novelslam Chapter 88 The Pitfall of China Unicom!
Chapter 88 The Pitfall of China Unicom!
Why?
Wang Jianzhou's voice was hoarse from roaring, but he had to keep his job, so he shifted all the blame onto his subordinates.
"Fruit is selling like hotcakes all over the world, so why isn't it doing well in the Chinese market?"
"You all clearly conducted market research, so why is this the case?"
Wang Jianzhou pointed at the crowd while frantically slamming his fist on the table.
The water glass on the table has been changed twice...
"Mr. Wang, we've analyzed the online discussions again after careful consideration." The marketing director of China Unicom stood up shakily.
"This time, the fruit doesn't have WiFi, and data charges are too expensive now, so users are more used to using WiFi. This issue has deterred most consumers."
Another issue is the lack of localization; it doesn't come pre-installed with applications like QQ, Baidu, or Alipay.
Of course, the most important thing is that the Chinese input method isn't very user-friendly. Also, our prices are too high; the unlocked phone is 4999, and even the cheapest contract phone costs 1999.
Huawei's Mate series is only 2599 yuan, and their batteries are even larger, with similar smoothness.
The market may have changed far more than we imagined.
As for the others, seeing Wang Jianzhou's ashen face, none of them dared to utter a sound.
They all recalled the arduous negotiations with the fruit vendor.
…………
Let's go back to the last negotiation.
With the previous foundation laid, Wang Jianzhou and his group visited the fruit headquarters this time.
However, in the meeting room, facing the pressure from Jobs, these professional negotiators all felt suffocated.
During the final round of negotiations, Jobs stubbornly clung to the $500 million purchase order, refusing to budge an inch.
The price of the bare machine was set at 3000 Chinese yuan.
However, there is one advantage: the fruit company doesn't care about the selling price. They only require that the sales channels, store standards, staff training, and GG content be reviewed by the fruit company.
The other requirements were manageable, but the sales volume was overwhelming. At that time, Liu Jun, the vice president of China Unicom, gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Steve Jobs, 500 million is too much. The total sales volume of smartphones in China this year is only so small... It's hard for us to handle 500 million."
"That's your problem. I believe selling 500 million units of fruit in China is not a problem at all."
Jobs refused his attempt to pull him away.
"When fruit enters any market, it must be number one."
If China Unicom can't do it, we can try China Mobile or China Telecom... I believe they will agree, because they are also very interested in our products.
Steve Jobs was very confident, after all, Apple only sold 1200 million smartphones last year, but this year, at only halfway through the year, sales had already reached 2000 million.
After careful consideration, Liu Jun finally agreed to the condition.
"Okay, 5 million it is, we'll take it."
However, the revenue sharing ratio of 20% is unprecedented in the international market, and even more impossible in China…”
"That fruit set a precedent."
Jobs slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.
"My time is precious, and I don't have time to argue with you here. I'll give you three minutes to consider: either accept the terms or end the negotiations."
Despite pressure from Steve Jobs, Liu Jun held firm and did not immediately agree to the terms.
After the meeting, Liu Jun once again encountered his arch-rival, Wang Jie, the vice president of the telecommunications company.
He initially thought the other party was there to mock her, but fortunately, she suddenly had a change of heart, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Those conditions are too outrageous, so we won't compete with you."
I wish you all the best in winning this battle.
Upon learning this news, Liu Jun immediately went all out, contacting Jobs again and demanding a new round of negotiations.
After China Telecom withdrew, Jobs indeed lost his previous confidence. In the end, China Unicom and Jobs compromised and signed a rather harsh agreement.
A minimum purchase of 500 million units, with a total value of 150 billion.
Fruity has given up revenue sharing from data traffic, keeping the price of the unlocked device at 3000 yuan.
The sales rights belong to China Unicom.
However, the definition of "sales" is that Apple decides how to sell, China Unicom is responsible for execution and initial funding, and after the policy is relaxed, Apple has the right to take back ownership of these offline flagship stores.
Secondly, due to WiFi policy restrictions in China, a WiFi version cannot be sold. GG must use the materials provided by headquarters and is not allowed to modify them without authorization.
China Unicom will bear full responsibility for any losses caused by its unauthorized modifications.
After signing the agreement, Liu Jun returned to the hotel and didn't sleep a wink all night.
He knew it was a huge gamble.
If they win, China Unicom will leverage its exclusive rights to the iPhone to crush China Telecom and China Mobile in the 3G era.
The biggest advantage is that he might be transferred to China Mobile or China Telecom as the top executive.
But they lost...
Several important meetings were held within China Unicom to prepare for this negotiation, and this decision was ultimately made.
…………
"Mr. Wang, what should we do now?" The marketing director's voice brought Wang Jianzhou and Liu Jun back to reality; his voice was a little weak.
The top leader and the second-in-command were both looking at the data curves on the screen, unsure of what to say to each other.
At that moment, both of them had the same thought: Could it be that China Unicom is about to parachute in a new leader?
No, that's impossible!
After thinking for a moment, Wang Jianzhou suddenly asked, "How are the sales of Huawei's Mate series going? Has the pace slowed down?"
"Latest data... 270 million. And because of the fruit, their sales have not only not slowed down, but have actually doubled."
Sales through our channels alone increased by 1.2 times. Daily sales reached 3.2 units.
3.2 units. If this continues, that's 90 units a month, and that's just from China Unicom's single channel.
"Mr. Wang, there's more bad news. Huawei has recently been negotiating with us about a new product called Honor Play1."
The price they've given us for distribution channels starts at 1639, with an expected selling price of 1999... The profit per unit is 260.
The marketing director's voice trailed off; they knew all too well what kind of explosive reaction would occur if Huawei's retailers lowered the price to 1999...
300?
It can be achieved in a month at most...
Wang Jianzhou felt a pang of heartache instantly. He quickly picked up the water glass beside him, swallowed a mouthful of nitroglycerin, and closed his eyes again.
He recalled that a few weeks ago, Yu Dazui had asked to meet with him, saying that Huawei wanted to cooperate deeply with China Unicom again and resume the previous customized contract phone business.
However, this time, Huawei will take the lion's share of the profits.
Because of Huawei's previous transformation, it quickly cut off its feature phone OEM business.
Although the company offered many concessions, he was still somewhat reluctant to cooperate with them, as they were unreliable. Furthermore, given the impending acquisition of Fruit's future, he directly rejected Yu Dazui.
"Now let's look..."
"Contact the end-user of the chrysanthemum factory." Wang Jianzhou opened his eyes. The 150 billion hole could still be patched up... it could still be patched up.
"For example... China Unicom is willing to spend a sum of money to buy the first launch rights for the Honor Play for a week, and they can get an extra 100 to 200 yuan per phone."