The news that Andy Rubin had joined Makino Technology was a huge blow to Apple.
Tim Cook had a hard time getting the majority of the board to agree to the plan to fully upgrade the next generation of iPod. Even though the plan was still stuck at the top of Apple, Li Mu responded with practical actions.
Makino Technology recruited Andy Rubin with the purpose of fully upgrading the Mangi-ME. Although Apple did not know what Li Mu was going to do, from their understanding of Andy Rubin, they could already infer that the direction Li Mu chose was the same as the direction that Apple had just reached a consensus on.
In fact, even if Apple's top management decided to fully upgrade the iPod, and even developed an independent operating system for the iPod, named IOS, this IOS and Steve Jobs' IOS were just a coincidence of names.
OS meant operating-system. Starting from Mac OS, "OS" was the name of the operating system in Apple. Steve Jobs' "I" referred to the iPhone, but Apple's "I" now referred to the iPod.
Tim Cook was far less far-sighted than Steve Jobs was in 2005. He did not have a smartphone and mobile Internet architecture in his mind, and his entire strategic thinking had not jumped out of the iPod.
This could not be blamed on Tim Cook's lack of ability. It was mainly because everyone was at a different stage, so the way of thinking was also different. The ancients said that the precondition was to eat well and wear warm clothes first. In his previous life, Steve Jobs used the iPod and iTunes to make a beautiful turnaround, allowing Apple to eat well and wear warm clothes. Therefore, he was able to plan and implement a long-term strategy. Tim Cook was ordered to tighten his belt in the face of danger. There was only one thing in his mind: how to make Apple eat well and wear warm clothes. At this time, if he was too ambitious, it was easy to lead Apple on a path of no return.
Now, Tim Cook's inferior version of IOS was completely stillborn.
Apple absolutely did not dare to confront Li Mu head-on. They wanted to fully upgrade the iPod. They wanted to temporarily avoid Li Mu's attack, and then come up with a new generation of products to catch Li Mu off guard. However, no one expected Li Mu to react so quickly.
In this case, those who had just been humiliated by Microsoft once again lost confidence in the future of Apple. The counter-attack group also united from within. They agreed that the possibility of counterattacking Makino Technology no longer existed, no matter what method was used.
Tim Cook also lost confidence. After the meeting that day, he decided to resign from the board of directors. His reason for resignation was that he was unable to save Apple, so he hoped that Apple could find a new CEO who could lead Apple out of the crisis.
Everyone knows what to say. When a girl rejects a guy's advances, she will say that he is a good person, but she will also say that she is not good enough for him. She will also say that he deserves better. Actually, she is just looking down on him.
Tim Cook said that he wanted to resign because he felt that he was not capable enough. In fact, he did not want Apple to be ruined in his hands. If a professional manager ruined a company with a market value of billions of dollars, the future of this professional manager would be uncertain.
Everyone was smart, and they all knew what Tim Cook was thinking. Apple's board of directors quickly came up with a plan and told Tim Cook that he could resign, but he had to wait for another three months. Within three months, they would try their best to find a good buyer for Apple and sell it at a good price. If he could not sell it, Tim Cook could resign after the three months were up.
For the senior management of Apple, they were also eager to get rid of Apple as soon as possible after what Li Mu had done.
However, who to sell it to, or who is willing to buy it, becomes a bigger problem.
Apple's top management has gone through almost all the big names and companies in the Internet industry. They think that there are few companies that can come up with enough funds to buy Apple. Moreover, there are indeed very few companies that can buy Apple. No matter what, Apple's current value is slightly higher than its market value. No matter how you look at it, it is a multi-billion USD deal. Not many companies have such a big appetite.
Moreover, Apple has considered all the first-tier Internet companies, except for Makino Technology. It is not that they are unwilling to sell the company to Makino Technology, but they feel that Makino Technology will not be too interested in Apple. Especially when Mango-ME2 is very popular and Makino Technology is not going to make an operating system, Makino Technology has no use for Apple.
Of course, Apple does not know that what Li Mu wants is not their current mess, but their huge future market value worth hundreds of billions of USD.
…
Louis Martin is well-informed. On the night that Apple passed and abolished the IOS plan, Li Mu received news from him. Louis Martin thinks that the time to buy Apple has arrived.
Li Mu felt that it is about time to sit down and talk with Apple. So he asked him, "What do you think we should give Apple now? How can we guarantee that they will accept it at the lowest cost?"
