Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3129 Sowing discord

Robert Egger was very happy to receive Zhou Buqi's invitation.

He didn't want to make things too ugly.

If there are disagreements, it is best to resolve them peacefully.

The reason why Robert Iger has different ideas from Zhou Buqi is mainly due to two demands: first, Hollywood cannot allow a company like Ziweixing Global to dominate the market, and Disney also has ambitions; second, the incident must be settled as soon as possible and Apple cannot be at the center of the storm.

Seeing Zhou Buqi's active invitation, Robert Egger lowered his attitude and expressed his willingness to come to the door.

Zhou Buqi invited him to come to Ziweixing Global to watch the final online test of its own streaming platform Peacock.

The process was perfect.

The time has been set.

  On October 10th, Peacock will be officially launched!

Then, Zhou Buqi invited him to take a walk in the small garden in the Ziweixing Global Headquarters Park. There were mountains, water and pavilions. This small garden was completely in Chinese style. There were three large characters "Shuangfei Pavilion" written in a flamboyant style in the wooden pavilion.

Robert Egger couldn't read, so he pointed at the plaque curiously and asked what it was.

Zhou Buqi told him that this was Shuangfei Pavilion.

Egg was even more curious, "Shuangfei Pavilion? What does Shuangfei mean?"

Zhou Buqi said seriously: "Look at the two sides of this pavilion. There is a bridge on each side, just like the wings of a bird flying, so it is called Shuangfei Pavilion."

Robert Egger said in awe: "Well, it has a lot of cultural connotations! Shuangfei Pavilion... Well, great! There are so few young people like you who are so young and so cultured in this era! Only people like you can have such ingenuity and cultural background to innovate such an artistic bridge and pavilion design as 'Shuangfei Pavilion'."

"It's not really innovation, I just study every day. I spent more than an hour studying last night."

Zhou Buqi spoke the truth.

Robert Iger was even more impressed, "Yeah, that's it, culture is about accumulation."

Zhou Buqi felt that he had no cultural temperament, so he did not talk to him about these elegant things. He smiled and said, "By the way, did you know that the price of Apple TV has dropped?"

Apple made televisions.

However, this production line has been abandoned. Apple TV is not a TV, but a TV box. The box is equipped with an operating system, which is equivalent to a built-in platform with many streaming media App products.

For now, Apple TV is still the best TV box on the market.

Robert Iger nodded. "I also have an Apple box at home. My daughter bought it for me. She always watches... I heard that Apple's commission on Netflix has been reduced from 30% to 15%?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Yes, it has been reduced by half."

Robert Egger said, "You must have won another great victory."

"It has nothing to do with me." Zhou Buqi waved his hand, and the two of them walked towards the pavilion in the middle of the lake. "This is Cook's decision, and I am just following the trend. The main purpose of Apple's price cut is to allow Apple TV to occupy a larger market share."

Iger said: "Apple's products are indeed not so affordable in terms of price."

Zhou Buqi turned his head and looked at him, "That's not the reason."

"Oh?"

Robert Egger was slightly startled and stopped.

Zhou Buqi said: "Apple TV has a strong product. Without a longer-term strategic plan, they will never be able to reduce the commission from 30% to 15%. The 30% commission system is the basis for Apple's transformation from a manufacturer to a service provider. Logically speaking, Cook would rather give up the Apple TV product line than reduce the price."

“Then why did you lower the price?”

"Because there is a more important goal!"

"What is the goal?"

"What do you say?"

Zhou Buqi smiled, then extended his hand and invited him to walk into the pavilion.

It is now the golden autumn of October.

There are fallen leaves floating in the pavilion, and there are famous "Lady Bury" lotus flowers in the pond.

The scenery is quite refreshing.

Although Robert Iger is a director of Apple, he has no idea about Apple's long-term strategy. "You should just announce the answer directly!"

Zhou Buqi said: "Netflix is ​​now the most popular company on the Nasdaq! Ziweixing Global is also going to launch the streaming platform Peacock. Isn't Hollywood targeting me so much because they are afraid of the possible industrial deterrence after Peacock goes online?"

"No, no, Zhou, I think you must have misunderstood. No one in Hollywood is targeting you." Robert Iger didn't want to make a big deal out of it. "You are the most distinguished guest in Hollywood!"

Zhou Buqi sneered in his heart.

  The most distinguished guest?

Shit!

  Ziweixing Global has grown to such a scale, he wants to be the master of Hollywood!

