280: Chapter 280 Apple and Samsung's Counterattack

Apple Headquarters, Cupertino

California sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, slicing bright geometric shapes onto the floor.

But the light in the conference room was cold.

Tim Cook stood before a whiteboard, motionless. He had maintained this posture for three full minutes, like a wax statue.

On the projection screen, the 73-page "HX2 Complete Teardown Report" was turned to its most critical page.

Core Data Comparison:

Project: Apple A11 vs. Spark Flint 3

Process: TSMC 10nm FinFET vs. Spark 14nm FD-SOI

CPU Performance: Baseline vs. +15%

GPU Performance: Baseline vs. +22%

Power Consumption: Baseline vs. -25%

AnTuTu Benchmark: 320,000 vs. 400,000

Price: 1,159 EUR vs. 799 EUR

Cook rubbed his temples, his fingers sinking into his skin and leaving a brief white mark.

"How is this possible?" His voice was very soft, as if talking to himself. "14nm beating 10nm, with 25% lower power consumption and 15% higher performance... This doesn't follow the laws of physics."

Johny Srouji, Vice President of Technology, sat across the conference table, hands folded over his knees like a defendant awaiting sentencing.

"Johny?" Cook turned around.

Srouji swallowed hard. "We... we double-checked it three times."

"And?"

"The data is real."

A suppressed gasp echoed through the conference room.

Srouji stood up, walked to the projection screen, and used a laser pointer to circle a section of the parameter table. "The issue is here—FD-SOI. Fully Depleted Silicon-On-Insulator process. They added an insulating layer between the silicon substrate and the transistors, significantly reducing parasitic capacitance and leakage current."

"So?"

"So at the same process node, their energy efficiency is more than 30% higher than ours." Srouji paused. "Furthermore... their chip area is 15% larger than ours, providing better heat dissipation. This means that under sustained high loads, our A11 will throttle its frequency, but their Flint 3 won't."

Cook fell silent.

He walked to the window, his back to everyone.

The sunlight stretched his shadow long across the floor.

"Then we make a larger chip?"

"The design cycle would take 18 months," Srouji's voice grew lower. "And... the A12 has already been sent to TSMC for tape-out. It's set for release in June. We can't change it."

"In other words," Cook said without turning back, "for at least the next 18 months, we have to use a product that is a generation behind theirs to fight their 14nm?"

No one dared to respond.

Phil Schiller, President of Marketing, cleared his throat and suggested tentatively, "Price cuts. Drop the iPhone X from $999 to $799 to target their European market."

Cook turned around, his gaze sharp. "And the profits?"

"We can't worry about that now." Schiller stood up, walked to the world map on the wall, and pointed to Europe. "They opened stores in Paris, Berlin, and Milan simultaneously today. French Ministry of Economy and Finance officials personally cut the ribbons. Germans queued for three hours." Schiller paused. "If we let them gain a foothold in Europe, when they release their 7nm next year, we won't even have a chance to strike back."

Cook stared at the map.

Europe was marked in red—that was Spark's expansion route. Paris, Berlin, Milan, Barcelona, Amsterdam... like red blood vessels, they were infiltrating this old continent.

"Price cuts," Cook finally said. "Notify the channels. Starting tomorrow, the iPhone X will have a global price reduction of $200. Effective immediately in the European market."

Schiller nodded and was about to turn away when Cook called out to him.

"One more thing."

"What is it?"

"Launch a 'privacy and security' campaign against the HX2." Cook's voice was calm, but every word felt as if it were dipped in ice. "Tell consumers that Huaxing Mobile Phones will send data back to China. Tell the media that Spark's system backdoors go deeper than Android's. Tell politicians that allowing Huaxing Mobile Phones into the domestic market is a national security disaster."

Schiller was stunned. "Is... is there evidence for this?"

"We don't need evidence." Cook met his gaze. "What we need is suspicion."

"But..."

"Phil," Cook interrupted, fatigue appearing in his voice for the first time. "When we sued Samsung, was there evidence? When we sued Qualcomm, was there evidence? In business competition, we want results, not a courtroom debate."

He paused and added, "Europeans are already sensitive about data security. As long as we can plant a seed of doubt, they will hesitate. As long as they hesitate, our price cuts will work."

Schiller was silent for three seconds before nodding. "Understood."

He turned and left.

The conference room fell quiet again.

Cook looked out the window once more.

