In just three days since its launch, the total sales of Orange S2, including online and offline, reached 4 million units, a figure double that of S1 in the same period last year.
The long queues at the Orange Technology experience stores offline never ceased; only the number of people waiting in line was slightly less.
The Orange flagship store at Dongjiang Xinjiekou is the largest flagship store in East China, covering an area of 1200 square meters.
After all, at the doorstep of Orange Technology, if we don't make it big, others might think we don't have money, right?
Coincidentally, Apple was right next door to them.
Watching the surging crowd next door, the Apple store employees' eyes turned red with envy as they whispered at the store entrance.
"I really don't understand what people are thinking these days. Our iPhone 4 is clearly more appealing and better looking, yet they insist on buying some Orange phone."
"Only losers like that kind of trashy phone. iPhones are for high-end users."
At this moment, a university student who had just walked out of the Apple experience store became displeased after hearing their conversation.
"Watch your mouth. It's just a phone; why are you making it about social status?"
Realizing he had said something wrong, the Apple employee's face immediately changed, and he instinctively started to run back into the store.
The university student remained unrelenting:
"Don't run! Explain yourself. What do you mean everyone who uses an Orange phone is a loser? What phone we use is our right. When is it your turn to point fingers? Oh? Are all who don't buy your products enemies and idiots?"
Another Apple employee quickly came forward, trying to calm things down, apologizing repeatedly.
The commotion here also attracted the long queue of people outside the Orange phone store next door.
"What's wrong, guys?"
"What's all the arguing about? Losers or not losers."
"I understand. Roughly, the Apple salesperson is calling everyone who uses Orange phones losers, and calling us idiots too."
"Huh? Damn, how dare they?"
"I can't stand this, wife, hold my bag, I'm going to demand an explanation."
"Right, let's go, together."
Well, under the lead of a few hot-blooded youths, many people stopped queuing and rushed directly to the Apple store entrance to demand an explanation.
This, in turn, attracted even more attention.
Seeing their store surrounded by people, each with a stern, cold look, the Apple female employee who had been trying to persuade the university student turned pale with fright and desperately blocked the way.
And the female salesperson who had just said the wrong thing quickly yelled,
"Call the police, call the police!"
This reckless move truly added fuel to the fire.
"Damn you, do you have a right to insult people? And you dare call the police?"
"What if the police come? If you don't give us an explanation today, don't even think about leaving!"
"Where's your manager? Call your manager out! I want to ask him, is Apple so great that you can insult people at will?"
"Expose them, they must be exposed! Put their ugly faces online."
In the crowd of onlookers, a man wearing glasses shouted,
"I have two phones, an Apple user and an Orange user. I can testify that Orange employees have never privately insulted Apple users. Today I feel very ashamed. I bought their phone, and as a result, I'm called a loser. I'm really f**king pathetic!"
"Everyone move aside, I'm going to smash my iPhone 4. I'll never buy another Apple phone in my life."
As he spoke, the bespectacled man pulled out his iPhone 4 and, with a "bang," smashed it on the ground.
It shattered instantly, parts scattered everywhere, and the front and back glass were covered in spiderweb cracks.
After smashing it, he still felt unsatisfied, so he walked up and kicked it directly into the Apple store.
The crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheers.
"Well done! Real man! Men from our Dongjiang are awesome!"
"Brothers, let me just say one thing. Orange phone is our Dongjiang enterprise, right? It has boosted employment in Dongjiang, stimulated the local economy, and is a major taxpayer. Should we not protect such an enterprise, but instead protect foreign companies?"
"Well said! For the same phone, Orange is 1000 yuan cheaper than Apple. Apple is just fleecing us."
At this very moment, the scattered people who were originally looking at and buying phones in the Apple store were also startled, fearing they would be affected, but the entrance was blocked, so they couldn't leave even if they wanted to.
And so, the bold move came: a consumer still holding an iPhone 4 in his hand waved the bag he was holding:
"Give me a refund!"
Others promptly joined the condemning crowd.
The shouting outside the store attracted consumers inside the Orange store, even alarming the manager.
Not long after, a woman in her late thirties, wearing an Orange Technology uniform, walked over and waved her hand:
"Everyone, please calm down first. I can understand your anger, but constantly crowding around like this is not only unsafe but also makes it impossible to do business."
