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Su Cheng lingered in Japan, not rushing to return to Hong Kong.

Here, he also enjoyed the company of beautiful women, indulging in the novelty of it all. Having come all the way to Japan, he naturally didn't plan to return so quickly.

Japanese women seemed to have a unique understanding of the art of service, providing Su Cheng with an experience quite different from that of Kwan Ka-wai and the others.

Therefore, during his days in Japan, Su Cheng both inspected his businesses and meticulously planned for a deeper level of strategic deployment.

This strategic deployment primarily focused on how to smoothly withdraw the majority of his capital from the Japanese market within the next few years.

Of course, the sales market had to be preserved, as it was the foundation for his continued development in Japan.

Even if a real estate crisis and a shrinking consumer market were to occur here, the contraction wouldn't be too severe. It was still a very important market, and Su Cheng wouldn't give it up so easily.

When the time came, he could just find a reason to gradually sell off the properties he held.

Those wealthy and powerful Japanese financial groups would certainly be very happy to buy his high-quality properties.

One day, Su Cheng arrived in Osaka.

This bustling metropolis, second only to Tokyo, was home to numerous businesses owned by both the Su's Group and Hutchison Whampoa, among others.

Su Cheng's arrival naturally led to a grand reception from the local government.

That evening, just as Su Cheng was returning to his hotel from a branch office, he unexpectedly received a call from the United States.

The call was from Steve Jobs of Apple Inc.

"Mr. Su, I need your help!" Jobs said solemnly on the other end of the phone.

"Oh? Mr. Jobs, could you please explain the situation?" Su Cheng asked with a puzzled expression.

He had always held 30% of Apple's shares. Although Apple had undergone multiple rounds of financing since its IPO, Su Cheng had increased his investment each time, maintaining his 30% stake.

At the same time, although he had always been Apple's largest shareholder, he had never interfered in the company's affairs.

The Apple of this world had undergone tremendous changes because of Su Cheng's presence.

Moreover, it had changed for the better.

For example, Apple's current market value had reached a staggering 8.3 billion US dollars, which, when converted to Hong Kong dollars, was over 50 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Of course, it was still a far cry from Su Cheng's own companies.

After all, Apple still relied to some extent on Sky穹 Semiconductor in terms of hardware.

It also had some reliance on Oracle Computer in terms of technology.

Apple's advantage lay in innovation.

For example, they pioneered the first laptop computer, which made Apple famous again.

Since Apple pioneered the first laptop computer, its main R\u0026D focus had shifted to the laptop market.

As for desktop computers, although Apple hadn't abandoned them, they accounted for less than 30% of Apple's business.

Apple had become the number one brand in laptop computers.

Each generation was lighter, smaller, and more portable than the last!

On the other end of the phone, Jobs was silent for a moment before continuing, "Mr. Su, I've been ousted by a coalition. I've been removed from my position in the product division. Now, I'm just a chairman without any real power, just a figurehead!"

Hearing Jobs' words, Su Cheng suddenly understood.

He hadn't expected that even though he had completely changed Apple, he still couldn't change Jobs' fate of being kicked out.

In Su Cheng's previous life, Jobs had also been kicked out, eventually leaving Apple and starting his own company.

More than a decade later, Apple invited Jobs back, which led to the famous Apple we know today.

"Mr. Jobs, please explain in detail!" Su Cheng said.

"Mr. Su, it's like this..." Jobs then began to pour out his experiences to Su Cheng, and from his tone, it was clear that Jobs felt very wronged.

It turned out that after becoming chairman of Apple, Jobs realized that neither he nor anyone else in the company was capable of managing such a large enterprise. They lacked the management experience.

So, after discussing it, they invited John Sculley, the president of Pepsi-Cola, to join Apple as CEO in 1983, two years ago.

And after President John Sculley joined Apple, he did play a role in Apple's development.

However, just as Apple's development was getting better and better, they encountered a problem.

They were indeed making good progress in laptop development, but desktop computers were facing difficulties.

A year ago, they released their latest desktop model, the Apple 4. Initially, it was packed with features, which did attract many Apple fans to buy it.

But soon, problems arose.

In April 1984, the first batch of Apple 4s were shipped, and it was clear that eliminating the clock chip would ruin the Apple 5.

About 20% of the Apple 4s arrived at their destination broken, because the chips had fallen out of their loose sockets during transport.

These computers often malfunctioned shortly after being used, all because Jobs insisted that the Apple 4 not have a fan.

He believed that in addition to reducing radio frequency radiation, since the Apple 3 had such a serious problem, the internal aluminum chassis could conduct heat and keep the delicate components cool.

But he was wrong.

This problem was caused by Jobs instructing that the size and shape of the chassis not take into account the requirements of the electrical engineers.

This forced the electrical engineers to put various circuit boards into a small space with little or no ventilation.

When the computer was used, the chips would get hot, expand slightly, and slowly fall out of the socket, causing the computer to crash.

Apple's solution was to suggest raising the front of the computer 6 inches off the desk and then lowering it, which would reset the chip.

Short cables between internal components, non-gold connectors, and circuit board manufacturers changing the soldering washing process, which could lead to potential corrosion, exacerbated the chip loosening problem.

Out of concern for its reputation, Apple did not hide the problem.

On June 15, 1984, President and CEO John Sculley admitted to The Wall Street Journal: "I wouldn't be honest if I said it was perfect."

Apple has established a generous repair policy, unconditionally replacing bad computers with new Apple 4Ss on-site.

Frustratingly, it usually couldn't be replaced.

The company continued to claim that the initial problem was related to defects in manufacturing and quality control procedures, not the basic design.

To some extent, this caused Apple's reputation to be questioned.

