Chapter 706: Bloomberg's Lawsuit

Simon had long arranged for the midterm election operations to be a high priority within the Westeros system and had instructed the heads of various companies to cooperate. Paul Spatz brought up the union issue at Amazon with Simon today, likely due to a communication breakdown with Alice, which forced Simon to intervene personally. Simon was well aware of the strong-willed and stubborn nature of his former housekeeper, Alice; within the Westeros system, only he could truly manage her.

Regarding the unions, Simon's stance remained unchanged.

However, there were more pressing matters at hand. If they could not leverage the midterm elections to further increase their influence in Washington, the ever-growing Westeros system would face more opposition and obstacles.

After promising Paul Spatz that he would personally talk to Alice, Simon joined him for lunch before taking a helicopter along the Hudson River to Greenwich, Connecticut.

There were two meetings scheduled for the afternoon.

The financial information company originally created by B-girl, now renamed Aria after its shift from Alphabeta, confirmed that the Alia software would be officially released on October 3rd.

Before this, the trial range of Alia had been expanding.

In response to this new and aggressive competitor backed by the Westeros system, Michael Bloomberg's Bloomberg L.P. finally broke its silence and filed a lawsuit with the Southern District Court of New York half a month ago. The lawsuit alleged that Alia infringed on several patents of the Bloomberg Terminal and sought to ban the software's distribution and sale.

Additionally, Bloomberg L.P. filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), claiming that Alia had multiple settings in violation of securities trading regulations concerning client information storage. These loopholes could easily be exploited for untraceable insider trading, prompting the SEC to intervene and restrict the use of the Alia software in the financial industry.

There's no reasoning in business competition.

Once you enter the business world, if you think you can succeed solely through hard work and integrity, you'll end up with nothing.

Especially in modern business competition, the core is deception and ruthlessness, using every possible means. To suppress competitors, economic, legal, and political tools—all must be used.

In the end, it's a game of winner-takes-all.

Simon remembered that the U.S. government's takedown of the French industrial giant Alstom was a classic case of modern commercial warfare.

On the surface, it seemed like the U.S. government was targeting a French company, but at its core, it was General Electric's all-out assault on Alstom. Because of GE's deep-rooted influence in Washington, the U.S. government was merely a pawn in the process.

Those large internet companies that seem to lead global technological trends, before their scandals are exposed, are all industry paragons. But once exposed, even they find it ironic and quietly remove grandiose slogans like "Don't be evil."

Then there's Facebook.

Rumor has it that Mark Zuckerberg started developing it while at Harvard to collect information on attractive female students. In reality, the idea was entirely stolen from other students. They came up with the idea of developing Facebook and, hearing that Zuckerberg had good technical skills, invited him to join. Once Zuckerberg understood the project's general concept, he broke away to work on it alone, leading to the creation of Facebook.

This dispute continued up until Facebook's IPO.

Having gained a significant advantage from the outset, Facebook later even established an "Early Bird System." This seemingly inspirational system wasn't about being the early bird that catches the worm, but rather about finding good ideas from other companies and copying them.

Michael Bloomberg has crafted a typical image of a frugal, philanthropy-loving Jewish businessman.

Putting other aspects aside, he is indeed a "qualified" businessman.

Then there's Alia.

Bloomberg's lawsuit isn't baseless.

As a newcomer trying to enter the financial information field, Aria Company couldn't possibly avoid confronting the very successful Bloomberg L.P.

In fact, it didn't even try.

Before developing Alia, the Aria team conducted a detailed study of the Bloomberg Terminal, using some less-than-compliant methods.

After a decade of development, the Bloomberg Terminal now boasts hundreds of features. However, in practice, less than one-tenth of these are frequently used. This highly confidential data formed the basis for Alia's development.

How this data was obtained is not for outsiders to know.

