"Apple?" The board members were surprised to hear Edward Zamp utter the name. Someone frowned and asked, "What does our business have to do with Apple? Are they planning to make phones too?"
"No, Apple isn't interested in phones!" Edward Zamp smiled and shook his head. "Apple just wants to cooperate with us through the iTunes store, allowing their iTunes to be available on the mobile platform and offer some music download services!"
"iTunes Music Store?" The directors were somewhat enlightened. Wasn't this precisely the trick that the currently popular Vivo phones were playing?
After selling millions of units globally, this phone began to heavily promote its own music store, selling all sorts of music and actively collaborating with major record companies to list their music on the mobile platform and sell digital copyrights. It was said to have made quite a bit of money.
However, this model wasn't invented by Vivo. Apple had already pioneered this profit-making strategy years ago, and Apple's iTunes Music Store was even larger than Vivo's, collaborating with more music companies and offering a richer selection of copyrights.
"This is indeed a good collaboration. As long as it can bring sufficient profit to the company, you can proceed with it. Just don't make it as complicated as the 00 mobile game store!" the chairman nodded. None of the board members paid much attention to this collaboration, as they considered it a very reasonable one.
Apple's iPods profited immensely from its iTunes store. Now that Vivo phones had replicated the iTunes store's profit model on mobile devices, it was only logical for Apple to collaborate with mobile companies to launch the iTunes store in order to defeat this competitor.
"Understood!" Edward Zamp nodded, feeling fortunate. He was relieved that Apple's sudden appearance acted as a distraction; otherwise, he didn't know how long the board would have badgered him.
"Wait, do you think Apple might also want to enter the mobile phone industry? Are they using us to test the waters?" Suddenly, a director asked with some concern.
"Sir, your worries are completely unnecessary. I assure you, there is absolutely no possibility of that!" Edward Zamp replied without hesitation.
"On what basis are you so certain?" the director asked, somewhat displeased.
"My dear sir, this is a matter that requires no deep thought. Look at the current state of the mobile phone industry, being torn apart by those wild dogs from the East. Even companies like ours, with extensive experience, cost-saving measures, a complete supply chain system, and sales networks, are facing serious operational issues due to the relentless pursuit of these wild dogs!"
"Why would a company like Apple, which could be content with the profits from its computers and iPods, choose to suffer in our industry?" Edward Zamp said helplessly.
"Alright, you've convinced me!" Upon hearing this, the director realized the logic and shrugged, saying no more.
"By the way, how is our mobile game platform coming along? It's been almost three months, why hasn't it launched yet?" The chairman suddenly remembered something and asked with displeasure. "We've invested considerable effort and capital in developing this platform. If it could be released now, it would have a very positive impact on our stock price. Why hasn't it been released yet?"
"This..." Edward Zamp's expression stiffened. "The R&D center says they still need some time."
"We've already given you over three months. You initially promised us results within a month. Now it's three times that duration, and it's still not enough?" the chairman asked pointedly.
"Sir, this is mainly due to the lack of teamwork from other companies. Our staff simply cannot cooperate with them!" Edward Zamp sighed, then said angrily. "Our staff proposed using C++ as the programming language, which is industry-recognized. However, Nokia and others insisted on using Java, simply because their Symbian platform is built on Java. They are forcing us to follow them, which would essentially compel us to change the underlying logic of our entire mobile system!"
"Therefore, our staff engaged in a struggle with their persistence, which consumed a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, there are many issues that require collaborative solutions for platform compatibility. However, they are not cooperating with us at all, making the R&D for all mobile platforms extremely challenging. But please believe me, I am making every effort to cooperate!" Edward Zamp said.
"I'm very curious, why doesn't oo have so many problems? It's said they took less than three months to independently come up with solutions for almost all mobile system platforms. Why are you so slow?" a director asked, confused. "We have gathered the R&D strength of over 20 mobile companies. Can't we even match a single company?"
