Top of the big era

Apple's headquarters is located in Cupertino, in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, next to San Jose, about a 15-minute drive away.

Zhou Shaoning came here specially from Cupertino, so he was very puzzled, "Why are you here?"

Zhou Buqi said: "There is a football team here called the San Jose Earthquakes."

"ah?"

Zhou Shaoning looked confused.

Zhou Buqi said: "I am planning the football industry."

Zhou Shaoning was a little confused, "Is it necessary? I know you like football, but the United States is a football desert, and it is not necessarily much better than the country."

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "You really don't understand. American football is not very good, not because the level is not good, but because we don't pay attention to it. With the sports soil here in the United States, as long as we pay attention to football and want to develop football, there is no need How long does it take to do it?”

Zhou Shaoning really doesn’t know much about sports, “The U.S. women’s soccer team is pretty good.”

Zhou Buqi said: "In the final analysis, it is the promotion of professionalism. To put it further, it is actually the flow of capital. American football looks similar to the national football team. The men's football team is very good and the women's football team is very powerful. In fact, it is not the same at all. In China, it is really The United States has soil."

Then he explained it simply.

This is what Sandoku told him.

is an important argument for investing in American soccer.

In the United States, equality between men and women is politically correct, including in universities. American sports are college sports. Every year, the federal government allocates a large amount of money to support the development of college sports, and this "Sports Development Fund" must be divided equally between men and women!

But there's a problem.

In professional sports, which are often dominated by men, especially in the most popular football and baseball sports in the United States, girls can only serve as cheerleaders.

Football and baseball are the main training directions of the sports development fund in universities, but what about girls' development?

There are really few sports that girls can do.

A lot of money!

Tuition fees at top universities in the United States are too expensive. Many people have to rely on sports scholarships to study. Finding a sports program that suits them has become a task for many girls in college.

Basketball is too demanding on the body, and ordinary girls can't do it... There are just a few categories to choose from, such as tennis, football, volleyball, and gymnastics.

Gymnastics is not a professional sport, it is about youth. Tennis is a professional sport, but it is too professional. Volleyball is not professional at all. After much deliberation, the best choice turned out to be football.

The U.S. men's soccer team cannot develop because the fields of football, baseball, and basketball are too strong and have absorbed all sports development funds.

As long as the United States pays attention to men's football and allocates a certain amount of money to football, men's football can develop rapidly.

It is a completely different concept from the domestic men's football team.

However, whether American football can develop has nothing to do with Zhou Buqi.

He wants to acquire the San Jose Earthquakes. Firstly, this is part of the global industry of Chaowan Football Group. More importantly, this is a team in Silicon Valley!

Zhou Buqi said: "For Silicon Valley, we are outsiders after all, and sports can increase our sense of identity. I bought the Golden State Warriors, and we can look forward to the dynasty era established by the Golden State Warriors in the next few years. Football is similar. . Compared with football and baseball, football is a world-class sport, and the United States will definitely pay more and more attention to it. Now is the era of bargain hunting."

Zhou Shaoning's eyes lit up and he thought this was a really good idea, "This is the American version of the school network!"

"ah?"

Zhou Buqi was amused.

Zhou Shaoning said: "The most important industry in American universities is sports. In April, I went to the University of San Francisco to recruit students...The scene was really shocking. I felt that all the students were fans, just like...just like every time Manchester United There are home games and Old Trafford looks pretty much the same."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Absolutely. For Americans, sports are an indispensable part of life. If we can develop the sports industry here in Silicon Valley, and then rely on the employees of Ziweixing and Asda By giving priority to sports events, the attraction to Silicon Valley talents and Stanford University, the University of California, and the University of San Francisco will be greatly increased. Use sports to transfuse technology."

Zhou Shaoning said: "Then you have to arrange football and baseball, including ice hockey. Football and basketball are niche sports in the United States."

Zhou Buqi said speechlessly: "I have to understand. I don't even understand the rules of football, baseball, and ice hockey. One time Ballmer invited me to watch a 49ers game. It felt like I was being tortured." , I can’t understand it at all.”

Professional sports is all about money. The more money you have, the better it will develop.

The three richest major business districts in the United States: New York, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Silicon Valley has a very strong professional sports system.

For example, the Golden State Warriors in basketball; the San Jose Sharks in ice hockey; the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics in baseball; the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Predators in football.

and the San Jose Earthquakes in soccer.

Silicon Valley giants also have deep relationships with these sports clubs. Almost every company has an internal sports department that cooperates with these sports clubs and sponsors some teams.

For example, the home stadium of the Golden State Warriors is sponsored by Oracle and is called "Oracle Arena"; for example, the stadium of the San Francisco Giants is sponsored by AT\u0026T and is called "AT\u0026T Park".

