Reinventing the Millennium

Yike Mars is two quarters behind Apple iPhone.

Fang Zhuo not only hopes that the iPhone can bring enough attention to operators during this period and bring beneficial changes to Yike, but also hopes that it will be restrained in sales and not cause excessive pressure.

Of course, this is just a thought.

The most critical thing at the moment is negotiations with operators.

"Legere, you are professionals in the field of operators."

"AT\u0026T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint are the four major operators in the United States. T-Mobile is the last to start deploying 3G equipment."

"AT\u0026T has continuously invested heavily in acquiring Cingular and BellSouth, and is undoubtedly the largest operator in the United States."

"Verizon has upgraded EV-DO for 3G networks in three cities, and companies that have tried it say it's good. Its commercial service is now one of the fastest-growing wireless Internet access services in the United States."

"Sprint, Sprint..."

When Fang Zhuo talked about this operator that gave up CDMA and turned to WiMAX, he really didn't know how to praise it. He could only change the angle and said sincerely: "I don't understand this, but it is working with Motorola, and it is Being treated like a biological son by the U.S. government should not be underestimated."

WiMAX, the 3G standard, was forced into it by the US government.

Speaking of this, I have to say that this is also a pain point that T-Mobile can feel.

Although the United States is an open market to European companies, T-Mobile, as a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, is still not as convenient as local companies at certain times.

Legere couldn't help but said: "It seems that you are really wronged by letting Mr. Fang sit in front of us today."

"But..." Fang Zhuo likes to talk about twists and turns, "T-Mobile has two major advantages that make us eager to cooperate."

"First, T-Mobile has 3G business experience that has been operating in the European market for several years, and can definitely replicate it in the US market."

Unlike the U.S. market, which has only begun to gradually promote 3G in the past two years, Europe has been commercializing this field since 2003 and has accumulated many experiences and lessons worth learning from.

Including the polishing and maturity of the communication standard WCDMA, this is also its great advantage for CDMA2000 and WiMAX.

"Second, T-Mobile also has a great influence in Europe, and Yiko Mars can definitely bring new growth to your base camp."

Fang Zhuo said with a smile: "So, I am not aggrieved at all sitting here today. Although T-Mobile was late in deploying in the United States, it is also a very pleasant thing to grab other customers' customers to a certain extent."

"The original ARPU of telecom operators has slowed down, and 3G business is the best breakthrough."

"Google believes that the mobile era is coming, and has built the Android system itself."

"Qualcomm believes that star products can bring longer-term benefits than communication standards, and is willing to fully support Android and Mars."

"Yike believes that a touch-screen smartphone with a front-facing camera allows everyone to make money together and can attract enough attention from consumers."

"Legere, the opportunity is right in front of you, you must take advantage of it."

Since Fang Zhuo is here today, he will make his attitude clear.

If T-Mobile is unwilling, then in a few days, ask Verizon to change a few words and explain it clearly.

In any case, operators must have a preliminary attitude before June.

Legere played with the Yiko Mars in his hand, passed it to the executives next to him, and discussed it softly.

He had seen Apple's press conference, but it was indeed quite novel to experience a touch-screen smartphone that could run and take photos of his own bald head.

After several senior executives from the corresponding business tasted the phone and passed it back, Legere said with a smile: "What Mr. Fang said is very contagious, but we have to act rationally. During this time, I am surprised that Google has Spending so much effort lobbying for Yike Mobile.”

"Judging from the products in hand, Yike's work is worthy of appreciation."

"I am also very surprised. The inclusive attitude shown by Qualcomm today is incredible."

"If possible, how about we talk about it in two weeks?"

Legere gave him time to re-evaluate his assessment and consider how to refer to the cooperation model between Apple and AT\u0026T.

In addition, Mr. Fang is right about one thing. A stable European market may also need a catfish.

Legere plans to discuss this cooperation with the German headquarters.

Generally speaking, he is willing to give it a try first. After all, there is still time to observe how consumers accept such a mobile phone.

Fang Zhuo was not very satisfied, nor was he too disappointed.

We have been talking with T-Mobile for a long time. Although I am full of enthusiasm for this trip, it is difficult to make a final decision.

He stood up, shook hands with Legere, and joked: "My cell phone now uses a Verizon number. If we cooperate in the future, I will port my number to the network as soon as possible, and your T-Mobile will also give me the number immediately." I’ll give you a small red envelope of $11.”

Legere understood this meaningful joke. It was just that Yike wanted to compare the intensity of cooperation with Apple and AT\u0026T. It cost Apple 11 US dollars to bring a switched user, and the other party also charged 11 US dollars.

The money is the same, but what about the others?

