for the 3G market, this has been linked to Deutsche Telekom's overall strategy to save declining performance and smooth profit margins.
"Please give me your instructions, Mr. Yu." Fang Zhuo briefly read the comments of Nokia executives on pre-sales in Finland and handed the document to Yu Hong with a smile.
Yu Hong took it and looked at it, frowning slightly, and something similar to what Mr. Fang said to Sony suddenly came to mind.
It is still an online media.
Compared with the speed of paper media, the Internet is increasingly spreading its tentacles to all walks of life.
This time, Yike Mars raided the Nokia base camp after the press conference. It was not taken seriously at first, but after the media interviewed Nokia executives, it received a clear response.
"Nokia has always welcomed challenges."
“But I really haven’t heard much about the company Yike.”
"Oh, no, did the owner of this company buy an NBA team? Then I have an impression."
"A touch screen phone, right? It's quite an interesting try."
"There will indeed be some consumers who are curious and try new things, but touch screens and some tricks alone won't do it."
"Once consumers have passed the curiosity period, they will find that the mobile phones they hold are full of all kinds of immature problems. Once they have played with enough toys, they will still find out what kind of mobile phones are indispensable.
"
"Every year, mobile phone manufacturers come up with all kinds of whimsical gadgets, including us at Nokia, but the products that are actually launched on the market must be rigorous."
"Market competition is cruel."
"I'm very curious, what will Yike do after it has passed the early adopter period among consumers?"
"If I had to make a prediction, I might have to regretfully judge that there is not much time left for Yike."
Hollerton is Nokia's head of corporate strategy. He was interviewed by online media and bluntly made his judgment - Yike will definitely feel the cruelty of the mobile phone market.
Established mobile phone manufacturers have advantages in brands, funds, patents, customer groups, etc., which are difficult for new entrants to compete with.
Nokia is the king among mobile phone manufacturers and is fully qualified to evaluate a company that makes mobile phones like toys.
After reading the document, Yu Hong said hesitantly: "The pre-sale of 100,000 units was sold out so quickly. It seems pretty good. Why did they..."
Fang Zhuo responded with the words of a Deutsche Telekom executive: "Nokia's sales are measured in hundreds of millions. If Yike's market share could reach 35%, I would be able to jump on T-Mobile's desk right now and kill Lai Bald."
The excess hair was pulled out one by one."
He added: "Besides, Deutsche Telekom did not announce the sales volume in this test. If an elephant vaguely hears the movement of ants, will it lower its head and observe carefully?"
Yu Hong nodded slightly: "Sell it for 3 million first, and then we can talk to Nokia."
As soon as the people from Deutsche Telekom came to Silicon Valley, they raised their sales targets.
Even if an operator is willing to subsidize 3 million units to users, it is still a challenge in the current market. Considering that the two huge markets of Europe and the United States are combined together, there is still hope.
The sales target for the second level is 6 million units, which is quite difficult.
The last level is 9 million units, which has been regarded as a beautiful vision by both parties.
"Nokia..." Fang Zhuo said thoughtfully, "Let's first achieve the small goal of 3 million units and sit at the same table with Nokia to have fun."
Achieve 3 million, and have two moves with Nokia.
Completed 6 million, competing with Nokia.
Completed 9 million, and faced off with Nokia in court.
He closed the document and asked his secretary to fax it to Pan Ben. He asked whether he needed a response and how to respond, so he didn't have to come forward.
In fact, Yike has taken the blame for Deutsche Telekom's operation in a small way. The planned pre-sale must be more cautious and detailed, and the time is initially set to be after October. How can it be so impatient...
After all, it is a listed company, so if you do something like this, you will be in a hurry.
Fang Zhuo and Yu Hong discussed the general strategy of meeting the European and American markets. They raised their wrists and looked at their watches. It was already approaching the launch time of the iPhone.
"I don't know if Steve Jobs is nervous or not." Yu Hong suddenly mentioned her competitors.
"Probably not today. If it were me, I might be a little nervous when browsing the regular sales documents." Fang Zhuo speculated.
At the same time that he and Yu Hong were discussing this, Jobs almost also talked about Yike and Mars at the pre-launch meeting.
"Yiko is once again using a tried-and-true trick that has proven effective in the past."
“What is the actual use effect of Android system?”