Louis Martin said, "The biggest pain for Apple is the iPod business. No one is willing to buy this business now, and it will face huge losses. In fact, based on the current situation, no one is willing to buy the iPod business. Now, if someone clearly expresses that they are willing to buy the iPod business, and ask all the shareholders of Apple to sell all their shares immediately, they will definitely agree without hesitation."
Li Mu nodded and said, "How about this. I will ask my vice president to contact the core management of Apple tomorrow. Let them meet as soon as possible."
"Okay!" Louis Martin said with a smile, "I think this acquisition of Apple will be much easier than we thought. Microsoft did help us a lot indirectly."
"Yes." Li Mu sighed and said with a smile, "Microsoft really helped us this time. It's precisely because of their unscrupulous haggling that it gave us a good opportunity to rush in and get the lowest price! "
…
When Tim Cook received a call from Lin Ching-ah, he was stunned for a few seconds before he gradually recovered.
Lin Ching-ah was the vice president of Makino Technology and the head of Makino Technology's US subsidiary. She is the most influential female executive in Silicon Valley. As Makino Technology continued to develop, Lin Ching-ah became more and more famous in Silicon Valley. But this was not the reason why Tim Cook was stunned. The reason why he was not shocked and only reacted after a long time was because he had roughly guessed the reason why Lin Ching-ah called him.
So, Tim Cook asked respectfully, "Miss Lin, may I know why you called me?"
Lin Ching-ah smiled and said, "Tim, I heard that Apple is looking for a powerful person or group to take over. Is this true?"
"Yes." Tim Cook said without hesitation, "We are indeed looking for a powerful buyer for Apple."
Tim Cook was not surprised. The entire Silicon Valley knew that Apple was eager to cash out to prevent losses. It was not surprising that Lin Ching-ah knew about it.
However, Tim Cook was very curious about one thing. Could it be that Lin Qingya was interested in Apple?
At this time, Lin Ching-ah said, "Tim, Makino Technology is interested in Apple. If you have time, we can sit down and have a chat."
Tim Cook was delighted. Although Makino Technology was Apple's enemy, from a business perspective, Makino Technology was the most suitable company to buy Apple.
However, Tim Cook thought carefully and said after a while, "Miss Lin, let me remind you in advance that we are looking for a full acquisition of the shares of the core shareholders. This is not financing, nor is it a transfer of part of the shares. You have to accept this first before we can continue to talk."
Lin Ching-ah said with a smile, "Of course, we don't want to simply invest in Apple. That is meaningless for us. There is still room for a full acquisition."
"Full acquisition?!" Tim Cook asked. His voice sounded calm, but his heart was already in turmoil.
Makino Technology wanted to buy Apple. This was really unexpected to Tim Cook, because he felt that Li Mu could not use Apple at all, so why would he spend money to buy a loser that he could not use?
Moreover, why did Li Mu want to buy Apple's operating system and PC business? These two sectors were meaningless to the current Makino Technology. As for the iPod, it was easy to explain. Li Mu might be like Microsoft, clearing the obstacles for his own products.
Following Li Mu's request, Lin Ching-ah could not be bothered to beat around the bush with Apple. So, she went straight to the point. "Tim, our Chairman thinks that Apple is a company with potential. Out of his recognition of you and the needs of our own business lines, he decided to acquire your company. He also heard that you were humiliated by Microsoft because of this incident, and he also felt that Microsoft had gone overboard. That's why he asked me to talk to you all. If we can reach an agreement, he will pay, and all the technical staff in your company will be transferred to Makino Technology. If we can't reach an agreement, you all can accept Microsoft's separation agreement and only sell the operating system to them."
When Lin Ching-ah mentioned Microsoft, Tim Cook was depressed. This time, Microsoft had hurt the pride of Apple's core staff. To them, the software and hardware they had worked so hard to develop might not be the best in the industry, but they were at least among the top. But now, in Microsoft's eyes, their hard work was worthless. Apple's only value to Microsoft was to ensure that Microsoft would not be subject to anti-monopoly laws. Apple was like a tool to Microsoft.
After thinking for a while, Tim Cook asked Lin Ching-ah. "Manager Lin, if we sell Apple to Makino Technology, what price will Makino Technology offer us? Other than the price, does he have any other thoughts about our company and team? "
Lin Qingya smiled faintly and said, "As for what exactly Boss Li has in mind, I'm not too sure either. So, we can arrange a time to have a good chat and see what you all want. After that, I'll go and talk to Boss Li."
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