As 【Jungle】 strengthened its first-mover advantage in smartphones and mobile operating systems, and 【Macro Soft】 fought to at least keep the mobile operating system throne from falling into 【Jungle】’s hands, Steven Job watched the unfolding process with interest.
Over the past few years, 【Pineapple】 had lagged a step behind 【Jungle】 but steadily executed the textbook moves of a fast follower.
Although 【Jungle】 had many strengths, 【Pineapple】 had an edge in design, bolstered by the fervent followers of Steven Job.
Their unique audacity was also an advantage.
Although 【Pineapple】’s e-book readers and MP3 players were late to the market, they were repeatedly touted as innovative products that no one else had tried.
In today’s interview, there was also this remark:
“【Pineapple】 has always pursued innovation in both hardware and software, and we have proven that this value has succeeded. But recently, other companies have started to change their values to follow us, haven’t they?”
Although he didn’t mention any names, the journalists knew exactly who he was referring to.
After the interview, they had a brief discussion among themselves to compare their thoughts.
“So, he’s saying a software company has ventured into hardware, like 【Pineapple】?”
“That’s right. He’s talking about 【Jungle】.”
“It’s not just them. 【Yaho】 did the same, and 【Macro Soft】 also moved into hardware after dealing only with software.”
In fact, 【Jungle】 was a given, 【Yaho】 had released a console game a few years ago, and 【Macro Soft】 had entered the market for e-book readers and MP3 players.
“He never admits that he followed them.”
“In some sense, isn’t he right? The cross-brand strategy of software and hardware is almost 【Pineapple】’s trademark.”
“That’s why they have so many fans. Some experts even say that only 【Pineapple】 is a true lifestyle brand.”
A lifestyle brand, for reference, is a brand that goes beyond providing products and services, connecting emotionally with customers.
So, instead of being used and discarded as needed, it feels as if it is connected with the customer, as if the company’s growth is their own growth.
This doesn’t mean the products are inferior.
On the contrary, products from 【Pineapple】 boasted luxurious designs and sometimes superior functions compared to other brands.
This was because Steven Job had devoted himself to design and performance, and had now evolved to skillfully execute platform strategies.
In other words, he consistently maintained a platform with his own PC operating system, launched a music store in the online market to capture MP3 users, and thus steadily increased the sales of the PC called 【a-Mach】 and the MP3 player called 【a-Pod】.
It’s clear that Steven Job would continue to utilize the strategy of a lifestyle brand rather than moving faster than other companies.
However, he kept a certain distance from the theme of sharing and openness. This was in direct conflict with 【Jungle】’s corporate philosophy, but those who liked Steven Job perfectly agreed with 【Pineapple】’s corporate values.
- There is no such thing as a free lunch. Companies need to make money to create better products.
Therefore, as 【Pineapple】’s unique ecosystem continued to expand differently from 【Jungle】’s, the market focused on the competition between these two companies, and consequently, the market capitalization leader 【Macro Soft】 was gradually slipping out of the spotlight.
Thus ended 2003, and as the sun rose again in 2004, 【Jungle】 was the first to open the door to innovation.
『The Veiled 【Jungle】 Smartphone Unveiled in Jeju Island!』
Since 【Pineapple】 was also designing a smartphone, Steven Job boarded a plane to Korea with great curiosity.
The day after arriving in Jeju Island, he finally witnessed Lee Hyun-woo’s presentation.
It seemed like it was the first time so many people had visited 【Jungle World】.
To be more precise, the world’s most famous people had gathered in one place.
Naturally, it was to see the smartphone Lee Hyun-woo was presenting.
“The world we dream of is simple. We want this device that fits in your hand to be used like a phone, a PC, an MP3 player, a TV, and a game console. Naturally, the world will change. You’ll be able to send emails, run programs, listen to music, watch broadcasts, and play games anytime, anywhere, without being constrained by time or place, whether sitting or standing. All through the marvel known as the smartphone.”
Lee Hyun-woo’s words were persuasive, and to show that it wasn’t just exaggerated advertising, he began to use the smartphone himself.
He sent an email with the smartphone he had just mentioned, ran several apps, played a song with impressive sound quality, showed an advertisement video for the smartphone, and finally ran a game designed for the smartphone.
People were amazed, but after hearing the price, they judged that it would not succeed easily.
Would people really buy a smartphone priced at over $700?
After the presentation, the expressions of Billy Keats and Steven Job hardened considerably.
At the dinner prepared by Lee Hyun-woo, they revealed the reason.
