Chapter 361: Annual Target of 100 Million Units

January 2013: despite Apple's annual shipment volume reaching 130 million units, a year-on-year growth of over 90%, its days were not easy.

First, it was surpassed by ExxonMobil, losing the title of 'World's Largest Company by Market Cap';

Second, iPhone 5 sales fell short of expectations, and Q4 Mac sales compared to the same period last year dropped by 1 million units;

Third, iOS market share was constantly eroded by Android, and the supply of components like processors relied heavily on Shanxing.

For this reason, Ge Yue, Apple's Managing Director for Asia, had to put aside her pride, meet Mama Ali's Ma Liyun face-to-face, and discuss the matter of entering the Shangcheng Mall, hoping to leverage brand flash-sale channels like Fox Tao and Juhuasuan to find new incremental entry points for Apple.

And the second e-commerce platform she chose was Pinbai; acquiring the architectural license for the Sister Chengzi Z1 instruction set had become a side matter.

After the security personnel at the entrance verified the license plate number, they allowed direct passage.

Three Mercedes-Benz cars slowly drove into Zhuxianzhuang Technology Park.

Nowadays, only a few companies remain in the entire software park: Pinbai, Sister Chengzi Technology, Jinri Technology, and Sister Chengzi Payment; locals have even renamed it 'Senlian Technology Park'.

"It's hard to imagine that China's second-largest e-commerce platform was born here."

Ge Yue glanced at the surrounding environment through the car window and couldn't help but sigh.

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

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg possessed a fortune of over 20 billion at the age of twenty-eight, while Chen Yansen was even stronger; before graduating from university, he already held a fortune of over 50 billion US dollars, equivalent to 2.5 Zuckerbergs.

"Click!"

The hinge made a slight sound, and the car door opened in response.

As soon as Ge Yue got out of the car, she saw Zhou Shouzhi not far away.

"Hello, President Ge, I am Zhou Shouzhi, CFO of Sister Chengzi Technology. The journey was tiring!"

Zhou Shouzhi, in a suit and shiny leather shoes, with his hair meticulously groomed, smiled and looked directly at her, saying.

"President Zhou, a pleasure to meet you."

Although it was their first meeting, Ge Yue had already heard of Zhou Shouzhi's resume.

The other party, as the DST Greater China President, had led multiple internet investment projects, the most outstanding cases being Mama Ali Baba, Sister Chengzi Technology, and Jingdong.

For Chen Yansen to persuade him to join Sister Chengzi Technology, he must have paid a considerable price.

After speaking, Ge Yue secretly glanced around but did not see Chen Yansen; her heart immediately gave a "thump," fearing that Pinbai Mall might reject Apple due to competitive considerations.

"President Ge, please follow me; the boss is waiting for you upstairs."

Zhou Shouzhi smiled, seeing Ge Yue's concerns, but he did not explain too much.

"Alright, trouble you to lead the way, President Zhou."

Ge Yue replied with a light smile.

Meanwhile.

In a conference room on the second floor, Chen Yansen was flipping through documents.

He hadn't expected that, to boost investor confidence, Apple had actually offered Fox Tao a 10% commission rate.

Simply put, the entire product line, including iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad Mini, and MacBook Air, could be sold to the public at a 10% discount.

And Fox Tao would only release a 5% commission, meaning Mama Ali would earn a five-point profit from it.

"Old Huang, what do you think?"

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

He knew clearly that if Ge Yue was only here to purchase the architectural license for the Sister Chengzi Z1, dispatching a batch of business personnel would suffice; there was no need for her to make the trip personally.

Combining Apple's cooperation plan with Mama Ali, it was not hard to deduce that the other party mostly wanted to enter Pinbai Mall, using the traffic of third-party e-commerce channels to further improve the overall revenue level of the Asia region.

"Compared to Mama Ali, Pinbai has certain disadvantages in terms of exposure, average order value, and conversion rates for high-value goods. I think as long as we can secure the same marketing policy as Mama Ali, it will be enough."

Huang Zheng picked up the documents, glanced over the general information, and answered seriously.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, tacitly approving Huang Zheng's proposal.

Cooperating with Apple was also a mutually beneficial matter for Pinbai; he had no reason not to agree.

After all, last year Apple's phone shipments in the country reached as high as 21 million units, revenue broke through 100 billion Hua Yuan, and the brand brought its own traffic.

"Knock, knock, knock—!"

At this moment, a sound of knocking on the door rang out.

Huang Zheng immediately stepped forward and twisted open the frosted glass door of the conference room.

Chen Yansen rose calmly, a faint smile on his face, and actively extended his right hand, saying: "President Ge, welcome to Sister Chengzi Technology!"

He was a head taller than Ge Yue, looking down at the other party.

This person was around forty years old, wearing a Chanel business suit, maintaining a smiling expression throughout, with makeup slightly Westernized.

