As of the end of September 2007, Jiangnan Group officially announced that the global sales of Tianzhou terminals had reached 2.8 million units, a figure that stunned many.
While this sales figure might not seem excessively exaggerated in the broader mobile phone industry, as the top 10 best-selling single mobile phones globally have all surpassed the 100 million mark, Jiangnan Group's promotional slogan declared: "The world's first terminal with sales exceeding 2 million units."
Furthermore, a close examination of all of Jiangnan Group's promotions would reveal a strenuous effort to avoid any association between the Tianzhou terminal and mobile phones. The word "phone" never appeared in any promotional copy.
Cooperating media outlets were also instructed by Jiangnan Group to absolutely refrain from drawing comparisons between their terminals and mobile phones. While this demand might have seemed unreasonable, considering Jiangnan Group's annual global promotional spending of billions of dollars, almost all mainstream international media outlets paid close attention to this requirement, with only a small fraction deviating from it.
Therefore, the news that the first mid-range product in history achieved initial sales exceeding 2.8 million units truly had a more shocking effect. Although Jiangnan Group's backend data indicated total sales were just over 1 million units, this did not hinder the continued stimulation of Tianzhou terminal development.
Additionally, despite scalpers artificially inflating the price of Tianzhou terminals, any user who wanted to purchase one could indeed buy it by closely monitoring the official website's release times and placing orders immediately.
This allowed hundreds of thousands of users globally to be among the first to experience the Tianzhou terminal. Subsequently, they directly sold their phones.
It was inevitable; compared to devices like the Tianzhou terminal, traditional mobile phones were utterly outclassed. After all, the Tianzhou terminal possessed all the functions of a traditional mobile phone.
As for the functions traditional mobile phones lacked, there was little else to say.
Although Jiangnan Group made every effort to distance the terminal from mobile phones, users instinctively compared the terminal to phones, given their high degree of functional substitutability.
Of course, it couldn't be said that Jiangnan Group's efforts were in vain. Under this kind of promotional push, the concept of smartphones being synonymous with mobile phones, as seen in later eras, had at least been avoided for now.
Instead, the terminal was viewed as an evolutionary upgrade to the mobile phone, much like a motorcycle is an evolutionary upgrade to a bicycle. In users' minds, terminals and mobile phones were still distinct products, not the same thing.
The direct result of the Tianzhou terminal's hot sales was the annihilation of Apple's CP and Google's PT.
These two products, which had previously sold out their 500,000 unit reservations, became virtually ignored after the third batch of reservations opened.
In five days, fewer than 50,000 units were sold. Even more alarmingly, numerous listings for brand-new CP and PT units appeared on various second-hand trading platforms at significantly reduced prices.
The prices were about $20-30 lower than the normal price, a truly terrifying development, signifying that CP and PT were beginning their decline.
The issue was that these devices had only been officially on the market for about two months. Their current rapid price drop implied an almost certain doom for their future.
However, this was also understandable. After genuinely experiencing the Tianzhou terminal, one would realize that both CP and PT were utterly outclassed.
Even more critically, the Tianzhou's launch price was only $299 per unit, a full $200 cheaper than the $499 price of PT and CP. Truly, no one other than die-hard Apple and Google fans would choose to purchase their devices.
Ultimately, when Jiangnan Group announced the third large-scale sale of Tianzhou terminals in October 2007.
Without any further behind-the-scenes manipulation from Jiangnan Group, over one million units globally were again cleared out within 2 seconds. Simultaneously, sales of the Elite Edition, Luxury Edition, Super Edition, and others combined exceeded 500,000 units.
On the same day, Tianzhou Terminal also announced through various channels that three new Tianzhou Terminal production lines would be established within the next week, with an estimated monthly market release of 3 million units, ensuring that all eager users could purchase their desired devices.
Concurrently, Jiangnan Group uncharacteristically issued a public statement denouncing scalpers, accusing them of disrupting harmonious market order and advising them to sell their stock at original prices if they wished to avoid losses, given the impending large-scale supply.
This denouncement of scalpers elicited widespread public approval. The scalpers, upon seeing this announcement, were utterly bewildered.
The logic of this announcement was flawed. Scalpers had also purchased their devices at original prices. If Jiangnan Group were to release a large supply, scalpers would simply sell at original prices and incur no losses.
It felt as if they were being used for a public relations stunt.
