Reinventing the Millennium.

Apple iPhone goes on sale at six o'clock in the afternoon on June 6.

In addition to brand fans, digital geeks, passers-by recently attracted by Apple's publicity, and some related online and offline media, I am afraid that Echo and T-Mobile are most concerned about its situation.

According to the news Fang Zhuo received, manufacturers in the mobile phone industry did not pay any obvious attention.

Or, their concerns are not expressed in public channels.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Fang Zhuo, Yu Hong, and Pan Ben, one of the European market leaders, held an online meeting to review the recent work and inevitably talked about the release of Apple's iPhone.

Among them, there is an emphasis on advertising.

At the end of the meeting, because the cooperation and negotiation between the operators went smoothly, everyone discussed their own advertising style relatively easily.

A large-scale advertising push of the iPhone is to hold the mobile phone with one hand to operate, which is very simple and unpretentious.

Of course, it's not that Apple can't shoot gorgeous advertisements, but that touch-screen mobile phones are still new to consumers. At this time, it is necessary to use pragmatic "explanatory advertisements" to let more people understand what is going on.

But for Yike, the publicity choice can be more presumptuous.

"Google specifically contacted us and asked about the arrangements for August, and wanted to put us on YouTube ads in mid-August."

Yu Hong talked about the situation of the partners.

Talking about advertising today is precisely because of Google's serious connection.

YouTube is the hottest video site on the Internet today. It has reached a new level almost every month since it was acquired by Google, and August is the time when it plans to test the profitability of the site. It will place 8-10 seconds of advertisements before the video is played.

Because it is the first time to try advertising, Google is afraid of a rebound, so it does not intend to let Yike Mars push it at the first time, but put it in the middle of the second time, so as to observe the user's reaction first.

When Fang Zhuo saw Google’s thoughtful explanation, he really sighed from the bottom of his heart—it’s really a honeymoon period within a honeymoon period for its thoughtfulness.

A group of people discussed for a while, and Pan Ben in Europe laughed and said, "Actually, we already have advertisements."

"When Deutsche Telekom opened the pre-sale two days ago, I cut a section directly from the press conference. I feel that this is the first advertisement of Yike Mars."

"I looked at it, and the effect is really good."

Pan Ben knows the details better than Silicon Valley.

"Oh? Then you send it after the meeting, and I'll take a look too." Fang Zhuo was curious.

Pan Ben nodded in response.

This meeting also came to an end.

However, when Fang Zhuo and Yu Hong were discussing the iPhone situation and watching Pan Ben send an advertisement from Europe, secretary Liu Zonghong promptly sent Nokia's response to the sale of smartphones in Finland.

"Deutsche Telekom opened the pre-sale 4 hours after the press conference. It's okay to edit the clips of the press conference in a hurry in these 4 hours. It's even accompanied by Finnish. It's really efficient." Yu Hong published to Deutsche Telekom Operation evaluation.

Regardless of whether it is Laidu or the European headquarters, they all have vague explanations for the pre-sale of Solo.

But in retrospect, it was quite premeditated.

"Well, it's still a 1000 million dollar business. The 1000 million dollars is used to test and leverage projects that are at least hundreds of millions of dollars. This hundreds of millions of dollars is related to a huge 3G communication market. If it were me, I wouldn't It will be as hasty as expressed in words." Fang Zhuo sipped his tea and opened the faxed document handed over by his secretary.

Deutsche Telekom’s pre-sale of 10 units requires a deposit of US$99 for a single unit, and a total of US$990 million in advance sales.

Now the ladder sales volume that Yike and Deutsche Telekom are talking about is based on the sales volume of 300 million units. This starting point alone involves 5.97 million US dollars, and this contract price also involves at least two years of phone bill packages.

As for the 3G market, this has already been related to Deutsche Telekom's overall strategy of rescuing the declining performance and benefiting from the decline.

"President Yu please give instructions." Fang Zhuo briefly read the Nokia executives' comments on the Finnish pre-sale, and handed the document to Yu Hong with a smile.

Yu Hong took a look, frowned slightly, and suddenly the similar words that Mr. Fang had said to Sony suddenly appeared in his mind.

It is still online media.

Compared with the speed of paper media, the Internet is more and more able to spread its tentacles to all walks of life.

This time, Yike Mars raided the Nokia base camp after the press conference. It was not paid much attention, but after the media interviewed Nokia executives, it received a clear response.

"Nokia has always welcomed a challenge."

"But I really haven't heard much about Yike."

"Oh, no, did the owner of this company buy an NBA team? Then I have the impression."

"A touchscreen phone? Interesting to try."

"There will indeed be some consumers who are curious to try something new, but it's not enough to rely on touch screens and some small tricks."

“Once consumers have passed the curiosity period, they will find that the phone they hold is full of all kinds of immature questions, and once they have enough toys, they will still find out what kind of phone is indispensable. "

"Every year, mobile phone manufacturers come up with all kinds of whimsical gadgets, including our own at Nokia, but the products that are really brought to the market must be rigorous."

"The market competition is brutal."

