Chapter 1494 Black Empire

After the completion of the acquisition, Palm carried out drastic reforms to IBM's original PC department. The super layoff plan will wipe out the Beimi manufacturing business of IBM's original PC department in a short period of time. Palm CEO Jeffrey Hawkins has always insisted on redesigning Under the guidance of the light manufacturing route, except for a few management and R&D employees who have been transferred to other new companies, at least one-third of the nearly 10,000 former IBM employees will lose their jobs within this year...most of them are front-line blue-collar workers. '

'All the manufacturing operations of the new Palm Group will be outsourced to East Asian foundry companies...and brought under the management of the supply chain department of former IBM and Sega employees and Palm Japanese executive Ryutaro Yamamoto. '

'The employees of the original software department who were criticized for the IBM personal computer family barrel will also be integrated by Palm into its PDA, personal computer, mobile phone operating system, software, online music store and website business. Former Apple employee and current Beats president Donna Dubinsky will also serve as software manager and executive director of the group company. '

'The bloated management of the original IBM personal computer department has also been greatly streamlined. Stephen Ward, the senior vice president and general manager of the former IBM personal computer department, will take over as the general manager and chief operating officer of Palm Group, and the director of the group company, responsible for integration, Manage the various businesses of the two companies as well as channel departments such as offline retail stores. At the same time, Ward will continue to manage the most important desktop and ThinkPad notebook computer departments, and the Motorola A+ notebook computer brand, personnel and patents jointly owned by Motorola and Palm Chairman APLUS will also be absorbed by this department. '

'In contrast, the hardware R&D department of IBM's original PC department such as Yamato Laboratories has been almost completely retained, and most of the management positions have been occupied by IBM personnel. The position of technical officer...'

On January 1, 2005, the merger and acquisition case that shocked the global IT industry was settled under Song Ya's personal management. Palm completed the snake swallowing, and the number of employees, sales scale, popularity, and influence have all increased by more than one big. steps.

Through the introduction of the IBM department, the actual power of Jeffrey Hawkins, Jean-Louis Gasser, and Sean Fanning, who occupy the latrines and do not shit, has also been greatly reduced. Their positions and status are still there, but at least they can find people for their respective affairs. Helped out.

Such a brutal layoff plan was naturally attacked by dismissed employees, labor unions, politicians, and the media. However, benefiting from Song Ya's strong political, business and media relations, Jeffrey Hawkins, the CEO of brain-computer start-up companies who are addicted to investing in brain-computer startups, came out again. If the individual bears the blame, this level should be able to survive.

The so-called 'Save Palm Movement' that was instigated by people with serious intentions has also become insignificant because of this mega-acquisition.

Due to the long-term loss of IBM's original PC department, Palm only turned around in fiscal year 2004 relying on the Treo650 mobile phone, the second-generation Beats Walkman, and music store revenue. In addition, Palm took over IBM's $600 million in debt, and the burden became heavier. At the beginning, the capital market was not very optimistic that Palm, a pony, could successfully pull IBM's cart.

After the merger was completed, IBM's stock price rose sharply while Palm plummeted.

It was not until the outside world recognized that the layoff plan could be implemented smoothly that the market reaction suddenly became enthusiastic.

"It seems that everyone knows where the real crux lies. After Palm resumes trading, it should be sought after by investors..."

Highland Park, Song Ya and the new leadership of the new Palm, CEO Jeffrey Hawkins, COO Stephen Ward, CTO Su Zi, Donna Dubinsky, Yamamoto Ryutaro and others held a meeting. On the eve of the stock price recovery, the atmosphere of the meeting very good.

"Dr. Su Zi, I heard that you are related to Huang Xun, the founder of NV Company?"

Song Ya asked Dr. Su Zi, a former IBM Chinese female executive who was just five years older than herself, a technology and management expert who had just been poached at a high price.

"Yes, my grandfather is his mother's brother." Dr. Su Zi replied.

"Brother? Wow, aren't you a generation shorter than him, and you want to call him..."

"Heavy!"

Song Ya was gossiping, when the door was pushed open vigorously, a blond girl with messy makeup rushed in and wailed involuntarily, "I... I pounced again! APLUS... soaring!"

Why is this scene so familiar! ?