Legere shook hands gently, smiled and nodded, but did not answer the question.

Fang Zhuo did not continue the conversation. It was a joke, so he just laughed it off.

The three did not leave immediately. Schmidt and Legere communicated alone for a while, and it seemed that they had gained something.

When I left the T-Mobile office building, the car parked in front of me.

Qualcomm's Jacob held the car door helplessly with his hand, turned his head and said, "Aren't you going to get in?"

"You first, you first." Both Fang Zhuo and Schmidt showed sufficient respect for the head of Qualcomm.

Jacob rolled his eyes, obviously he came in the same car.

He shook his head slightly, got in the car, and did not get involved in the secret conversation between the two people.

Teams from Google and Yike also got on the bus first, leaving space for the big guys.

"Legere is actually inclined to agree to further cooperation, but he has doubts about the subsidy fee for users and the share ratio. He is not satisfied either." Schmidt said nothing nonsense and directly talked about his relationship with Legere. comminicate.

Fang Zhuo raised his eyebrows: "He is using you to bargain with me."

If you have doubts about the subsidy fee for users, it is nothing more than lowering the purchase price of Yike mobile phones.

"Being willing to bargain is also good news, isn't it?" Schmidt laughed.

The two got into the back seat of the car.

Schmidt pulled out the document that played a huge role today.

Fang Zhuo glanced at the weird expression of the Google CEO and suddenly asked: "Schmidt, is this document of yours true?"

"There is a high probability that it will come true." Schmidt spoke very rigorously.

"What does this mean?" Fang Zhuo was stunned and asked suspiciously, "Did you fill in the numbers on this document blindly?"

Schmidt said angrily: "I'm not as shameless as you."

He continued: "This is just a version that is close to being completely finalized. I'm not sure if I really follow this, but it's generally fine."

Fang Zhuo gave Schmidt a questioning look.

"The specific conditions between Apple and AT\u0026T are also trade-offs, which are greatly affected by the industry and competition." Schmidt explained, "Just like your Yi Ke is watching from the side, Apple and AT\u0026T have to assess your threats. I I am convinced that some of their terms have been modified to take into account the existence of Yike.”

Fang Zhuo was a little surprised: "Then I should be honored?"

"Otherwise? Jobs even asked me personally about the situation of the Major sensor company acquired by Yike." Schmidt said, "The competition between Yike is still very obvious. Since they are mobile phones with similar positioning, they will definitely continue to do so." The approach to music players reduces costs and benefits consumers."

This is the characteristic of Yike's past competition.

When Fang Zhuo heard "Major sensor", he suddenly felt that the enemy was in the clear and I was also in the clear.

He thought for a few seconds and asked: "Yike won't affect AT\u0026T and Apple's 199, right?"

"I guess, just like you used Apple's cooperation with AT\u0026T to try to persuade Legere, Jobs may also use Yike's past competitive strategies to increase his bargaining chips with AT\u0026T." Schmidt shrugged, "Enemy Sometimes you can act as a temporary ally, right?"

Even Apple directors are guessing, and Fang Zhuo can only guess.

He has the general direction in his mind, down to the details, down to the chain reaction changes, which can only be judged by the information in front of him.

Fang Zhuo was silent for a while, thinking that Lao Shi was fine and often asked him about his research and development status.

He asked suspiciously: "You won't tell Steve Jobs about my side of things, right? How did you get this document?"

If you want to win someone's trust, do you first give yourself information?

Two-Face Schmidt?

"Haha, how is that possible?" Schmidt laughed, "Don't worry about how you got it, there won't be any documents after this. I just talked about this with Legere, and he said on T-Mobile Just the approximate cooperation conditions mentioned in the rumors will be enough.”

Fang Zhuo knew that he had no way to prove it, and he increasingly felt that the Google CEO and Larry, the founder, had two completely different styles.

He pondered: "Do you think the procurement and sharing between Yike and T-Mobile is easy to negotiate?"

At this time, we won’t talk about Google together, just Yike alone.

As long as the two companies cooperate, Google only needs to cooperate. As for how to cooperate, it is not important to it.

"With Apple in the lead, I think it's relatively easy to negotiate, just the price and proportion of sharing." Schmidt said seriously, "Although Legere can see the tendency of cooperation, we should still talk to Verizon again. This will definitely make it easier to talk.”

He continued: "If there are still huge differences, you can also sign a draft before the press conference, and then modify it according to the situation after the iPhone is launched. You also said that there may be two prices by then, not necessarily who I have more initiative."

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly. It's hard to say how well the 449 iPhone will be received, but the 199 contract iPhone is still promising.