After seeing Chen Yansen, Ge Yue's eyes immediately lit up.

Tall figure, about 1.85 meters, broad shoulders and a narrow waist, deep and bright eyes; the True Person was even more handsome than in the photos.

"President Chen, I've long heard of your name; sorry to disturb you." Ge Yue held Chen Yansen's right hand, her face full of smiles.

"Please sit!" Chen Yansen raised his hand to signal.

Ge Yue led eight accompanying personnel to take their seats in order, sitting directly opposite Chen Yansen, Huang Zheng, and Zhou Shouzhi.

"President Chen, to be honest, my visit to your company is mainly for two things: first, to purchase the architectural license for the Sister Chengzi Z1 instruction set; second, to enter Pinbai products and open an Apple flagship self-operated store."

Ge Yue spoke straight to the point, skipping a bunch of roundabout ways.

Before departing, she had specifically studied Chen Yansen's personality and negotiation style, knowing the other party preferred concise and brisk communication, so she stated her intentions right from the start.

"The charging standard for the Sister Chengzi Z1 instruction set architectural license includes two major parts: a one-time licensing fee of 3 million US dollars and a 0.5% royalty commission."

Chen Yansen, without hesitation, blurted it out.

If one wanted to compete with ARM, one had to show sincerity in price.

He had previously learned that Apple needed to pay ARM 700 to 800 million US dollars in patent service fees annually, with a one-time licensing fee reaching 80 million US dollars, plus an additional 0.5% royalty commission.

"ARM's royalty commission is also 0.5%." Ge Yue looked troubled.

The implication was that a brand-new instruction set architecture probably didn't qualify for a 0.5% royalty rate.

"The one-time licensing fee for Orange Z1 is low," Chen Yansen said calmly.

He paused, then added, "No room for negotiation."

Increasing the penetration rate of Orange Z1 was certainly important, but he didn't want to sell it cheap.

Ge Yue's smile faltered. She carefully observed Chen Yansen's expression and micro-expressions; seeing his firm stance, she didn't dare to bargain further.

After all, the one-time licensing fee was only 3 million USD. If Orange Technology wanted to earn royalties, it depended on whether Apple Chips used Orange Z1's instruction set architecture.

"Fine, I agree to Mr. Chen's quote. Additionally, regarding Apple's entry into Pinpai, I'd like to know what support strategies your company has regarding traffic and marketing."

Ge Yue readily agreed, then changed the subject to discuss what she considered "real business."

"Pinpai and Mama Ali operate differently. The 'Hundred Billion Subsidy' channel with its 'Ten Thousand People Group' gets the most exposure, but the channel has corresponding requirements: prices must be lowered to the lowest on the entire web."

Chen Yansen replied.

Seeing this, Huang Zheng connected the screen projection on his own, opened a Pinpai Mall product promotion PPT, and added, "Ms. Ge, the daily active users of Pinpai's Hundred Billion Subsidy channel are 50 million. The Ten Thousand People Group runs once every Monday, featuring five products per session, with a weekly exposure reaching 300 million."

Ge Yue looked at the content on the screen, silently estimating the credibility of Huang Zheng's words.

She had purchased e-commerce industry reports from third-party consulting firms and was well aware of Pinpai's core data such as daily active users, daily sales, and conversion rates. Perhaps not precise enough, but the deviation wouldn't be too large.

"Mr. Chen, I promised Mama Ali that the daily selling prices and promotional prices on third-party e-commerce channels will remain consistent. I cannot guarantee the lowest price on the entire web."

Ge Yue shrugged, declining tactfully.

"The channel rules are set here; I am powerless."

Chen Yansen gave no face at all.

Ge Yue was momentarily speechless; the other party was far more domineering than she had imagined.

Pinpai Mall already hosted mobile phone brands such as Orange, Huawei, ZTE, Ku Sect, Xiaomi, and NetEase. If Apple joined, it would merely be icing on the cake.

Chen Yansen, of course, felt secure and unafraid!

"Alright, I can only promise you that Apple will pay an additional advertising fee to Pinpai during major promotional periods. As for what you do with this money, Apple won't ask."

Three minutes later, Ge Yue frowned and said softly.

See, isn't this a solution?

In business, as long as one is willing to sit down and talk, there is always a possibility of finding a common ground.

Chen Yansen smiled lightly, his face showing no sign of excitement.

He didn't believe Old Ma hadn't made similar demands. The conditions Ge Yue could offer Pinpai could naturally be offered to Mama Ali as well.

Some demands only exist if you raise them; if you don't raise them, they don't exist!

After finalizing the preliminary cooperation intent, the remaining work was simple: just confirm the contract details and sign to complete it.

As the host, Chen Yansen accompanied Ge Yue on a tour of Orange Technology's headquarters, including the Chip Design Department and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and also took the opportunity to pitch the YuXi development tools.

