Tech Hammer

Huang Yunjian's judgment was correct. Huaxia suddenly released such a promotional video in the middle of the night, not long after the exhibition, which indeed made many friends and businessmen suddenly unable to sleep late at night. For example, a certain industry leader directly commented on this video in his circle of friends, "It's about to be reshuffled again. Let's play and cherish it."

This sentence probably expresses the sentiments of countless practitioners. After all, everyone knew how well Huawei-branded high-end mobile phones performed in the market. At that time, the biggest shortcoming of Huawei's high-end series of mobile phones was probably the poor intelligent voice system. Although Siri is also jokingly called artificial retardation, there is no doubt that if there are levels of intellectual retardation, Huawei's Xiaoyi is obviously further along the road of retardation than Apple's Siri.

But now this video clearly tells everyone that Xiaoyi and Ningwei are going to merge in March. They are a complete fusion, and even the iconic pastoral cat image is directly borrowed. Of course, the scariest thing is the sentence at the end of the video, "Hongmeng Smart will change your life and mine." This means that after the new phone is released, will this set of intelligent systems be gradually extended to the entire Hongmeng ecosystem?

Really, this night, countless big players in the Chinese mobile phone industry will face the most tangled question. If they cannot complete the intelligent transformation of their own mobile phones, is it really necessary to continue to optimize their own Android systems?

Of course, domestic manufacturers still have room for choice, but as an Android provider and a more closed Apple, the mood is probably the worst at this time. Especially for Apple, you can imagine the mood of the managers of the world's top giant companies at this time.

In fact, at the exhibition, when March turned out, everyone had already thought that there would be such a thing. This is why they couldn't wait to form an alliance to put pressure on Ningwei to open up or restrict the development of intelligent platforms. It is no longer a problem that can be solved by racing against time. Instead, it can only rely on its own advantages to buy time to deal with the upcoming competition.

But what I never expected was that the efficiency of the Chinese people was not only reflected in infrastructure, but even cooperation was accomplished with lightning speed. From the perspective of Westerners, this level of cooperation, regarding the coordination of interests in all aspects, would take at least several months to complete, right? Who would have dared to think that in just two days, Huawei would release a promotional video in such a grand manner.

To be honest, the Flash shouldn't have this kind of speed, which has even subverted everyone's perception. After all, the alliance under preparation is being stabbed in the back by European counterparts, but now the Chinese have begun to push the technology into reality, and the partners are Huawei, the most threatening technology company to them...

Tricky, very tricky.

Take Apple as an example. You must know that Apple’s products have been criticized for not having any new ideas that can make the public eye-catching at the press conferences for several consecutive years. The influence of the Spring Festival Gala in the technology industry is getting weaker and weaker, and it is difficult to regain the same level of influence it once had. A grand event that attracts the attention of hundreds of millions of people. This has also led Apple to consider taking a cost-effective route for its mobile phones to ensure that its ecosystem has sufficient influence.

At the same time, the Apple car project, code-named Titan, is now in a dilemma. The successive resignations of senior executives two years ago have made the implementation of Apple cars unprecedentedly difficult. At the same time, the search for external supplier partners has not been smooth due to some requirements put forward by Apple. , for example, two well-known battery manufacturers in China both decisively rejected requests to join Apple’s car battery supply chain.

Although these do not prevent Apple from still being the most profitable technology company in the world, there is no doubt that its products can still sell well all over the world as long as the price is slightly lowered. The reputation and impression accumulated over the past two decades coupled with strict Quality control is enough to make many consumers pay for their premium price.

But for Tim Cook, the sense of crisis is getting stronger. This is how Nokia, which was so popular back then, withdrew from the stage of history. The emergence of Apple changed people's expectations and product logic for future mobile phones, and then a bunch of manufacturers armed to the teeth with Android cooperated with Apple and waved bricks, running forward and directly knocking down the once giant company...

It’s not that Nokia didn’t think about struggling during this period, but no matter it was the Symbian era or the WP era, a bunch of boys were guarding his broken body. Just when he wanted to jump around to see if he could still be rescued, it happened again. A brick passed by. In the end, even Microsoft's intervention failed to save the mobile phone business of this level of dominance. The Finnish company can only rely on its network equipment business to survive.

It seems impossible to restore its past glory. Nokia's technology is not leading in the 5G era, and its market share is suppressed by major manufacturers such as Huawei, Cisco, Ericsson, Samsung, etc. The mobile phone business has long been gone. Sound.

Just thinking about Nokia's downfall can make Tim Cook feel sweat break out on his back.

The waves of the times are rushing over, and I really won’t discuss it with anyone. What's even more frightening is that industry-subverting technologies appear in China. Cook doesn't even dare to think about what will happen if those wolf-like manufacturers in China use new technologies collectively? If there is an opportunity to pull Apple off the altar, these manufacturers will definitely spare no effort. Apple, which still maintains a market value of more than 10 trillion, represents the highest profit margin in the industry.

At this time, Tim Cook, who is in the office of the president of Apple headquarters in Silicon Valley, is looking at reports on these, on Apple’s mobile phone market share and maintaining Apple’s ecosystem. Hardware and software have always complemented each other. As a closed mobile phone system, only by occupying enough market share can tens of thousands of developers have the enthusiasm to help Apple build a software ecosystem.

Why did Microsoft's WP ecosystem ultimately fail to develop despite investing massive resources? It’s not just because the market share is too low. Even if Nokia gets on board, it only has less than 1% of the market share and cannot maintain the enthusiasm of developers at all. From a consumer's perspective, if you buy a mobile phone and there are not many software that can be used, who will consider it?