"It's a meeting, Charis."

Song Ya asked her, "What's the matter? Is Alexander the Great not doing well at the box office?"

In order to merge the IBM PC department with Palm, he was so busy that he had little time to sleep during this period. He didn't have a good Christmas, and he didn't have the energy to pay attention to the movie box office.

"Alexander the Great was cut to pieces by shit Warner Pictures! The global box office may...may not even match the 155 million production costs!"

She complained loudly: "Even the great director Oliver Stone couldn't stop him, he was pissed off by the released version!"

Well! Like Harley, it fell into Warner's hands.

The men present at the meeting responded very unanimously, and took the opportunity to look up and down at the crying South African diamond and imagine some scenes of the other party's performance in the movie Fifty Shades of Grey. The two women, Su Zi and Donna, also blinked curiously. Observe this Hollywood first-line porn star who has such a close relationship with the billionaire boss that he can directly break into the other's home.

"Warner is like this, go out first, and talk about it after I finish the meeting."

Song Ya got up and half-coaxed and half-pushed her out the door: "Go out, boy... Where did we just talk? By the way, the new advertisement..."

"APLUS is crazy at IBM."

At the same time, Eisner also gave up his New Year's vacation plan. There are only three months left before the next shareholder meeting, and he must keep an eye on him all the time to prevent himself from falling off the wire rope. on all Disney media."

"It will be the twentieth soon, the inauguration of the re-election of the George dynasty..."

Robert Iger looks at the picture of his fingers.

In a certain parking lot of IBM Corporation, white elites who have been laid off are holding cardboard boxes and walking towards their cars. Many of them are middle-aged faces. Behind every fired position is the stable life of a whole middle-class family. The frustrated and confused faces look sad against the background of the glorious and long-standing pride of the United States: Big Blue Logo.

"It's okay, just do it."

Eisner knew that Robert Iger, who belonged to the Jobs camp, would definitely be happy to see it, "That kid is ruthless, at least some people in the company can see his true face, don't think that supporting him will get you anything in return, it is very likely Like these people in IBM, he became a stepping stone in his pursuit of beautiful financial statements, and was ruthlessly abandoned..."

"OK."

Robert Iger readily took the order, "Mr. Chairman." Before he left, he nodded and greeted Chairman George Mitchell who had just arrived.

"Congratulations, Michael, I heard that Pixar's Cars will start filming as scheduled this summer, which is great and great news for our stock price."

George Mitchell has become the chairman of the board for more than half a year, and his voice has become louder and louder. There is nothing he can do. He can’t do much on the board of directors except blow his beard and stare. The position of chairman, and the introduction of Goldman Sachs, what should I say?"

But he is the chairman after all, and he can still do things within the scope of his authority.

"No problem, I will cooperate."

This year's shareholder meeting is the turn of re-election pressure on Linton and another director who supports him. Eisner's strategy to George Mitchell is to say what the other party says, and he promises everything first, and actually says one thing and does another. .

"OK, a new war will start again, are you afraid, Michael!?"

George Mitchell opened his hands with pride and asked.

"I don't know what it means to be afraid!"

"Palm acquired the IBM PC division and Motorola's A+ notebook computer business. The consulting business was given to Morningstar and Bear Stearns. The financing business was given to Northern Trust, the First Bank of New Jersey, and investment banks. The legal work was Gates' father's PGE law firm. It was done by PricewaterhouseCoopers in Samuel, and we were completely out of the way."

In Manhattan, people from Goldman Sachs are also reporting to Chairman Paulson, "Palm gave IBM shares worth 600 million knives and immediately expanded the introduction of his and Motorola's shares through the acquisition of Motorola A+ laptop company, which made him at least Still retaining its dominance at Palm for a short period of time."

"I see. Is this the same lineup that he bought Warner Records?" Paulson didn't plan to make trouble there, and APLUS was able to quickly persuade Ranoff to quit, making external forces less prepared.

"almost."

Compared with the rigorous IBM, AOL Time Warner leaked like a sieve, and no information could be hidden from Goldman Sachs. His subordinates replied: "Warner is using the merger with EMI to raise the price, but APLUS should still be able to get it done quickly. , AOL Time Warner Group has his friends from the AOL department, and the current YAHOOC CEO Terry Semel will also use his influence as the former co-CEO of Warner Pictures to help. The final transaction price is likely to not exceed three billion dollars..."