"Sir, it's precisely because they are a single company, unlike us who have 20 mouths!" Edward Zamp said with a wry smile.
"Enough. I don't care what problems you have. The board gives you only half a month. If you cannot launch our own mobile game platform within half a month, then don't do it yourself; just cooperate with the 00 mobile game platform!" the chairman said finally.
"Yes!" Edward Zamp returned to his office with a headache and proceeded to berate the dozen people he had sent to the mobile game collaborative R&D center, demanding they find a way to complete the task at all costs and that the company would provide all possible assistance!
Perhaps Heaven took pity on Edward Zamp and offered assistance. Under pressure from their parent companies, Nokia, Samsung, and other R&D teams were also urged. With immense pressure, various parties prioritized consensus where possible and bypassed disagreements to pursue their own objectives.
Under this approach, the collaborative progress accelerated significantly. By mid-December, their own mobile game center was finally launched, injecting a much-needed boost into their continuously declining stock price.
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"Hello everyone present and watching on television, welcome to the national finals of 'Cai Wei Fashion Apprentice'! I am your host Wang Xiaoya, and I am your host Li Yong!"
On December 12, 2004, after more than half a year of competition, the program "Cai Wei Fashion Apprentice" had finally reached its grand finale.
This program, which premiered in April of this year, had continued for nearly 10 months, consistently occupying CCTV's prime time slot. It was truly unexpected that this variety show would become a ratings monster for the entire year, becoming the strongest variety show of the year, without exception.
The extended duration was due to the competition format. First, the preliminary rounds were divided into eight regions, with each region's preliminaries requiring two episodes, totaling 16 episodes.
Then came the knockout stage with the top 16. Two regions competed head-to-head to determine the 16 finalists, which accounted for another four episodes.
The quarter-finals seemed to require only two episodes. However, the top 16 contestants each possessed unimaginable popularity. Yes, consider the top 16 contestants to be like Li Yuchun, Yang Chaoyue, "Ji Ni Tai Mei," Wu Qian, and Lulius – contestants with top-tier popularity, regardless of their personal character.
In any case, their popularity far surpassed that of the simultaneous "Super Girl" competition. So much so that the following year, Hunan TV simply dropped "Super Girl" and launched a fashion design competition called "Lan Mu."
Of course, this is all hindsight. The point is, the popularity of the top 16 was so high that even the weakest among them had over 10 million fans. The strongest, such as Princess Vivian and elementary school student Xiao Yuan, were almost Bug-level contestants with hundreds of millions of fans. To eliminate half of them in just two episodes with such popularity would have been too much of a pity.
Therefore, the top 8 competition was stretched into four episodes.
Although the top 4 competition was scheduled for two episodes, a revival round and a challenge round were introduced between the top 4 and the semi-finals, adding yet another episode.
The semi-finals also took two episodes. Thus, by the time the finals arrived, there had been a total of 29 episodes, spanning roughly seven months.
Furthermore, due to the broadcast platform being CCTV, there were four weeks of program delays caused by various unavoidable factors. Consequently, the grand finale of "Cai Wei Fashion Apprentice" was finally held on December 12th.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome our two finalists: Miss Vivian, the princess from Europe, and Fang Xiaoyuan, a student from the first year of junior high at Shichahai Middle School!" With the introduction by the hosts, the two finalists finally made their appearance.
Although the entire competition was filled with suspense, the final outcome was not entirely unexpected, as it was a showdown between the two popularity kings.
Of course, the winning condition was not solely based on popularity; about half of the factors involved scoring by various professionals, especially from Qu Wei herself, on the fashion designs.
Even so, these two popularity kings still stood out and ultimately took their places on opposite sides of the stage for the showdown.
At this point, the host continued, "Next, let's welcome the modeling partners for our two finalists: actor Hu Ge and actress Leng Zhiwen!"
Well, this pairing of models was also quite interesting, effectively turning it into a duel between two Li Xiaoyaos from different worlds.