Reinventing the Millennium

As the head of Yike arrived in Silicon Valley, the launch time of the new generation of Mars was quickly determined.

It’s still the Moscone Convention Center, but the time is one day later than last year, June 27th.

Unlike last year, when Yike released mobile phones, it required multiple invitations to the media. This year, before the time was determined, many online and offline media inquired about the release, wanting to witness the release of the "Android King" as soon as possible.

Android King.

This is not from the media, nor is it self-proclaimed by Yike, but the vocabulary used by Google to warm up this conference.

Although it has been confirmed that Samsung will also have models equipped with Android system, Google still did not hesitate to officially make its mark and still spared no effort in promoting Yike mobile phones in publicity.

This is the common recognition brought about by the global sales of Yike Mars single product exceeding 7 million units.

There are also media outlets that are enthusiastically speculating whether Mars sales can exceed 8 million units before the launch. After all, according to the news announced on the official website, it has successively reached cooperation with operators in different Asian countries.

Regarding this point, more than one media outlet regretted that if China had not yet opened up 3G, it might have witnessed a manufacturer that just entered the mobile phone industry and sold 10 million units of its products.

Since the beginning of this year, there have been many analyzes of the successful transformation of Yike and the popularity of Mars, the development of capacitive screens, systems that lower the threshold for use, and new models of sharing with operators...

Yike Company has received invitations from many business schools on behalf of its boss, but considering the time and energy, they declined them all.

On June 14, Fang Zhuo listened to Mars2's stocking and channel deployment in Silicon Valley. Due to experience and changes in the competitive situation, this year's official sales are scheduled for July 10, which is two weeks after the launch.

That night, after the conference meeting, he flew to Houston to witness the end of the Rockets' season.

The Rockets did not have as many injuries as last year in the 2007-2008 season, but without the firepower of Carter, an All-Star, the Rockets' shortcomings were magnified in the playoffs after the regular season was okay.

Although we were lucky enough to reach the finals due to injuries to our opponents in the Western Conference, our opponents, the Celtics, did not give them a chance. The three games they had won were quite straightforward, and the only one they lost was only by 2 points. .

When Fang Zhuo arrived in Houston and saw the team with low morale, he felt that it would be difficult to bottom out again.

Fang Zhuo did not engage in chicken soup or excitement this time. He only talked about the success of the past three years and only made a promise to continue to pay the luxury tax next year to strengthen the Rockets and continue to keep the Rockets among the strong teams.

On the evening of June 15th, the Rockets played at home in Houston.

Although it was a home game, the referees did not blow a biased home whistle. The league and the audience may also hope to see a new champion appear in sight.

After three quarters, the Celtics led by 15 points and basically declared the championship.

The live broadcast camera frequently focused on the Rockets boss who was watching the game in the first row, but he did not show any annoyance. He only communicated with Xiao Ou who was invited to attend from time to time.

For O'Brien, it may be a little embarrassing to come to watch this game. In the past year, he has shown the two championship rings given to him by the Rockets on different occasions. He frankly said that he is already a die-hard fan of the team. However, this year's game was one-sided. , I feel that this sign is somewhat bad.

"Change, we need change."

When Fang Zhuo used this as an entry point, Xiao Ao suddenly felt that it was a good match.

Today's O'Brien is no longer the same person he was last year. With Hillary withdrawing from the race at the beginning of this month, he is about to have a final battle on behalf of the Democratic Party and the Republican McCain.

Considering this identity and the change in the other party's mentality, Fang Zhuo never mentioned anything about funds or not. He just talked about basketball, golf, and the mobile phone he was going to release this month...

In fact, Xiao Ou did not show any difference from the past. He carefully analyzed the Rockets' operating space for next season and readily agreed to teach Mr. Fang, a golf beginner, when he could.

The final whistle sounded, and the Celtics, who formed the Big Three, won the cup as they wished.

Fang Zhuo showed his grace, politely congratulated his opponent, and comforted his team.

He was quite depressed when he saw Yao Ming, and he ignited new fighting spirit with just one sentence: "Play well in the Olympics and don't get injured. This year's national team feels pretty good."

Yao Ming nodded solemnly. The game at home was of extraordinary significance.

Some sports reporters came to interview the Rockets owner, who only attended the last game this year. Fang Zhuo did not refuse and gave a brief victory speech.

