At my question, Li Kashing nodded.
“We’ll need to pass the shareholders’ eting and board resolution, but I’ll accept President Kim’s proposal.”
“There won’t be any issue with the vote, right?”
“Yes. Unless there’s so extraordinary reason, there shouldn’t be any major problem. The shares I personally hold, combined with the stake the group owns, already exceed a majority.”
“Good. Excellent.”
I called over Director Ma.
“Director. Please hand Chairman Li Kashing the docunts we prepared.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Director Ma handed the envelope he had brought to Li Kashing.
“These are the conditions Apple set. There’s no room for negotiation here. The U.S., Korea, and even Japan all signed under these sa terms.”
While Li Kashing reviewed the papers, I gestured to Director Ma.
When he stepped close, I quietly told him to call Eva.
After Director Ma bowed and left, I lifted the dessert coffee to my lips.
Even by the ti I finished the entire cup, Li Kashing was still flipping through the pages and checking each clause.
“Hmm... these are rather difficult terms.”
“Right? The U.S., Korea, and Japan all found them difficult too. But Apple simply won’t sign unless it’s under those terms, no matter how much exclusive authority I have.”
“Then there’s no helping it. We’ll accept.”
Li Kashing agreed to the conditions decisively.
“Good. You can handle the fine-tuning with CEO Eva. I called her here, so she should arrive soon. I’m too busy to make ti for Hong Kong myself.”
“So Future Investnt will be the contracting party?”
“Yes. The investnt firm receiving the paid capital increase will also be Future. Since CEO Eva is from Hong Kong, I assu that’ll make things easier for you as well, Chairman.”
Li Kashing nodded.
“Then when is the iPhone scheduled to launch in China? Is there already a plan?”
“For now, the plan is to release it in Japan, Europe, and South Arica next spring. After that, it’ll be supplied to China and Southeast Asia.”
“Isn’t that too slow?”
“Apple has an overly negative view of the Chinese market right now. I even heard they’re planning to withdraw their Beijing office.”
Li Kashing let out a quiet sigh.
Apple still wasn’t a popular brand in China.
That was why Apple had chosen Korea and the U.S. as first-priority launch countries, with the EU, South Arica, and Japan as second priority.
China and Southeast Asia had been pushed all the way to third priority.
“Most likely, this current model won’t launch in China until around the ti the next model is unveiled.”
Li Kashing narrowed his eyes in thought.
“I’m sorry. But it’s not as if Hong Kong and Macau can be supplied separately. The Chinese governnt would never allow that.”
“That’s true... but can’t they still be persuaded sohow? No matter what, it needs to launch earlier than Southeast Asia. The Chinese market is only going to get bigger. If it keeps being pushed back like this, it’ll take the iPhone a very long ti to gain traction.”
“Let’s give that part a little more ti and continue the discussion later.”
After a mont of thought, Li Kashing carefully asked,
“Would it be possible for us to negotiate directly with Apple?”
“If possible, yes. But Steve Jobs is an incredibly stubborn man. He isn’t soone who changes his mind easily.”
Li Kashing gave a faint nod, clearly familiar with Steve Jobs’s legendary bullheadedness.
“Still, we have to try sothing. The reason we’re pursuing exclusive supply rights for Hong Kong and Macau is ultimately for the Southeast Asian market. But if Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia all launch at the sa ti, that advantage shrinks dramatically. At the very least, it needs to launch a few months ahead of Southeast Asia.”
“Once the carrier for mainland China is decided, we’ll discuss the release date with Apple.”
Just then, the door opened and Eva arrived.
I gave her a light wave, and she returned it with a smile.
The mont she recognized Li Kashing sitting across from , she bowed politely.
“Chairman Li Kashing. It’s been a ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) long ti. About three years, hasn’t it?”
So Eva and Li Kashing had t before.
Li Kashing greeted her warmly with a broad smile.
“Haha. Far more than three years. The last ti we t was at the company’s founding party, so it must’ve been around four years ago.”
Once the greetings ended, Eva approached .
Then, in a low voice, she whispered,
“Boss. What’s going on? Why is Chairman Li Kashing here?”
She had asked in Korean instead of Chinese to quickly gauge the situation.
I gave her a brief summary of what Li Kashing and I had discussed.
“So you want Future to be allocated ten percent of Hutchison Whampoa through a paid capital increase.”
I nodded, and Eva replied in a serious tone.
“Then I’ll need to head into Hong Kong, Boss.”
“You will. It’ll take so ti since it has to go through the shareholders’ eting and board approval. Can you handle it?”
“This is the kind of thing I do all the ti.”
I rose from my seat and patted Eva on the shoulder.
“You already know each other, so talk comfortably.”
“Understood, Boss. Are you heading to another eting?”
“Chairman Li Yanhong is in Korea too. I need to go et him now.”
After finishing what I had to say to Eva, I turned to Chairman Li Kashing.
“From here on, you’ll proceed with CEO Eva rather than . I’ll notify Apple in advance. And once the carrier for mainland China is finalized, I’ll speak with Apple and the Chinese governnt, then share the results with you.”
Li Kashing stood and extended his hand.
“I’m counting on you. We’ll also try speaking with Apple from our side, though we won’t have influence anywhere near yours. For that lone-wolf Steve Jobs to delegate exclusive supply rights for Korea, China, and Japan to President Kim... that alone ans the two of you understand each other.”
“Understood, Chairman. I’ll do what I can.”
After exchanging a glance of farewell with Eva, I left the restaurant.
