Chapter 361: Annual Target of 100 Million Units! Apple Enters! Third Orange Z1 User!

In January 2013, despite Apple’s annual shipment volume reaching 130 million units—a growth of over 90% year-over-year—its fortunes were not good.

First, it was overtaken by ExxonMobil and lost the title of “world’s most valuable company.”

Second, iPhone 5 sales fell short of expectations; Mac sales in Q4 dropped by one million units compared to the same period last year.

Third, iOS’s market share was continuously eroded by Android, and its processor and component supply remained heavily dependent on Shangxing.

As a result, Ge Yue, Apple’s General Manager for Asia, had to lower her stance and meet face-to-face with Ma Liyun of Ali to discuss Apple’s entry onto Taobao Mall, hoping to leverage Ali’s branded sale channels like Taobao Specials and Juhuasuan to find new growth channels.

The second e-commerce platform she targeted was Pinbei, and acquiring the Z1 instruction set architecture license became an afterthought.

The security guard at the gate verified the license plate and let the car through immediately.

Three Mercedes-Benz vehicles slowly entered Zhuxianzhuang Technology Park.

Today, only a few companies remained in the entire software park—Pinbei, Orange Tech, Today Tech, and Orange Pay—and locals had even renamed it “Senlian Technology Park.”

“Hard to imagine that China’s second-largest e-commerce platform was born here.”

As Ge Yue looked out the window, taking in the surroundings, she couldn’t help but sigh.

In her view, the internet was indeed a place where miracles constantly occurred.

Facebook’s founder Zuckerberg had amassed over twenty billion by age twenty-eight, but Chen Yan was even more impressive—he already held over fifty billion U.S. dollars in wealth before graduating college, equivalent to 2.5 times Zuckerberg’s fortune.

Click!

The hinge emitted a soft sound as the car door swung open.

As soon as Ge Yue stepped out, she saw Zhou Shouzhi in the distance.

“Manager Ge, welcome. I’m Zhou Shouzhi, CFO of Orange Tech. You’ve had a long journey!”

Zhou Shouzhi was dressed in a sharp suit, his shoes gleaming, his hair meticulously styled, smiling as he met her gaze directly.

“Manager Zhou, pleasure to meet you.”

Though this was their first meeting, Ge Yue was well aware of Zhou Shouzhi’s resume.

As DST’s President for Greater China, he had led numerous internet investment projects, most notably Alibaba, Orange Tech, and Jingdong.

Chen Yan must have paid a heavy price to convince him to join Orange Tech.

As she spoke, Ge Yue glanced around surreptitiously and saw no sign of Chen Yan—her heart sank, fearing Pinbei might reject Apple due to competitive concerns.

“Manager Ge, please follow me. The boss is waiting for you upstairs.”

Zhou Shouzhi smiled, sensing her unease, but offered no further explanation.

“Thank you, Manager Zhou. Please lead the way.”

Ge Yue replied with a light smile.

Meanwhile,

in a second-floor conference room, Chen Yan flipped through documents.

He hadn’t expected Apple, to boost investor confidence, had offered Ali a 10% commission rebate.

In simple terms, the entire product line—including iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad mini, and MacBook Air—could be sold at a 10% discount.

But Ali would only release 5% of the commission, meaning Ali would pocket a 5% profit margin.

“Old Huang, what do you think?”

Chen Yan tossed the documents to Huang Zheng and asked casually.

He knew full well that if Ge Yue had come solely to purchase the Z1 instruction set license, sending a team of business staff would have sufficed—no need for her to come in person.

Coupled with Apple’s cooperation plan with Ali, it was obvious she was here to seek entry onto Pinbei Mall, leveraging third-party e-commerce traffic to further boost Asia’s overall revenue.

“Compared to Ali, Pinbei has disadvantages in exposure, average order value, and conversion rates for high-priced items. I believe securing the same marketing policy as Ali would be sufficient.”

Huang Zheng picked up the documents, skimmed them, and replied seriously.

Chen Yan nodded slightly, tacitly approving Huang Zheng’s suggestion.

Partnering with Apple was mutually beneficial for Pinbei—he had no reason to refuse.

After all, Apple shipped 21 million phones domestically last year, generating over 100 billion Huayuan in revenue, with its brand alone drawing massive traffic.

Tap-tap-tap!

At that moment, a knock came at the door.

Huang Zheng immediately stepped forward and opened the frosted glass door.

Chen Yan rose calmly, a faint smile on his face, extending his right hand: “Manager Ge, welcome to Orange Tech!”

He towered over her by a full head, looking down at her.

