"So..." Bannon's expression began to falter and struggle, unsure of what to do. If he refused the offer now, his company's profits would be significantly reduced. Logically, he should abandon the present sesame for a future watermelon, but for some reason, he felt a sense of unreliability.
After all, he hadn't even seen this new platform yet, and they wanted him to abandon the 00 game platform. This felt too wrong!
"Forget it, why don't I just take a gamble and let me see your contract!" Bannon gritted his teeth, deciding it was better to aim for the watermelon.
"That's the right choice. I've already brought the contract for you. It's because we were former colleagues at Bell, and you were my old subordinate, that I've come to offer you a helping hand!"
"Oh, and remember, after signing, you need to dispatch at least five technical personnel to be responsible for the platform's development!" Grant said cheerfully, earning a glare from Bannon, and then made him focus all his attention on the contract.
Indeed, Grant was the very leader who had banished him to the mobile phone department back then.
"Huh? The name of this platform hasn't even been decided yet?" Bannon was surprised to find that the new platform didn't even have a name when he looked at the contract.
"Oh, everyone has their own opinions about the name, so it hasn't been decided. We'll need to hold a few more meetings to discuss it. But the name isn't important, it's just a label!" Grant said dismissively.
He genuinely didn't care; it was just a name, any name would do. He actually felt there was no point in arguing over it, whether it was called A-mao or A-gou.
However, Sony Ericsson believed that if they were to leverage Sony's gaming power, the platform would have to be called the Sony platform in the future. To achieve this, Sony even offered to bear all the manpower, material, and technical support required for the platform's development independently.
This sounded like a good thing, but it was met with unanimous opposition from the three giants: Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia. If you provide everything needed for the entire platform, then who does this platform belong to when it's developed? Does it belong to everyone or to Sony?
Wouldn't Sony be able to control everyone in the future through this platform?
Everyone was smart enough to know that such a situation could not be allowed to happen. Therefore, not only should all the research personnel be contributed by all companies, but the name could not be Sony either; it had to be a completely new name.
Sony then became very unhappy and missed two consecutive meetings, likely indicating they would soon withdraw.
The reasoning was simple: Sony knew better than anyone that a mobile game platform was easy to build, but the key was the games on the platform. These companies were aiming to have all their own games logged onto the platform, but the platform itself would not share profits. Only game developers and mobile phone manufacturers would get a share.
However, Sony Ericsson's mobile phone sales were very poor, not even ranking in the top 10 globally. The revenue earned through this platform would be minimal, and it would instead all go to companies like Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung, which had large markets. This would make Sony a mere benefactor, wouldn't it?
Therefore, Sony was no longer interested in joining the cooperation. It was rumored that they were preparing to do what Jiangnan did and create their own mobile game platform.
However, even if Sony didn't object, the name couldn't be settled because for any name proposed, a few companies would jump out to object.
The name was actually an unimportant matter, but precisely because of this, everyone was willing to fuss over this unimportant matter. As a result, they had now gone so far as to not even settle on a name for the game platform.
"I'll think about it again!" Bannon put down the contract and said.
"Mr. Bannon, have you considered it carefully? If you refuse us today, what will that mean in the future!" Grant frowned upon hearing Bannon's refusal, threatening him in a slightly menacing tone.
"There are still three days, aren't there? Let me think for another three days!" Bannon said cheerfully.
"Alright, three days. You absolutely must not make the wrong choice, or you'll regret it for life!" Grant admonished him sternly, as if he were still Bannon's superior from back then, causing Bannon's facial muscles to twitch.
"A platform that hasn't even settled on a name, and they want me to give up my current profits? This is a huge joke!" Bannon muttered. Although he said this, Bannon felt very uneasy, as this platform without a name appeared to have a very promising future.
With 90% of the mobile phone market and a game giant like Sony as its backing, its future looked much brighter than that of the oo game center.
But an unseen mysterious force made Bannon hold back, and he never went to sign the contract with them after three days. However, not everyone was like Bannon. Within the 00 mobile platform's twenty members, half of them defected within three days and signed cooperation agreements with this nameless mobile game platform, thus naturally abandoning their cooperation with the 00 game platform and announcing that all future new mobile phones would no longer include the 00 mobile game platform.