* * *
I t Li Yanhong late that night.
“Did the talks go well?”
It was a question prompted by the bright look on his face.
“Yes. Each ga company agreed to establish joint ventures with us in China.”
Li Yanhong briefed on the negotiations with the ga companies.
“You gave up quite a lot, didn’t you?”
“Tencent is already ahead of us in ga services. So I decided this wasn’t the ti to play tug-of-war for better terms.”
“If we start preparing now, it’ll probably be next year before the service can launch.”
“Yes. I’m planning to roll them out one by one starting next spring.”
I nodded.
Things were progressing more smoothly than expected, which left rather satisfied.
“I’ll help a lot from my side too. There won’t be any issue with the ISBN approvals.”
To operate gas in China, they needed official publishing approvals.
The agency that issued them was the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, which oversaw China’s dia policies.
Without securing approval in advance, the ga service could be suspended at any ti.
Officially, it was still only a recomndation rather than a legal obligation.
But in reality, “recomndation” might as well have been read as “mandatory.”
That was how overwhelming the agency’s authority was within China.
“As long as the approvals are secured, the service itself won’t be a problem. Our developers have already begun work—expanding the servers and...”
Li Yanhong began slipping into increasingly technical jargon.
It sounded like he could go on forever if I let him, so I gently cut him off.
“I’m really looking forward to it. You’re far more of an expert than I am, Chairman, so I trust you’ll handle it well. This isn’t the end. To bring down Tencent, we need to keep supplying high-quality gas.”
This part was simple.
Baidu only had to grow the sa way Tencent had.
“How far along is the ssenger developnt?”
“The ssenger itself isn’t difficult. QQ got ahead in China not because the ssenger was extraordinary, but because they kept adding the features our people wanted.”
QQ itself had originally been modeled after ICQ.
That alone ant building one wasn’t the hard part.
And Baidu, as one of the leading IT companies, had no shortage of top-tier Chinese developers.
Whatever they set out to build could absolutely compete with QQ.
“So attracting users is the real key.”
In the end, the winner in ssaging would co down to one thing:
whoever secured the most users.
QQ remained the unshakable number one, but once Baidu entered the battlefield, no one could predict what would happen.
“Yes. That’s where victory or defeat will be decided. Which is why this gaming service is so important.”
Gas alone wouldn’t be enough.
To beat an entrenched ssenger platform, they needed a clear differentiator.
“Why not partner with Alibaba and launch shopping services too?”
“Shopping services?”
Baidu wouldn’t normally enter e-comrce until much later.
“Yes. Build a system where people can shop directly inside the ssenger.”
“Hmm. Wouldn’t that make it feel too cluttered?”
Li Yanhong already seed to be sketching out the UI in his head.
“Wouldn’t it work if you separate it into different tabs? QQ already runs multiple services in one platform, doesn’t it? The difference is that you’ll offer e-comrce. If users can access shopping easily from within the ssenger, I think it’ll help pull custors in.”
Instead of answering, Li Yanhong flipped over the sheet of paper in front of him.
Then he pulled a pen from his chest pocket and started sketching.
He spent quite a while muttering to himself in concentration before finally smiling.
“I think this can work.”
“I’m a major shareholder in both Alibaba and Baidu. So there won’t be any problem with collaboration. If the two of you join forces and expand into every business Tencent is in, you’ll be able to carve away the market they currently dominate.”
This wasn’t a battle that would end quickly.
There were easier ways—such as leveraging the Chinese governnt as a ans of pressure.
But I had no intention of crushing them that simply.
I intended to enter every single business they touched, forcing them to struggle until they eventually broke.
Only then would they regret the choices they had made.
“And while you’re at it, prepare a mobile ssenger app in advance for when the iPhone enters the Chinese market.”
“A mobile ssenger app?”
He echoed the words in confusion.
To show him what I ant, I pulled out the iPhone and held it up.
“So this is the iPhone. But it seems different from the version currently being distributed.”
As expected from an engineer by background, Li Yanhong’s eyes lit up the mont he saw a new device.
I laughed quietly and showed it to him.
“Apple specially made this limited edition for . In the entire world, only Steve Jobs and I have one.”
“Oh! Does it have different functions?”
“No. The functions are the sa.”
I hadn’t taken it out just to show off the device.
I imdiately opened the screen and entered the App Store.
“Do you see?”
I searched for mobile ssenger apps already listed there and showed him.
“Developers are already starting to create mobile ssengers and upload them to the App Store. Want to take a look?”
After taking the iPhone, he fumbled for a mont.
But he quickly adapted, dragging downward through the App Store list.
“The number of downloads is low.”
“It’s still only the beginning stage.”
The App Store was still too early in its lifecycle to be fully active.
As device adoption rose, the App Store would grow with it.
“Prepare it now so that the PC ssenger and mobile ssenger can be linked together. Then once the iPhone launches, every iPhone custor can be pulled into Baidu’s ecosystem.”
Li Yanhong’s eyes widened as if he had just been struck.
Even without a long explanation, he had imdiately grasped the core of what I ant.
I continued laying out the inevitability of mobile ssaging.
“It’ll take at least several years before the iPhone gets a true competitor. If you monopolize the Chinese ssenger app market during that ti, it’ll naturally boost PC ssenger market share as well.”
“I see. QQ may have secured the PC market, but there’s still the mobile market. But if they build a mobile ssenger too, wouldn’t this all be aningless?”
A smile curled at the corner of my lips.
“As long as I’m here, none of Tencent’s apps will ever make it onto the App Store.”
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