If, as Schmidt said, Apple and operators are concerned about the competitive pressure exerted by Yike, and thus have more cooperation, will the first-generation iPhone sell better than in history?

Fang Zhuo corrected a little bit of his original idea of ​​carving a boat and seeking a sword.

He is actually somewhat desensitized to mobile phone prices and only uses mainstream mobile phone data on the market to measure the situation.

Fortunately, two quarters are enough time to further confirm a more appropriate positioning, and there are many valid reasons for adjusting prices. The most real one is the real-time changes in storage prices.

The atmosphere in the car became quiet.

After a moment, Schmidt spoke again: "I hope to see a perfect conference next month."

"I don't know if it's perfect or not, I just hope Mars can give me the same face as today." Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

Only then did Schmidt realize that Legere and the others did not encounter a black screen or shutdown when they tried their mobile phones today.

Great, the optimization is taking effect.

He asked: "If you can go further in two weeks, how do you prefer to price the mobile phone?"

"Apple has Samsung chips, and Yike has Qualcomm chips. Apple uses first-line parts, and Yike uses them as well." Fang Zhuo said, "I just want to see with my own eyes the tuning of Apple's actual machine, but we have The front camera is a plus, and the price is about the same, so let’s leave the cost aside.”

Schmidt nodded slightly: "Well, Mars also has our Android."

Fang Zhuo was about to speak but stopped.

A little higher, a little lower.

…

The next round of negotiations with T-Mobile involves procurement and sharing, and Yu Hong will lead the team to participate more. When it comes to head-on competition with Apple, she is the front-line person in charge and often faces similar negotiation situations.

Fang Zhuo inspected R\u0026D centers in Silicon Valley.

Because of the good cooperation with Sony, a new imaging department has been established here in the R\u0026D center, which will continue to build the competitiveness of mobile phone imaging in the future.

This department is currently drawing on some experience from Sony cameras. In addition, under the guidance there, it is trying to recruit people from the traditional imaging industry.

It’s not easy for people at Sony to poach, but they know exactly what powerful characters their competitors have. This can be considered competition from a distance.

Fang Zhuo is very pleased with the harmony between the two companies.

On May 13, Fang Zhuo flew back to Houston and prepared to continue Why Not.

But on the night he flew in, Kong Yu made a phone call and mentioned that Lehman was using leverage financing to acquire Axton, one of the largest real estate developers in the United States.

"Axton? It's also mainly engaged in commercial real estate, right? It's not cheap, right?" Fang Zhuo already knew Lehman's approach. "Does Lehman want Axton to facilitate its commercial mortgage-backed securities?"

"Well, Axton develops basically high-end apartments and commercial real estate in prime locations in Manhattan, Los Angeles, and Washington. The acquisition price is estimated to be more than 20 billion US dollars." Kong Yu replied.

High-end commercial real estate is obviously more resistant to declines.

but……

Fang Zhuo asked: "Lehman used leverage to make acquisitions? How much money can it invest by itself?"

Kong Yu has already inquired: "It will not exceed 1 billion US dollars, it may be 500 million, or... it will be less."

He briefly explained: "Lehman's leveraged buyout uses the proceeds of the acquired Axton as collateral, as well as high-yield bonds and bonds. Lehman is both the acquirer and the financing intermediary. The leverage is expected to exceed 30 or 40 times."

1 billion, 500 million or even less, 30 or 40 times.

The range of this figure is quite large, but when it comes to Axton’s acquisition of more than 20 billion US dollars, it is not so conspicuous. In short, it is a very low principal + high leverage.

5/1 billion eats the 20 billion target?

Fang Zhuo changed his mind, what is international investment banking? This is a big deal.

Big-money moves, and big-money leveraged notes, equity bridge loans, commercial mortgage claims and more.

He asked with concern: "Is it easy to finance Lehman? If it is not easy, can you find a way to introduce funds to it?"

Kong Yu just wanted to report the situation that his boss was concerned about...

But when I thought about it, I realized that Fang was always firmly bearish on the U.S. market. Once Lehman's high leverage encountered liquidity problems, it would be in big trouble.

"The Bank of Washington really has a budget." Kong Yu said. Although they no longer do the CDO business of the Bank of Washington, they often communicate with each other.

"The man is affectionate and the concubine is interested. We can match them appropriately. All we need to do is come to the house and ask for money as soon as possible when we encounter problems." Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

Kong Yu thought about it and said, "Then I'll give it a try."

Fang was always afraid that Lehman would not be able to swallow the elephant.

Although it seems a bit strange to help Lehman find money,... Mr. Fang, my old man, my young man, Lehman, is a good boss with an internationalist spirit.