This news further drove down the market's valuation of the 00 mobile game platform and boosted confidence in the future of mainstream mobile phone companies like Motorola. As a result, after the Western Mustang Fund announced its short-selling of these mobile phone companies, their stock prices rose by about 5%.
Well, the history of this world was indeed a continuous cycle.
Soon, the entire financial industry began to mock the Western Mustang Fund, saying that Little Swift's god-like luck had run out and that his good fortune had completely ended.
However, it wasn't entirely without change. For example, users who chose to purchase the third phase of the fund this time were much more steadfast. Unlike those before them, they didn't clamor for refunds but tightly held onto their fund certificates.
Of course, there were some whose resolve wavered, but soon someone voluntarily stepped forward, expressing willingness to buy back their fund certificates at the original price or even at a 1% floating price.
This fully demonstrated that the Western Mustang Fund's foundation had stabilized. If the third phase could also yield significant profits, then the Western Mustang Fund would be considered completely stable.
The market was laughing at the 00 mobile game platform, but the platform itself remained very calm. After these companies announced their withdrawal, 00 Network released a public announcement, stating in a very inclusive tone that the 00 game platform was a very tolerant platform that respected the rights of all companies under the platform.
Those willing to leave could do so, and they were welcome to return later without any restrictions, just as the United States was a free country.
Judging solely by this announcement, the 00 game platform indeed appeared magnanimous. But was our Boss Huang such a person?
Therefore, soon, a private notification was sent from Jiangnan Group to all mobile phone manufacturers.
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"Everyone, first of all, we welcome our 10 new friends here today. They make our forces even stronger!"
"Secondly, congratulations on the significant increase in your respective company stock prices. The facts prove that we have an absolute advantage. All this talk about the Black Financial God is nonsense. I suggest we raise a toast to celebrate before the meeting begins!" At the fifth collective consultation meeting of the platform, the representative from Motorola raised his wine glass, and the representatives from other companies also joined in, creating a joyful atmosphere.
"Leveraging this joyous news and opportunity, I suggest we set aside some of our preconceptions and make some compromises with each other to select a name that everyone can accept, as this is already our fifth meeting!" The Motorola representative then added something that brought a bit of cheer to everyone.
After all, holding five consultation meetings just for the name of a piece of software sounded terrible, but there was no choice when everyone refused to yield.
Everyone was contributing effort and resources; why should they accept a name proposed by someone else?
"I think we can succeed today because the biggest obstacle is gone!" The BlackBerry representative glanced at an empty seat beside him and said with a hint of mockery.
This biggest obstacle was naturally Sony Ericsson, whose insistence that the new platform be named the Sony Mobile Game Platform was one of the main reasons for the repeated failures in the previous four consultation meetings.
As a result, Sony Ericsson didn't even show up for the fifth meeting, and this biggest obstacle naturally ceased to exist. However, no one's expression improved much, because Sony Ericsson's absence meant that Sony was completely withdrawing from playing with them. After all, they weren't fools, and no one wanted to be reaped like leeks by others.
"Gentlemen, it doesn't matter without Sony's support. Mobile game platforms are not a high-tech skill; we can easily complete it together. I think we should first confirm the name!" The Motorola representative interrupted the somewhat somber atmosphere and said, "How about this, we can choose a new name that has no relation to any of the companies, or simply name it using letters..."
As the Motorola representative was speaking volubly about his suggestion, almost everyone's mobile phones rang simultaneously. Then, looking down, they saw a message:
00 Game Platform announced that the platform's profit-sharing ratio had been optimized. The original 20% profit share for mobile phone manufacturers was reduced to 10%, with this 10% being transferred to game developers and the platform respectively.
This rule would only be effective for mobile phone companies that signed after the announcement of this news. Companies that signed previously would not be affected by changes in this clause.
The appearance of this news made the expressions of the ten new representatives present very unpleasant. This newly changed rule was clearly a form of retaliation against them.
"Hmph, they claim absolute freedom and openness, but isn't this retaliation already here!" The Motorola representative snorted disdainfully, then looked at the ten newcomers and said proudly, "Don't worry, everyone. We already represent over 95% of the mobile phone market. I don't know how we could possibly lose!"