Yu Chengnan entered the private room accompanied by his assistant, guided by a waiter. His hair was freshly cropped in a flat-top style, and he wore a sharp gray suit accented with a wine-red tie, giving off a refined, commanding presence.
Upon spotting Chen Mo and Zhao Min, he immediately greeted them with a warm smile.
"President Chen, President Zhao, long time no see."
"Indeed, it's been a while," Chen Mo said, shaking his hand.
"You're looking more beautiful by the day, Assistant Xiao Yu," Yu Chengnan added with a wink.
Xiao Yu gave a modest smile. "Thank you, Mr. Yu."
After a bit of small talk, Yu Chengnan noticed the unfamiliar face in the room and looked toward Chen Mo for an introduction.
Chen Mo nodded toward the elegant woman beside him. "This is Xu Jialin's daughter—Xu Xinxin."
"If you'd just left out the first half of that introduction, it would've been perfect," Xu Xinxin said playfully, extending her hand with a polite smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Yu. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Xu Xinxin."
"A pleasure," Yu Chengnan replied, shaking her hand. "I've heard that Xu Jialin has an outstanding daughter. Meeting you today confirms it."
"Thank you for the compliment," she replied graciously.
Yu Chengnan had just taken his seat when Lei Jun walked in with two others—Chen Mingyong, the CEO of OPPO, and Fan Wei, the head of Vivo. With the arrival of these three heavyweights, the room came alive with energy.
"President Chen, President Zhao, President Yu," Lei Jun greeted warmly as he entered. Chen Mingyong and Fan Wei followed suit, exchanging pleasantries with everyone present.
With the heads of the four major domestic mobile phone brands now gathered, over half of China's mobile industry was represented in that room.
Understanding the nature of the discussion, Xu Xinxin quietly excused herself and left the room. Business negotiations among tech giants weren't something an outsider should overhear.
Once the room settled, Lei Jun took the lead. "So, President Chen, what kind of cooperation do you have in mind this time?"
"You'll have to ask Zhao Min," Chen Mo said with a smile, nodding in her direction. "She handles operations."
All eyes turned to Zhao Min. She retrieved several documents from Xiao Yu and distributed them to Yu Chengnan, Lei Jun, and the others.
"These are the proposed contract terms for cooperation," she said directly. "All of you have the same terms."
The executives were visibly surprised and immediately started reading the documents in their hands. It was clear now—Marching Ant Company was serious about authorizing their multilingual intelligent assistant.
They had always hoped for a chance to license Marching Ant's assistant, but until now, it had only been available on their own Butterfly Eye phones. Now, with authorization on the table—especially in the wake of Apple's Siri upgrade—none of them could afford to let the opportunity slip by.
"I won't waste time explaining what the intelligent assistant does. You already know. Let's talk about the key terms," Zhao Min continued.
Everyone leaned in, giving her their full attention.
"We're charging a licensing fee of 5.2% of the retail price per phone, settled quarterly."
"5.2%? That's a bit steep," Yu Chengnan said. "President Zhao, you know the profit margins on our phones aren't that high."
"I think it's perfectly reasonable," Zhao Min replied calmly. "You'll be selling phones with brand-new tech. Are you saying your prices won't increase?"
"We don't make the real money. Most of the profits go to distributors," said Chen Mingyong.
"Exactly. Our margins are already tight," Fan Wei agreed.
Zhao Min stayed composed. "With the smart assistant included, even a phone priced at 2,000 or 3,000 yuan will offer a user experience that rivals Apple. A price hike is inevitable. If you increase prices by 10%, all the profit goes to you. Our 5.2% cut is already modest."
Silence fell over the room as the executives digested her words.
Except for Huawei, which had a strong presence in the high-end market, and Xiaomi, which straddled mid-to-high range, most of the other brands focused on mid-range or budget phones. At 2,000 yuan per phone, paying over 100 yuan per unit to Marching Ant didn't leave much room for profit.
But Zhao Min wasn't done.
"With a multilingual intelligent assistant, you can fully tap into South Asia, Southeast Asia, and even parts of Europe. It gives your mid-range products the power to challenge high-end brands. You could even start cutting into Samsung's and Apple's market share. I don't need to explain the long-term benefits."
The executives exchanged looks, still weighing the proposition.
Zhao Min had a point. In many foreign markets, English wasn't the primary language. Multilingual support was a major barrier to entry. If Marching Ant hadn't been blocked from global markets, they might have already dominated.
Refusing this cooperation would mean falling behind—perhaps permanently.
Just like Nokia was pushed out by Samsung and Apple during the smartphone boom, they could be next.
"How about a flat licensing fee—150 yuan per unit?" Lei Jun suggested.
The others perked up at the idea and turned to Zhao Min.
"I think Lei's offer makes sense," Yu Chengnan chimed in.
"No," Zhao Min replied instantly, without hesitation.
"Too low? How about 160 yuan?" Fan Wei offered. "That's about 6% of our average phone price. It's still very reasonable."
"No. You don't need to negotiate," Zhao Min said firmly. "Licensing our assistant is already a big concession. We won't compromise on the fee."
She wasn't bluffing.
Material costs were rising, exchange rates fluctuating, and the average price of phones had already jumped by 30% last year. That trend would continue.
A fixed 160 yuan per phone might look fair now, but as phone prices kept increasing, the effective percentage would drop, and Marching Ant would lose out.
"I'm not asking for 6%. Just 5.2%. Let's not pretend we don't understand each other," Zhao Min said with a calm smile, pointing at the contract documents.
"Cooperation is up to you. We've shown our sincerity. Take the contracts with you, review them carefully. If you're satisfied, contact us to finalize the deal. If you have concerns, you can also get in touch. Of course, if anyone wants to sign today, I won't stop you."
"Well," Chen Mo cut in, shifting the mood, "that's enough business talk. Time to eat. That's important too."
Everyone chuckled and moved over to the dining table as staff began serving the dishes.
"President Chen, what are you working on these days? Got any new tech to wow us with?" asked Chen Mingyong.
"Yeah, share some insider tips with us," Lei Jun added half-jokingly.
The others nodded in encouragement.
"Please drop the word 'tips,'" Chen Mo said dryly, making everyone laugh.
"What I'm working on is still confidential. If I say too much, it won't be a surprise anymore. Just wait and see," Chen Mo said with a grin.
The atmosphere lightened, and the conversation drifted to casual topics. Despite being competitors, everyone could still enjoy a meal together like old friends.
No one brought up business again during dinner. Discussing contracts over food could ruin the vibe.
After a relaxed and enjoyable meal, everyone took a brief rest before getting ready to leave.
Now the ball was in their court.
The sample contract from Marching Ant was in their hands. As Zhao Min had said, as long as they agreed to the terms, they could sign at any time.
With Apple's S3 still in pre-sale, the race was on. If they moved quickly, they could snatch up market share before Apple's official release.