However, to mitigate potential legal risks, the Alia software was carefully developed, using an entirely different design language from the Bloomberg Terminal. Additionally, the software interface, analytical models, and even a set of new professional terms were created to distinguish Alia and highlight its originality.

Now that the confrontation has begun, the competition will be a test of overall strength.

For other fledgling companies in the same industry, it would be nearly impossible to withstand Bloomberg L.P.'s legal bombardment and other forms of suppression, likely leading to bankruptcy or acquisition by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg L.P. has thrived for ten years without seeing any similar competitors rise, partly for this reason.

Having enjoyed smooth sailing for a decade, Michael Bloomberg has now encountered a tough opponent.

A very tough one.

Attempting to use the usual tactic of legal bombardment will be difficult against Aria Company, which has the Westeros system as its backer. With its abundant legal resources and financial support, Aria can more than hold its own, possibly even outmatch Bloomberg.

If political tactics are used, the outcome becomes even harder to predict.

And then there's the most direct business confrontation.

Bloomberg might try to stifle Aria Company in its infancy by quickly launching a simplified, cheaper version of the Bloomberg Terminal to capture the low-end market. This is a feasible approach.

However, what seems simple in theory is incredibly challenging to execute.

Over the years, traditional financial information companies like Dow Jones have recognized Bloomberg L.P. as a threat. However, they have not been able to launch similar products because they are constrained by their own mature core business models. While their services may not be as advanced as Bloomberg's, they still have a large customer base. Developing a product similar to the Bloomberg Terminal could potentially disrupt their core business model.

Bloomberg L.P. today may not have reached its peak as Simon remembers it, but the company is already constrained by its own business model.

Diving into the low-end market seems like a feasible idea, but if mishandled, it could lead to Bloomberg L.P.'s collapse.

The reason is simple.

The Bloomberg Terminal currently charges a high fee of $15,000 per year, while Alia has set its annual fee at just $1,500, one-tenth of the Bloomberg Terminal's price.

The increasingly complex and diverse functions of the Bloomberg Terminal already seem redundant to most customers. If a cheaper version were introduced, it would need to focus on the most frequently used functions to gain market traction. Once users realize that the cheaper version, costing only one-tenth the price, is sufficient for their needs, they might switch from the $15,000 professional version to the $1,500 cheaper one. For Bloomberg L.P., this would be a catastrophic disaster.

Therefore, what seems like a viable idea is, in fact, the least feasible.

By contrast, Aria, with its relatively low operating costs, can accumulate resources and continuously target high-end customers.

Alia's current product layout already demonstrates this ambition.

In addition to targeting a broad range of ordinary users, Aria has begun offering the Alia software to grassroots employees of major Wall Street giants.

Anyone can see that the grassroots will eventually infiltrate a company's upper echelons.

As these grassroots employees grow into management roles and become accustomed to Alia's software ecosystem—by then fully matured—these Wall Street elites, even with the ability to afford it, will likely continue using Alia out of habit rather than investing the time and effort to adapt to a different, unfamiliar financial information terminal.

Overall, Simon wasn't taking Bloomberg L.P.'s lawsuit lightly; otherwise, he wouldn't have set aside several hours to attend an internal meeting at Aria Company this afternoon. However, he wasn't overly concerned either. As long as they handled it well, it would be nothing more than a prolonged legal battle.

Just like Apple and Samsung.

Even if the lawsuit dragged on for years and some infringing patents couldn't be used, Alia would have developed alternative solutions by then.

As for the SEC investigation, it would be a matter of responding as needed.

In Greenwich, at Aria Company's headquarters.

After the meeting on dealing with Bloomberg L.P.'s challenge concluded, Simon didn't immediately dismiss everyone. Instead, he brought up a recent idea: "You all should have noticed that Bloomberg L.P. is unlikely to compete with us in the low-end market, so they will resort to unconventional tactics. But have you ever considered whether you can truly succeed in breaking into the high-end market?"