"Phones are just tools. Everyone buys different phones entirely based on their personal life and work needs. No one's phone is necessarily high-end, and talk of 'losers' is even more out of the question."
This was essentially handing a knife to the onlookers.
As soon as she finished speaking, someone immediately took the lead in applauding.
"Listen, this is what you call perspective."
"The training levels of the employees on both sides are clearly vastly different. If I were the Apple manager, I'd probably be spitting blood with rage."
The Apple employees were sweating profusely.
The female salesperson who had said the wrong thing had the guts to speak but not the courage to come out and apologize, so she could only hide in the store.
The remaining employees maintained order at the door, hoping to quell the anger, but it was useless; the furious crowd simply wouldn't back down.
"What's going on? Everyone, don't get excited, let's talk things over nicely, don't crowd together."
Just then, four or five police officers quickly walked over, also feeling a headache when they saw the scene.
Mass incidents are the hardest to deal with, even harder than murder cases.
Saying one wrong thing can easily escalate the conflict and make the situation uncontrollable.
The Apple store manager breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the police had arrived, sweat pouring down his pale face. He looked fearful and helpless.
"What's the situation? Who called the police?"
an old police officer in his fifties asked after looking around.
At this moment, the female salesperson who had said the wrong thing quickly ran over, bursting into tears as if she had seen a savior:
"I called the police, they want to hit me."
The onlookers were about to refute, but the old police officer raised a hand to stop them, then turned and asked,
"Why do they want to hit you? What did you do?"
"I... I didn't say anything, I just said that users of our products are relatively high-end."
She hadn't even finished speaking when the university student who had conflicted with her earlier protested:
"Are you lying through your teeth? Let me tell you, my girlfriend and I came to queue for an Orange phone. She was queuing, and I had to pee urgently, so I went to the restroom. On the way back from the restroom, I passed by Apple and went in to look around. When I came out, I heard this woman being sarcastic, saying that those of us who buy Orange phones are smelly losers, and those who use iPhones are high-end people."
"So when I heard that, of course, I didn't agree, and I started arguing with her. The main thing was to make her apologize. What phone we want to buy is our freedom, it's not a reason for your personal attacks. But this salesperson, from beginning to end, ignored the demands of so many of us and hid in the store, not daring to come out."
The old police officer nodded, already understanding roughly what had happened, and casually asked,
"Which school are you from?"
"Dongcai. What about it?"
"Nothing."
The old police officer waved his hand and asked the female salesperson who had said the wrong thing,
"Did you really call people 'losers' or not? Why is that young man saying you did?"
"I..."
The female salesperson was genuinely timid.
If she hadn't been surrounded, she probably would have confessed, but she was afraid of being beaten if she repeated it.
The old police officer was a bit impatient,
"If you said it, you said it. If you didn't, you didn't. If you said it, then apologize honestly. If someone is wronging you, we will stand up for you."
Before the female salesperson who had said the wrong thing could speak, the other Apple female employee who had been chatting with her shook her head helplessly:
"She did mention it, but we didn't mean any harm, we were just chatting privately, not saying it to others, and our voices were very low."
At this moment, someone in the crowd of onlookers sarcastically remarked,
"What nonsense are you talking about? If private chatting doesn't count as slander, then does private murder not count as murder?"
"Haha, buddy, add one more, private rape doesn't count as rape."
"Hmm, private affair doesn't count as an affair either."
Several other police officers quickly went up to maintain order.
On this side, the old police officer shook his head and sighed,
"Don't you understand the law? To put it broadly, libel, cursing, and insulting others are illegal acts. Even minor cases are considered infringements. Citizens' personal dignity is inviolable, and it is forbidden to insult, slander, or falsely accuse citizens by any means.
If a perpetrator's actions are sufficient to diminish a victim's personal interests, it can constitute an infringement of reputation rights, and the victim can file a lawsuit for infringement of reputation rights with the people's court."
Even with impartial enforcement, the Apple female employee was in the wrong.
Insulting people like that is incorrect, and doing it so broadly is even more outrageous.
Moreover, with so many people watching this mass incident, the old police officer would have to be out of his mind to offend the larger group.
If he mishandled it, he himself would be criticized.
"Since you said something wrong, just apologize."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I spoke too quickly, I didn't think much of it."