And the person most responsible for all of this was Steve Jobs.

As a result, another company founder, Markkula, began to be very dissatisfied with Jobs.

The dispute between the two began.

And Apple's new president, John Sculley, also tended to support Markkula.

So, after a round of competition, Jobs was defeated.

Markkula had the support of most people, and Jobs's shares made it impossible for him to win this competition.

Although Su Cheng held 30% of Apple's shares, he had never participated in Apple's internal decisions, only holding a nominal directorship and announcing that he would not interfere in any decisions.

The reason why Jobs called Su Cheng was obviously to hope to get Su Cheng's support.

If Su Cheng supported Jobs, then Jobs could regain power.

If he didn't support him, then Jobs would only be a nominal chairman. With his self-esteem, he was naturally unwilling to go on like this.

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If Su Cheng didn't support him, then he would only have one ending: to actively resign and leave Apple.

This company was founded by him, and Jobs was obviously unwilling to give up like this.

He hoped to get support from Su Cheng.

However, Su Cheng had no intention of interfering in Apple's affairs, nor did he intend to support Jobs.

Because he knew that the current Jobs, so young but with such achievements, to put it bluntly, had become inflated.

In this situation, with his poor mentality, what he needed was experience!

Temporarily leaving Apple was good for him and for Apple.

Otherwise, if he continued to lead Apple, it would not help Apple in any way.

Su Cheng knew Jobs's business talent, and he had to go out and gain experience. Staying in Apple all the time would not allow him to learn that calm and composed mentality.

He was too aggressive in everything he did, and obviously, the current Jobs was like that.

In another world, Jobs, who had been expelled from Apple, harbored resentment, never expecting that the company he had personally cultivated would be so resolutely kicking him out.

Full of unwillingness, pain, and frustration, he was disheartened and almost sold all of Apple's stock, leaving only one share as a symbol so that he could still receive the company's financial reports.

This move inadvertently revealed Jobs's deep affection for Apple, which he still couldn't let go of.

After leaving Apple, Jobs quickly founded NeXT, focusing on the design and manufacture of workstations, although it was not smooth at first.

But soon, he discovered the excellent potential of NeXT's graphics capabilities and decided to expand its business to the field of animation production.

By chance, Jobs invested $5 million to acquire the animation studio under the direction of "Star Wars" director Lucas.

This animation studio, although founded by a famous Hollywood director, had always been unknown. Under Jobs's transformation, it was transformed into an animation studio with graphics workstations as its core competitiveness—Pixar.

Since the establishment of Pixar, under the leadership of Jobs, it has launched many globally popular animated films, such as "Toy Story", "A Bug's Life", "Finding Nemo", etc.

Jobs even said to the outside world that his income at Pixar even exceeded that during his time at Apple.

Jobs's career ushered in another peak after leaving Apple, but what would happen to Apple without Jobs?

After Jobs left, Sculley tried his best to develop new products, trying to find new growth points for Apple to prove his ability and that Apple could do without Jobs.

However, he was wrong. Apple was not Pepsi, and it was indeed difficult to leave Jobs.

Sculley launched thousands of projects during his time at Apple, but Apple retreated step by step in the market like a withered apple.

Macintosh's market share was gradually eroded by Microsoft, and Apple fell into losses due to its overextended business.

Eventually, Sculley was fired by Apple's board of directors, and his reputation was also damaged as a result.

After Sculley, two more successors came to power, but they also failed to find a clear strategic direction for Apple, and the ending was no different from Sculley's.

In 1996, Apple's board of directors, which was in trouble, had to re-invite Jobs. After 11 years, Jobs returned to Apple again.

Jobs, who returned to Apple, seemed to have found his soul again. He promised the board of directors to serve as president for one year, with an annual salary of only one dollar.

If the company still didn't improve, he would resign unconditionally.

For Apple, Jobs was willing to accept any conditions.

After Jobs took office, he launched computers with artistic designs.

At this time, Apple computers were no longer the choice of ordinary consumers, but became synonymous with high-end and fashion, attracting many artists, fashion-conscious college students, and professionals.

Jobs keenly captured this point and positioned Apple products as fashionable and high-end products.

Since then, Apple products have become works of art in Jobs's hands, and the concept of perfectionism runs through them.

Therefore, in the Jobs era, Apple products were highly sought after as soon as they were launched, becoming the favorite of perfectionists.

In addition, due to its emphasis on performance, taste, and fashion, Apple successfully avoided direct competition with Microsoft, Dell, and HP.

With its excellent market performance, Jobs was officially appointed as Apple CEO by the board of directors one year after taking office, leading Apple to glory again.

These were all the deeds of Jobs that Su Cheng had learned about in his previous life.

And when he was on the phone with Jobs, he once again used Xiao Ai to inquire about Jobs's development deeds.

It's just that he certainly has to answer Jobs, but he doesn't know how to answer him.

Su Cheng began to think.

Jobs is only 30 years old this year, and he is indeed very young.

It is understandable for such young people to be impulsive, after all, being young and successful will definitely have a kind of arrogant mentality.

This mentality must be taught a lesson, and he cannot be allowed to go too smoothly.

Therefore, it is necessary for him to leave Apple, all of which is for a better Apple in the future.

Only after experiencing it will Jobs become more mature and stable, and be able to lead Apple to a more glorious history.

Otherwise, Apple will never be able to become a great technology company.

Like Apple today, although its market value is as high as eight billion US dollars, a large part of the reason is due to Su Cheng's support.

Otherwise, Apple's value would depreciate several times!

Soon, he made a decision.

Supporting Jobs is impossible, but he can guide him to start a business.

(End of this chapter)