The other executive at the table was very against Mavi Group getting into the phone business. He dismissed the idea of an "experience store," believing they should just sell phones the normal way. What was the point of a trial-and-use store? It wasn't like they were selling cosmetics.
Chairman Mark sat quietly at the table, listening to his subordinates. Most of the executives didn't take the Google phone seriously. They thought the company, new to the industry, was just pulling a publicity stunt to get attention with so many gimmicks.
The old saying "your competitor is your enemy" holds true in any country.
After listening to the company executives, Chairman Mark interlaced his fingers and said, "We'll follow the majority opinion and not change the launch date. As for whether Google's smartphone can compete with our Nokia 7650, we'll let the market decide."
Keeping an eye on competitors is something every company must do. However, since Mavi Group had just entered the mobile phone industry, it seemed they were trying to run before they could even walk. This made the two tech giants feel they might have been overthinking things and giving this potential competitor too much credit.
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Two weeks later, Mavi Group's 796 Google phone experience stores opened simultaneously worldwide. At the same time, Nokia's Symbian smartphone, the 7650, also launched globally and was available in all major phone stores.
At 9:30 AM, New York time, the Google phone experience center near Times Square opened its doors on time.
Since it was a weekday, the streets outside the store were busy, but very few people were there to shop, let alone visit the Google experience center.
"Boss, I just checked out the Google experience store. There were hardly any customers inside, just staff in uniform," a Nokia employee and a Motorola employee reported around 10 AM.
(Since the two companies were located in different places, the employees had to drive to the experience store.)
The scene they described was an empty store. No customers wanted to go in and try it out, probably because it was a new concept, and the timing was off.
"So, what does this Google phone look like? Is it really just one big screen with no dial pad?" Executives from both Nokia and Motorola were curious and asked their employees about the design of this new phone.
"I think so. Since it was all staff inside, I just looked from outside. Their phone comes in... um, black, white, and gray... Oh, right! Their phone is really expensive; it sells for $550!"
The employees who went to check it out spoke hesitantly as they reported to their bosses.
"$550 a piece? Are they trying to rob people? Or do they think consumers are fools?" The executives from both companies scoffed at Google's high price. Their Motorola phones only sold for around $200, and Nokia's new 7650 was about $280. They would never dare to charge such a ridiculous price like Google.
What the executives didn't know was that the employees they sent had gone inside and actually used the Google smartphone.
And what can I say... From their professional perspective as phone industry experts, this first-generation Google smartphone was going to be a massive hit!
The new and convenient controls and the high-performance, multi-functional capabilities were like a pocket computer. If their bosses weren't watching, they would have stayed in the store for a lot longer.
They couldn't just say what they thought because they were loyal to Motorola and Nokia. It would have been stupid to praise a competitor. So, they chose other facts to report to their bosses.
For example, it was true that the Google experience stores didn't have many customers at that time. However, after trying the phone, they themselves had the urge to buy a Google phone and ditch their Nokia or Motorola. That's not even considering what other consumers would choose later on.
"Ahem! Yeah, $550 is too expensive!" the employees said, going along with what their bosses said. What they really wanted to say was that they'd buy it in a heartbeat if the price was a little lower, around $400.
Just like that, noon arrived. The Motorola and Nokia executives responsible for gathering intelligence went to their presidents' offices to report. "Chairman, I've already sent someone to find out. The Google experience stores have no customers. And their phone is very expensive, at $550 a piece! It's not made of gold! Are they trying to rob people?"
The executives from both companies eagerly spoke badly about the Google phone to their bosses. However, they failed to notice their bosses' expressions, which were a little gloomy, even annoyed.
"That's enough. What you're talking about happened two hours ago! Now the line at the Times Square experience store is stretching down the street!" Both Motorola's President Davis and Nokia's Chairman Mark had received photos and videos from journalist friends.
The scene was incredibly lively. You would have thought they were giving away free phones instead of selling them. People were grabbing them as if they were running out! Some middle-class customers even bought several at once, saying they were going to give them to friends. After all, they had never seen a phone with such high performance and a shocking design.
After hearing what their bosses said, the executives from Nokia and Motorola were stunned, their faces completely blank.
"A $550 phone... with no dial pad... and it's selling like crazy. What is going on?" Since they didn't have the Google phone in their hands, they couldn't figure out why it was so popular.
But seeing the market's enthusiastic response, even people who didn't use phones would now know the name Google Phone.
On the opening day, almost 150 of the 796 experience stores worldwide sold out of their inventory. The staff had to urgently transfer stock from other stores to meet the demand.