It took more than twenty minutes of commotion to finally get an apology, but some still weren't satisfied:
"We don't accept your apology, it's very insincere. Was it merely a slip of the tongue? Do you dare say that deep down you don't truly discriminate against us and think that people who use Orange phones are losers?"
"Not only do you need to apologize, but your Apple company also needs to come out and apologize. Let your public relations department handle it."
"Officer, what's the point of arguing with her? Take her back for questioning. This is a class contradiction among the people."
"Yes, arrest her!"
"Oh, Chen Pingjiang, General Manager Chen, posted on Weibo."
"What did he say?"
Immediately, a group of people started opening their phones to check Weibo.
"He said: 'Who gave you the courage? To define another group, are the defined people inferior to you? Where does your sense of superiority come from to mock others?
I, Chen Pingjiang, never believe that a person becomes noble by using a certain brand, nor does one become worthless by using a certain brand. If as a human being, one is simply defined by an object, how can one be a complex, higher animal?'"
Another person also read aloud:
"'This matter will not be settled like this. Apple must make a positive response and apologize to our Orange users. We also emphasize demanding severe legal punishment for the individuals involved. Even if the public security organs can't handle you, I will personally pay to sue you!' Haha, in terms of money, do you have more than me? I also use an Orange phone."
The old police officer felt a bit like spitting blood for a moment; the public sentiment that had just barely been calmed down began to stir up again.
He gave an annoyed glance at the Apple female salesperson who had said the wrong thing, then exchanged a look with his colleague and said,
"Let's go back with us first."
Before they had walked two steps, someone started yelling again.
"He posted again, he posted again! General Manager Chen posted another one!"
"You only smell my perfume, but you don't see my sweat. You have your rules, I have my choices. You deny my present, I decide my future. You laugh at me for having nothing, I pity you for always waiting. You can look down on our youth, but we will prove whose era this is.
Dreams are destined to be a lonely journey, full of doubts and ridicule, but so what? Even if covered in wounds, one must live beautifully. I am Chen Pingjiang, I speak for myself; I am Chen Pingjiang, I speak for Orange phones; I am Chen Pingjiang, I speak for Chinese youth!"
As the person finished reading word for word, the crowd of onlookers erupted in a violent cheer.
"Awesome! Well written, well written, it made me so excited I almost cried."
"You deny my present, I decide my future. You have your rules, I have my choices!!!"
"I also want to speak for myself! I'll use Orange! For my entire life, as long as Orange Technology exists for one day, I will be its loyal fan!"
"We Orange fans will never be slaves!"
"..."
Cheers like a mountain roaring and a sea raging echoed throughout the entire mall!
In this ocean of people cheering like a mountain roaring and a sea raging, the old police officer's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes showed deep satisfaction.
The face of the female salesperson who had said the wrong thing was completely devoid of color, and she trembled all over with fear.
Seeing that the situation was bad, the Apple store directly closed its doors and stopped operations.
But this did not affect the crowd of onlookers in the slightest; some began to lead the singing of the national anthem.
Now, the term "loser" was no longer important, because the main theme of the entire incident had escalated.
Under the inspiration of Chen Pingjiang's phrase, "I speak for myself," the vast number of young people awoke.
It wasn't until they broke free from the crowd that several police officers simultaneously wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
...
On the other side of the internet, related topics immediately soared to the top.
Hot Search #1: Apple employee: Everyone who uses an Orange phone is a loser.
Hot Search #2: Chen Pingjiang: You have your rules, I have my choices, I speak for myself!
Hot Search #3: Chen Pingjiang implies he's also a loser?
Hot Search #4: Orange Technology Legal Department: Will use all power to sue relevant personnel and protect the true feelings of Orange users.
Hot Search #5: Ni Na, Liu Dehua, Zhou Jielun, and other big-name stars have successively posted photos of their Orange phones, showing support with practical actions.
Hot Search #6: Apple Greater China General Manager's Office: Has been informed of the situation and is holding a meeting to discuss; an announcement will be released shortly.
Hot Search #7: A banner reading "I Speak for Myself" was hung at the entrance of the implicated Apple store in Dongjiang, turning it into a popular photo spot for netizens.
A series of information quickly spread across the internet; as soon as you opened your phone, it was all this kind of news.
