Shenhao started as a military training anchor

In Apple's equity structure, CEO Cook is a person with little presence.

A true professional manager.

But he is also the ceiling for workers.

But in Holly's place, Cook also has little presence.

After Jobs' death, the Jobs family's stake in Apple was diluted from 41% to 11%.

Apple has lost control.

Today's Apple is not named after Jobs, but after Warren.

Berkshire Hathaway, founded by Warren Buffett, is now Apple's largest shareholder.

After selling his shares several times, he still holds control of Apple.

Buffett is also of Jewish descent.

He is one of Holly's biggest rivals and a representative of the Jewish financial group.

If he came to China to visit Holly in person, Holly might take it seriously.

Cook came over and there was nothing to talk about. If we could reach an agreement, we could talk. If not, we could just go to court.

The invitation sent personally by Putin in Moscow cannot be delayed because of dealing with Cook.

After receiving Hawley's reply, Cook left for China ahead of schedule.

He is also aware of his own identity. There is a huge gap between a professional worker and a world-class billionaire like Holly.

It was very lucky that Holly was willing to see him.

When he landed in Shanghai and appeared in Apple stores in Shanghai and other cities, domestic netizens guessed that Cook came to surrender and seek peace this time.

"Hahaha, Cook is anxious."

"It came so quickly. It must be Mr. Huo who hit Apple where it hurts."

"Will it be okay if he doesn't come? A worker can be fired at any time. I guess the investors behind him are also angry."

"How many days has Apple's stock price been falling? If this issue is not resolved, shareholders will explode."

“Is the Apple tax really going to be abolished?”

“It won’t be cancelled, but the proportion will definitely be reduced. What everyone hates is the double standard.

Why is it that Europe charges 17% and we charge 30%? "

"As an Apple user, I still hope this incident will have a good outcome. A lose-lose situation is actually not good for everyone."

"..."

Cook may not have made much achievements in technology, but he is a master in brand marketing.

Apple has gone through so many generations, but it still can't get out of the shadow of Steve Jobs. There are not many new things coming out in each generation, and some are even useless.

Cook led Apple's car-making project, which lasted for ten years and invested tens of billions of dollars, but in the end, not even a shell was built.

Even Lei Jun looked shocked and couldn't believe that Apple had given up on making cars.

In the technology circle, Cook is often ridiculed.

But under his management, Apple's sales and users have soared.

Ultimately, what companies look at is profit.

Perhaps this is also an important reason why he can still sit in the position of CEO.

Otherwise, he would have been fired by the capital behind him long ago.

But now the Apple tax issue has seriously affected Apple's sales in China.

The first two months of the third quarter were relatively stable, but the third month, which was last month, showed a cliff-like decline.

In order to keep his position as CEO, Cook had to get closer to consumers and start trying to be close to the people.

After finishing the character setting, he quickly flew to Jiangcheng to meet Holly.

Whether he can get through this or not depends largely on Holly's attitude.

It can even be said that Holly can decide his fate.

When he saw Huo Li, he immediately put aside his CEO attitude, walked up to him quickly, and respectfully addressed him, "Mr. Huo."

Holly nodded politely, shook his hand, and invited, "Cook, let's talk in our office."

"OK, Mr. Huo, you go in," Cook said with a smile, extending his hand.

The two moved to the president's office and sat on the sofa.

The secretary poured the tea and Holly held out his hand, "President Cook, please."

"Mr. Huo, please."

They were polite to each other.

Holly smiled and asked, "How do you feel about coming to China this time?"

Cook exclaimed: “Wow, every time I come there’s something new.

The speed of China's development has completely exceeded my expectations.

Fortunately, Apple has been able to develop well in such a powerful country and accumulate so many users."

When you come to someone else's place, you naturally have to say a few nice words. Holly smiled and nodded, jokingly saying, "I was worried that you would have trouble sleeping all night."

"No, Mr. Huo, I slept well last night, thank you for your concern."

Cook understood what Holly meant, and he was pointing out the Apple tax.

It feels a bit like teasing him.

As a professional manager, he is not suitable to joke with Holly.

Especially jokes of a game-adversarial nature.

That is the attitude of the investors behind him.

He just wants to protect Apple's profits.

You must correct your identity.

Holly smiled. This chosen worker has a high emotional intelligence.

"President Cook, if Buffett and his team push you too hard and don't respect you enough, you can choose to come to me," Holly said, "and help me manage my European industry."

Cook is not Jewish.

His strong ability is recognized in the circle.

If he chooses to switch jobs from Apple, all Fortune 500 companies will scramble to hire him.

"Thank you Mr. Huo for your recognition of me. I think I should retire from Apple," Cook said.

He had no doubt that Holly recognized his abilities, but Holly had dug a big hole for him.

It's Europe.

The irreconcilable situation between North America and Holly cannot be changed.

The attitude of Europe is changeable. Going to Europe to help manage Holly's business is just asking for trouble.

"You are so loyal, Buffett should reward you with more shares." Holly said, "If I were the actual controller of Apple, I would definitely do this."

Cook still smiled and said words of thanks.

He knew that Holly was trying to drive a wedge between him and Buffett.

He didn't dare to make any statement.

Buffett is someone he can't afford to offend.

"Mr. Huo, if it's convenient, let's talk about this case." Cook took the initiative to change the subject.

Apple is now being sued by many companies in China, and has countless cases to respond to. The biggest reason for this is that Holly's targeting of Apple gave others enough confidence.

As long as I can mediate with Holly before the court, I won’t have to worry about other cases.

Holly nodded, his eyes and expression suddenly became serious, "President Cook, you chose to come to China to see me, I think you have guessed my intention.

For a technology company, it is normal to charge patent fees and technical service fees.

But as a global company, Apple has set up multiple sets of charging standards in different regions. Do you think this is reasonable?

Turning a blind eye to the demands of Chinese users, is this what a global company would do?
Or do you have some other purpose?"

The last sentence frightened Cook greatly.

Hawley was almost about to say the words "political purpose".

He can't afford to wear this hat.

"No! No! No! Mr. Huo, you must have misunderstood us." Cook quickly explained: "Mr. Huo, I know what you mean.

Apple could lower the fees it charges for its services in China.

We have been paying attention to the feedback from our 2.5 million users in China and working hard for it.

This time it was our negligence.

I'm deeply sorry.

Before I came here, I had discussed with the board of directors about adjusting the service fees to the same level as in Europe.

The lowest in the world.”

17% is indeed the lowest in the world, several percentage points lower than that in the United States.

It is unrealistic to expect Apple to completely cancel this fee. It may further intensify the conflict and ultimately hurt the users, as well as the interests of Apple's suppliers and employees in the Chinese industrial chain.

Both parties have the ability to dominate the market and the confidence to engage in gaming.

It's just that Holly is in the upper hand right now.

At Holly's level, we must not only consider narrow interests, but also consider the interests of the majority.

It's a good thing that Cook is willing to lower the Apple tax.

This is also good news for Apple's 2.5 million users.

But Holly was not satisfied with just this. He had put a lot of energy into this matter and he wanted much more than this.

In this game, the relevant companies and entrepreneurs must straighten their backs and make Apple realize that its previous arrogant attitude will no longer work in the land of the great Eastern country.

If you want a win-win cooperation, you have to be humble.

(End of this chapter)