The first sentence is very... appropriate.

"Change we need."

"Now the situation in the league has changed, and stronger opponents have appeared in both the East and the West."

"The Rockets are a championship team. We have fallen to the bottom and climbed to the top. This loss is only temporary. The Red Army will definitely make a comeback!"

Fang Zhuo's mood didn't fluctuate at all. On the contrary, the team's young owner Jay Chou, who had been watching the games in the playoffs, had tears in his eyes, making a comeback, making a comeback!

There is also a championship award ceremony in the arena.

Fang Zhuo did not stay at the scene and personally sent Xiao Ao and his party away.

Just when Xiao Ao got in the car, he gave him a new contact information.

This is the call from his consultant Lu Peining.

It is worth mentioning that Lu Peining is a classmate of Xiao Ao, the legal director of his senator’s office, and a Chinese-American.

Fang Zhuo understands what Xiao Ao means. He should contact Lu Peining if he has something to do in the future. After all, his identity may change and his affairs will become busier.

Lu Peining, Lu Peining.

Fang Zhuo entered the phone number and sent a text message, intending to have someone check this person's resume and information.

Not to mention where Yike's stock may be used next year, this year, the technology introduction and equipment purchase license of Bingxin has come to be renewed. Although there are previous successful examples of SMIC, Fang Zhuo is still prepared to mobilize multiple parties. Prepare.

It is a four-year contract. If it is successfully renewed this year, the next one will be in 2012.

Considering the development of ice core and considering that Liang Mengsong's team will join this year, Fang Zhuo really doesn't know what kind of situation will change in four years.

Thinking of this, his thoughts drifted to Germany again. It's not necessarily useful. Using a vest might give him more space to move around.

It just so happened that Deutsche Telekom paid great attention to this Yike press conference, and the head of the headquarters, Obermann, flew in from Europe to attend in person.

Europe accounts for more than 50% of Yike's global sales. Compared with Mars' drive to new T-Mobile users and 3G business in the United States, Deutsche Telekom has achieved greater success.

In the United States, T-Mobile has lost its exclusive contract rights for half a year, but Deutsche Telekom is still Yike's only partner in Europe. Obermann believes that such cooperation must be continued.

3G business still has a lot of potential, and the European market still has huge prospects.

This is not just a "7 million sales" achievement.

Obermann is even optimistic that Yike will become the world's leading mobile phone manufacturer with the new track of 3G smartphones.

Of course, Fang Zhuo would not ignore Deutsche Telekom's goodwill. He had already kicked Legere out of the "iron triangle" position in his heart and gave this honor to Obermann, optimistic about the help he would bring to Yi Ke and himself.

Regarding the European inspection activities of the Yangtze River Delta Business Association at the end of the year, he hopes that Deutsche Telekom can show friendship, play drums from the side, and introduce suitable contacts.

On June 18, Fang Zhuo, who had recovered from the sadness of the team's defeat, once again held a coordination meeting with Yike's global regional leaders to confirm everyone's work progress and problems encountered. Among them, Mainland China is still a special place. .

Liu Qiangdong, as the person in charge of China, talked about the progress of the operators and basically confirmed that it will be available for online sales in August.

So far, Yike Mars has sold 7.39 million units in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

Originally, the company's goal was 8 million units, and it also adopted many cooperation plans in Japan and South Korea, key regions in Asia, thinking that it must break through the integer mark again to make a good start for the new generation of Mars.

Unfortunately, the Japanese market is more conservative than expected, and the Korean market has experienced interference from the LG Group, making it difficult to achieve the set goals.

Because of this change, the Chinese market that Liu Qiangdong is responsible for has to bear the burden of digesting more old models and needs to make a new wave of adjustments.

Although Liu Qiangdong was a little depressed about the temporary change, he could only accept it. After all, this is 3G business with different speed and time differences.

On the 20th, there was only one week left before the press conference.

Yu Hong went to report to Mr. Fang about different operators in the United States, and unexpectedly saw him mumbling something serious in the office.

"What's wrong with you? Did Nokia sue you?" She was a little surprised.

"I'm reciting the manuscript for the press conference." Fang Zhuo replied seriously.

Yu Hong took a closer look and marveled: "You're carrying it so early? Why are you a little nervous?"