“I only realized today how ignorant people are about the future. 【Jungle】 is doing everything alone, but people say they won’t buy the smartphone because it’s expensive?”
“In short, they’re idiots. They think of the smartphone as just a cellphone, so they say it’s expensive?”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded with a smile.
“As expected, you two are different. That’s right. This time, we actually priced it low to avoid a shock from the price aspect. Originally, it should have been more expensive.”
At the same time, he marveled at how extraordinary these two individuals were.
‘Where else could I find people who understand my thoughts like they do?’
With the thought that it wouldn’t be easy, he tried provoking them again.
“So if you enter the market later than 【Jungle】, won’t we have already taken over everything by then… How prepared are you two?”
“No need to provoke us. We know that the future is smartphones, and IT companies can’t survive without them.”
Billy Keats’ words indicated that 【Macro Soft】 was steadily transitioning to a smartphone-based approach.
And since they already had the Windows operating system, it meant that the development of a smartphone OS was not far off.
‘Looks like mobile Windows will appear by the end of the year.’
He thought he should keep an eye on who they would partner with, and turned his gaze to Steven Job.
“We’re undecided.”
“You don’t want to rush out a half-baked smartphone and get criticized.”
Lee Hyun-woo’s words weren’t wrong, but Steven Job just snorted.
“I’m looking forward to more innovative products.”
“Don’t worry. Even if you don’t provoke me, I’ll produce something that will put you in your place.”
“But before that, shouldn’t we do something about the mobile infrastructure in America? At this rate, won’t it be too late?”
Lee Hyun-woo’s words were also a provocation, which both of them knew.
If the mobile environment were accelerated, the immediate beneficiary would be 【Jungle】, which was about to release a smartphone.
But ignoring it wouldn’t be a good strategy either.
Billy Keats planned to say through an interview that the mobile environment needed to be hastened.
Although they planned to make a smartphone, the first priority was to develop a mobile OS.
However, if smartphones were not released in America, the mobile Windows OS would have nowhere to be used.
Therefore, he almost nodded unconsciously at Lee Hyun-woo’s next words.
“I believe that the faster a smartphone infrastructure is built globally, including in America, the more we can take the lead. As you know, existing cellphone companies will not be pleased to see a swift transition to the smartphone era.”
In fact, existing cellphone companies like 【Nukia】 and 【Motorala】 viewed smartphones negatively.
They knew it was a path they had to take someday, but if it took away their influence, it would turn into a formidable enemy, so they sought to control the speed and maintain dominance.
Converting existing facilities was also not easy.
Whenever an innovative product appears, this is always the case.
It becomes a power struggle between industries creating something from nothing and those that have to adapt to new environments after resetting existing industries to zero.
Since neither 【Jungle】 nor 【Macro Soft】 made cellphones, they were in the same boat.
In other words, it meant they would soon have to join forces to compete with existing cellphone companies.
This was also true for 【Pineapple】, so Steven Job inwardly agreed.
However, the reason neither of them openly supported this direction was because they found Lee Hyun-woo’s provocations annoying.
Soon after, interviews with the two men graced various news outlets.
『Billy Keats: A World Where Smartphones Outshine Feature Phones is Coming!』
『Steven Job: Will Strive to Expand the Smartphone Ecosystem!』
The concept of feature phones, as opposed to smartphones, was also mentioned for the first time at this point.
And it was in Korea that smartphones first started to create a sensation.
A month had passed since the release.
The smartphone from 【Jungle】, called 【Blossom】, turned Korea upside down with sales of 300,000 units, far exceeding experts’ expectations.
Although about 30% of the sales were concentrated in Jeju Island, a more detailed look showed that the smartphone’s users were primarily young people.
This generation, with no hesitation in embracing new things, was a significant factor.
A month later, this trend spread to people in their 30s.
And once they captured the 20s and 30s demographic, they surpassed 500,000 units sold in just two months, a truly unstoppable momentum.
However, experts pointed out that the momentum had slowed compared to the first month and predicted that it would not exceed one million units by the end of the year.
This was already a revision upward, as initially, experts had deemed the smartphone too advanced for its time.
Their mistake was proven the following month.
【Blossom】 achieved another 300,000 units in sales, surpassing 800,000 units in just three months…
‘Now I’m curious about what the experts will predict.’
Lee Hyun-woo thought this as he awaited their predictions, but in the end, no comments emerged.
Instead, new information from 【Guseong Electronics】 reached him.
『Kim Tae-hyun: We will also release a smartphone in the second half of the year!』
Undeniably, the smartphone era was dawning.