"Is the performance of Qualcomm chips better than the Samsung chips we carry?"
“Is there a $100 difference between iPhone and Mars?”
Jobs' tone was more solemn and he asked questions again and again.
The 4G version of iPhone is $499, but Mars is only $399, and it also has 8G storage.
In terms of pure hardware, judging from past competitive experience, I am afraid that the parts Yike Company selected are indeed world-class parts as claimed in the press conference.
In this way, the cost to the other party is not difficult to estimate.
Therefore, Yike once again lowered its profit margins to seek competitive advantages.
This is very annoying and annoying.
The annoying thing is, it works.
Does Apple have a special selection on parts?
Not available yet, although it is also a first-class part.
Could an exclusive system cost consumers $100 more?
Jobs saw the demonstration at the Yike press conference and was unsure about the front-facing camera, the trend of uniting Internet companies and the Open Mobile Phone Alliance formed by Google...
He even suspected that the hardware purchase price within the Open Handset Alliance would create a huge advantage.
It's not even easy to fight a price war.
The only good thing is the support provided by the operator AT&T. The scale of T-Mobile jointly owned by Yike is not huge.
But AT&T not only provides support, but also puts pressure on them, refusing to allow them to access 3G unless they are blocked. This gives competitors a huge publicity point.
"A troublesome opponent."
Steve Jobs couldn't help but feel this way.
If I had known better, I would have raised the price more when I was able to acquire Yike.
However, that guy probably didn't really want to sell it that time.
Just when Jobs wanted to seriously discuss the retail price and operator contract price, he was suddenly handed the news he had just received.
——Yike has launched pre-sales in Finland, Europe, and is suspected of reaching a cooperation with Deutsche Telekom.
Jobs frowned again, and the only thing he was happy about was not that happy anymore.
The iPhone is not currently available in the European market, and negotiating with operators there is very complicated and difficult. Currently, we are in contact with O2 in the UK and Orange in France, and the progress is very slow.
Deutsche Telekom is also an alternative operator for the iPhone, but Yike obviously completed the cooperation first by virtue of its relationship with T-Mobile.
"We need to have a psychological expectation and timely adjustment plan for retail prices."
Jobs ended the meeting with this sentence: 499 was the price announced at the original press conference. However, the current competitive situation requires us to maintain flexibility and not lose competitiveness rigidly.
Later, he discussed with several executives the news that Yike was suspected of cooperating with Deutsche Telekom.
"Jobs, can we ask Schmidt?"
Jobs thought this was a good idea and asked Schmidt for information.
However, with the emergence of the Android system, the relationship between the two parties has become more subtle.
Jobs did not contact him at the meeting. He waited until he was the only one left in the conference room before calling the CEO of Google and asking for news about Yike.
"Deutsche Telekom? I don't know, isn't it in Europe?" Schmidt was confused and asked naturally, "When will the iPhone be launched in Europe?"
Just as Jobs was about to answer, he suddenly fell silent.
He learned from Schmidt that the name of Yike Mobile is Mars, that Yike Mobile is 3G, that there are problems with the progress of Yike Mobile, and the cost range of Yike Mobile... But, which side is this independent director of Apple now?
Jobs was thinking about the price of Yike 399 and the rumored cooperation model between Yike and T-Mobile. After another period of silence, he said directly: "Schmitt, under the current circumstances, are you no longer suitable to serve on Apple's board of directors?"
member?"
Schmidt immediately became indignant: "Jobs, that was not the tone you used when you invited me to the press conference!"
"There was no Android at that time." Jobs did not say the second half of the sentence without evidence. He now has some doubts about Schmidt's character.
Schmidt was furious: "What do you mean? Are you questioning me?"
Jobs named him: "After all, you are the director of Apple, the CEO of Google, and a close partner with Yike. Of course I will not question you, but that is not necessarily the case with Fang Zhuo. Will the outside world also discuss our three companies?"
relationship? It could be damaging to your reputation."
Schmidt said word by word: "Jobs, I will seriously consider your friendly suggestions."
He ended the call.
Apple directors can't do this.
Schmidt was in the office, and he called Fang Zhuo out of frustration and informed: "I plan to resign as Apple's foreign director. Considering that this position is not conducive to the cooperation and competition of our three listed companies, it is best not to keep it.
