Microsoft and Apple had been at each other's throats for a long time.
Although everyone felt that Microsoft's Windows was copied from Apple's Windows operating system, it was undeniable that Windows' success in the operating system industry was something that Apple could not compare to. Windows almost unified the world, but this dream was ruined by the US anti-monopoly laws.
If it was not for the anti-monopoly laws, Microsoft could have destroyed Apple's OS a few years before it was launched.
Apple was also not easy to deal with. They used the anti-monopoly laws to fight against Microsoft. A few years ago, the US courts used the anti-monopoly laws as a benchmark and ruled that Microsoft must provide technical support to Apple for 5 years. That means to ensure that Microsoft's Windows would not monopolize the market, the US courts ruled that Microsoft must provide Apple with Microsoft's own technologies and products on Apple's Mac OS. This was to increase the survivability of Apple's Mac OS and prevent it from being completely destroyed by Windows.
Internet Explorer on Windows was the first choice for most users on the internet. But there was no Internet Explorer on Mac OS. At that time, Apple's Safari was not developed yet. What could Microsoft do? Microsoft must develop an Internet Explorer for Apple's Mac OS … …
Windows' Office software was one of the biggest reliance for Windows in the commercial market. It was also the reason why users could not leave Windows. What should Microsoft do? The anti-monopoly laws were passed, and Microsoft must develop an Office software for Mac OS … …
Other than that, to make Apple give up on suing Microsoft for copyright infringement, Microsoft invested 150 million USD in Apple and gave Apple the most important resource.
Such anti-monopoly laws were unimaginable in China. It was equivalent to Teng Xun QQ almost monopolizing the market. Sina UC could go to court to sue Teng Xun and request Teng Xun to provide Sina UC with QQ's proprietary technologies. Teng Xun even had to invest a certain amount in Sina UC. Teng Xun had wanted to kill Sina UC, but in the end, Sina UC was beaten to death. Not only Sina UC could not continue fighting, but Teng Xun had to save Sina UC. Why?
Because of the anti-monopoly law …
That's why even though Microsoft is Apple's shareholder, they are Apple's enemy. But the Anti-Monopoly Law does not allow Microsoft to beat Apple to death, and Microsoft is cursing in their hearts.
What Microsoft did not expect was that Apple had a new competitor. This new competitor was from Hua Xia's Internet company. Moreover, this new competitor did not compete with Apple in operating system. Instead, it cut off Apple's path in music players!
In Microsoft's eyes, this is awesome! Because the Anti-Monopoly Law could not protect Apple's lifeline this time. There were so many music player companies and so many products. Even if the iPod was completely destroyed by Makino Technology, Makino Technology would not violate the Anti-Monopoly Law!
Seeing Apple's share prices plummeting, Microsoft decided to grab this opportunity to give Apple another blow.
So, before the market closed, Microsoft released an announcement to announce its decisions:
First, Microsoft will stop updating Internet Explorer on the Mac and will no longer provide new technical support for Internet Explorer on the Mac.
Second, due to the restructuring of Microsoft's internal team and business, Microsoft will be forced to suspend the development of Office on the Mac until the restructuring is completed.
Third, Microsoft's board of directors discussed and announced their latest plan to reduce Apple's shares. They will continue to reduce their holdings in Apple.
Microsoft started dumping Apple's shares in 2000, and there are not many shares left. They had planned to dump all their shares this year, but they did not want to do it in such a hurry. Coincidentally, Makino Technology declared war on Apple. So, Microsoft decided to hit Apple while it was down.
When the share prices plummet, the market is afraid that investors will lose confidence in the shares themselves. If institutions and major shareholders also announced to reduce their holdings, then the individual investors will lose confidence even more.
Microsoft's attack this time was very sneaky. The US courts had imposed a five-year penalty on Microsoft last year due to the Anti-Monopoly Law. Under normal circumstances, Microsoft will not dare to go against Apple immediately after the penalty period ends. If Apple does that, Apple can sue Microsoft for violating the Anti-Monopoly Law, and Microsoft will surely lose the lawsuit. Also, Microsoft will have to pay a hefty sum of money.
But now, Microsoft has a foolproof plan. They stopped supporting IE on Macs because Apple's Safari beta was released early this year. Since Apple already has a browser, Microsoft can stop supporting IE on Macs, and it will not violate anti-monopoly laws. That's why Microsoft can stop updating IE on Macs.
Other than that, Microsoft does not dare to stop supporting Office on the Mac. That's why they changed their approach. They did not stop supporting Office on the Mac. It is because their internal teams and businesses need to be restructured, and they will continue to support Office in the near future.
Microsoft's intention is simple. Even if they cannot stop supporting Office for a long time, they still made this announcement to deal a blow to Apple's bleak market. If they cannot defeat Apple themselves, they will be happy to see Apple die in the hands of others. To prevent Li Mu from killing Apple, Microsoft decided to do this.
Microsoft's sudden move was a fatal blow to Apple, which had been guarding the 6 USD mark. Apple's share prices plunged like floodgates.
Apple's share prices dropped from 6.02 USD to 5.76 USD in an instant. They did not even see the 5.90 USD and 5.8 USD marks.
Wall Street and Silicon Valley were dumbfounded. They couldn't imagine that Apple, which was like a star, would be defeated so thoroughly in one round. This also made people begin to re-examine Makino Technology and began to be in awe of this company.