"I'm curious, what will Yike do after the consumer's early adopter time?"

"If I have to predict, I may have to regretfully judge that there is not much time left for Yi Ke."

Holleton is Nokia's director of corporate strategy. He accepted an interview with online media and made a blunt judgment—Eco will definitely feel the cruelty of the mobile phone market.

Established mobile phone manufacturers have advantages in brand, capital, patents, customer groups, etc., which are difficult for new entrants to compare.

Nokia is the king among mobile phone manufacturers, and it is fully qualified to evaluate a company that makes mobile phones like toys.

After reading the document, Yu Hong hesitated and said, "The [-] pre-sales sold out so quickly, which seems to be pretty good. Why did they..."

Fang Zhuo replied in the words of a Deutsche Telekom executive: "Nokia's sales volume is calculated in the hundreds of millions. If Echo's market share can reach 35%, I can jump on the desk of T-Mobile and make Lai Tuo countless Too many hairs are pulled out one by one."

He added: "Besides, Deutsche Telekom did not announce the sales volume in this test. An elephant could vaguely hear the ant's movement. Would it lower its head and observe carefully?"

Yu Hong nodded slightly: "Sell 300 million first, and then we can talk to Nokia."

As soon as the Deutsche Telekom guys came to Silicon Valley, they raised their sales targets.

Even if there are operators willing to subsidize 300 million units, it is still a challenge from the current market perspective. Considering that the two huge markets of Europe and the United States are combined, there is still hope.

The sales target of the second step is 600 million units, which is quite difficult.

The last level is 900 million units, which has been regarded as a beautiful vision by both parties.

"Nokia..." Fang Zhuo murmured, "Let's complete the small goal of 300 million units first, and sit at the same table with Nokia."

Complete 300 million, and Nokia live two strokes.

Complete 600 million and compete with Nokia.

Completed 900 million, confronted with the Nokia court.

He closed the document and asked his secretary to fax it to Pan Ben. If he needed to respond and how to respond, he didn't have to come forward.

As a matter of fact, Yike has taken the blame for Deutsche Telekom's operation. The planned pre-sale must be more cautious and meticulous, and the time is initially after October. How can it be so impatient...

Anyway, it's also a listed company, so it's a rush.

Fang Zhuo and Yu Hong discussed the general strategy for the European and American markets. They raised their wrists and looked at their watches. The release time of the iPhone was approaching.

"I don't know if Jobs is nervous or not." Yu Hong suddenly mentioned a competitor.

"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 talked about Yike and Mars in the pre-release meeting.

"Iko is back with a trick that's been used, which has proven effective in the past."

"What is the actual use effect of the Android system?"

"Is the performance of Qualcomm chips better than the Samsung we carry?"

"Is there a $100 gap between iPhone and Mars?"

Jobs' tone was more dignified, and he kept asking questions.

The 4G version of the iPhone is $499, but the Mars is only $399, and it still has 8G of storage.

In terms of pure hardware, judging from the past competition experience, Yike may choose the world-class parts as claimed in the press conference.

In this way, the cost of the other party is not difficult to estimate.

Therefore, Yike once again suppressed profit margins to seek a competitive advantage.

This is annoying and annoying.

Most annoyingly, it works.

Does Apple have a special selection on parts?
Not yet, although it is also a first-class part.

Can an Exclusive System Get Consumers to Pay an Extra $100?
Jobs watched the demo at the Yike press conference, and he didn't know what to do. The front camera, the trend of uniting Internet companies, and the Open Mobile Alliance formed by Google...

He even suspects that hardware purchase prices within the Open Handset Alliance will form a huge advantage.

This is not even a price war.

The only thing that is gratifying is the support given by the operator AT&T. The scale of T-Mobile of Yike United is not huge.

But AT&T not only gives support, but also puts pressure on it. It has to block 3G, which gives competitors a huge publicity point.

"Troublesome opponent."

Jobs had to be so emotional.

If I had known earlier, when I was able to acquire Yike, I raised the price a lot.

However, that guy probably didn't really want to sell that time.

Just as Jobs wanted to seriously talk about retail prices and operator contract prices, he was suddenly handed the news he had just received.

——Eco started pre-sale in Finland, Europe, and it is suspected that it has reached a cooperation with Deutsche Telekom.

Jobs frowned again, and the only comfort was not so comforting.

The iPhone is not currently available in the European market, and it is very complicated and difficult to negotiate with the operators there. At present, the contacts are 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 with the relationship of T-Mobile.

"We need to have a psychological expectation and a timely adjustment plan for retail prices."

Jobs ended the meeting with this sentence. 499 is the price announced at the press conference. However, the current competition situation must be sensitive to maintain flexibility, and not to lose competitiveness rigidly.

Later, he discussed with several senior executives the news that Yike was suspected of cooperating with Deutsche Telekom.

"Jobs, can we ask Schmidt?"

Jobs thought it was a good idea, and he asked Schmidt for information.

However, with the emergence of the Android system, the relationship between the two parties has become more delicate.