Zhou Buqi said calmly: "In order to promote the Apple TV market, Apple has changed the 30% commission rule originally set by Jobs. The main reason is that Cook has also set his sights on the film and television streaming industry. He hopes to use the Apple TV hardware platform to launch the strongly related Apple TV+ streaming service!"

"It really is."

Robert Iger agrees with this view.

In fact, he talked about streaming media when he first met Jobs ten years ago. At that time, he had just become the CEO of Disney and wanted to improve his relationship with Jobs so as to acquire Pixar. The entry point was the cooperation between Apple and Disney. At that time, Apple launched the iPod (mp4) with a screen, and users could watch some well-known TV series under Disney online through iTunes in this product.

It can be said to be the earliest video streaming media that combines software and hardware.

It’s just that the effect is not good and it has not developed.

Netflix's current success also further proves that the streaming media idea conceived by Steve Jobs was wrong. Netflix is ​​the form that film and television streaming should be. If Apple wants to transform into a service provider, it will naturally not miss the streaming media track, including music streaming, news streaming and film and television streaming.

Zhou Buqi came to the pavilion, invited him to sit down, and said with a smile: "What about you? What do you think about Apple TV+?"

"is acceptable."

Robert Egger nodded.

Zhou Buqi sneered, "That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

“Doesn’t Disney have any plans for streaming?”

"hehe."

Robert Iger was noncommittal.

Looking at Hollywood, who is closest to the technology industry besides Zhou Buqi?

Of course, it’s the Robert Egger in front of us!

He was a close friend of Jobs and he was a director of Apple.

  This was the key to Disney’s huge success in its previous life!

Like Pixar.

When Robert Iger wanted to acquire Pixar, there was a lot of opposition within Disney, and many people were not optimistic. One important reason was that Pixar was a technology company that made computer animations... In terms of corporate values ​​and concepts, Pixar and Disney were incompatible.

But it turns out that technology is the answer to saving Hollywood.

Now, movie and TV streaming has arrived with a bang.

  How could Disney miss this?

In Hollywood right now, Boss Zhou can be said to be the most popular.

The reason why Robert Iger disagreed with him on the hacking incident was also due to streaming. On the one hand, he did not want Zhou Buqi to strengthen his strength so that Peacock could achieve the same results as Netflix; on the other hand, Disney was also planning its own streaming platform!

Zhou Buqi didn't need to get a response from him. He knew it all by heart and said calmly, "Apple wants to do streaming, and Disney also wants to do streaming. Don't you think this is strange?"

"strangeness?"

Robert Iger didn't understand what to make of the word.

Zhou Buqi said, "Apple and Disney both want to do streaming, but you are still a director on Apple's board. What does this mean? Can I understand this way, you want to use your position as an Apple director to get some key technologies and documents in the streaming industry from Apple?"

Robert Egger's face flushed, and he felt personally insulted. He angrily asked, "Zhou, what do you mean by this?"

Zhou Buqi made a downward gesture and said with a smile: "My words do not represent my attitude. I am just reflecting a possible speculation at the public level. Disney and Apple both want to do streaming media at the same time. As competitors, it is unreasonable for you to stay on Apple's board of directors. I believe that many shareholders and directors of Apple may not know Disney's plan. If they knew that Disney intended to do film and television streaming, you would probably become an unwelcome person inside Apple."

Robert Egger was silent.

Of course he knew that this was an attempt to sow discord.

Very clumsy.

But this is a conspiracy.

It really works.

If I was really questioned by many shareholders and directors of Apple and was forced to resign, it would be too embarrassing. Unless Disney does not compete with Apple in terms of business, Disney gives up the streaming business... but this is impossible!

Unlike traditional Hollywood bosses, Robert Iger knows nothing about the technology industry.

He understands technology, so he respects it.

He knows the future that streaming movies and TV shows represents.

Zhou Buqi sighed, "When Jobs was alive, I liked Apple products very much. But now it's different. Cook has changed Jobs' design concept from Japanese aesthetics to Nordic aesthetics. You must have noticed it. Jobs' traces at Apple are being erased bit by bit by Cook. You are the last person left by Jobs at Apple."

Robert Iger said: "You may be wrong. Cook and I have no disagreement."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "That's great. You can ask Cook for help. The technical difficulty of making movie and TV streaming media is not big or small. If Disney doesn't have a mature technical engineering team, it may not be able to do it well even if it wants to do it itself. You can ask Apple to help you build Disney's streaming media products."

"Humph!"

Robert Iger found his sarcasm boring.

Zhou Buqi said calmly: "Next, I plan to develop the sports streaming media track. I will try to acquire the company BAMTech."

"what?"

Robert Egger flew into a rage and slammed the table.