The market was wailing. Apple's stock price was like an airplane that had lost its engine and wings. Not only could it not climb, it did not even have the possibility of gliding. It was simply plunging straight down. No investor could withstand such a plunging trend.
When the share price plummeted, no organization dared to take a look at it. From a business perspective, Apple had almost no chance of making a comeback. Mango-ME2 had not even been listed yet, and the share price was already like this. It was impossible for Apple's share price to hit the bottom now. The real bottom would have to wait until Mango-ME2 was officially listed in the US. At that time, if the anti-dumping duties could help Apple protect the US market, then the share price could still rebound. If the anti-dumping duties could not stop Mango-ME2's trend in the US, then Apple's iPod business could be buried.
What's worse is that Apple's other business lines do not seem to be able to turn the tide. Now, Microsoft is adding fuel to the fire, and the Mac OS and Apple PC market will be affected by Microsoft. This is adding fuel to the fire, and Apple might collapse under this pressure.
In the capital market, good products and strong R&D capabilities are not the most important. The most important thing is to be recognized by the market. Once the market loses confidence in the company, everything else will be a bubble.
During the dot-com bubble two to three years ago, many companies lost more than 90% of their market value overnight. Even AOL, which was worth close to 200 billion USD, is now worth less than one-tenth of its peak.
Apple's share prices plunged from 7.36 USD to 5.74 USD. The share prices fell by 22% in one trading day, and the cumulative decline is nearly 34%. Apple's original market value was close to 8 billion USD, and now, it is barely left with 5 billion USD.
But in comparison, Apple's share prices are not the worst in the dot-com industry. It is not even in the top ten.
However, this was enough to deal a devastating blow to Apple from top to bottom.
Even the confident Jobs began to doubt his life at this time. He has always insisted on hardware as the core, and software as a supplement. This is because he felt that the development of software is not as stable as the development of hardware. Just like those companies that collapsed overnight during the dot-com bubble, most of them were software companies.
But he did not expect that Apple, whose core is hardware, would suffer such a heavy blow. A company from Hua Xia alone reduced Apple's market value by almost 3 billion USD. He does not know how long this negative trend will last. Maybe, this tit-for-tat with Makino Technology will reduce Apple's market value by more than half.
Now, Jobs has two problems in front of him.
First, how can he recover the stock price in a short time?
Second, how can he reverse the situation in the next few months?
Apple's shareholders and investors are questioning Jobs about these two problems.
Sadly, Jobs can't find any way out of this situation.
He has always insisted on hardware as the core, but this time he saw the biggest drawback of a hardware company. It is too slow to turn around, and the cost is too high!
A hardware company was like a speeding, heavy-duty truck. Forget about turning around completely, even if there was a slight problem with the direction control, the truck would be destroyed. Any piece of hardware required at least a few months of research and development. Even if the Mango-ME2 had completed all the design and development work, it would still take time for it to be officially launched in the world. If Apple were to develop a new piece of hardware and hope that it could turn the situation around, the possibility was almost zero.
When Jobs and the whole of Apple are in despair, Li Mu, who stayed up late in the office, is staring at the US stock market.
He expected Apple's stock price to plummet today, but he did not expect it to plummet so much. He did not expect Microsoft to suddenly stab Apple.
Seeing Apple's stock price continue to break through the $5.70 and $5.60 thresholds, Li Mu checked Apple's latest market value. It has fallen below $5 billion.
Unsurprisingly, Apple was unable to hold the $5.50 mark at the last minute. It closed at $5.47, down 25.6% for the day. It became Apple's Dark Monday …
A day of killing is over. There is no smoke, but you can feel the rivers of blood behind you. And it is far from over.
If this continues, Apple's stock price will only get lower and lower, and its market value will only get lower and lower. If Mango-ME2 goes public, it will be lucky to have $3 billion left.
It may seem that a company having $3 billion left seems like a starving camel is still bigger than a horse, but it is bullsh * t!
With Apple's current scale, not only do they have a lot of people waiting to eat, but they also have a lot of research and development projects that are in urgent need of new blood. The plunge in the stock price is only one aspect. The subsequent cash flow problem is Apple's biggest bomb.
If there was a problem with the funds, Apple would have a market value of less than 3 billion. The possibility of raising funds under the background of the pessimistic market was slim. At that time, Apple could only watch as the capital chain broke. Once the capital chain broke, all the projects that Apple had invested a lot of effort into would have to be scrapped, and all the talents would be lost. At that time, Apple would either have to apply for bankruptcy liquidation or beg other big shots to take over at a low price. But who would dare to take up this hot potato?
Suddenly, Li Mu's eyes lit up.
He said to Li Ziwei, "Help me contact the people from Sequoia Capital. Ask them to immediately send a senior who is proficient in US stock capital operations to my office tomorrow."
Sequoia is the capital behind Makino Technology. It is also a world-class capital. Li Mu asked them to find someone who is proficient in US stock capital operations. After hearing this, Li Ziwei was shocked. She blurted out, "Li Zong, are you preparing for an IPO?"
Li Mu waved his hand. "It is not the time for an IPO. I want to ask about the feasibility of acquiring Apple, delisting Apple from NASDAQ, and then privatizing it …"
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