Fruit Headquarters, America.
The atmosphere in the conference room was unbearably tense.
Jobs stood at the head of the long table. The confident smile that usually seemed permanently fixed on his face had vanished, replaced by a frighteningly grim expression.
On the projection screen before him, clips from the Longyao S1 launch event were playing on a loop.
A woman from the Dragon Nation stood on the stage at the Moscone Center, speaking fluent English as she delivered the words that sent his blood pressure through the roof.
“Fruit copied the design of our Longyao phone.”
Bang!
Jobs slammed his fist onto the table. Everyone in the conference room flinched.
“Can someone explain to me exactly what happened?!”
The room fell silent.
The legal director in charge of patents was already sweating. He hurriedly flipped through the documents in his hands before explaining, “Mr. Jobs, we conducted a comprehensive search of the phone-design patent databases in all major markets around the world. At the time, we genuinely found no conflicting patents. Longyao’s phone patent… was registered under the category of device accessories.”
“Accessories?”
“Yes. The same category as phone cases. It isn’t classified under mobile phones.”
“Under standard patent-search procedures, no one would look under that category for patents covering a phone’s exterior design. My guess is that they did this deliberately, waiting for us to take the bait.”
Jobs slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across everyone seated at the table like a blade.
“In other words, we have a mole in the design department?”
The legal director hesitated, but eventually nodded. “It would appear so.”
“Investigate! Every last one of them!”
“And remove everyone currently working in the design department. Replace the entire team!”
“Yes, sir!”
Jobs drew several deep breaths before he finally managed to calm the throbbing in his temples.
As the head of a technology company whose core competitive advantage was design, he understood better than anyone what this meant.
The revolutionary product he had personally unveiled as the one that would “redefine the smartphone” was now becoming the laughingstock of the entire industry.
That was far more difficult to accept than a mere product failure.
“Tell the legal team to prepare for litigation.”
“Fruit will never accept this kind of malicious provocation. We’ll fight them all the way!”
“Mr. Jobs…”
“We’ve conducted an assessment. If this goes to court, the application date on Longyao’s patent is indeed seven months earlier than ours. In most markets, our chances of winning aren’t very high.”
“Then drag it out.”
“Drag it out until they can’t hold on any longer. Fruit’s legal budget is unlimited!”
That afternoon, Fruit’s official account released a strongly worded statement denying all accusations of plagiarism. It claimed that Longyao’s patent had been maliciously registered and stated that Fruit reserved the right to pursue legal action against the company.
At the same time, Fruit announced that it would file countersuits against Longyao worldwide, demanding that the company immediately stop selling the Longyao S1 and pay damages.
The announcement sent the global tech community into another frenzy.
“Fruit is standing its ground! They’ve declared war head-on! This is getting more entertaining by the minute!”
“Fruit claims Longyao maliciously registered the patent? But the application date is right there. How are you going to prove it was malicious?”
“Who cares about proof? Fruit is obviously planning to bury Longyao under a mountain of money. A multinational patent lawsuit could drag on for three to five years. The legal fees alone would be enough to bankrupt a rising brand.”
“I feel so bad for Longyao. They finally made a great product, only to have a giant come after them.”
“…”
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, the Wanlonghui Group responded quickly—and bluntly.
Less than three hours after Fruit released its statement, Yu Xin, president of Wanlonghui’s Technology Division, posted a message on Weibo. It contained only four words:
“Bring it on!”
Attached was a group photo of Wanlonghui’s legal team.
More than a hundred lawyers in black suits stood in three rows. Each wore a dragon-shaped badge on their chest, with the enormous relief of a coiling dragon on the wall of Wanlonghui’s temporary headquarters behind them.
The lawyer standing at the very front, in particular, looked exceptionally professional in his gold-rimmed glasses.
It didn’t take long for Yu Xin’s post to set the comments section ablaze.
“Holy crap! They’re really going head-to-head! A new brand actually dares to fight Fruit in a global patent war?!”
“Four words, and they’re dripping with swagger! This female CEO is so cool!”
“Has anyone else noticed? The lawyers in the photo are wearing black suits too, just like the men in black at the launch event. Could it be that Wanlonghui’s legal department has trained in combat as well?”
“Don’t make me laugh. Lawyers getting into fights? I can’t even imagine it.”
“I have a wild theory. If Wanlonghui’s lawyers lose a case, do they just settle things with the other side in hand-to-hand combat?”
“That’s hilarious. Lawyers throwing punches—what a sight that would be.”
“…”
But what truly left everyone speechless was the set of figures Wanlonghui released soon afterward.
From the end of the Longyao S1 launch event to the close of its first round of preorders, more than 500,000 units had been ordered in just seventy-two hours.
Five hundred thousand units.
Seventy-two hours.
In the domestic smartphone market of 2010, that was practically an unbelievable figure.
Nokia’s best-selling model in the country was currently moving only four to five hundred thousand units in its first month. Yet Longyao S1, a new brand’s very first product, had reached the same level in just three days.
The response in overseas markets was even more surprising.
After the Longyao S1 launch event in San Francisco, the first batch of 100,000 units shipped to North America sold out within a week.
Feedback from the distributors Longyao had secured in Europe was equally enthusiastic. The first batch of 50,000 units sold out in less than five days after going on sale.
On numerous tech-review websites, the Longyao S1 consistently maintained ratings of four stars or higher.
“This is the smoothest Android phone I’ve ever used.”
“The voice-message feature has completely changed the way I think about mobile chatting. WeChat should be standard on every phone.”
“At $299, it makes me feel like an absolute sucker for having spent $800 on a Fruit 4.”
“…”
Of course, amid all the praise, some people voiced different opinions.
“The Longyao S1’s screen resolution is only 480×800. Compared with the Fruit 4’s Retina display, the difference is still obvious.”
“The system is indeed smooth, but the Long OS app ecosystem is far too small. It’s nowhere near Fruit’s App ecosystem.”
“The chipset’s performance is adequate, at best.”
“…”
Although the criticism was far less common than the praise, every complaint struck at a genuine weakness.
Those shortcomings were indeed problems the Longyao S1 could not avoid for the time being.
Hardware specifications could be built up through the supply chain, but closing the gap in software ecosystems was not something that could happen overnight.
Liu Yutong was well aware of that. It was precisely why she had insisted on adding a “First-Batch User Benefits” program to the launch event.
The goal was simple: use the hardware and special benefits to draw users in first, then gradually build up the ecosystem through time and sustained operations.
Yet just as sales of the Longyao S1 continued to climb and the patent war between the Wanlonghui Group and Fruit erupted, a storm capable of reshaping the entire industry was quietly brewing overseas.
Meanwhile, the first “Longteng Cup” martial arts tournament hosted by the Wanlonghui Group officially opened.