Computer pop-ups, mobile app push notifications...
Along with this, Chen Pingjiang's advertising slogan, "I speak for myself," also became a hit.
"It's so well written, it really made me cry, I'm so emotional."
"If Apple doesn't give an explanation for this, we absolutely will not agree. I've been frantically complaining about Apple stores on JD.com and Taobao; I'll complain until they're all delisted."
"Excuse me, I'm embracing being a loser – from Orange super 2 ultra."
"This matter cannot be simply defined as individual behavior. Everyone should explore the truth behind it; from small to large, it shows how arrogant Apple is. I believe this kind of rhetoric has certainly not been rare internally for them; it's just been exposed this time."
"I can prove this; I used to work at an Apple store. Their regional manager always brainwashed employees with 'My brand is high-end, don't compare prices with other trashy brands.' To be honest, I'm not surprised at all that something like this happened."
"Heh heh, arrogance is the original sin!"
Apple's reputation plummeted to rock bottom in an extremely short time.
The saying "when the wall falls, everyone pushes" is absolutely true.
In Chen Pingjiang's view, this situation somewhat resembled what Nongfu Spring would experience in the future.
Various strange "endorsement" slogans gradually began to emerge online, and netizens created various derivative works.
[I am a student, I speak for myself]: You only see my scores, but you don't see my effort. You have your test papers, I have my answers. You mock me, saying my scores aren't high enough to have fun, I pity you for always wanting a famous school. You can belittle our grades, but we will prove whose era this is. Studying is a journey destined to be painful, full of setbacks and low scores. But so what? Even if I fail, I will fail calmly. I am a student, I speak for myself.
Single version: You only see my single status, but you don't see my efforts; you have your standards, I have my gentleness; you mock me for not being pretty enough, not deserving love; I pity you for always being too shallow. You can belittle my truth, goodness, and beauty, I will prove whose era this is; dating is a journey destined to be painful, full of setbacks and being single, but so what? Even if I'm single, I'll be single wonderfully; I am single, I speak for myself!
Fat version: You only see my weight, but you don't see my effort. You have your muscles, I have my belly. You mock me for not having thin enough legs or strong enough arms to eat and drink. I pity you for lacking the joy of losing weight. You can belittle our figures, but we will prove whose era this is. Losing weight is a journey destined to be painful, full of rebounds and distorted figures. But so what? Even if I faint from hunger, I'll faint with style. I am fat, I speak for myself!
Loser version: You only see my Baleno jacket, you don't see my CK underwear; you have your slickness, I have my cuteness; you have plump and slender beauties as companions, I have my gay friends leading the way like the Eastern Heretic and Western Venom; you say I have nothing, not fit to be rich, handsome, and tall, I pity you for only having brand names but no real friends; you can belittle my empty wallet, I'll tell you, this f**king is the age of credit cards! I am a loser rising up, I speak for myself!
"Haha, so talented, watching various versions of the endorsements every day brings me so much joy."
"They're all just having fun!"
Lei Jun, in Beijing, shook his head repeatedly after seeing these:
"This Chen Pingjiang truly lives up to his reputation as a marketing master. He's so good at seizing opportunities. What was originally a trivial matter, which could genuinely have been an individual act, was forcibly made known to everyone by Chen Pingjiang's series of actions. And along the way, he also established his own persona. Apple is in trouble. If they don't give a satisfactory explanation, Orange will hog all the traffic and win over all the passersby."
Lu Weibing also smiled:
"You can offend anyone else in the future, but definitely not Chen Pingjiang. He has his own social platform; that thing is terrifying. Just watch, tomorrow when the US stock market opens, Apple's stock price might plummet."
Lei Jun nodded:
"Orange phones already have their own group of loyal fans. With this incident fueling the fire, Chen Pingjiang has no match, domestically or internationally. Even if Xiaomi goes public, we have to stay clear, otherwise, we might die a mysterious death. There's a certain deviousness about Chen Pingjiang; his actions are unpredictable and leave no trace. You can never guess where his next move will land."
...
While it was daytime in China, it was night on the other side of the ocean.
Jobs, after taking painkillers, had finally managed to get some good sleep when he was woken by the urgent ringing of his phone.
He answered the call tiredly:
"Cook, what's wrong?"