The California sun was still bright, the streets of Cupertino were still tidy, and the circular building of the Apple campus still looked like a spaceship that had landed on the grass.

But he knew that everything had changed.

Three years ago, Apple was still the world's most valuable company, the iPhone was still the 'best phone,' and China was still the 'largest foundry.'

Three years later, a Chinese company took $263 billion in orders in seven days, beat their 10nm with a 14nm chip, and planted its flags across the European continent.

The door closed softly.

Cook closed his eyes.

He remembered what Steve Jobs said before he died: "Tim, don't try to be me. Be yourself. But remember—the core of Apple isn't the product, it's innovation. If one day we stop innovating, we lose."

He opened his eyes.

Outside, a bird swept past the glass curtain wall, flying toward the distant mountains.

"Have we lost?" he murmured to himself.

There was no answer.

Samsung Headquarters, Seoul

If Apple's conference room was filled with cold anxiety, then Samsung's was filled with searing despair.

Lee Jae-yong stood before the conference table, hands propped on the surface, his knuckles white.

On the large screen, three reports were displayed side-by-side:

Impact Assessment of HX2 on Samsung's European Market

Note series sales expected to drop by 30%

S series sales expected to drop by 22%

A series low-to-mid-range sales expected to be cut in half

Impact Assessment of HX2 on Samsung's Southeast Asian Market

Indonesia market share expected to fall from 28% to 15%

Vietnam market expected to lose 40% of sales

Distributors in Thailand and Malaysia starting to waver

Impact Assessment of HX2 on Samsung's Chinese Market

Current share: Less than 1%

Forecast: Continuing toward zero

"Less than 1%." Lee Jae-yong slammed the table, his voice exploding in the conference room. "In the Chinese market, we can't even hold onto 1%!"

Everyone kept their heads down; no one dared to speak.

Lee Jae-yong's assistant cautiously handed him a glass of water, which he pushed away.

"Dr. Roh." He looked at the Vice President of Technology. "Your team told me that 14nm was an outdated process, FD-SOI was a marginal technology, and Spark was just an imitator. Now what?"

Dr. Roh opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Now they are using 14nm to beat our 10nm, using an outdated process to beat our advanced process, and winning as an imitator against the original creator." Lee Jae-yong's voice grew louder. "Tell me, why is this?"

Dr. Roh finally spoke up. "Chairman, their FD-SOI indeed has advantages. We... we underestimated them."

"Underestimated?" Lee Jae-yong laughed, a dry and piercing sound. "How am I supposed to explain this to the shareholders? To the country? To history?"

No one answered.

The conference room fell into a long, dead silence.

Outside, the Seoul sky was gray, as if covered by a veil.

Finally, Lee Jae-yong took a deep breath and stood up straight again.

"Release the Note 9 early." His voice returned to a calm state, but that calmness was more terrifying than anger. "It was originally scheduled for August; move it up to June. Cut the price by $200."

President Kim of Marketing looked up sharply. "Chairman, that will cause massive losses!"

"We fight even if we lose money!" Lee Jae-yong said emphatically. "If we let them take the market, we'll never be able to come back! Losses can be compensated, but if market share is lost, we won't be able to win it back in ten years!"

President Kim lowered his head.

"Also," Lee Jae-yong continued, "for the Exynos processors in the Chinese market, cut prices by 30% to clear inventory. Even at a loss, clear the stock and convert it to cash."

"And then?"

"And then, R&D." Lee Jae-yong turned and looked at the Seoul skyline outside the floor-to-ceiling window. "Within two years, we must produce a chip that can compete with Spark's 7nm."

He paused, his voice becoming very low. "If we can't do it..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

But everyone understood.

If they couldn't do it, Samsung Electronics might become history.

Just like Nokia.

Just like Motorola.

Just like those names that were once glorious but were ultimately abandoned by the era.

Lee Jae-yong suddenly remembered what his father, Lee Kun-hee, said before he died: "Jae-yong, there are no eternal kings in the tech industry. Only by constantly running can you maintain your position."

He didn't understand it then.

Now he understood.

When you stop, others are running.

When you look back, others have already overtaken you.

When you try to catch up, others have already run even further.

"Meeting adjourned," Lee Jae-yong said.

Everyone stood up and left.

Only President Kim glanced back as he reached the door.

Lee Jae-yong was still standing by the window, his back to everyone.

The once high-spirited third-generation leader of Samsung now looked like a lonely statue.

President Kim closed the door softly.