Chapter 290: Exploring Overseas Markets and the Advantages of Prophets
On July 4, Honor Electronics launched a new electric kettle.
With the function of being able to cut off the power by itself, it immediately triggered a wave of craze. This thing is much more practical than the electric mosquito swatter. Almost every family living in the city must have one.
Being able to cut off the power yourself saves energy and is safe.
Wan Chai District, Hong Kong Island, inside Carrefour Supermarket:
A woman looked at the kettle that was emitting fog in front of her. With a "pop" sound, the boiling sound of the water gradually decreased, and the white mist gradually disappeared.
“Really the power went off?” The woman was surprised, and then asked the salesperson next to her: “What’s the price of this kettle?”
The salesperson said: “The original price was 22.99 yuan, now it only costs 22.99 yuan. 19.99 yuan."
"Is it so expensive?" The woman hesitated: "For other kettles, 10 yuan is usually enough."
The salesperson said, "Miss, our kettle is expensive. With control functions, how can this be compared with ordinary kettles? To put it bluntly, if you buy other kettles, isn’t it just like boiling water in a pot? At most, the kettle is more convenient when pouring water;
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And you see, with our design, if you hold it in this position, even if you pour water, you will not be burned by the steam, and the plastic here will not be burned. You can try it. "
"Hmm~" Under the guidance of the salesperson, the woman also poured a pot of water into another kettle. Her hands were not exposed to water vapor during the whole process, and the place where her hands were held was not very hot.
The salesperson asked again: "How do you feel? "
"Okay, I'll get one. "The woman looked at the people watching next to her, and finally made a decision.
This kettle is indeed different, and it looks quite beautiful. The only bad thing seems to be the water inside. A bit less, not as good as a large kettle.
The next day, Wang Zhiqun came to Yang Wendong's office and reported with a smile: "Yang Sheng, the electric kettle we launched sold more than 500 units on the first day."
"It's pretty good." Yang Wendong poured out I didn’t care anymore, this thing is indeed very novel.
Coupled with the promotion of its own media channels and the control of Carrefour channels, there must be some achievements on the first day.
Wang Zhiqun added: "Lin Youjing from the United States called me yesterday. He put the electric mosquito swatters that I transported by air to some retail stores. The results were pretty good, so he wanted to ask us to place an order directly. 30,000 pieces.”
Yang Wendong asked: “How much does it cost in the United States?”
Wang Zhiqun said: "The export price here is 12 Hong Kong dollars, almost 2.2 US dollars, and the selling price in the United States is between 5 and 6 US dollars."
"This price is very important to Americans. "It's really not expensive," Yang Wendong nodded.
On average, American wages are about ten times that in Hong Kong, at US$5 to US$6, which is only half a day’s income.
Moreover, the main sales targets of electric mosquito swatters are still wealthy people. The same is true in Hong Kong. Their spending power is even stronger.
Wang Zhiqun said: "Yes, wages in Europe and the United States are much higher than those in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's exports have been so strong in recent years, which has a lot to do with this aspect."
"Well" Yang Wendong asked again: "Is there no problem with your production capacity?"
"No problem." Wang Zhiqun said: "Wei Sheng has provided a lot of help, and all kinds of suppliers are very helpful." Cooperation, their production capacity is stronger than my assembly capacity;
The Changxing factory also provides a factory with sufficient area, all things that I can't consider, Wei Sheng's people Everything has been considered, and even the quality inspection is very experienced."
"That's good." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "If there is no problem, then ship to the United States. Lin Youjing is required to gradually open up various channels in the United States.
Although the channels cannot be controlled by oneself, at least some intermediate dealers must be bypassed. ”
No one can directly contact all terminals, but there can be fewer intermediary dealers.
When your own brand is successful, the dealers will have the capital to negotiate. This is also the complexity of the expansion of distribution channels.
"Okay." Wang Zhiqun said again: "After this period of time, the sales of electric kettles in Hong Kong and Wanwan have stabilized, and I am also ready to expand into the Japanese market.
Europeans and Americans don’t boil water very much, and the main market for electric kettles is also in Asia.”
“Okay, as long as the production capacity can keep up, it will be no problem,” Yang Wendong agreed.
When Cheung Hing Industrial became the largest factory in Hong Kong, although it did not do everything, its influence was huge.
Plastics, sheet metal, paper packaging, and various logistical commodities are purchased in huge quantities every month, affecting the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people and the wealth of hundreds of bosses.
Therefore, Honor Electronics is equivalent to a prince who was born with a golden key. As long as it has needs, all suppliers must be satisfied as if they were biological fathers.
Wang Zhiqun said: "Okay."
