226: Chapter 226 "God" Comes to the Door

"Right." Shen Fei continued to hold her. "The reason we've been so smooth in the European market is thanks to Apple's antenna issues."

"Qualcomm sold them defective goods, and they have to put up with it. Because aside from Qualcomm, Infineon is just as unreliable."

"But now..."

Shen Fei smiled. "We have it."

Zhang Mingzhu finally understood. "So, it wasn't an invitation for you to go to the United States at all; it's that he's preparing to come to China."

"And then find a way to save face for himself."

"Right." Shen Fei gently helped her to the sofa nearby. "You reply to his email using my private account. You can be polite in your tone."

"Just say that on November 10th, I'll be waiting for him in Guangzhou."

Half a day later, Apple headquarters.

When Cook saw the message, he was in the middle of a supply chain meeting.

He stared at the line in the email: "November 10th, Guangzhou, Transsion headquarters. We welcome Mr. Tim Cook to visit."

Other executives leaned in to take a look, and their expressions changed.

"Tim, they want you to go to China? This is just too..."

"Too what?" Cook stared at them...

The head of the supply chain hesitated for a moment, still unable to let go of that pride.

Why should a backward place like China be worth such attention from them? It should be them rushing to visit us; that would already be giving them immense face.

And yet...

"It's too disrespectful. You are the new CEO of Apple; they should be the ones coming to the United States to see you."

"A bunch of boors. I heard they are practically like gangsters."

"Mr. Cook, please think twice."

Cook smiled and ignored their so-called face.

In business, face is the most useless thing; only real profits are what matter most.

"Do you know Transsion's current market value?"

The group was stunned for a moment, then looked at each other, trying to find the answer on each other's faces.

Transsion's market value?

It was just too obscure a question; they hadn't researched it at all.

"It shouldn't be high, right? A few billion at most?"

"Although they haven't gone public yet, and most of their business is under Huaxin Investment, Wall Street still values them at 30 billion USD."

"And, they have the most important thing we need."

"Communication basebands." The supply chain head completely dropped his dismissive attitude.

"Communication basebands, and batteries." Cook picked up the teacup on the table and carefully savored the top-tier tea from the East.

Compared to tea, he preferred coffee. Coffee was his daily fuel, and he needed many cups a day to stay refreshed.

Buying Starbucks on the way to work seemed to have become his fixed routine.

At today's meeting, however, he had rarely switched his drink to tea. After tasting a cup, he continued to analyze the work.

"The High-density battery we use performs 30% better in low-temperature environments than ours."

"A new trend has emerged in some regions: an Apple phone means losing contact when you go out in winter, while Transsion can still be used normally in low temperatures."

"This has already affected our sales by 20%. If we don't change, this impact could reach 40%. You should all know clearly what that means."

The supply chain head nodded solemnly; he certainly knew what that meant.

Cook didn't wait for their answer.

"It means that in winter, Apple phones will no longer shut down automatically. This problem has existed since the first generation of Apple, and it hasn't been solved until now. But Transsion solved it long ago."

"They just didn't publicize it, and at the most opportune moment, they dealt us the most painful blow. We have no choice but to accept their high-priced batteries."

The supply chain head hurriedly admitted his mistake; after all, this was indeed his oversight.

But they couldn't refuse, because once they refused, it would mean the myth that belonged to Apple would completely turn into the Transsion myth.

And they would also be eliminated along with Nokia...

Of course, there would just be a certain time gap.

Cook picked up his coat. "Prepare yourselves."

"On November 9th, fly to Guangzhou. They are not easy to deal with. Prepare a plan. I don't want us to lose that miserably."

"Achoo!"

Far away in Guangzhou, Shen Fei suddenly sneezed. He felt like someone was cursing him, but recently, apart from preparing a small plan, there wasn't much else going on.

That toy wasn't even aimed at competitors, so why would they be cursing?

...

November 10th, Guangzhou, Transsion headquarters.

Shen Fei arrived at the company early.

He was wearing a dark blue suit today, which Zhang Mingzhu had helped him pick out. As for Zhang Mingzhu, she was still discussing studies with the God of Sleep; as her pregnancy progressed, she needed more and more sleep.

It was rare for Shen Fei to wear formal attire within Transsion because he usually wore casual clothes. Wearing a suit today showed that he attached great importance to this meeting.

But it wasn't because of nervousness, but rather respect.

Cook was the CEO of Apple and the successor to Steve Jobs. No matter how Transsion developed, Apple was still the leader in this industry.

Only by respecting them could they better harvest the leeks?

[Cook: Some things could actually be said more simply...]

Around 10 a.m., three black sedans parked downstairs at the Transsion headquarters.

Cook stepped out of the second car.

He was thinner than in the photos. Today, he was also wearing his signature blue shirt and jeans, with a dark gray suit jacket over them.

He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were constantly probing.

"Mr. Cook, welcome to Transsion."

"Mr. Shen, I've long admired you."

"In Silicon Valley, everyone wants to know what kind of person the boss of Transsion really is."

"And now you see?" Shen Fei said with a smile.

Cook took another careful look for a while.

"You're younger than I imagined. Being able to lead a team to create such products proves that we are already old and don't understand the aesthetics of young people anymore."

Shen Fei smiled and led him into the building.

The first stop of the tour was Transsion's design center. After all, this was where the things Cook needed most were kept.

Of course, this was the place with the highest security level in the entire industrial park. There were security gates, fingerprint recognition, and iris scanners at the entrance.

No cell phones, computers, or USB drives were allowed inside.

Cook looked at these security devices and said with a serious expression, "It seems that what I am about to see is very important."

Shen Fei didn't speak and opened a metal door.

This was the chip exhibition area, which usually received customers from other companies.

The real focus was in the cleanroom laboratory next door.

"This is the design center for our Taishan series chips." Shen Fei pointed to the display cabinets and introduced, "Currently, we have four teams."

"The 9-series team is responsible for high-end chips, the 6-series team is responsible for mid-range, and the 4-series team is responsible for low-end."

"And there is one team working on communication basebands."

Cook walked to a display stand to check the communication basebands inside.

"Is this your next-generation communication baseband?"