"The black pharaoh is really strong in action, and he can unite a considerable alliance with money. After ten years of operation, the Chicago consortium will have successors."

Paulson nodded in recognition of Song Ya's ability, "I remember that the Bronfman family still owns a small amount of shares in Warner Music, right?"

"Yes, but they have put all their holdings into a family trust company, and I'm afraid they have no intention of returning to the entertainment industry." The subordinate replied.

"Did you ask old Bronfman to play golf with me?"

"He declined because of his poor health, but you are welcome to Canada."

"Oh! Let's forget it..."

Paulson didn't want to go to Canada at this critical juncture, because he had an appointment with the George Dynasty and was preparing for a very important personal meeting.

On January 20, 2004, General George Jr. was sworn in for re-election. Many important members of the cabinet were replaced with new faces, and they moved closer to the political correctness of ethnic balance. For example, Colin was succeeded by a historically Condoleezza, the first black female Secretary of State, was replaced by Ashcroft's first Latino Attorney General, Alberto Gonzalez.

In the few days before this, Apple has successively launched new Walkmans: the second-generation iPodmini and the first-generation iPodshuffle that uses flash memory as the storage medium.

"We did an online music store, Beats followed, we moved to high-capacity micro drives, Beats followed, we moved to smaller hard drives that were lighter in weight, Beats continued to follow, and now we moved to flash memory, Beats didn't Follow up if you know if you have any face haha..."

The frequency of Apple’s new Walkman products is getting faster and faster, and there is a time gap with Beats. John Rubenstein, the head of the iPod project, smiled optimistically and teased competitors at the meeting, “Users will see clearly their nature of follow suit, I Remember when APLUS wrote a song called CopyCat for Milla Jovovich?"

Jobs, on the other hand, was not in such a good mood. He always kept a straight face. His illness had relapsed after the operation, and Pixar Animation, the rich man, fell into the quagmire of the infighting Disney. 100% of the shares fell into the hands of the black pharaoh, which far exceeded his personal shareholding ratio in Apple.

Wouldn't my CEO be a part-time job for him?

Angry at the thought of this, he asked John Rubenstein sharply, "But I noticed that Beats Walkmans and music stores have formed a solid user base. Starting from the second generation of Beats, the selling price and profit margin of their single products Can be maintained at a high level, flash memory? They have always had a good relationship with Samsung, the main player in that field, and the lack of control of the supply chain and channels after the acquisition of IBM's PC division has also been well compensated...so you have What are you so happy about?"

"Well……"

John Rubinstein was a little embarrassed: "I mean if they follow the trend of the flash walkman, the style of the product will not be maintained anymore, and users will no longer recognize their high price."

This is true, Jobs pursed his lips, and did not insult anyone anymore.

"Palm Group has just released the first long-form corporate advertisement after the merger, do you want to see it?" Someone came in and asked.

"Look."

Advertisements can often tell what strategy the company wants to implement, what idea it wants to express, which group of people it wants to please, and what product it wants to sell, especially the first ad that promotes a new company with such a great significance. Jobs nodded and allowed his subordinates to play.

Judging from the realistic street scene layout, this advertisement is obviously expensive. The male protagonist is a thin, elegant and aggressive white man in his sixties, wearing a British-style tailored dark suit. , carrying an old-fashioned traditional leather men's bag, and combing his hair meticulously, he walked into a building calmly.

"Who is the actor? It looks familiar."

"British actor Charles Dance."

"Using such an old-fashioned image of a business elite? Is Beats Walkman determined not to be a mainstream market for young people?"

"Don't worry, the plot may be reversed later."

Apple executives discussed it.

"Hehehe..." Then everyone smiled knowingly.

Charles Dance walked into a company with a non-existent name, but this company has a very strong sense of déjà vu for people who live and work in Silicon Valley, because it obviously has the management and office environment style most admired by the Internet upstart companies in Silicon Valley. , that is: simple and bright office space decoration, rich snacks that can be taken at will, and an assortment of tea rooms. Because of the emphasis on individuality, there is no restriction on the dress of employees, so people walking around have colorful clothes, and they are all young. Faces, some employees walked past Charles Dance on roller skates, and several employees sat on the floor by the wall, pointing at their laptops and discussing code.

