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

Chapter 164 New Fruit Purchase Agreement

Two or three minutes later, Shen Fei replied: "Okay. I trust you with the African market."

Adebayor was very excited when he saw those words.

This is the boss's trust in him, and he absolutely cannot betray that trust.

…………

April 30, Kyoto, China Unicom headquarters.

In the conference room, the China Unicom team remained unyielding, even though they were facing the global vice president of Apple and four top negotiation experts.

This is the third round of negotiations between the two sides; the first two rounds both failed.

The first time, Apple requested that China Unicom purchase 600 million units at a unit price of 3999 yuan. Having learned from the previous failure, China Unicom decisively refused.

The second time, the price of the fruit was reduced to 3899, and the sales volume reached 400 million units, but China Unicom still refused.

This is the third and the last time.

The advantage is on their side this time.

The global vice president of fruit finally softened his tone considerably: "Friends from China Unicom, considering the results of our previous two negotiations..."

Before coming here this time, we reported on the issues raised in the previous two meetings, and after deliberation by the board of directors, we brought a new solution.

This way, you won't have to worry about inventory buildup or losses, and thus avoid bearing any corresponding responsibilities.

He opened the contract.

"This time we upgraded to a resale contract. China Unicom doesn't need to purchase the units; they only need to provide the distribution channel. For each unit sold, China Unicom will take a 15% commission. Settlements are made monthly."

Li Teng, general manager of China Unicom's marketing department, didn't react for a moment and subconsciously looked around at the people around him.

He didn't expect the fruit to surrender so quickly and with such sincerity.

This plan is practically risk-free, it's like giving away money. It seems they have very high expectations for the Chinese market.

"15%?"

"Yes," the vice president of the fruit company replied affirmatively. "We have also set the retail price of the fruit 4 at 4999 yuan."

For every unit sold, China Unicom receives a minimum of 750 yuan, and for the memory-equipped version, the profit can even reach 1000 yuan.

Li Teng and the others exchanged glances; this plan was much safer than underwriting.

If they don't sell, China Unicom doesn't suffer any losses; if they do sell, they get a commission.

The sincerity was indeed evident.

"What about contract phones? China Unicom's contract phone business has always sold well."

The vice president said, "Our sales contract is essentially a contract, so of course it can continue to be implemented."

However, the subsidy funds are borne by China Unicom itself, and we do not assume responsibility for sales.

Regardless of how you sell it or at what price, we will charge 75% of the starting price for the corresponding memory.

Halfway through the negotiations, the China Unicom representatives went out for a short meeting.

Marketing Manager Li Teng reported to Wang Jianzhou: "President Wang, the fruit business is really in a hurry this time."

"It's probably the Transsion S2, Mate 2, and the upcoming Mate 2 that put immense pressure on them. They're afraid the iPhone 4 will be surpassed. We owe them a favor in this regard," another vice president said.

But Li Teng confidently said, "What favor do we owe? It was clearly the previous generation of Apple 3Gs that caused us huge losses, and the first two negotiations made no progress. They are getting nervous."

"This is all thanks to us. What does it have to do with his telepathic communication?"

"right!"

The vice president ignored their attempts to take credit; he was considering the price.

A 15% commission is indeed more secure than the previous generation's contract price of 3999, but the profit is also significantly less.

"Old Li, what do you think?" Wang Jianzhou asked.

Li Jian frowned slightly and finally said, "I'm considering whether to add a little more? 15% is still too little. I feel we can reduce it to 20%."

According to Li Teng's account, they will likely compromise in order to open up the Chinese market as soon as possible.

We have a three-year exclusive right; dragging this out will only lead to greater losses for the fruit company.

Wang Jianzhou nodded; this was indeed a good plan…

"You can give it a try. But I think we shouldn't go too far. After all, it's Apple, and the brand is there. The previous generation failed mainly because of the WiFi issue."

This generation should sell much better.

You know the current state of our country.

Li Jian nodded. These words sounded harsh, but they were the truth.

Just like the Transsion S2, which can only be sold for 3999 RMB in China, if it were released under the Motorola brand, selling it for 4999 RMB or even 5000 RMB or more would not be a problem at all.

This is the importance of branding.

"Yes, your marketing department has worked hard. I've prepared a celebration banquet for you, and I hope to receive good news from you," Wang Jianzhou said.

At this moment, he was also a little hesitant.

He wasn't sure whether to bet on Transsion like the other two companies, or to stick with the fruit brand and try to have his cake and eat it too.

But he was determined to make this choice and would not regret it, regardless of success or failure; he had already begun to act.

……

Back in the conference room, the marketing director spoke.

"Dear Vice President, we feel that a 15% commission is too low. This amount is simply not enough for us to recover the costs of the previous generation."

Furthermore, if we promote you, we will be affected to some extent.

The vice president of the fruit company frowned slightly; these people were too greedy.

But then he remembered Cook's notice that an agreement had to be reached by the end of April, and there wasn't much time left.

"How many do you want?"

"25%"

The vice president shook his head.

"Impossible. Globally, the commission rate for fruit distribution channels is no more than 20%."

The marketing manager smiled and said, "Mr. Vice President, that's in Europe and America."

Mobile carriers can sell mobile phones, but other convenience stores can also sell them.

But in China, the situation is different. Besides us, we have to find other distributors, and they demand much more profit.

They became even more greedy.

He hesitated for a moment, but still gave the other person some eye drops.

"You know how well the Fruity 3GS is selling in China."

No WiFi, inaccurate navigation, and a difficult-to-use input method. Customers regret their purchases, resulting in a significant return rate.

He stared at the other person: "Although the Fruit 4 has been changed, it is still unknown whether users will accept it."

We at China Unicom have to bear the costs of promotion, after-sales service, and channel operations. 23% is our bottom line.

The vice president of the fruit company opened his mouth, unsure how to begin, knowing that what the other party said was true.

Moreover, this isn't the only problem; the biggest problem the other party didn't mention.

Signal problem.

This is one of the biggest drawbacks that most users only discover after using it for a period of time.

It's even more serious than the lack of WiFi; users often lose connection as soon as they arrive at underground parking garages or other crowded places.

A series of complex issues have resulted in the Apple 3GS not having a good reputation in China, with sales only a fraction of Huawei's Honor Play. The current popularity of Transsion has only made matters worse.

As far as he knew, China Unicom should still have a considerable number of Apple 3GS phones in stock.

"I need to consult headquarters, which will take about two hours," he said.

An hour later, the vice president of the fruit company returned to the conference room.

What followed was another half hour of negotiation, and in the final solution, both sides compromised.

The commission was set at 19%. For each unit sold, Apple would receive a minimum commission of 949 yuan. China Unicom had to provide a very cost-effective package and corresponding subsidies for purchasing the handset.

The benefits are better than Transsion's, and Transsion's packages need to be modified.

After signing the contract, the two parties shook hands happily.

After the contract was signed, both companies simultaneously announced the news on their official websites.

The news was captured "instantly" by digital bloggers.

A screenshot immediately appeared on a tech forum: "Apple has renewed its contract with China Unicom again, but this time China Unicom has learned its lesson and did not sign a direct resale contract."

Hopefully we won't lose money now, right? [doge emoji]