Cook's voice came from the other end of the line:
"Mr. Jobs, something bad has happened in the China region. It's hard to explain over the phone. I've written you an email; please get up and take a look. I'm truly sorry to disturb you so late."
Jobs felt uneasy.
There was no doubt that if it were just a minor issue, Cook wouldn't have called him so late; he must have encountered a thorny problem.
He opened his computer and logged into his email.
After browsing the email, Jobs's brows gradually furrowed.
It was a significant problem!
He had no choice but to call the head of the China region.
Meanwhile, in the conference room of Apple China's headquarters in Shanghai, a gloomy atmosphere prevailed.
During the years since the iPhone's birth, Apple China's leadership had been very stable, with Lu Lei always serving as the Greater China General Manager.
Lu Lei had been Apple's Vice President since April 2006, responsible for managing sales operations in Asia, reporting to John Brandon, who oversaw operations in the Americas and Asia Pacific.
Another domestic leader was Qiu Qiuliang, who took over as Apple China's General Manager in October 2008 and had previously served as a Senior Vice President at HP China.
"This Chen Pingjiang is simply unscrupulous! What was originally a small matter, I never expected a major chairman to personally step in and rally support, forcibly extending the heat of the entire incident,"
Guan Chaonan, who was in charge of sales, said resentfully.
Lu Lei's expression was somewhat displeased, and he suppressed his anger:
"What's the use of saying all this now? If you hate him so much, can you kill him? When people below us mess up, we have to take the blame. Who told you to let them pick up a gun? Don't say useless things, let's talk about solving the problem."
Qiu Qiuliang mused:
"It's fine for the PR department to issue an apology. How should the people who made mistakes be punished, and to what level should it involve?"
Guan Chaonan suddenly seemed anxious:
"Fire the implicated store employee and store manager, and the Dongjiang regional manager should conduct an internal review and be placed on probation."
Watching the two of them working together, Lu Lei wanted to laugh.
"The implicated store employee, store manager, and regional manager should all be fired. The head of sales for the East China region should be transferred from their position and undergo an internal review."
Qiu Qiuliang frowned:
"Lou Jiang's work performance is quite good, and he's very capable. Is it necessary for him to take this fall?"
"If he doesn't take this fall, then you and I will have to."
"Then... alright."
At this moment, the secretary entered and whispered a few words to Lu Lei.
Lu Lei immediately nodded,
"General Manager Jobs is on the phone; I'll take the call."
Guan Chaonan and Qiu Qiuliang exchanged glances, feeling that the matter was quite serious; they hadn't expected headquarters to be involved.
About ten minutes later, Lu Lei rushed back:
"In thirty minutes, Mr. Jobs will publish a letter of apology on Apple China's official website."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room showed absurd expressions.
Has the sun risen from the west?
Is this still the Jobs we know?
Qiu Qiuliang gave a wry smile:
"I feel like things are going to get bad, General Manager Lu, what do you think?"
"I'm looking at it on my computer. How else do I look at it? I've been trying to persuade them for a long time,"
Lu Lei said helplessly.
The reason these people had such expressions was that they knew Jobs had always looked down on the Chinese market.
For the iPhone 4 and previous Apple computers, mainland China was never on the initial launch list.
Jobs had a good impression of Japan, visited Japan many times, and liked Japanese culture, but he had never been to China once, nor did he ever plan to.
Now that his health was poor, he couldn't come even if he wanted to.
A senior Apple executive once said:
"The root of Apple's problems in China lies with Jobs; he never visited China once. In his mind, the Chinese market was even less important than Malaysia."
Although Cook greatly valued the Chinese market after taking office, this was also for money.
Apple also treated Chinese users differently.
In 2017, when the iPhone slowdown controversy occurred, to cover up its scandal, Apple decided to use 500 million to compensate affected users, deciding to pay 25 US dollars to each iPhone user, but specifically excluding Chinese consumers.
For example, on Apple's Chinese official website, you could never find any of the latest Apple news; some were just links to foreign news, without even bothering to translate.
Another example is that Apple's repairs in China were outsourced to other companies, so the service quality was difficult to guarantee.
Thirty minutes later, the apology letter was released, but it was not beyond everyone present's expectations.
No one bought it!
(End of Chapter)