However, Apple already possessed mature voice recognition tools and the Siri intelligent voice assistant, so Ge Yue was not interested in this.

That afternoon, both parties reached an agreement.

Chen Yansen booked a private room at the Sky Garden and organized a drinking session, which didn't end until 10 PM late at night.

Ge Yue, accompanied by her subordinates, rushed back to Yanjing overnight.

"Boss, I'm heading back first," Huang Zheng said in front of the hotel entrance.

"Fine, tell the driver to drive slowly," Chen Yansen said, patting Old Huang's shoulder.

"Boss, Mr. Huang, then I'll go up to rest. See you tomorrow," Zhou Shouzhi waved and said with a smile.

He hadn't bought a house in Xucheng, nor rented one; instead, he chose to stay in the top-floor suite at the Sky Garden. On weekends when he rested, all meals and drinks were at the hotel, and his clothes and shoes were cleaned by dedicated staff.

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

Chen Yansen nodded in agreement, then got into a Ghost with a panda color scheme.

Xiao Li held the steering wheel, motionless.

"Back to Sanjiaozhou."

Chen Yansen originally wanted to go to Master Ye's home for a bowl of sweet soup, but then he thought, Old Chen is over forty now and doesn't have many years left; seeing him once means one less time, so he decided to go home and accompany his father.

Xiao Li remained silent, turned the car at the intersection, and within a moment merged 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 by the pool, fast asleep.

Wrapped in a goose-down blanket with only his head exposed, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, smiling brilliantly.

Chen Yansen felt amused, walked straight over, and shook Old Chen.

"Hui Zhen, run fast! Earthquake!" Old Chen, half-asleep, instinctively shouted.

Chen Yansen's hand stopped abruptly, thinking: This Old Chen is truly hopeless; he clearly intends to hang himself on one tree.

Soon, Chen Guobin woke up slowly and realized it was just a dream.

"The floor heating is on in the room, yet you don't sleep; you run outside to catch a cold. Do you want to take medicine?" Chen Yansen said irritably.

"The room is too hot," Chen Guobin said with a dry laugh.

"Can't you adjust the floor heating? Don't you know to call me?" Chen Yansen retorted.

"I was afraid of delaying your work," Chen Guobin said awkwardly.

"Come on, let's go inside," Chen Yansen's heart softened, and he led the way to the living room.

"What for?" Chen Guobin asked, following.

"To teach you how to use the floor heating and air conditioning," Chen Yansen said, turning his head.

When he was young, in his eyes, Old Chen seemed to know everything; only after growing up did he realize Old Chen didn't know so many things.

"By the way, where is that chef from yesterday? Why didn't she come today?" Chen Guobin followed his son, asking curiously.

"She's on vacation. What, was the takeout for lunch not good?" Chen Yansen spun a lie effortlessly, without a single stutter.

"Not as good as what she makes," Chen Guobin stated the truth.

His own cooking was terrible, yet his palate was extremely picky.

"The chef starts work tomorrow," Chen Yansen replied.

Afterwards, he led Chen Guobin to the underfloor heating controller and patiently taught him to distinguish the function of every button.

Old Chen learned very carefully.

"If anything comes up, just call me. I'm the boss, not an employee."

Chen Yansen said this to Old Chen before lifting his foot to go upstairs.

"Xiao Sen, thank you," Old Chen said with a grin.

Chen Yansen said nothing. He returned to the third-floor master bedroom, took out his phone, and sent a text message to Ye Qiuping: "Old Chen said your cooking is quite good."

"Really?"

Ye Qiuping, wearing a pink lace-trimmed nightgown, a look of joy on her face, replied while lying on the sofa.

"So, bring your battle gear tomorrow and clock in at Sanjiaozhou on time," Chen Yansen immediately arranged.

"..." Ye Qiuping.

The next morning, rumors spread that Mama Ali planned to spend 600 million US dollars to acquire 20% of Weibo's shares.

Since neither side denied the rumors, it amounted to a tacit admission of Mama Ali's investment in Weibo.

Laoshou Wang launched the "Group Buying Annan Brides" service and was specifically criticized by the Inspection General Association.

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

Early in the morning, a call came from above, questioning what Qiandu intended to do.

Only then did he learn of Gong Zhenbing's provocative maneuver.

On the other side.

Lei Yijun, also in Yanjing, announced on Weibo that Xiaomi Technology's sales target for 2013 was 15 million units.

Zhou Hongyi followed closely, provocatively adding 1 million to set the annual target for 360 Phones at 16 million units, and顺势 released the new design of the 360n2.

Seeing the two stir up the heat, Zhou Shouzhi had the marketing department announce to the outside world: Sister Chengzi Phones' shipment target for 2013 is 100 million units!

(End of this chapter)