The launch event was a dazzling success, followed by twenty days of bustling activity online. Within three days, only 200,000 units of Apple Cp2 were sold, facing numerous setbacks.
In contrast, Google's terminals, which had been subject to ridicule, sold 400,000 units in the same three days, doubling Cp2's sales.
Subsequently, a media investigation interviewed hundreds of consumers and concluded that most consumers were primarily interested in purchasing terminals and were largely unaware of what "Cp" represented.
Some consumers, having seen online discussions identifying "Cp" as simply a terminal, and influenced by the online support for Apple Cp2, opted for the Apple Cp2.
Another segment of consumers, aiming to support domestic terminals, chose to purchase Google terminals.
Ultimately, the name "terminal" was instrumental in Google's products achieving double the sales, as most consumers were drawn in by this designation. If Apple's Cp2 offered no fundamental difference, this would be a name destined to be forgotten by consumers.
Faced with this outcome, Boss Qiao endured significant criticism from the board. Fortunately, his years of cultivation had brought him a greater sense of calm, allowing him to view many matters with detachment.
While he remained firm on many issues, he no longer allowed himself to fall into states of extreme anger unless absolutely unavoidable.
Therefore, even under board orders, Apple's marketing department began covertly updating all promotional materials, adding the prominent name "terminal" to their original advertising, informing the public that their Apple Cp2 was indeed a terminal. This led to a gradual increase in Apple Cp2's sales, catching up to Google's figures.
However, both Apple and Google took over 20 days to completely sell out their initial launch quantities of 500,000 units.
Naturally, Apple and Google both issued celebratory announcements, heralding their sales as record-breaking and a major breakthrough for domestic terminals.
The idea of Americans celebrating a major breakthrough for domestic products sounded rather appealing.
While these figures significantly outshone many other non-Tianzhuo terminals, both companies tacitly avoided mentioning the sales of Tianzhuo terminals. Tianzhuo 3 had been released only 20 days prior, yet its global sales had already surpassed 15 million units, rendering any comparison unnecessary.
Nevertheless, this provided a glimmer of hope for Apple and Google, indicating that their products had at least found a foothold. They subsequently intensified their promotional efforts, investing heavily in advertising, leveraging the "domestic terminal" status in the United States, and crucially, their products appeared to boast superior performance to the Tianzhuo terminal 3. Consequently, sales for both companies began to climb steadily.
By Christmas, both had surpassed the million-unit mark. Apple's Cp2 sales reached 1.3 million units, while Google's terminals sold 1.62 million units. Online forum reviews also appeared to be quite positive.
Especially for the Apple Cp2, many consumers felt its user experience was on par with the Tianzhuo 3. Apart from the absence of fingerprint unlock, the limited number of applications in the store, and the lack of WeChat support, there seemed to be no other significant drawbacks.
As these two competitors launched their aggressive challenge, the Jiangnan Group remained remarkably inactive, as if they were oblivious to their rivals.
When journalists directly posed questions to the Jiangnan Group, their representatives simply replied, "A thriving market necessitates competition among multiple enterprises. We warmly welcome more companies to join us in accelerating the prosperity and development of terminals."
This response, demonstrating such a broad perspective, left the media with nothing more to say.
Naturally, within the Jiangnan Group, some were curious about Boss Huang's intentions. Miss Leng Zhimeng, for instance, while cradling her daughter Huang You, asked, "Brother-in-law, are you just going to let these two guys run rampant?"
"What else?" Boss Huang retorted with an eye-roll. "Should we step out and declare their products garbage?"
"That would be exciting, I think!" Leng Zhimeng said with a grin.
"Exciting, yes, but you must understand that neither Apple's Cp nor Google's terminals are in the same league as our Tianzhuo terminals. Responding to their provocations would be beneath us!" Boss Huang stated calmly, a wave of pleasure washing over him.
At that moment, Boss Huang couldn't help but reminisce about a different world.
In that world, almost every domestic phone manufacturer, upon launching their products, would place Apple's phone data alongside their own.