There are various small items on the workstations that Charles Dance passed, such as the helmet of the black warrior in Star Wars, superhero posters, dolls of anime characters, etc...

A traditional, older white business elite is completely out of place in this scene.

But Charles Dance did not show any dissatisfaction, disdain or discomfort, and only showed a restrained faint smile in front of the camera.

He seemed to be here to discuss business, and was ushered into the conference room by several high-level executives who were also casually dressed. There were various colorful shells on the table in the conference room, but nonexistent brand laptops.

"Thanks."

Charles Dance's staid and old-fashioned style of behavior once again showed the conflict with the other party's company culture. He took out his business cards and distributed them politely one by one. Slowly take out paper notebooks, pens, ThinkPad classic T43 notebook computers and PalmTero650 smartphones from the bag.

This character seems to have obsessive-compulsive disorder, everything is matte black, and he puts it in an orderly manner.

Jobs watched silently with no expression on his face. The black ThinkPad and Palm looked really unique and eye-catching when put together.

It seems to be intentional, and is exactly the opposite of its own Apple products. Although Apple's computers and Walkman products are available in various bright colors, the first releases are generally white.

The clip of the commercial was very neat. Charles Dance pressed the T43 wake-up button and began to connect to the big screen to explain his PPT to the participants.

"Ad fraud! IBM laptops are not that fast!"

According to the reaction speed of the computer in front of Charles Dance in the advertisement, the performance of the T43 seems too good, and everyone at Apple began to complain and boo.

But everyone knows that, at least in the field of laptops and smartphones, the style advantages of Apple products cannot be supported by these two brands.

It is impossible for a person who uses an Apple computer to have a sense of superiority in front of a person who uses an IBM ThinkPad from the beginning to the end of history.

"The main productivity tool? They want to focus on pleasing the business elite?"

With the omission of the meeting process, Charles Dance showed the superior performance and exclusive functions of ThinkPad notebook computer and Palm smart phone respectively, and once again crushed various unknown color shell phones of other participants.

John Rubinstein frowned and complained: "Everywhere deliberately behaves like how unprofessional the office style in Silicon Valley is..."

"The character played by Charles Dance represents the life and work attitude of men in the old days. He treats his career wholeheartedly and with all his strength in an extremely serious manner, maintains a gentlemanly demeanor at all times, and always appears in his best state at work and socially. occasions, but the mannerisms are too decadent, too old-fashioned, not even American... more British."

"They're not going to push the Walkman?"

Everyone is aware of this. Music players are not productivity tools. This advertising style may please ThinkPad and Palm users, but it will not help Beats brand products, and may even make potential customers think they are too old-fashioned. Have the opposite effect.

"After buying the ThinkPad, the transformation of Palm is also normal." Someone judged.

Jobs' intuition couldn't be that simple.

At the end of the meeting, Charles Dance walked out of the building. He sat down on a bench across the street. The place was bustling with traffic. Some street men and women in hip-hop costumes were playing skateboards next to them, and a black man was carrying a drum and playing strong electronic music. large cassette tape recorder.

Charles Dance watched this scene with a smile on his face. He reached into the inner pocket of the suit and took out the black Beats Walkman and headphones.

The focus of the camera is from the silk scarf with a dark pattern around his neck. He demonstrates the quick song selection function, and then puts on the earphones.

Whatitis, whatitdoes, whatitis, whatitisn’t, Looking for a better way to get up out of bed…

The commercial soundtrack immediately switched to Can't Hold Us sung by APLUS, an extremely fast-paced RAP part in Unstoppable.

Charles Dance showed another face after finishing work. His body relaxed, his hands and head swayed intoxicatedly with the beat of the music, and the camera zoomed out. He seemed to be gradually integrated with young hip-hop men and women of various ethnicities on the street. .

The screen fades to black, and the three brand names of PalmThinkPadBeats appear side by side in the center.

The Black Empire of APLUS...

The commercial ended abruptly, and the conference room fell into silence.

The iPod will never be able to overwhelm the Beats in style...