"
Fang Zhuoqi said: "No, this foreign director is so good. Apple's partners regard you as Apple's own."
Schmidt pondered for a few seconds.
Fang Zhuo suddenly understood: "Being kicked out?"
"How is that possible?" Schmidt said disdainfully, "After all, the Android system was released to prevent the media from focusing on these time-wasting things in the future."
"Then come to Yike and become an outside director. It just so happens that Sony's Stringer is also an outside director of our company." Fang Zhuo issued a sincere invitation, "It also consolidates the cooperative relationship between Google and Yike. We are
Indestructible."
Schmidt really hesitated this time: "I'll think about it."
"Okay, Yike welcomes you at any time." Fang Zhuo welcomed the Google CEO in his honeymoon period.
"The iPhone is on sale, and I heard that consumers are queuing up to buy it." Schmidt changed the subject.
"I asked the company's staff to take a look and found that some stores were indeed queuing up to buy Apple retail machines, but it seemed that the AT&T stores were more lively. There was a big difference between the $199 and $499."
Fang Zhuo has received the news.
An iPhone priced at 199 is far more popular than an iPhone priced at 499.
Schmidt was very happy to hear the news: "In this case, it is not in vain that Yike has spent a lot of effort to cooperate with operators, and the price competitiveness is not weaker than others."
"Well, I will have a real iPhone in my hands tonight. The price is not inferior to others, and the hardware is not inferior to others. Let's see how this system goes." Fang Zhuo said calmly.
Schmidt smiled and said: "It will definitely be equally good."
"Let's leave it at that. I will have an important domestic media connection later and ask Mr. Schmidt to seriously consider the invitation from Yike Company." Fang Zhuo finally mentioned the matter of external directors again.
Schmidt once again expressed that he would seriously consider it. He did not trust Mr. Fang's character and was worried that Mr. Fang would use his name as the foreign director of Yike to deceive him.
Fang Zhuo hung up the phone.
The time is already seven o'clock in the evening.
Soon, when the domestic CCTV financial program was about to connect the phone, the newly purchased iPhone was delivered to the desk.
Fang Zhuo was playing with his iPhone while answering questions from financial reporters on the other end.
The questions are relatively general, mainly about the release of Yike Mars mobile phone, and when it will be launched in China.
The domestic 3G situation is slightly sluggish, and it will have to be delayed for at least half a year.
Fang Zhuo talked about his mobile phone, the Android system, and the different standards of 3G.
"Mr. Fang, some mobile phone manufacturers think that Yike mobile phones are too radical, the touch screen is not easily accepted by consumers, and the Internet applications they use are not suitable for the country. What do you think about this?" The financial reporter asked the question in a non-provocative manner.
There are public opinion issues.
From Zhihu to portals, from the Internet to TV programs, there has really been a wave of evaluation of Yike mobile phones in recent days.
In particular, the easily remembered comment of Lenovo executives as "evil heretics" has been quoted a lot.
Fang Zhuo is busy with T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, Google, Apple, and Nokia every day. He knows that there are some unfriendly reviews in China, but he doesn't care about those group of weak soldiers and generals.
However, when financial reporters ask themselves this question in person, things may be different, and the scope of influence of those evaluations may be quite large.
He thought about restraining his emotions and not being too arrogant, and answered the question: "The mobile phone industry is undergoing profound changes with the release of Yike Mars."
"Such changes with the arrival of 3G will be quickly noticed by practitioners and consumers."
"A new era is coming."
"I am honored to witness, participate and lead this era with everyone."
"I would like to kindly remind my domestic friends that there are new ways to play in the new era. If they are different from mine, let me prevail first."
"Thank you everyone, and please look forward to the release of our mobile phones in China."
Fang Zhuo answered the question in a low-key manner and thanked the financial connection.
When he put down his mobile phone, his mind flashed through the candidates for Yike's domestic department and the project establishment of its subsidiaries. Morningstar Semiconductor and MediaTek both had teams in Silicon Valley R&D centers.
The Mars mobile phone actually has no overlap with the positioning of domestic manufacturers, but the popularity of entry-level models will be of great benefit to Yike, which can get a piece of the Android system.
It's up to me.
If you don’t follow my lead, you may not be able to play anymore.
This chapter has been completed!