Global monopoly of technology

Apple headquarters, executive meeting.

"I have speculated in many scenarios, but after all, I didn't speculate that the competitor actually came from the mysterious eastern country on the other side of the ocean." Jobs's voice resounded in the quiet conference room.

"Steve, did you take it too seriously? The iTunes music store now almost monopolizes 90% of the digital music market. MusicSpace is just a follower. Apple has a combination of [iTunes+iPod] and [MusicSpace+???] , Sorry, Bluestar Technology is just an Internet company. Where is their hardware carrier?" An executive said casually, spreading his hands.

At this time, another executive who attended the meeting said: "When it comes to hardware, I have collected some information. Luo Sheng, the founder of Bluestar Technology, established a technology company called Azure Coast Company last month. The general business project is the design, development, sales and after-sales service of electronic products and communication information products...Perhaps, they are secretly developing related hardware products to complete the combination."

"Come on, the hardware R&D capabilities of the Chinese? NO! NO! NO!" The executive just now said with a disdain: "Although I don't know what tricks the young Chinese kid did to make the Wall Street bastard. Flickering around and giving him a lot of money to squander, although I am admitted that he has made some famous names in the Internet technology industry, it does not mean that he can replicate his success in the Internet industry in the hardware sector."

The executive was full of disdain, but Jobs paid much attention to it. Of course, the Qiao gang did not look down on it. They did not think that the Chinese could be famous in the hardware field, but they paid more attention to Luo Sheng.

Whether it can be done, let alone say, is unknown, but there is one thing that Qiao's gang leader can already be sure that Luo Sheng really wants to do it.

The third executive who attended the meeting gave a speech. It was a middle-aged man with glasses. He helped his glasses and said without rush: "I think it should be paid attention to. MusicSpace music store in April It went live on the 21st, just one week after its launch. Do you know the user growth rate of MusicSpace in the past week?"

"How many?"

"About 920,000 or so!"

"What? Are you sure it is 920,000, not 92,000?"

"I confirm!"

When all the senior executives at the meeting heard this affirmative answer, the audience couldn't help but be shocked. The increase in the scale of nearly one million users in a week is terrible.

After a while, the executive who exposed the data added: "I think Bluestar Technology must attract our attention. It is not accidental that Luo Sheng was called [Son of the Internet] by the Silicon Valley Internet community. He is one of the few deep Entrepreneurs who get the essence of Internet thinking."

"How did MusicSpace achieve nearly one million user increments in just one week after its launch?"

"I think there are two aspects. One is that the product itself is eye-catching. In terms of technology, it is best not to underestimate Bluestar Technology, especially in the area of ​​Internet technology development. Apple may not necessarily be stronger than Bluestar Technology. The second is to draw on the strong user base of their other major social platform BlueSpace, including the Reddit website, and other aspects of advertising."

Only then did it reflect that MusicSpace is a newly launched product, and its owner, Bluestar Technology, is no longer a start-up company. It has sufficient funds after several rounds of financing, and the financing is higher than once. Although it has not created profits so far, However, Bluestar Technology has also not experienced the crisis of breaking the capital chain so far, and VCs are still continuously piling money on this company.

"Let’s pay attention to the MusicSpace product itself. It was officially launched on April 21. First of all, the content. The five major record companies gave 2.25 million digital licenses to download songs, basically covering popular songs. Not only that, the record companies actually agreed to give Digital music licenses from 15 popular singers or groups including Eminem, Britney Spears, Coldplay, Linkin Park, etc.

"The key is that the new albums of these 15 singers or groups are exclusively licensed to MusicSpace. In other words, users cannot hear the latest works of these singers in iTunes."

After speaking, the executives who attended the meeting were shocked again.

"God, are those record companies crazy? Why?" An executive said in shock, even a little dissatisfied, but more of them did not understand. Those record companies have always given the impression that they are extremely sensitive to copyright issues.

They will not arbitrarily authorize other people to profit from it. It is not easy to get the authorization from them. This time they will give the exclusive authorization, or the new album of the popular singer. This is Apple. I didn't get it.

And Qiao’s gang leader said: "iTunes has monopolized 90% of the digital music market, and the right to speak is increasing. I am afraid it has aroused the vigilance of record companies."

"You mean... the recording industry can support another platform to compete with iTunes?"

Jobs did not respond. He was silent to acquiesce in acquiescence. Several executives who attended the meeting were immediately dissatisfied. They greeted the five major record magnates on the spot.

"Sonofab***h!!!"

"Obviously, this can support us and support a competitor in order to sit on the ground and raise the price. It is really good calculation."

"This group of underfeeding bastards is not satisfied after taking 65% of the iTunes music store's profits."

"If it weren't for the launch of iTunes, these damn record companies would still be tortured to death by pirated music. Napster should kill them, the bastards who crossed the river and broke the bridge!"

"Calm down, this is business competition, and some are just eternal interests."

Everyone vented a pass and felt much better. One yard goes to one yard. It is an indisputable fact that Apple has made $10 billion by relying on the iTunes+iPod combination in the past three years. Most of them are jealous.

Even if the profit of the music store shared 65%, it still made a lot of money. iTunes drove the sales of the hardware iPod, and this part of the profit went to Apple.

As long as you calculate a general ledger, you will know that it is definitely a profitable transaction. Not long ago, Apple could not wait to disclose the first quarter report to the public in order to give the market confidence and increase the company's market value, and the result is indeed the case.

After the announcement of the first quarter report, it far exceeded market expectations, driving Apple's share price to rise sharply. The current market value of Apple has exceeded $40 billion, which has increased tenfold in just one year.

"Leave aside the content of MusicSpace, or look at the product itself. I think this should be the most important point. MusicSpace has many innovative features, such as smart random play, playlist, Windows user synchronization, and Outlook contact. People and calendar functions, added to the BlueSpace social chain sharing. Including the intelligent push daily playlist function, which records listeners’ listening habits and recommends similar songs. It is similar to Microsoft’s Synapse music playback software but is significantly higher than that software."

They didn't even know that the music player software Synapse was written by Luo Sheng, and finally sold to Microsoft, and they received the first and most critical start-up money for starting a business.

Studying MusicSpace carefully, Apple's executives, including Jobs, were surprised to find that its user experience is very exquisite. The interface of MusicSpace software is very clean and simple, without any ads at all.

In addition, the secondary page is also given the function of commenting and liking each single. In combination with the social chain of the BlueSpace social networking site under Bluestar Technology, this software has more active sharing and communication attributes.

In particular, the comment function and the like function allow music lovers who are unfamiliar with each other to interact with each other through music, and resonate with each other because of the common music hobby.

Obviously, MusicSpace software has been given a strong Internet attribute. iTunes may only be an online music store, but MusicSpace is not only an online music store, it is also an interactive community for music lovers.

Seeing the many excellent experience features of this software, the senior management of Apple, especially those who make products, can't help but look at them.

But at the same time I felt uneasy, because I indirectly saw the powerful competitive advantage of this software. It was not accidental to create nearly a million users within a week. It must be commendable for its outstanding side. Won the recognition of users.

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