Shockingly, a counterfeit factory has produced a 3-nanometer chip.

Chapter 228 Market Investigation: One No Two Directs

Cook shook his head again.

Fruit faced an even more bleak situation in the European market, where Motorola's distribution channels and Huawei's telecommunications connections made it extremely difficult for them to operate.

Those connections have enabled the Mate series, Transsion S2, and Motorola S2 to also shatter the myth of Apple.

Many European users have commented that Transsion's signal is indeed stronger than Apple's, but precisely because of this, they don't want to switch.

After all, if they change it, it means the fruit has lost.

Looking at the expression on Cook's face, Shen Fei instantly guessed what he was thinking.

Instead, they pulled out an even "cheaper" solution?

"Mr. Tim, let's try a different approach."

Xiao Fei pulled a document out of the drawer. Cook was very interested the whole time, his eyes were fixed on Shen Fei's hand, and he didn't touch it.

"We exclusively authorize fruit companies to use our communication baseband and allow them to develop their own communication basebands."

Our patent is available for free use by the fruit company.

The patent fee is $1.5 per year, plus a 3.5% cut of the total sales revenue.

Cook took the document and flipped through it.

This condition is indeed a bit more humane than before, and the only market left under forced binding is the Chinese market. There is no specific year for unbinding; there is only one requirement: Apple must develop its own communication baseband.

There's no problem with market ties; Cook's biggest worry is the commission.

A 3.5% commission, if 200 million fruit units are sold annually at an average price of $600, would amount to $42 billion.

In other words, Transsion does nothing but license some patents and still takes away $42 billion.

He looked up at Shen Fei.

"Mr. Shen, don't you think this number is a bit outrageous?"

"Is that outrageous?" Shen Fei laughed. "What's your profit margin selling fruit?"

At least 40%?

A 3.5% commission is less than one-tenth of your profits. Trading one-tenth of your profits for the freedom of a fully compatible baseband seems like a very worthwhile deal.

"Moreover, we're not the only company that takes patent cuts. Compared to Qualcomm, ours is already very reasonable."

Cook fell silent.

He certainly knew that Transsion's solution was more conscientious, but this was just the first step. Whether Huaxing would raise prices after Fruit invests heavily in developing its own communication baseband in the future was still a question.

He picked up the document and looked at it page by page.

The scope of patent authorization, commission rate, authorization period, and liability for breach of contract are all clearly stated in each clause, which is obviously drafted by a professional legal team.

This also made him a little worried, as it seemed that the entire objective of their investigation had been guessed by the telepathic communication.

He looked at it for a while, then put down the document and looked at Shen Fei.

"The annual licensing fee of 1.5 million yuan will be reduced to 2.5%?"

"The licensing fee is 200 million, and we'll take a 4% cut." Shen Fei wouldn't budge an inch.

Cook looked a little embarrassed; how could there be a reverse price increase?

"A licensing fee of 300 million, plus a 3% commission..." Cook backed down again; he still believed in the sales potential of the fruit...

But his concession did not elicit a response from Shen Fei, who simply sat there quietly sipping his tea.

After a few minutes, Cook finally lost his temper.

"Mr. Shen, you win."

Cook then signed his name directly on the draft.

Shen Fei also extended his hand: "Deal."

Cook clasped his hands together, this time gripping them even tighter.

After all, this contract is like a dull knife, constantly cutting away at the fruit's flesh.

But he couldn't refuse to sign.

With a foundation for cooperation established, the subsequent negotiations went much more smoothly.

Half an hour later, Transsion successfully became the next-generation battery supplier for the fruit.

There are fewer restrictions on batteries. During the initial launch period, except for the North American market, all high-capacity antifreeze batteries were supplied by Transsion.

After finishing their business, Cook declined Shen Fei's invitation to stay overnight, as he had other important matters to attend to.

Fan meetings still need to go through the motions.

As Cook walked out of the building, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at Shen Fei beside him.

"Mr. Shen," Cook said, "I hope to see you at the next fruit launch event."

Shen Fei smiled.

"Mr. Tim, that day will come. Of course, that's assuming the press conference is held in China."

Cook paused for a moment, but then laughed.

"Will you hold a press conference in China?"

He smiled broadly: "Perhaps?"

The car door closed, and the sedan slowly drove into the Transsion Park. His next stop was Kyoto, where the China Unicom headquarters had prepared a grand welcoming ceremony.

After all, China Unicom is the only operator that goes all in on fruit... Since the launch of number portability, many of China Unicom's high-quality old customers have been poached.

At the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology conference, Wang Yuzhou criticized the other two companies quite a bit, but since this was normal business practice, the leaders didn't need to say much.

I can only remind the other two companies not to go too far. We're all family, and there might be some issues with future job changes...

But the other two companies didn't stop. Since the battle had begun, they were determined to determine a winner. Only those who lack ability would resort to complaining.

…………

Meanwhile, Cook's plane landed at Kyoto Airport more than an hour earlier than scheduled.

It wasn't that the captain was flying too fast, nor was it air traffic control; it was that they had rescheduled the trip themselves.

The original itinerary was to fly directly from the United States to Kyoto.

Cook didn't even need to think twice; China Unicom Chairman Wang Jianzhou had definitely arranged a grand welcoming ceremony, with everything prepared, including a red carpet, flowers, and media reporters...

Then, by using his promotion of fruit phones, they could increase fruit sales.

However, he was not satisfied with the business capabilities of the China Unicom team, and he wanted to seriously examine the team's abilities without the guidance of a leadership team.

After all, China Unicom had just recently requested an early renewal of the exclusive agency contract...

When he got off the plane, Cook was dressed very conservatively, but his secretary said, "Mr. Cook, what about Wang Jianzhou..."

"Ignore it." Cook's voice was full of disdain. "Let's go take a look at Chinese consumers first..."

So, 30 minutes later, when Wang Jianzhou rushed over with a group of executives and reporters, an awkward situation occurred.

They waited until the flight attendant got off the plane, but still didn't see the one they were waiting for.

In the end, all we received was the message: "Mr. Cook has arrived in Kyoto and is currently on his way to the fruit flagship store in Xidan Joy City."

Wang Jianzhou's expression changed several times.

"Hurry!" Wang Jianzhou clearly hadn't expected the fruit to act so unpredictably, so he shouted loudly, "Get to Xidan quickly!"

The media reporters behind them stared at each other, wondering what had happened.

It just seems like the big story they were reporting on today is over. Fortunately, many media outlets anticipated this, so they sent multiple teams...