167: Chapter 167 Global Fruit Launch

The customer hesitated for a moment, looked at his old phone, and then looked at this Mate.

He pointed to the transsion s2 next to it...

"What about that one?"

"That might be a bit over your budget. That one is our flagship product; the 512MB+32GB model costs over 4000..."

The customer thought for a moment: "Let's go with this one. By the way, what about the phone bill?"

"Don't worry, you'll be signing up for the 58-yuan plan, but you'll get an automatic discount every month. If you decide to upgrade your plan, you might need to cover the difference, and if the plan cost is lower than 58 yuan, it won't roll over; you'll still pay up to 58 yuan."

"That's fine."

...

Securing exhibition booths was just a superficial move; this was the real backup plan Shen Fei had prepared.

Since China Unicom planned to push Apple, he would give them this surprise.

When Liu Fang left the China Unicom headquarters and presented this proposal to China Mobile, the chairman of China Mobile signed it on the spot.

Although they had to pay the plan fees, compared to acquiring these high-quality customers, the cost was very low, and the cost was just some data anyway.

However, the mobile number portability policy had to be pushed forward as soon as possible, otherwise the costs would be too high.

After Liu Fang left, he also shook his head silently.

How could Wang Jianzhou be so shortsighted? He still didn't understand who the future leader in the country would be.

Still clinging to that Apple, thinking it was something great...

Betting on it is fine, but you should walk on two legs; it's not like you can't afford to.

And cutting their benefits? He really thought they didn't have a backup plan.

...

On May 28th, the initial sales data for the Mate2 series came out.

Although they lost the China Unicom channel, offline stores filled that gap.

Huawei Mate2 series: First-month sales reached 2.07 million units.

The price-reduced Mate S also had over 800,000 in sales.

The media exclaimed: "Huawei is on a rampage."

Someone did the math: 2.07 million units, at a unit price of 2999 yuan, that's 6.2 billion in revenue.

And the transsion s2, which uses the same chip, has maintained an average monthly sales volume of 750,000 units (domestic market only).

The two flagship products occupied over 20% of the domestic Smartphone market.

Some say the Taishan 900 chip became legendary in one battle; it remains to be seen how foreign countries will respond.

...

But just in June at the Scone Conference Center.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference officially convened at 10 AM.

Steve Jobs walked onto the stage, wearing his classic black turtleneck and jeans. Apple fans from all over the world in the audience erupted into thunderous applause and screams.

He raised his hand to quiet the applause.

"This year, we are releasing another product. A product that redefines the Smartphone."

A number appeared on the big screen: 4.

Despite this number being considered ominous in most countries, Steve Jobs still used it to name his phone product.

He believed that the more ominous the number, the more good luck it would bring.

Accompanied by the roaring crowd, an exclusive product promotional video began to play.

The body, A4 chip, aluminum alloy frame, the design team's late-night discussions, and classic color schemes flashed by one after another...

But when this promotional video was broadcast in China, some tech fans were surprised to find that this product didn't seem... that good.

It didn't seem to be able to beat the transsion s2...

But Apple, as the pioneer of the Smartphone, and with Steve Jobs hosting the launch event himself, the cheers on site continued unabated.

"iphone 4, the most beautiful product we've ever designed. Dual-sided glass, stainless steel frame, Retina display with 326 pixels per inch—a level of clarity the human eye cannot distinguish."

...

"For this generation of iPhone, we are bringing you a brand-new self-developed processor. The A4 processor."

Some specifications appeared on the big screen.

These specifications had already been announced back in March, during the iPad launch.

Single-core A8 architecture.

However, compared to the 1GHz frequency on the iPad, the mobile version's frequency was downclocked to 800MHz, with some adjustments made to performance output.

"This is the most perfect device I have ever designed, but it will definitely not be the last. In the future, Apple will bring you even more advanced and easier-to-use Smartphone products."

The cheers in the audience rose again, and the Apple global launch livestream room also underwent earth-shaking changes.

In addition to the classic American and European IPs, some African IPs even appeared.

"This product isn't as strong as the Motorola S2, nor is it as good-looking. Apple has declined so quickly."

"The Steve Jobs era has ended."

"This generation is clearly not as stunning as the last one."

"I've never liked Steve Jobs' aesthetic, but this generation actually seems pretty good."

Regardless of what the livestream comments said, because of Tim Cook's repeated requests, Steve Jobs reluctantly announced a special piece of news on stage.

A red flag also appeared on the big screen.

"iphone 4 will support the China Unicom 3G network for the first time. We have added the WAPI security protocol for Chinese users, localized the system, and pre-installed Chinese input methods and mainstream applications."

He looked at some Chinese people in the audience and said again reluctantly: "The WiFi issue in the China region is now completely resolved. I hope Chinese Apple fans will support our product."

There was a round of applause from the audience, but it was a bit quieter than before.

Why does the China region deserve such good treatment? South Korean users immediately exploded. Even South Korea didn't get a separately customized product; why does China?

This is discrimination! Protest, we must protest.

After finishing talking about the special China version, Steve Jobs became passionate again, but his physical weakness made him speed up the introduction.

Soon, the launch event officially ended, and the iphone 4 began global sales. (Pre-sales began in some regions.)

...

In the Chinese market, long queues formed early in front of China Unicom business halls.

Unlike the previous generation, this time some people arrived the night before to queue up, and the area in front of the doors was filled with tents and folding chairs.

At the Xidan business hall in Beijing, banners had been hung up three days in advance: iphone 4 Beijing Designated Business Hall.

Some young men looked at the old man queuing at the front with confused expressions.

How did the old man get here earlier than them? Could he be another fashionable old man?

A nearby reporter also noticed this interesting scene and quickly came over to interview him: "Sir, when did you arrive?"

"10 PM last night."

"10 PM?" The reporter nodded in disbelief. "Do you know what they are selling here? They aren't giving away eggs here."

Clearly, the reporter still thought this old man had seen the banner and thought they were giving away eggs, so he came for the eggs.

After all, as long as there are eggs, these old men would burst out with speed comparable to Liu Xiang.

"Hahaha!" The old man laughed, then pointed at the banner and said, "Of course I know, they sell phones here."

"I'm buying it for my son. He has liked Apple phones for a long time. I'll pre-order one for him first and give him a surprise when it's released."

"Then sir, do you know how much it costs?"

"I heard it's a few thousand yuan, but I have a pension, so I can still afford it."

...

Wang Jianzhou of China Unicom, watching the long queues reported from all over, finally felt a heavy weight lift from his heart.

His all-in gamble had finally succeeded. As expected, no child cries every day, and no gambler loses every day.

China Telecom and China Mobile spent so much money poaching his customers, but he only needed one Apple phone to turn the tables.

Mobile number portability must be pushed forward as soon as possible.