The attendees exchanged glances at Simon's question, and B-girl was the first to speak: "Simon, I haven't really thought that far ahead. Right now, the key is to do our best with what's in front of us. I remember you once reminded me to take things step by step."

Simon nodded with a smile but said, "However, since we're all here today, why not discuss it?"

At first, Simon had considered that even if they couldn't break into the high-end market, as long as they firmly held the low-end market, Aria's future scale wouldn't be much different from Bloomberg L.P. Just like in his memory, China's Wind and Tonghua Shun companies, where some focus on institutional clients and others on the general public, compete with each other but still thrive.

However, if they couldn't defeat Bloomberg L.P., there would always be some regret.

Since Simon had brought it up, everyone began sharing their thoughts, with some good ideas occasionally emerging.

After listening patiently

 for half an hour, Simon spoke again: "Everyone's ideas are quite good. Now let me share mine. In my view, Bloomberg L.P.'s ecosystem is somewhat similar to Apple's Macintosh system. The advantage is that it's a self-contained, highly refined system. The downside is also obvious: it's a very closed ecosystem. To be blunt, Alia is just a copycat of the Bloomberg Terminal, just as Microsoft's Windows system was derived from Apple's Macintosh."

As Microsoft continued to erode market share, Apple's decline had become increasingly apparent.

While the entire new technology sector was enjoying the benefits of the rising internet industry, Apple, as a pioneer, was facing the embarrassing reality of a steadily shrinking market share, and this year might even see its first significant losses in many years. Its decline seemed almost irreversible.

As Simon compared Alia and Bloomberg L.P. to Microsoft and Apple, the attendees in the conference room felt a mix of excitement and realization.

B-girl, who knew Simon best, was the first to speak tentatively: "Simon, do you mean we should choose to 'open up'?"

Simon nodded, saying, "The Bloomberg Terminal tries to provide all the functions users need, refusing to collaborate with other companies, which naturally drives up the cost of development and operations, making their products expensive. Aria doesn't need to imitate this. Although the software won't be officially released until next month, it already has a very promising start. Full-scale imitation has no future; next, you need to try to forge your own path."

Pausing briefly to give everyone time to digest his words, Simon continued, "My suggestion is to follow Microsoft's approach to rising in the industry. Use the Alia platform as the core and attract partners to develop other relatively niche functions for the platform. Users won't need to pay high fees like they do with the Bloomberg Terminal; they'll only need to purchase services as needed. This way, Alia can maximize its functionality while saving costs and time. It can also shift a lot of legal risks to others."

After Simon finished speaking, one of the Aria executives asked, "But, Mr. Westeros, what if Bloomberg L.P. imitates us? Their market influence far exceeds ours."

Simon replied, "Business models aren't that easy to imitate. The Bloomberg Terminal's service functions are already very comprehensive, and with its established closed ecosystem, it's impossible to change course. Alia is just a newborn, highly adaptable. And with its cost advantage, Alia will naturally attract a large user base, which in turn provides sufficient user support for companies relying on the Alia platform. The high cost of the Bloomberg Terminal limits its market size, with a maximum of a few hundred thousand units sold. Most of the profits are taken by Bloomberg L.P. itself, leaving little room for partners to survive. Why is Apple currently losing to Microsoft? It's not because Apple's system is inferior; it's because Microsoft's relative openness ensures that many companies are willing to develop software for the Windows platform. Then, as Apple's computer sales plummet and its market share shrinks, it only accelerates this trend."

As everyone nodded in agreement, another executive asked, "Then how do we profit from these dependent companies?"

Simon smiled at him. From the previous introductions, he knew this man was an exceptionally talented software engineer, almost a genius, but he wasn't very good at business operations or social niceties.

Ignoring B-girl's embarrassed face-palm gesture on the side, Simon patiently explained, "It's simple. If they're providing services on our platform, they'll need to pay us a commission. You can look into the Egret Portal's software store after the meeting."

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