"Of course I'm nervous. Last year we were barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes. This year we are a dark horse in the industry." Fang Zhuo gave the reason, "Last year, our Mars was unique in the world. Many of the upgrades this year are internal. I really It’s not okay to worry about market feedback.”

Yu Hong pondered for a moment: "I don't think there should be much of a problem. At least, here in the United States, T-Mobile's 3G covers more cities, we also have more cooperative operators, the channel range is wider, and Mars upgrades Both bring obvious performance, and the difference between a 5-megapixel camera and a 2-megapixel camera is still huge.”

If you ask her to evaluate her own products, it would be that the shortcomings have become longer and they look more like a "machine king".

Fang Zhuoxian nodded and said, "That being said, we won't know until next month what the attitude of consumers is."

He handed the manuscript over: "Mr. Yu, would you like to read it for me? See where the introduction is not good."

Yu Hong was not polite. She flew to Silicon Valley basically once a week in the past six months. She was very clear about the progress of mobile phone design work from beginning to end, and she was familiar with the parameters.

I first gave the manuscript a rough pass, and then thought about it in detail.

After two cups of tea, Yu Hong raised her head and said thoughtfully: "The introduction of Mars 2 is quite contrasting. Apart from being a little complicated, this may be my subjective feeling. Well, the most important thing is that I always feel that it is different from last year." Compared to almost nothing.”

Fang Zhuo repeated: "What's the near miss?"

How does it feel to almost feel?

Yu Hong considered it carefully.

Just as the two people in the office were exchanging press conference manuscripts, first the landline phone rang, then there was a hurried knock on the door, and finally even the cell phone on the table vibrated.

"Come in."

"Hello?"

"Yes."

Fang Zhuo asked people to enter the office, picked up the landline phone, and threw his cell phone to Yu Hong.

The three notification methods do not notify the same message.

——Nokia confirmed that the full touch screen mobile phone equipped with Symbian S60 V5 will be released on June 26.

——HTC announced that a full touch-screen mobile phone equipped with Microsoft WM system will be released on June 25.

——Motorola announced that it would sue Yike Mars for infringing mobile phone patents.

The summary of the news is obviously not good news.

"Nokia seems to have released new phones in New York before? This time it's in Silicon Valley? And it's just the day before our press conference?" Fang Zhuo frowned slightly.

"Well, N95 was released in four places around the world. Here in the United States is New York. Nokia did have a stuck time just like we did before Apple released it." Yu Hong nodded.

Fang Zhuo stopped frowning, oh.

"Motorola suddenly came out to sue. This matter deserves attention." Yu Hong was a little troubled by the patent news. She had heard Mr. Fang talk about his countermeasures at the capital level before, and it was a last resort. Now Motorola suddenly came out again. , a weak patent means it is easy to be targeted.

"Let the legal department evaluate it first." Fang Zhuo said calmly, "No matter how bad it is, it won't be a greater threat than Nokia."

"Eh? That's right." Yu Hong was relieved.

As for HTC equipped with WM...

Before the two of them had time to talk, they received new news as if they had made an appointment.

——Apple announced that sales of the iPhone released in March exceeded 2 million units.

The new generation iPhone was released in March, but it actually only went on sale in April.

In other words, the iPhone with 3G functionality exceeded 2 million sales in less than two months.

This news shocked both Fang Zhuo and Yu Hong.

LG's new phone was released and launched in March, and it took only one month to hit one million units. However, after another two months, there was still no news of breaking through two million units, and the iPhone was silent. It made rapid progress, and a figure of two million came out.

The iPhone, which makes up for the 3G function, front camera, Apple store, and European channels, shows a different color.

"This generation of iPhones are selling very well." Yu Hong said solemnly.

Fang Zhuo read the news and analyzed this opponent who had been somewhat ignored by him.

Just as he was mid-sentence, the last news of the day was delivered to the case.

——Sony Ericsson’s new mobile phone launch conference will be held in Silicon Valley on June 25.

"As soon as you confirmed the time for the press conference, your opponents are all excited." Yu Hong had to connect these things together, "How is it? How do you feel?"

Fang Zhuo stopped analyzing the iPhone. He clenched the original press conference manuscript tightly, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it accurately into the trash can: "Very good, suddenly I'm not nervous at all."