267: Chapter 267 Key Year for Fruit Surge

"Tim, no." The Global Marketing President was the first to object. "Apple has never lowered prices. Lowering prices will affect our brand image and make consumers feel that Apple is failing."

"Instead of lowering prices, we should improve the configuration. President Steve Jobs has passed away. Cook, you should make your own achievements. We let you take over not just to imitate Steve Jobs, but to lead Apple Inc. to another peak." A board member reminded him.

Others spoke up one after another, firmly rejecting Cook's request to lower prices.

"If we don't lower prices, we'll lose the China market."

Cook did not give up on his idea just because of their rejection.

"If the transsion s3 continues to sell for 3999, and the iphone 5 sticks to its original price—with similar designs and better configuration, why would they choose Apple for a 1000-yuan price difference? 1000 yuan is a month's rent in China, and half a month's salary for many people."

Cook looked at them and paused for a moment.

"Consumers will do the math."

"But we still have the iOS ecosystem." Schiller retorted. "Transsion doesn't have iOS, doesn't have…"

Schiller wanted to continue using the "three axes" to argue his point, but realized that Transsion seemed to have all of those, and the gap was getting smaller.

"Users don't care about what you mentioned. Compared to iOS, they prefer Taishan System." Cook looked at him. "Transsion's adaptation to the local ecosystem is stronger than ours. Relying on the first-mover advantage, the dominance of the iOS ecosystem in China is not as great as you imagine."

Other executives wanted to argue back, but Cook raised his hand to stop them.

"Let's vote?"

Voting result: 41:39.

It barely passed.

Cook announced: "The starting price of the iphone 5 in the China market will be lowered by 15%. However, since the configuration of the iphone 5 has been upgraded, the price certainly cannot be the same as the iphone 4s released at the beginning of the year. The original starting price of 5599 will be lowered to 4799."

The shareholders, who were previously unhappy, immediately relaxed. Compared to the previous generation product which only increased by 200, it showed sincerity without losing too much profit. This was indeed a good plan.

As soon as the internal meeting at Apple ended, the news spread through various channels.

As an important competitor, Transsion was bound to monitor Apple at all times.

Li Qian, the head of Transsion Digital's self-media operations, had over thirty digital bloggers under her, and the management rights of Digital Chat Station were in her hands.

Seeing the news released by Apple, she immediately opened Weibo and posted a new Weibo using the Digital Chat Station account.

Digital Chat Station: "Major news, take my word for it. Apple Inc.'s next-generation flagship phone, the iphone 5, is accelerating across the board and is expected to be released at the end of the year. Apple will break its plan of one flagship per year and achieve two flagships per year. In addition, the iphone 5 configuration is fully upgraded; the running memory will be upgraded from 512MB to 1GB, and the price will also be upgraded from 4988 to 5599. However, with transsion s2 and Motorola surrounding Apple in the United States, Apple Inc. felt the pressure and just held a major meeting. The China starting price of the iphone 5 will be lowered by 15%. This is the first time in Apple's history that it has actively lowered prices. Transsion phones have made Apple bow its head. Repost this Weibo to enter a draw for 100 slots to the transsion s3 launch event and ten transsion s3 phones."

Even though it was night, comments appeared on the Digital Chat Station Weibo in less than 5 minutes.

"Apple has finally lowered its prices. Thanks to Transsion, although I am a Transsion user."

"Equally happy, but I'm a Huawei user, we're all family. It seems Taishan 910 is indeed scary…"

Digital Chat Station: "There are also two versions of the Taishan 910 this time."

"Brother Zhan, tell us something everyone doesn't know. Who doesn't know you have an enhanced process?"

Digital Chat Station: "If that were the case, wouldn't it be unworthy of me replying separately? [Dog Head]"

Lan Yangyang Assistant widened his eyes. Could it be…

He immediately flipped through Digital Chat Station's previous leaks and combined them with news posted by other bloggers. He quickly discovered a key point…

Lan Yangyang Assistant: "Is it a breakthrough in the process? A 22-nanometer version?"

While Lan Yangyang Assistant was looking through comments to find new evidence, he found that the original comment was gone.

This did not interrupt his train of thought; instead, it made him believe even more that he had guessed correctly…

However, the once lively comment section also welcomed a bunch of Apple fans as other media reposted it.

"Haha, isn't this a famous digital blogger! Posting news about the fruit (Apple) every year, but apart from chip parameters, have you ever guessed the market logic right once?"

"Classic script: fabricating a plot about manufacturers suppressing them, forcibly linking it to price cuts; they really have a grip on the traffic."

"We admit that Apple's market share in China is not high, but Apple is still Apple. Haven't you seen a certain company still trying to ride its coattails? It's truly absurd! [Vomit]"

"If they really lower prices, it's just a normal price adjustment by Apple. A certain company should stop trying to ride its coattails."

The next morning, Shen Fei opened his eyes and saw this Weibo post.

He didn't expect Cook to be so courageous.

Zhang Mingzhu, who was beside him, also rubbed her eyes.

"What did you see? So happy early in the morning."

"Apple is anxious and has started lowering prices."

"Does the price cut affect us?"

"Yes." Shen Fei put down his phone and kissed her on the forehead gently. "But not much. The selling price of the s3 is still 3999, and there is still a price difference of several hundred yuan. These few hundred yuan are enough for many people to make a choice."

Zhang Mingzhu also laughed. Her previous career in journalism made her very clear that this price difference of a few hundred yuan was roughly the monthly salary of the working class.

"And we also have the s3 Pro, which sells for 4999. And the s3 Pro max, which sells for 5999. It has a lot of advanced technology, and by then, Apple will be even more anxious."

Zhang Mingzhu wanted to praise him, but Shen Fei's phone rang.

As soon as he answered the call, Li Qing on the other end of the line said calmly.

"Boss, it's not good. Apple is poaching our people."

"Who?"

"Battery, screen, structural parts—at least 5 core engineering teams have received offers from Apple. As long as the team goes together, everyone's annual salary will be converted from the current number directly to US dollars, and then they will be given a green card and a house each."

Shen Fei was speechless. Apple truly lived up to its name; they were actually plagiarizing his methods.

"I know. Wait for me to go to the company for a meeting."

When Shen Fei arrived at the conference room, the office was already full of people.

Liu Fang, Huang Tianya, Li Qing, Wang Hua, and the HR Director Wang Xue.

Opposite them were 5 engineer representatives, all core backbones of the subsidiary.

For example, Wang Mengyang's top disciple, Li Long. It had to be said, Apple's eye for talent was really good.

Before Shen Fei could ask, Li Long spoke first: "Manager Chen, we received a notification from Apple Inc. yesterday. The annual salary is directly converted to US dollars, and then they can provide a United States green card. If we are unwilling, we can work directly at Apple's China branch."