Chapter 298
Chapter 298
Yoo-hyun explained the exact reason without wasting time.
“It’s because Apple hasn’t announced their official schedule yet.”
“Didn’t they give you a deadline? That’s why we came here for the business trip.”
When Vice President Yeo Tae-sik objected, Yoo-hyun answered right away.
“If it was an official product review, they should have informed the media long ago. But Apple is consistent in playing dumb.”
Vice President Shin Kyung-wook, who nodded his head, chimed in.
“That sounds right. It doesn’t make sense to call the media now.”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Then, are you saying that Steve Jobs is not interested in this product review?”
Apple had not mentioned anything about the product review.
From the outside, it looked like Apple had changed their mind about the panel.
But Yoo-hyun thought differently.
“No. It’s the opposite. They liked the panel so much that they don’t want to have an official product review.”
“Why is that?”
“Because Steve Jobs would want to show off the best panel at a place where he is the protagonist.”
Yoo-hyun said confidently.
At that moment, in the office on the third floor of Apple headquarters.
Philip Schiller, who was sitting down, asked John Norman in a questioning tone.
“What do you mean you don’t want to have an official product review?”
“It’s Steve’s decision. What can we do about it?”
Philip Schiller spat out a regretful voice.
As a marketing manager, he was sorry to miss such a good publicity opportunity.
But what was more absurd was John Norman, who designed the mockup.
“Then what about the mockup? Are you just going to bury it?”
“No. Steve already saw it.”
“Already? The final version hasn’t even come out yet.”
“You know Steve’s personality. Once he gets hooked, he can’t get out of it.”
Philip Schiller’s answer made John Norman ask cautiously.
“Then…”
“Yeah. He probably liked it a lot.”
“Really?”
“That’s why his room still has the light on.”
Philip Schiller gave a meaningful answer as he looked out the window.
Back to the seminar room on the first floor of Los Altos Hills Hotel.
Vice President Shin Kyung-wook nodded his head in agreement after hearing Yoo-hyun’s confident words.
“You might be right. That sounds like something Steve Jobs would think.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
When Yoo-hyun answered, Vice President Shin Kyung-wook raised his index finger and said.
“But your argument is missing one thing.”
“What is that?”
“That is the response of the competitors. I don’t know about Ilsung, but Sharp is sharpening their knives right now.”
“I expected that.”
When Yoo-hyun nodded his head, Vice President Shin Kyung-wook asked further.
“Did you hear that Sharp’s panel came out pretty good?”
“Yes. I heard that.”
Vice President Shin Kyung-wook did not ask for the source of Yoo-hyun’s answer.
Instead, he expressed his concern.
“But aren’t you worried?”
“Their product reliability is not at a level that can be shown yet. It will be hard in reality too.”
“But this is a demo. They only need one well-made panel. Reliability is a later issue.”
“Their panel is not at the same level as ours. It’s just an imitation.”
“They will postpone improving their level. They still have time.”
As the conversation continued, the hypothesis became more concrete.
Vice President Shin Kyung-wook added one more thing.
“Right. If their opponent is Tim Cook, he will definitely bite.”
“That’s right. Tim Cook is sensitive to price.”
Even though they couldn’t see their opponent, they spoke as if they were sure.
It showed how much they had analyzed Apple.
“…”
Vice President Yeo Tae-sik stared at them blankly.
Kim Young-gil, who had been blinking his eyes since earlier, was speechless.
In a hotel room located in south San Francisco Bay.
A man in a suit fiddled with a mockup and picked up the phone.
There was a small Hansung logo on the edge of the mockup.
After the connection sound, Japanese came out of his mouth.
“Yes, boss. I’m on my way back from meeting Tim Cook.”
-What did he say?
“He was very satisfied with our price. And he checked the status of Hansung’s panel…”
When the man explained, the boss laughed loudly.
-Haha. Good. There’s no difference then. The game is over.
“That’s right. We’ve practically won this fight.”
-Haha. You’re reliable. Well, I’ll leave it to you.
“Yes. I understand.”
A thick smile hung on the man’s lips.
At the same time, in the CEO office on the fourth floor of Apple headquarters.
Tim Cook cautiously said to Steve Jobs, who was sitting on the sofa.
“Steve, I hope you look at this from a business perspective.”
“Tim, are you saying that I should choose a crappy panel because of money?”
Steve Jobs pointed at one of the two mockups on the table with his finger and asked back.
“Yes. It may be inferior for now, but it will improve over time.”
Tim Cook’s words made Steve Jobs pick up the other mockup and say.
“You don’t know. This is fundamentally a different panel.”
“But the resolution is the same, and the specs are…”
“No. It’s different, completely.”
Steve Jobs pushed the mockup on the table and dropped it.
Whish. Thud.
It collided with the mockup that was already on the floor and made a cracking sound.
Steve Jobs’ voice overlapped with that sound.
“But Tim, I respect your opinion. They might be able to pull it off.”
“Thank you. I’ll repay you with high performance.”
Tim Cook bowed and left.
Los Altos Hills Hotel seminar room on the first floor.