The woman was around forty, dressed in a Chanel business suit, her expression perpetually smiling, her makeup subtly Westernized.

Upon seeing Chen Yan, Ge Yue’s eyes lit up.

Tall and lean, about 185 cm, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, with deep, bright eyes—he was even more handsome than his photos.

“Manager Chen, I’ve long admired your reputation. Thank you for your time,” Ge Yue said, gripping his hand with a beaming smile.

“Please sit,” Chen Yan gestured.

Ge Yue led her eight subordinates to their seats, directly opposite Chen Yan, Huang Zheng, and Zhou Shouzhi.

"Manager Chen, to be frank, I’m here for two reasons: first, to purchase the Z1 instruction set architecture license; second, to establish Apple’s flagship store at Pinbei Mall."

Ge Yue cut straight to the point, skipping all the formalities.

Before arriving, she had studied Chen Yan’s personality and negotiation style, knowing he preferred direct, efficient communication—hence her blunt opening.

“The licensing fee for the Z1 instruction set architecture consists of two parts: a one-time fee of three million U.S. dollars and a 0.5% royalty.”

Chen Yan replied without hesitation.

To compete with ARM, he needed to demonstrate genuine pricing intent.

He had learned that Apple paid ARM between 700 million and 800 million U.S. dollars annually in patent fees, with a one-time licensing fee of eighty million U.S. dollars and an additional 0.5% royalty.

“ARM’s royalty is also 0.5%,” Ge Yue said, looking troubled.

Her implication: a brand-new instruction set architecture had no right to claim a 0.5% royalty.

“The one-time fee for Z1 is lower,” Chen Yan said calmly.

He paused, then added: “Non-negotiable.”

While increasing Z1’s adoption was important, he had no intention of selling it cheaply.

Ge Yue’s smile froze as she studied Chen Yan’s expression and micro-gestures; seeing his firm stance, she dropped further bargaining.

After all, the one-time fee was only three million U.S. dollars—Orange Tech’s royalty profits depended entirely on whether Apple’s chips used the Z1 architecture.

"Fine, I accept your offer, Manager Chen. Now, regarding Apple’s presence at Pinbei, what support strategies do you offer in terms of traffic and marketing?"

Ge Yue agreed readily and shifted to what she considered the real matter.

"Pinbei operates differently from Ali. The billion-yuan subsidy group-buy channel offers the highest exposure, but it requires prices to be the lowest on the entire internet."

Chen Yan replied.

Beside him, Huang Zheng connected the projector, opened a Pinbei Mall promotional PPT, and added: "Manager Ge, Pinbei’s billion-yuan subsidy channel has 50 million daily active users. The group-buy event runs weekly, featuring five products per session, with a weekly exposure of up to 300 million."

Ge Yue stared at the screen, silently estimating the credibility of Huang Zheng’s claims.

She had purchased industry reports from third-party consultancies and knew Pinbei’s core metrics—daily active users, daily sales, conversion rates—quite well. They might not be perfectly precise, but the margin of error was small.

“Manager Chen, I promised Ali that retail prices and promotional prices on third-party channels would remain consistent—I can’t guarantee the lowest price on the entire internet.”

Ge Yue shrugged, politely declining.

“The channel rules are clear. I can’t change them.”

Chen Yan gave no ground.

Ge Yue fell silent—this man was even more aggressive than she’d imagined.

Pinbei Mall already hosted Orange, Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad, Xiaomi, NetEase, and other phone brands; Apple’s entry would merely be icing on the cake.

Chen Yan had every reason to be confident.

“Alright, I can only promise that Apple will pay Pinbei an additional advertising fee during major promotional periods. How you use the money is none of Apple’s concern.”

Three minutes later, Ge Yue said softly, frowning.

See? There’s always a solution.

Business is business—if you sit down and talk, you’ll always find common ground.

Chen Yan smiled faintly, his expression calm.

He didn’t believe Ma Huateng hadn’t made similar demands—whatever Ge Yue offered Pinbei, she could offer Ali too.

Some things only happen if you ask—ask, and you might get it; don’t ask, and you’ll never get it.

With the preliminary cooperation agreement settled, the rest was simple: finalize contract details and sign.

As host, Chen Yan accompanied Ge Yue on a tour of Orange Tech’s headquarters, including the chip design department and AI lab, and even pitched the Yuxi development tools.

But Apple already had mature voice recognition tools and Siri, so Ge Yue showed no interest.

That afternoon, both sides reached agreement.

Chen Yan reserved a private room in the Sky Garden and hosted a dinner that lasted until ten at night.

