Chapter Sixteen: Taking a Bite of the Apple

The youthfulness of William White came as a shock to the group. Although Joe the Great was also quite young, he deliberately presented himself in a much more mature way, almost to the point of affectation. The two companies were located close to each other—just a few steps apart. The Apple team had clearly arrived earlier than the agreed time.

In more formal settings, such behavior would be considered rather impolite, but in Silicon Valley, it was of no consequence. This was a domain ruled by the young; if you were too fussy about such things, you would only become the subject of ridicule.

After a round of casual greetings, William White didn’t stand on ceremony; he led them straight to the meeting room.

In their eyes, William White looked more like an engineer. Though he wore a suit, it was not the formal kind; his attire was much closer to that of a Silicon Valley engineer than a Wall Street elite.

The meeting room itself was somewhat chaotic. On a large conference table sat four or five Apple computers, all of which had clearly been disassembled—some with their casings not even replaced.

Far from being displeased by this untidiness, the visitors found it all the more delightful.

“Gentlemen, how do you like the coffee? That’s all I can offer for now. We haven’t officially opened yet, so I’m afraid there’s not much else I can provide.”

“No need to be so formal. The coffee is excellent. Mr. White, could you show us the software first?”

“Makula, just call me William. The projector isn’t set up yet, so I’ll demonstrate using this machine. The computers in front of you all have the software installed—you’re welcome to explore it yourselves.”

“All right, William, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Thank you. What we’re introducing is an office suite, comprising a word processing system and a spreadsheet.”

“For small and medium-sized businesses, these spreadsheets with built-in functions can resolve many issues—such as payroll and inventory management.”

The Apple executives were visibly intrigued—more accurately, they were thrilled.

This, they thought, was the true purpose of computers. Whether individuals would use it remained to be seen, but small and medium-sized businesses desperately needed something like this.

Sure, the computing speed wasn’t particularly fast.

But that didn’t matter—small businesses didn’t require blazing speed. They were still using calculators, after all. For accounting and warehouse management, this spreadsheet was practically a panacea. Most importantly, it was incredibly easy to use.

“The other software is a word processing system. As you all know, word processors are selling extremely well these days,” William White said with a wink.

“But word processors have many problems. And to be frank, they are anything but cheap.”

“William, if I may interrupt—you have a fine product here, but it’s clear it can’t replace a dedicated word processor.”

William laughed, “I know what you mean—you’re referring to the lack of output capability?”

“Exactly. Those consumables are expensive, but at least they can print.”

“Joe, in fact, we’ve solved that problem.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I’ve made use of your expansion slot. The solution is still quite expensive, but that’s not a huge issue—not every computer needs a printer. A small company only needs one; a medium-sized company, two or three at most.”

“Tom, go fetch an Epson printer,” Joe instructed.

“Yes, boss.”

The Apple team had already noticed the expansion card, though its purpose was a mystery to them.

Now it was all clear—these products were tailor-made. In his heart, Joe the Great was grumbling: why did such a brilliant idea have to come from a company that wasn’t a tiny startup? If only it had been, they could have acquired it before it grew. But that was no longer possible—these people clearly weren’t short of cash. Acquisition was off the table. Judging by their words, they were bullish on Apple and might even consider buying some shares.

“William, your products are impressive, but what about the price? And what’s in it for us?”

William White knew they had arrived at the heart of the matter. No matter how good the product, if it was too pricey, it would never sell.

“Makula, price is not a concern. The spreadsheet will retail at $99, and the word processor at $49. There’s also a suite for $139.”

“As for Apple’s profit, you can have it at a 30% discount, and you can bundle it as well. We can provide an OEM version for only $129.”

Frankly, these prices were extremely modest. Without a sufficient user base, White Software’s profits would be in jeopardy.

But precisely because of this pricing, Apple saw their ambition. In the eyes of Apple’s executives, as long as each piece of software was under $200, it would sell itself—there was no competition in the market. At such low prices, there could only be one reason: they wanted to monopolize the market.

The Apple executives were conflicted. Dominating this software was out of the question—the other party had refused without hesitation. The only option was to ramp up their own publicity. After all, they had the first-mover advantage. If that wasn’t enough, there would be no one else to blame.

Outwardly, the Apple team appeared calm, but once back at the office, their excitement was impossible to contain.

Without a doubt, White Software had opened a new window. Their success would spur other companies to follow suit. Programming wasn’t the problem—creativity was.

This was a window of opportunity. William White had been candid: other personal computers were essentially gaming machines. If not for the emergence of the Apple II, he wouldn’t have bothered with this software.

But Apple’s advantages ended there. Unless they accelerated their pace, competitors would soon catch up, and then a price war would erupt.

The young Apple company acted swiftly, moving quickly to finalize the contract details.

But White Software was even faster, providing the product almost immediately—a speed that bordered on miraculous. With the exception of the OEM version, everything was ready.

“My god, Joe, they couldn’t have finished this just now. They must have had it ready all along.”

“Yes, he’s a madman—imagine having so much inventory. What if we refuse to sell it for him?”

“Would you, Joe?”

“No.”

“He’s no madman; he’s calculated that we can’t refuse. If we really did, our competitors would be laughing themselves silly.”

“Alas! It’s a pity we can’t keep it within our own system.”

“He would never agree. He’s right—we probably have six months. The competition will catch up by then.”

With the company’s business developing so smoothly, the staff was naturally delighted. Of course, the most ecstatic was Uncle Ford. Judging by the current momentum, this so-called software could indeed be turned into money.

A 30% discount?

Even at a 70% discount, the profits could be outrageous. The family’s rise was just around the corner.