Vice President Shin Kyung-wook asked in a puzzled tone after hearing Yoo-hyun’s explanation.
“Why aren’t you worried about Sharp even though you know all that?”
“Steve Jobs is not an easy person.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means that he is not a person who would choose a second-rate panel.”
Steve Jobs was a person who prioritized products thoroughly.
He never compromised even on the smallest details if there was a problem.
He wouldn’t choose an inferior product when he had a better one.
There were also some devices that Yoo-hyun had set up.
But Vice President Shin Kyung-wook was not completely convinced.
“That would be true if it was the old Steve Jobs. But I heard that he gives more authority to Tim Cook now.”
“That doesn’t mean he becomes a cat from a tiger.”
“So you’re saying that Steve Jobs will make the final choice?”
“Yes. That’s what I think.”
Yoo-hyun spat out with certainty.
Vice President Shin Kyung-wook looked at him with curiosity.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I researched him.”
“That doesn’t seem like something you can know just by researching.”
Yoo-hyun knew Steve Jobs well from the beginning.
He was a person who could not be unknown in the IT industry.
And now.
Yoo-hyun delved deeper into him.
He visualized him so vividly that he could hear Steve Jobs’ voice when he closed his eyes.
The result was confidence that radiated from him.
“I have dug deeper than you think. I won’t be wrong.”
“Haha. Your confidence is really amazing.”
“If I didn’t have that much confidence, I wouldn’t have started.”
Shin Kyung-wook, the executive director, exclaimed as he saw Yoo-hyun’s bold eyes.
“Wow…”
He looked at Yoo-hyun silently for a while and then opened his mouth.
“So you’re saying it’s a game we can’t lose?”
“Yes. That’s right. This presentation will be the decisive blow.”
“Is this what made it possible?”
The executive director turned his head and looked at the screen.
A single word was floating above a large image.
Yoo-hyun pointed to the screen and said.
“To be exact, it’s this word.”
The CEO’s office on the fourth floor of Apple’s headquarters.
Even after Tim Cook left, Steve Jobs was immersed in the mockup for a while.
He muttered as he looked at the mockup in his hand.
“This is exactly the screen I wanted.”
The picture on the panel was as realistic as a real photo.
It looked clear no matter how he turned it.
It was not just the quality of the screen that was good.
The elements that made up the mockup, the layout of the internal design, everything was what he wanted.
It might look similar on the outside, but it was different from the mockup that fell on the floor.
Steve Jobs had already pictured the iPhone 4 in his head.
There was only one thing left.
“What should I call this wonderful screen?”
He kept looking at the panel screen for a while after that.
During his stay at the hotel, Yoo-hyun had some leisure but never let his guard down.
He tried not to miss even a single possibility.
Kim Young-gil, the manager, also trained himself in sync with Yoo-hyun.
Two days later.
Yoo-hyun met Yeo Tae-sik, the executive director, at the hotel lobby with Kim Young-gil.
Yeo Tae-sik said with a gloomy expression.
“I just got the date for the evaluation meeting.”
“When is it?”
“It’s tomorrow.”
“They’re giving us short notice.”
Yoo-hyun chuckled and Yeo Tae-sik nodded.
“And they limited the number of people to two.”
“I see.”
Yoo-hyun had expected this situation to some extent.
If they were going to have a secret evaluation meeting, they wouldn’t ask for many people.
Yeo Tae-sik raised his voice with regret.
“Those Apple bastards, they’re really abusing their power. Wouldn’t it be nice if they told us earlier?”
Anyway, one of these three had to be left out.
Kim Young-gil opened his mouth nervously.
“I’ll…”
Then Yoo-hyun spoke first.
“We’ll do our best.”
Yeo Tae-sik nodded.
“Of course. You two are better than me.”
“We’ll bring good results. Please rest well.”
Yoo-hyun put his will in his casual tone.
Yeo Tae-sik nodded again.
“Okay. I’m counting on you.”
“Please treat us to a big dinner tomorrow night.”
“Haha. Just do well. I’ll do anything.”
“Yes. Please keep that promise.”
Yoo-hyun smiled brightly and Yeo Tae-sik shook his head vigorously.
That night.
Yoo-hyun sat in a chair in his room with his eyes closed.
His hands with nails clipped were lightly placed on his thighs.
His posture was flawless and his breathing was stable.
He looked like he was meditating, but he was different.
New scenes were unfolding endlessly in Yoo-hyun’s head.
Apple’s headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino.
Yoo-hyun entered the center of the glass building.
The interior of the building, shaped by his past memories, was quite detailed.
His destination was the secret meeting room on the third floor.
It was where Steve Jobs liked to have meetings with Apple’s executives.
There was a high possibility that this presentation would be held here, where outsiders were not allowed to enter.
It was Yoo-hyun’s inference based on Steve Jobs’ past remarks, the characteristics of this evaluation meeting, and the sudden personnel restriction.
Yoo-hyun opened the door of that room that he had never entered before.
The scenery of the photo that appeared in Steve Jobs’ autobiography unfolded before him.
The atmosphere created by combining interviews with employees touched his skin.