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In fact, the open platform is just like an application store. It is a software center. Third-party developers can use platform resources to release products and generate profits.

Since you use the resources of the platform, you must pay a certain percentage of fees.

It's like opening a store in a department store.

Facebook's open platform is now the largest department store in the Internet world, and it is currently mainly oriented to the PC side. In fact, they also want to be mobile-oriented, but that's not possible for the time being.

Smartphones are not powerful enough to run.

If Facebook wants to transfer the open platform system on PC to smartphones, it may take three or four years of market cultivation. The current commission is mainly drawn from the PC side.

Lu Qidao: "In June, we reached an agreement with Facebook to reduce the commission on Facebook's open platform from 30% to 20%."

"oh?"

Zhou Buqi was somewhat surprised.

Zhou Shaoning immediately realized something, slapped his thigh, and asked anxiously, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

Lu Qi glanced at Zhou Buqi and said, "I reported it in June."

Zhou Buqi had a vague impression, as if he had seen similar materials from Weishu documents.

However, it was not a big deal and he didn't pay much attention to it.

Zhou Shaoning was different. He took a deep breath and asked in surprise: "Why? Why does Facebook cut prices?"

Lu Ji said: "Because Ziweixing is a big customer, especially our lightweight game business is developing very well. In the first half of the year, the total revenue on the Facebook open platform reached 42 million US dollars, including 12 million US dollars in advertising revenue and value-added services. $30 million.”

“What’s your share of advertising revenue?”

"Also 30%."

"That means..." Zhou Shaoning quickly calculated, "The commission earned by Facebook from Ziweixing in the first half of the year exceeded US$18 million?"

Lu Qi nodded, "Yes, Ziweixing is the third-ranked developer on Facebook's open platform. This has nothing to do with equity relations. It is Facebook's business philosophy. They want to cooperate with large customers for a long time. They also know that 30% The commission was too high, and after three rounds of negotiations, the commission was reduced to 18%.”

Zhou Shaoning's expression was a little dull and he asked: "Is there still room for decline in the future?"

Lu Ji said: "If Ziweixing can continue to create greater revenue for Facebook, they should be able to continue to reduce it. The commission of 18% is actually quite high, and there is also a lot of room for discounts. The same example, there is Farfetch and Spotify.”

"Farfetch? What is it?"

Zhou Shaoning doesn't know much about Ziweixing International's business.

Lu Qi explained: "It is a British e-commerce website that mainly sells luxury goods. This year, Farfetch and Spotify have also landed in the United States, both using Facebook as the entry point."

Zhou Buqi had never asked specifically before and was very curious, "By the way, what is the commission ratio between Spotify and Facebook? Spotify has closed the payment channel on iPhone, and they are not willing to tolerate a 30% commission."

Lu Qi said: "Yes, it is intolerable. More than half of Spotify's song subscription income is copyright fees. If they are charged 30% commission, they have no possibility of making a profit. Later they found me and negotiated with Facebook ."

"Done the deal?"

"Well, Facebook is willing to negotiate with big companies on commission issues."

"What's the result?"

"Two aspects, if it is advertising revenue, then according to Facebook's open platform policy, the commission will be 30%. If it is Spotify's subscription value-added income, because of the special nature of music products, Facebook's commission will be 10%."

Lu Qi's answer left Zhou Shaoning stunned.

It’s over!

be cheated!

After Zhou Shaoning left Boss Ma and joined Boss Zhou, his career went smoothly and he was invincible. In particular, Boss Zhou's guidance can almost always play a finishing touch, and he can be called a generation of business wizards.

Unexpectedly, something went wrong on such an important decision this time!

Asda and Ziweixing paid such a high price and even broke up with Microsoft to get the conditions from Apple to reduce the "Apple tax" from 30% to 10%.

Is it worth it?

Facebook’s open platform is a living example. You don’t need to promise so many conditions at all. Just come to your door and have a simple chat to reduce the commission!

Aren’t all the conditions offered to Apple in vain?

Zhou Buqi also saw the change in his expression and said angrily: "What are you thinking about? Apple is Apple, can it be the same? Do you think that with Jobs' stubborn personality, he can make concessions on the Apple tax?"

"Um?"

Zhou Shaoning was suspicious.

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "We are able to suppress Apple's tax this time because we have the right time, right place and right people. Microsoft is going to release a new smartphone operating system and launch Windows Phone for the iPhone. This is the right time; the place for negotiation is It is a hospital, which instinctively puts them in a psychologically weak position. This is a favorable location; Steve Jobs is critically ill and can hardly sit still. Now is the weakest time in his life. This is human nature! If it were not for these three major benefits, Do you think we can suppress the apple tax?"

This is no exaggeration.