This is why Apple has also begun to consider the cost-effectiveness of mobile phones. It cannot guarantee market share. Without enough customers, it will not be able to maintain sufficient profits in the value-added field of software applications. Without enough profits, it will not be able to attract developers who design high-quality software and applications for the IOS interface. But once Apple really wants to When entering the pursuit of cost-effectiveness, the high-end brand image that took twenty years to build may collapse...

When we first chose to implement Project Titan and start building cars, we wanted to prevent the product from being simplistic and to grasp the context of the times, so that we would not be like Nokia, which was eliminated by everyone when its mobile phone products were eliminated. But now that the car has not been built, strong artificial intelligence has emerged. For Tim Cook, he has to think about more than just smartphones, because strong artificial intelligence will be on the next generation of trains. The application may be wider...

So, what to do next?

"Bang bang..." There was a knock on the office door, interrupting Tim Cook's contemplation. He raised his head and his secretary came in holding a piece of paper.

"Mr. Cook, this is a fax from Huawei. Please take a look."

"Oh, give it to me."

Tim Cook took the fax, nodded to his secretary, and watched as his secretary turned and left. Only then did the Apple president turn his attention to the thin A4 paper.

This should be regarded as a not very formal cooperation invitation letter. There is not much nonsense. The meaning is expressed very clearly. It can be roughly translated as: Brother, you should have seen our promotional video. I believe you have it in mind if it can be realized. Numbers, you see, we are friends in the mobile phone market. Now if you want to build a car, we provide a complete set of smart car solutions. If we join forces, what about Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and Tesla? Trample them all underfoot! As long as we can achieve mutual technological trust, the development paths of two century-old technology companies can be clearly planned in minutes.

Of course, in addition to this, this cooperation letter also very politely mentioned another possibility. It approached Apple because although the two parties competed, they still had a basis for cooperation. If Apple was unwilling to cooperate, Huawei could only choose to switch to Start cooperating with other friends.

For example, if we help Google upgrade their Assistant, other Android phones will be able to do more than just help consumers make phone calls.

If you add that the future smart platform may provide intelligent transformation services for Android applications, think about the impact that so many Android manufacturers will have on Apple phones if they are connected to the future strong intelligence system. On the other hand, if Huawei’s upgraded smart car solution excludes Apple cars, even if Apple cars are launched within this year, how can they compete with the next generation of cars that may achieve Level 5 autonomous driving?

Don't worry about negotiating with Ning Wei. Dr. Ning Wei is a pure research scientist. The two parties have already signed a contract on specific market behaviors, and our professional team will negotiate them. In short, when we got this good opportunity for rapid development, we immediately thought of Apple, because Huawei has always felt that although Apple has always been a competitor, it is also a respectable high-tech company, but we also advise you not to ignore Apple. If you believe that the so-called alliance and friendship will truly unite and buy time for Apple to catch up, then I'm sorry, but the moment the allies choose to betray for their own interests, it also means that the global clarion call to suppress Apple may sound at any time. .

Especially dear Mr. Cook, Ericsson has turned back and stabbed you in the back. Cisco has also come to sue for peace. Your so-called alliance is really fragile...

So it depends on your choice whether we should cooperate with other friends to slowly squeeze Apple's living space for win-win cooperation.

After reading this fax, the first word that came to Tim Cook's mind was "Prisoner's Dilemma."

Really, Tim Cook never imagined that he would one day face such a standard prisoner's dilemma model.

As stated in this invitation letter to explore the possibility of cooperation between the two parties, the alliance's joint campaign against the three major intelligent platforms may indeed slow down the other party, but the disadvantages are also obvious. If this path of cooperation is cut off, Apple will be the first to suffer. According to the performance at the exhibition in March, if it is used in the fields of smartphones and smart cars, it will indeed begin to develop cross-century products in a very short period of time, which will directly threaten the sales of Apple products and further affect Apple's Closed ecology.

For Google, Microsoft, and Intel, they can persist longer, and they do have the motivation to abandon Apple and cooperate with Huawei.

For example, Google, their Android system has always served the Google architecture. If Google chooses to cooperate with Huawei, it can easily integrate the Google architecture into the Hongmeng system. Then, will other mobile phone manufacturers use Hongmeng or Android? For Google, the impact may not be as big as imagined, of course, provided that both parties can continue to cooperate.

Likewise if Microsoft betrays the alliance. Thinking about Microsoft's Cortana transforming into a cat and integrating into the Windows system, it will further reduce Apple's PC market share. The relationship between Microsoft and Intel is enough to keep both parties on the same page to a certain extent, especially In an era when Moore's Law is on the verge of failure due to the quantum Suichuan effect, perhaps Intel engineers are also looking forward to the contribution of strong artificial intelligence to semiconductor technology breakthroughs...

What’s even more frightening is that Tim Cook knows very well that large multinational technology companies like them have the ability to influence higher-level decisions.

Now the question is, can he refuse Huawei's request for mutual technical credit? Can these temporary allies really refuse this request equally after receiving the olive branch? The so-called modern management system, the position of president and CEO, all serve shareholders. The priority is always the interests of shareholders, or the interests of capital. Tim Cook finds it difficult to believe in so-called allies. They can really resist temptation strongly.

Especially when his eyes fell on the last sentence on the fax, the meaning he saw roughly translated to: "This invitation was judged and issued by March through the data model it established. The copywriting was also entirely from March. , as the only partner at present, the most important job China Huawei Technology Co., Ltd. has done is to put a seal on the contract."

This sentence made Tim Cook feel broken...

There is a reason why the Prisoner's Dilemma model is so standard. Is the mastermind behind it the kitten that showed its teeth and claws at the exhibition...

Sitting at the desk in his office, Tim Cook thought for a long time and then picked up the phone.

"Hey, Sundar, let's have a frank chat. If our alliance is established, will Google completely open your laboratory to Apple?"