Despite their anger, scalpers were shadowy figures with no public platform to voice their grievances. They could only helplessly watch as the entire internet praised Jiangnan Group's announcement, leading to a sharp drop in prices for brand-new units on various second-hand markets. The prices eventually settled at about $20-30 above the original price. These devices were then snapped up. Since the next large-scale shipment would take another month, and scalper prices were only slightly higher, it was better to buy early and enjoy.
While Jiangnan Group was employing various underhanded tactics to continuously help the Tianzhou terminal penetrate the market and establish a firm foothold, it was also quietly holding another major event.
This was the "Tianzhou Terminal Developer Conference."
Jiangnan Group was acutely aware of the immense significance of a large number of third-party developers for the Tianzhou terminal. Consequently, Jiangnan Group spared no expense this time, leveraging almost all industry contacts. Invitations were sent not only to all well-known large corporations but also to many newly established small companies and prominent independent industry figures.
Furthermore, these invitations were not delivered through the postal service but were personally handed over by Jiangnan Group's staff stationed worldwide.
In regions where staff were unavailable, other individuals were directly commissioned to deliver the invitations, emphasizing the importance of the event.
In addition, all confirmed attendees would have their travel expenses and accommodation covered. Essentially, all expenses related to attending the conference were paid for. Jiangnan Group's attitude was remarkably sincere, moving those who heard and bringing tears to the eyes of those who saw.
So, what was the actual situation?
There is a fitting ancient poem: "I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shone on a ditch."
Jiangnan Group sent out a total of 13,826 invitations, of which 3,432 were extended to software development companies of medium size or larger globally. Many of these companies had collaborated with Jiangnan Group for several years.
However, the results might be hard to believe: fewer than a tenth of these 3,432 companies sent representatives. Only 112 sent delegates to attend, while the remaining 3,300-plus companies sent no one.
More people attended from smaller companies, but ultimately only about 25% of those companies sent personnel. The most frequent attendees were prominent independent industry figures; almost everyone who received an invitation showed up.
In the end, approximately 3,000 representatives attended the developer conference, making the venue, which had booked the entire convention hall, seem somewhat empty.
Naturally, there were reasons for such an unusual situation.
The reason was simple: the entire industry had begun to unite in opposition to the Five-进制 (wǔ jìnzhì) system.
In fact, three days after the invitations were sent, Jiangnan Group received secret messages from friendly enterprises, indicating that under the leadership of several internationally renowned software development companies, a private, unified alliance had quickly been formed among numerous software development companies.
The name of this alliance was straightforward: "The Alliance for the Development and Stability of the Binary System."
As the name suggested, this alliance was dedicated to maintaining the binary system. Upon its inception, it garnered immense support, with thousands of companies joining within days.
The first rule of the alliance was that all its members must focus on the development of the binary computer system. No member within the alliance was absolutely permitted to engage in the development of other system architectures. Otherwise, not only would the member be expelled from the alliance, but all software, development tools, and system products within the alliance would be prohibited from granting access and patent licenses to such infringing enterprises.
This single rule completely paralyzed the industry, making it such that almost no large software development enterprises dared to attend the conference. The same applied to small and medium-sized enterprises; everyone was terrified by this policy.
Some might find it strange that one rule could instill such fear in so many companies. Was the alliance's influence truly that terrifying?
Believe it or not, it was indeed that terrifying.
Although the entire binary system had no copyright restrictions, and any enterprise could develop based on the binary system, a software application could not be developed solely on the most basic binary system. They required a complete binary system platform with a massive user base.
For example, Windows and DOS systems for computers.
In addition, developing programs required various languages, databases, resource libraries, and a host of auxiliary development tools.
Some of these tools were free, while others were paid. Regardless of whether they were free or paid, they all had copyright ownership, held by many large software development enterprises.
Therefore, while the vast majority of software was free, the problem lay precisely in these "free" offerings. Because they were free, no transaction occurred between the parties, and thus no contractual obligations or constraints were formed.
Normally, these companies could license their software for free use. However, once these companies declared a prohibition on certain individuals using their software, those individuals would be helplessly restricted from using it. Since they had not paid, they could not even file an appeal in the name of protecting consumer rights.
This was the threat currently facing the entire software development industry. Those who held a large number of software development tools had joined the alliance. According to the alliance's rules, any association with the Five-进制 system would result in the prohibition of all development tools under the alliance's umbrella.
This would not only hinder the development of new software but also likely lead to numerous cease and desist letters for existing software and programs already on the market.
This was akin to a highly skilled chef having all their cooking tools – pots, pans, knives, cutting boards, stoves, etc. – confiscated and forbidden for use one day. Wouldn't that chef be terrified?