As long as Apple survives the current crisis of internal and external troubles, it will become a tough nut to crack and must protect the 30% "Apple tax" at all costs.

Even super giants like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Oracle must obediently pay the 30% "Apple tax."

For a while, Facebook developed a payment method that could circumvent the Apple tax.

What was the result?

Apple has blocked Facebook!

The reason is that Facebook violated the relevant promotion policies of the Apple Store.

Later, Facebook had no choice but to back down and cancel the new payment method before re-listing the Facebook App in the Apple Store.

There are similar things. For example, the global hit game "Fortnite" developed by the gaming giant EA paid $500 million to Apple in terms of "Apple tax" alone in one year.

EA was very dissatisfied, so it followed Facebook's example and opened a payment method for "Fortnite" that bypassed Apple.

Then, Apple got angry and banned Fortnite.

This time, EA did not give in and decided to go head-on. At the same time, it launched lawsuits against Apple in the United States, Australia, the European Union and other places, accusing Apple of monopoly.

EA is the big brother in the gaming industry, with an unprecedented position in the industry.

As soon as EA launched its campaign, game manufacturers from all over the world mobilized one after another and launched "Apple tax" monopoly lawsuits against Apple all over the world.

Apple has encountered the most serious legal crisis in history.

Once Apple loses the lawsuit, Apple taxes will inevitably be reduced.

However, that was more than ten years later.

Zhou Buqi took advantage of the fact that Jobs was still alive and the current internal crisis at Apple, where the CEO was seriously ill, and externally, Microsoft and Google were raging, to quickly negotiate favorable terms!

Regardless of whether Apple wins or loses the lawsuit in the future, at least "Ziwei Galaxy" can enjoy a lower "Apple tax." Over a dozen years, saying less would save Apple $2 billion in taxes.

However, Zhou Buqi was very interested in another thing Lu Qi said, "Farfetch is an e-commerce company, does it also charge a commission?"

Lu Qi said: "Yes."

Zhou Buqi asked: How could this happen?

You should know that the "Apple tax" does not impose taxes on every transaction on Apple terminals. Income generated from transactions of physical goods and services is not taxed. For example, e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Taobao, travel service platforms such as Ctrip and Qunar, as well as online ride-hailing and food delivery platforms, etc.

Apple doesn’t levy taxes, but Facebook’s open platform does?

Lu Qidao: "The concept is different. Merchants on Facebook's open platform can use Facebook's user data. This is equivalent to the e-commerce platform can use part of the platform resources to conduct precise marketing to users. The so-called commission, mainly It refers to this kind of user data resource."

"There are advantages and disadvantages," Zhou Buqi shook his head. "When opening data on third-party platforms, we must be cautious and ensure that it is foolproof. Data assets and financial assets are of equal importance."

Facebook later suffered a data breach.

This data can accurately profile a user and influence them in a targeted manner, thereby influencing their vote in the general election. This matter was so serious that it almost killed Facebook.

Zhou Shaoning didn't pay much attention to this. He only cared about the commission, "What happened next? Have you reached an agreement with Facebook?"

Lu Qi said: "It's settled. In August, we had 5 meetings and negotiations with Facebook. I went to once. The main reason was that I hoped to sell more products on the open platform and hope to gain support. Later. The set commission is 8.5%, which is a little higher than Amazon, but it’s also very good. At least you don’t have to develop the market yourself, and you can sell directly to the 120 million North American users.”

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Well, it's okay. But it's a problem. If the e-commerce thing is done well, it might easily damage the platform's reputation." Then, he turned to look at Ning Yaxian and ordered Said: "Go back and tell Friends.com, don't follow this trick. You can have e-commerce services on Friends.com's open platform, but it can only be for regular large customers."

Lu Qi smiled and said, "You are so accurate!"

"Um?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

Lu Qi said: "You should talk to Fu Sheng when you have time. He told me. The current group of entrepreneurs born in the 1980s are much better than the older generation. The entrepreneurs of the older generation were deceitful and deceitful. That is to say, if you do something domestically, the new generation of entrepreneurs will have an international perspective and go to the world to do things."

"It's not surprising." Zhou Buqi didn't pay much attention. He couldn't care about this kind of thing at all. He waved his hand, "That's it, the cooperation with Apple is decided. The cooperation is not only in overseas markets, but also in the domestic market. This It is the highest-level business secret, and the document can only be circulated in the decision-making committee. As for Microsoft... don't fall out, say nice things, and keep delaying it. Bill Gates told me that he wants to put Microsoft's Live search on ' It's promoted in the instructions, I think it's a good idea."

Lu Ji glanced at him and said, "Help Microsoft promote its search business?"

Zhou Buqi said calmly: "Microsoft is a giant. It can contain Apple and Google."