Zhou Shaoning said: "Anyway, I think this idea is feasible. Here in the United States, sports is an industry that no one can avoid. Almost everyone is a fan. If you have... ahem, if you have extra funds , I suggest you enter the field of football and baseball. This is the core, a hundred times better than football. If you can't manage it, you can follow the Golden State Warriors model and only hold 50% of the shares."

Zhou Buqi had a black line on his forehead, "Don't give me bad ideas!"

"What's a bad idea?" Zhou Shaoning laughed, "This is the right way."

"Let's talk about it!" Zhou Buqi waved his hand and glanced at him, "I think you are in a good mood? Did the negotiation with Apple go well?"

Zhou Shaoning nodded, "Well, it went relatively smoothly. The big framework has basically been reached. There are mainly four parts. First, SoftBank gave up its exclusive agency rights in Japan and allowed KDDI to sell iPhones; second, Apple and Asda reconciled , each Aster has to pay a patent fee of US$6, and the educational discount is US$1; it supports the 'TT strategy' in certain areas to a limited extent, that is, the Top 2 sales model of iPhone and Aster..."

"Wait a minute!" Zhou Buqi was a little surprised, "What's going on with the third item? Doesn't it mean that Apple doesn't agree?"

Zhou Shaoning said: "Yes, I didn't agree last week, but suddenly I agreed the day before yesterday."

"Why?"

"Samsung responded to the lawsuit and officially started a war with Apple."

"Tsk tsk..." Zhou Buqi suddenly felt like he was incarnating as Su Qin, "Is this considered business politics? We played it beautifully! We were caught between Softbank, Google, Samsung, Apple and the iPhone agent. Operators are fighting each other vertically and horizontally.”

Zhou Shaoning didn't care about his stinky fart, "However, it's only limited. It's mainly for places where Apple retail stores and official websites have difficulty operating and can only cooperate with operators to sell as agents. If iPhone and Aster join forces to negotiate, they can have a bigger say. right."

"I'll go..." Zhou Buqi was stunned. Apple was playing a bit aggressively. "Join together to negotiate with the operators? Put pressure on the operators? So strong?"

Zhou Shaoning looked helpless, "Silicon Valley giants have always been like this, relying on their technological advantages to dominate the world. iPhone and Aster are currently the two best-selling smartphones in the world. They are a powerful combination."

"Isn't this just a trust monopoly?"

"So we have to operate in relatively less developed places, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Not to mention Southeast Asia, even China, Japan, and South Korea still lack sufficient antitrust provisions. There are more than a dozen Silicon Valley giants around the world. They have a lot of experience over the years.”

"It can also curb Samsung's smartphone development."

"Yes, despite the fact that Asda's smartphone sales are four times that of Samsung, Apple's internal resistance is more to Samsung than Asda."

"That's not surprising." Zhou Buqi nodded, "Where's the 'Instructions'? This is the most important project. Bill Gates took his wife and children to visit me in Manchester and talked to me about it."

Zhou Shaoning said: "This is the fourth part. The big framework has basically been negotiated. Apple promised that all iPhones on its official website, offline retail stores, and supplied to operators will be equipped with our 'instructions'. However, they don't want to Help for nothing.”

"Um?"

"They want a commission, 50 percent."

"I go!"

Zhou Buqi is angry and funny.

After all this going on, it still comes down to interests. What’s the agreed-upon pattern? What's the agreed strategy?

Zhou Shaoning said: "The 'Instructions' project is a very good App promotion channel and has great business prospects. Apple's requirements are mainly three points. First, they have to take a 50% commission on all 'Instructions' that are paired with the iPhone. ; Second, Apple must review the apps recommended in the 'instructions' in Apple's sales system and have a veto power; third, Asda's domestic mobile phone supply chain must be properly shared with Apple."

"Everything else is easy to say, the 50% commission is too high!"

Zhou Buqi was actually very happy when he heard this disagreement. Cooperation is about mutual benefit and win-win results. Only when Apple enters the market and can share the benefits of the "Instruction Manual" project, will they be more willing to promote the development of this project and allow "Instruction Manual" to cooperate with the iPhone sales system in the long term. .

This is a good thing.

However, a 50% commission is too high, so we have to continue negotiating.

Zhou Shaoning said: "Yes, that's what I mean. All other conditions are fine, but the 50% commission is too high. But the Silicon Valley giant... has no choice. Apple's market value has surpassed Microsoft's, becoming the world's largest The tech giants, they're very powerful and they're not willing to give in."

"Microsoft..." Zhou Buqi narrowed his eyes, "You're right, Microsoft! You can add Microsoft to the list! It's just a matter of vertical and horizontal manipulation!"