Ge Yue and her team returned to Yancheng that same night.

“Boss, I’m heading back,” Huang Zheng said at the hotel entrance.

“Alright, tell the driver to go slow,” Chen Yan patted Huang’s shoulder and advised.

“Boss, Manager Huang, I’ll head upstairs to rest. See you tomorrow,” Zhou Shouzhi waved and smiled.

He owned no home and rented no apartment in Xucheng—he lived in the penthouse suite of the Sky Garden, eating and drinking entirely at the hotel, with staff dedicated to cleaning his clothes and shoes.

For a man like him, staying at a hotel was far more convenient.

Chen Yan nodded in response, then stepped into a Panda-colored Ghost.

Xiao Li gripped the steering wheel, motionless.

Return to Sanjiaozhou.

Chen Yansen had planned to go to Master Ye’s house for a bowl of sweet soup, but then he thought: Old Chen was already over forty, with few years left; each meeting was one less. Better to go home and keep his father company.

Xiao Li remained silent, turned the car around at the intersection, and soon drove onto Xucheng Avenue heading west.

Half an hour later, Chen Yansen pushed open the wooden fence of the courtyard and saw Chen Guobin lying on a soft couch beside the pool, fast asleep.

Wrapped in a down blanket, only his head exposed, his lips curled slightly in a bright smile.

Chen Yansen found it amusing and walked straight over, shaking Old Chen.

“Hui Zhen, run! Earthquake!” Old Chen, half-asleep, blurted out instinctively.

Chen Yansen’s hand froze. He thought: This old man is beyond saving—he’s clearly determined to hang himself from one tree.

Soon, Chen Guobin slowly woke up and realized it had only been a dream.

“You won’t sleep inside with the floor heating on? You come out here to catch a chill? Want to take medicine?” Chen Yansen said irritably.

“The room’s too hot,” Chen Guobin chuckled dryly.

“Can’t you adjust the floor heating? Couldn’t you just call me?” Chen Yansen retorted.

“I didn’t want to disturb your work,” Chen Guobin said awkwardly.

“Come on, inside,” Chen Yansen’s heart softened, leading the way toward the living room.

“What for?” Chen Guobin asked.

“Teach you how to use the floor heating and air conditioning,” Chen Yansen said, turning back.

As a child, Old Chen seemed to know everything; only after growing up did Chen Yansen realize how much Old Chen didn’t know.

“By the way, where’s that chef yesterday? Why isn’t she here today?” Chen Guobin asked curiously, following his son.

“On vacation. What, wasn’t the takeout good?” Chen Yansen lied effortlessly, without a single hesitation.

“Not as good as hers,” Chen Guobin said honestly.

His own cooking was terrible, but his taste was picky.

“The chef’s back at work tomorrow,” Chen Yansen replied.

Then he led Chen Guobin to the floor heating controller and patiently taught him the function of each button.

Old Chen learned carefully.

“If anything comes up, call me. I’m the boss, not some employee.”

Chen Yansen said this to Old Chen before stepping up the stairs.

“Xiao Sen, thank you,” Old Chen grinned.

Chen Yansen said nothing, returned to the master bedroom on the third floor, pulled out his phone, and sent Ye Qiuping a message: “Old Chen says your cooking’s good.”

“Really?”

Ye Qiuping, wearing a pink lace-trimmed pajama, smiled with delight as she replied from the sofa.

“Then tomorrow, bring your battle gear and show up on time at Sanjiaozhou to clock in,” Chen Yansen immediately arranged.

“...” Ye Qiuping.

The next morning, rumors spread that Ali was planning to invest 600 million U.S. dollars to acquire 20% of Weibo’s shares.

Since neither side denied it, this amounted to an implicit acknowledgment of Ali’s investment in Weibo.

Lashou.com launched a “Group Buy Annan Bride” service and was publicly criticized by the Police Inspector General Association.

Li Yanhong called Gong Zhenbing into his office and scolded him for over ten minutes before calming down slightly.

Early that morning, the higher-ups called to demand: What is Baidu trying to do?

Only then did he learn of Gong Zhenbing’s antics.

Meanwhile.

In the same city of Yancheng, Leiyi Army announced on Weibo Xiaomi Technology’s 2013 sales target: 15 million units.

Zhou Hongyi quickly followed, defiantly raising the target by one million, setting 360’s annual goal at 16 million units, and simultaneously revealing the new design of the 360 N2.

Zhou Shouzhi, seeing the buzz they’d stirred, ordered the marketing department to publicly announce: Orange Phone’s 2013 shipment target is 100 million units!

(End of Chapter)