Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

In January 2013, despite Apple’s annual phone shipments reaching 130 million units—a year-over-year increase of over 90%—the company was not having an easy time.

For one, it had been surpassed by ExxonMobil, losing its title as the ’world’s largest company by market cap.’

For another, iPhone 5 sales failed to meet expectations, and Mac sales in Q4 had dropped by one million units compared to the same period the previous year.

And finally, iOS’s market share was constantly being eroded by Android, while its supply of processors and other components was highly dependent on Mountain Star.

For these reasons, Ge Yue, the Managing Director of Apple’s Asian Region, had no choice but to swallow her pride and meet with Ah Li’s Ma Liyun to discuss joining Tmall Mall. She hoped to leverage special brand sales channels like FoxTao and Juhuasuan to find new avenues for growth for Apple.

The second e-commerce platform she chose was Pinbei. Acquiring the architectural license for the Orange Z1 Instruction Set, in contrast, became a secondary objective.

After checking the license plate number, the security guards at the gate waved them through.

Three Mercedes-Benzes slowly entered Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park.

Now, only a handful of companies remained in the entire Software Park—Pinbei, Orange Technology, Today Technology, and Orange Pay. The locals had even started calling it ’Senlian Science Park.’

”It’s hard to imagine that Hua Country’s second-largest e-commerce platform was actually founded here.”

Ge Yue remarked with a touch of awe, surveying her surroundings through the car window.

In her eyes, the internet was truly a place where miracles happened.

Facebook founder Zuckerberg had a net worth of over twenty billion by age twenty-eight, but Chen Yansen was a step above. He hadn’t even graduated from college yet and had already amassed a fortune of over fifty billion US dollars—equivalent to 2.5 Zuckerbergs.

CLICK!

The hinges made a soft sound as the car door swung open.

As Ge Yue stepped out of the car, she spotted Zhou Shouzhi nearby.

”President Ge, hello. I’m Zhou Shouzhi, the CFO of Orange Technology. Thank you for coming all this way.”

Zhou Shouzhi was impeccably dressed in a suit, his leather shoes gleaming and his hair perfectly styled. He smiled and looked her directly in the eye as he spoke.

”President Zhou, a pleasure.”

Though it was their first meeting, Ge Yue was already familiar with Zhou Shouzhi’s background.

As the President of Digital Sky Technology’s Great China Region, he had spearheaded numerous internet investment projects, with his most notable successes being Ali Baba, Orange Technology, and Jingdong.

’Chen Yansen must have paid a steep price to persuade him to join Orange Technology.’

After speaking, Ge Yue glanced around discreetly but saw no sign of Chen Yansen. Her heart sank. She worried that Pinbei Mall might shut Apple out due to competitive concerns.

”President Ge, please come with me. The boss is waiting for you upstairs.”

Zhou Shouzhi smiled, sensing Ge Yue’s concern, but he offered no further explanation.

”Of course. Please lead the way, President Zhou.”

Ge Yue replied with a light smile.

「Meanwhile.」

In a meeting room on the second floor, Chen Yansen was flipping through a file.

He hadn’t expected Apple to offer FoxTao a 10% commission rate just to boost investor confidence.

Simply put, their entire product line—including the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad mini, and MacBook Air—could be sold to the public at a ten percent discount.

However, FoxTao would only be offering a 5% discount, which meant Ah Li stood to make a profit of five percentage points.

”Lao Huang, what do you think?”

Chen Yansen tossed the file to Huang Zheng and asked casually.

He knew perfectly well that if Ge Yue were only interested in purchasing the architectural license for the Orange Z1, she would have just sent a team of business representatives. There was no need for her to come in person.

Considering Apple’s partnership with Ah Li, it wasn’t hard to deduce her true intention: she wanted to get on Pinbei Mall and leverage a third-party e-commerce channel’s traffic to further boost the Asian Region’s overall revenue.

”Compared to Ah Li, Pinbei is at a disadvantage in terms of exposure, average order value, and the conversion rate for high-priced items. I think as long as we can secure the same marketing terms they got, we’ll be fine.”

Huang Zheng picked up the file and, after skimming the general information, gave his serious assessment.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, tacitly approving Huang Zheng’s suggestion.

For Pinbei, a partnership with Apple would be mutually beneficial. He had no reason to refuse.

After all, Apple had shipped 21 million phones domestically last year, with revenues breaking 100 billion Hua Yuan. The brand was a traffic magnet.

”KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—!”

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Huang Zheng immediately stepped forward and opened the frosted glass door of the meeting room.

Chen Yansen rose smoothly to his feet, a faint smile on his face. He extended his right hand and said, ”President Ge, welcome to Orange Technology!”

He was a full head taller than Ge Yue, and he sized her up from his superior height.

She was around forty, dressed in a Chanel business suit, and maintained a constant, pleasant smile. Her makeup was slightly Western in style.

Ge Yue’s eyes lit up the moment she saw Chen Yansen.

’He has an upright posture, around six-foot-one, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His eyes are deep and bright. He’s even more handsome in person than in his photos.’

”President Chen, I’ve heard so much about you. Thank you for making the time,” Ge Yue said, shaking Chen Yansen’s hand, her face wreathed in a smile.

”Please, have a seat,” Chen Yansen said, gesturing with his hand.

Ge Yue led her team of eight to their seats, sitting directly across from Chen Yansen, Huang Zheng, and Zhou Shouzhi.

”President Chen, I’ll be direct. I’m visiting your company today for two main reasons. First, to purchase the architectural license for the Orange Z1 Instruction Set. Second, to join the Pinbei platform and open an official Apple flagship store.”

Ge Yue got straight to the point, dispensing with any beating around the bush.

Before her trip, she had made a point of studying Chen Yansen’s personality and negotiation style. She knew he preferred direct and efficient communication, which was why she was stating her purpose right at the outset.

”The licensing for the Orange Z1 Instruction Set architecture consists of two parts: a one-time fee of three million US dollars and a 0.5% royalty.”