Jobs did not contact at the meeting. He waited until he was the only one left in the conference room before calling the CEO of Google and asking about the news of Yike.

"Deutsche Telekom? I don't know, isn't it in Europe?" Schmidt was puzzled and asked naturally, "When will the iPhone go on sale in Europe?"

Just as Jobs was about to answer, he suddenly fell silent.

He knew from Schmidt that the name of the Yike mobile phone is Mars, the Yike mobile phone is 3G, the progress of the Yike mobile phone has problems, and the cost range of the Yike mobile phone... But, which side is this independent director of Apple now?

Jobs thought about the price of Yike 399, and the rumored cooperation model between Yike and T-Mobile. After a while of silence, he said directly: "Schmidt, under the current circumstances, are you no longer suitable to serve on Apple's board of directors? member?"

Schmidt immediately became indignant: "Jobs, that's not the tone you invited me to the press conference at that time!"

"Android didn't exist at that time." Jobs didn't say the second half of the sentence without evidence, and he is a little suspicious of Schmidt's character now.

Schmidt huffed: "What do you mean? Are you questioning me?"

Jobs called his name: "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 Fang Zhuo is not necessarily the person. Will the outside world also discuss our three companies? relationship? It could damage your reputation."

Schmidt said word by word: "Jobs, I will seriously consider your friendly suggestion."

He ended the call.

Apple directors can't do this.

Schmidt was in the office, and he called Fang Zhuo with some disappointment, and told him: "I plan to resign as Apple's external director. Considering that this position is not conducive to the cooperation and competition of our three listed companies, it is better not to keep it. "

Fang Zhuoqi said: "Don't worry, this foreign director is so nice, Apple's partners regard you as Apple's own."

Schmidt pondered for a few seconds.

Fang Zhuo suddenly understood: "Have you been kicked out?"

"How is it possible?" Schmidt disdainfully said, "After all, the Android system has been released, so that the media won't focus on these time-wasting things in the future."

"Then let Yike become an outside director. It just so happens that Sony's Stringer is also an outside director of our company." Fang Zhuo sent a sincere invitation, "It can also be regarded as strengthening the cooperative relationship between Google and Yike. 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 the honeymoon period.

"iPhone is on sale, and I heard that consumers are queuing up to buy it." Schmidt changed the subject.

"I asked the company to look at it. Some stores are indeed queuing up to buy Apple's retail machines, but it seems that the AT&T store is more lively. There is a big gap between $199 and $499." Fang Zhuo has received the message.

199 is far more popular than the 499 iPhone.

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, there will be a real iPhone in hand in the evening. The price is not inferior to others, and the hardware is not inferior to others. Let's see how the system is doing." Fang Zhuo said flatly.

Schmidt laughed: "It must be equally good."

"That's it. I will have an important domestic media connection later, and I ask Mr. Schmidt to seriously consider the invitation from Yike." Fang Zhuo finally mentioned the matter of outside directors again.

Schmidt once again said that he would seriously consider it. He did not trust Mr. Fang's character, and was worried that Mr. Fang would use the name of being the director of Yike Wai to deceive and abduct him.

Fang Zhuo hung up the phone.

It was seven o'clock in the evening.

Soon, when the domestic CCTV financial program was about to connect the phone, the newly bought iPhone was delivered to the desk.

While playing with his iPhone, Fang Zhuo answered questions from financial reporters on the other end.

The questions are relatively routine, mainly about the release of the Yike Mars mobile phone, and when will it be launched in China.

The domestic 3G situation is slightly slow, at least half a year later.

Fang Zhuo talked about his mobile phone, the Android system, and the different standards of 3G.

"Mr. Fang, some mobile phone manufacturers think that the Yike mobile phone is too radical, the touch screen is not easy to be accepted by consumers, and the Internet application used is not suitable for China. What do you think about this?" The financial reporter asked as much as possible without provoking trouble. Existing public opinion problems.

From Zhihu to portals, from the Internet to TV shows, there has indeed been a surge of comments on Yike mobile phones in the past few days.

In particular, the easy-to-remember evaluation of Lenovo's executives as "demon 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 comments in China, but he doesn't care about the group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals at all.

However, when financial reporters ask themselves face to face, 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."

"The arrival of such a change with 3G will soon be noticed by practitioners and consumers."

"A new era is coming."

"I am honored to witness, participate and lead this era with you."

"I would like to kindly remind my domestic friends that there are new ways to play in the new era, and those who are different from me, I will prevail first."

"Thank you everyone, please look forward to the launch of our mobile phone in China."

Fang Zhuo answered the question in a low-key manner, and thanked Caijing for the connection.

When he put down his phone, the candidates for the domestic department of Yike and the project establishment of the subsidiary flashed in his mind. Both Morningstar Semiconductor and MediaTek still have teams in the Silicon Valley R&D center.

The Mars mobile phone actually has no intersection with the positioning of domestic manufacturers, but the popularity of entry-level models is of great benefit to Yike, which can get a share of the Android system.

Take me as the standard.

Those who are not based on me may not be able to play in the future.