Whenever one of their products surpassed Apple's data, it would be heavily promoted, as if the new product launch was incomplete without a comparison to Apple.
Some even boldly declared at product launch events that Apple would have nothing to do in a few years, as their own phones would completely replace Apple's market share – a testament to their unbridled confidence.
Incidentally, as time went on, some domestic phone manufacturers stopped making single comparisons with Apple phones during their product launches.
The presentations would often feature the data of another phone as well, with three images compared, as if to highlight the absolute advantages of their own phones. This additional competitor was named Huawei.
Yet, regardless of how the Android camp compared themselves to Apple, Apple consistently remained unresponsive, not even issuing a cease and desist letter.
Initially, Boss Huang attributed this to Apple's high character and magnanimity, their disdain for engaging with such matters.
However, now in his current position, observing Apple's presentations explicitly comparing their data with Tianzhuo 3 terminals, Boss Huang suddenly realized the inherent amusement in such a situation.
It was akin to a seven-foot giant facing a three-year-old child brandishing fists and constantly trying to knock him down; the giant would undoubtedly find it amusing, perhaps even smiling and wanting to affectionately hug the child, rather than scolding them.
Boss Huang was in the same state now, finding the desperate cries of these individuals incredibly entertaining.
Of course, the primary reason was that even at this stage, Apple had not yet grown to the point where it could challenge their products like Huawei would in the future. Otherwise, various policies would have already been implemented.
"So, brother-in-law, do you think they have the capability to threaten your position in the future?" Leng Zhimeng asked curiously.
"I don't know!" Boss Huang shrugged. "It would be best if they could threaten our position. If they can't, I'd even consider helping them improve their capabilities!"
"Ah! Brother-in-law, when did you become a saint?" Leng Zhimeng was surprised, not understanding her brother-in-law's thinking.
"No, it's not that your brother-in-law is becoming a saint, but rather that circumstances dictate it!" Boss Huang sighed and handed Leng Zhimeng a document that had arrived from Europe.
Ever since news of a European investigation emerged a few months prior, Boss Huang had dispatched a crack team to Europe to negotiate, aiming to delay the investigation's findings as much as possible.
However, there was clearly a supportive force behind Europe, making their work difficult, though they did manage to gain some time. According to this document, the full investigation was likely to commence in early 2010, with results expected within a year.
"Brother-in-law, do you have a strategy to deal with this?" Leng Zhimeng's expression was grave. The European market accounted for 21% of the total Tianzhuo terminal market share, making it the third-largest global market, trailing only the US and China.
If Europe imposed a ruling, the Jiangnan Group would find it extremely challenging to respond. To avoid divesting the company or losing their market there, they would likely have to pay a considerable fine.
"There's nothing we can do. In this situation, we can only be good people!" Boss Huang sighed, his intentions for being a "good person" unclear.
"We can set this matter aside for now. What I'm more concerned about is a significant problem that has been exposed!" Huang He's expression suddenly turned serious. "I always believed that given our previous partnerships with suppliers like Samsung, they would provide us with their most excellent components!"
"I didn't expect these companies to still hold back, giving their best components to rivals and leaving us with second-rate products!" Boss Huang lightly tapped the table, his anger and dissatisfaction evident on his face.
It was not entirely unreasonable for Boss Huang to become angry, as Samsung and others had acted too egregiously. Setting aside chips, the fact that Apple and Google surpassed Tianzhuo terminal 3 in over ten metrics was entirely due to the Jiangnan Group not receiving the best products from them, while their competitors did.
While it seemed acceptable for now, and Tianzhuo terminals still held a significant advantage, over time, if the performance advantage diminished, there would be a risk of being completely surpassed by rivals.
When the Jiangnan Group inquired with these companies about why they weren't supplying their best products, their responses were diplomatic but uncompromising.
They stated that the production of these products was low, while the demand for Tianzhuo terminals was high. To prevent delays in Tianzhuo terminal supply, these limited-output products were sold to other companies with smaller demands.
This reason was delivered with such apparent sincerity that Boss Huang was left speechless.