Yang Wendong asked again: "How are the two new projects of rice cookers and microwave ovens?"
The two early products of Honor Electronics are actually based on creativity and supplemented by technology. The meaning is to serve as a sharp knife to open up the market first, allowing the company to have capital circulation and research and development capabilities, etc.
Microwave ovens and rice cookers are products with technical content in the true sense.
Wang Zhiqun replied: "We have bought more than 20 Japanese rice cookers before and conducted various research, including recording various control times inside, and then built a separate one. It is still in the testing stage. , it’s just that the heat control is a little different, it’s easy to burn.”
“Why is that?” Yang Wendong asked.
Wang Zhiqun said: "We suspect that it is the inner tank. We have recorded the various times and temperatures. There may be a slight difference, but it should not have a big impact;
But we don’t know what the material used in the inner pot of the Japanese rice cooker company is. We only know that it is made of steel. We also made one, but the effect was much worse. When we replaced it with a Japanese inner pot, it was much better. "
Yang Wendong analyzed: "So it is easy to control the time and temperature. It is the inner tank material, not sure? "
Wang Zhiqun replied: "Yes, there are two solutions to this problem. Either we find out what the materials in Japan are, but it may involve patent infringement;
or We just choose the materials ourselves, then conduct our own tests, adjust the temperature and time, and slowly find the data that suits our materials. "
"So it requires matching of multiple parameters. "Yang Wendong nodded and said.
The heat transfer efficiency of the inner pot, the control time, and the temperature at each time period, combined, are the three important parameters for the rice to be cooked.
These things seemed simple in previous lives, but in fact even little Japan spent a long time exploring them slowly.
Wang Zhiqun nodded: "Yes."
Yang Wendong said: "Then match yourself, find more people, do these experiments, just do tests, there is nothing needed. Highly technical personnel. ”
Investing in research and development is indeed time-consuming and labor-intensive, but this is normal. Without investment, there will be no return.
Relatively speaking, current rice cookers are not considered high-tech. The main thing is to test enough and then find the most suitable parameters. "Okay." Wang Zhiqun said again: "As for microwave ovens, there is another situation here. Japan's Hayakawa Company is also doing research in this area."
"Hayakawa?" Yang Wendong frowned. , he had never heard of this company.
Wang Zhiqun introduced: "This is a large-scale electronics company in Japan. Their main products are radios, transistors, and..."
With Wang Zhiqun's introduction, Yang Wendong also It was gradually confirmed that this company should be the predecessor of Sharp.
So he asked: "Can they make their own magnetrons?"
The core of microwave heating is the magnetron. Apart from this, the others are just some shells, power cords and the like, which are irrelevant.
Wang Zhiqun said: "They are also doing research and development. I don't know how the progress is."
Yang Wendong said: "How is the R&D center in the United States doing with this thing?"
Wang Zhiqun replied: "It has been established. Lin Sheng helped me buy a 50,000-square-foot building there as the headquarters. In terms of talent, I also interviewed a few people;
They are all experts in magnetrons and have already joined the company and are studying this direction. ”
“Okay, we must support their needs, but we must also supervise them. "Yang Wendong nodded and said.
From the time he traveled to the present, he has always used the advantages of the prophet to develop and grow. He basically has no competitors, because the things he makes are all first concepts. .
Now that we are entering the electronics industry, the market in this field is large enough and there are enough players. Innovation is useful, but we will also encounter opponents.
If we want to make other home appliances in the future, then There are more competitors, and this is something that must be faced. After all, if an electronics company wants to truly grow, it must have a lot of technology. This is the foundation.
"Understood, I have also sent over a dozen Hong Kong people, and they will help as assistants." Wang Zhiqun said with a smile.
Yang Wendong said again: "Okay, we should also keep an eye on this aspect, including Hayakawa Company."
Wang Zhiqun said: "Okay, Yang Sheng, please don't worry, the size of Hayakawa Company Although it is not small, there are many R&D projects. I know of dozens of them, and the most important thing they are doing is developing radios and TV imaging. Management,
The resources available for the magnetron project are not many, and in terms of investment alone, they are far inferior to us.”
“Well, this can be regarded as our advantage. "Yang Wendong nodded and said: "Now we only need to focus on these two projects, so we don't need to worry about the others."
The time traveler's help with high technology is basically zero, unless he was an engineer in this area before time travel. But times are different, and the technology is likely to be different. If an IT employee in 2024 goes back to 1994, it will be impossible. Can't write useful code.
But vision plays a greater role, because a normal electronics/IT company does not know the future technology or product development direction, so they will conduct research and development on multiple projects just to be safe, which disperses resources and Human and financial resources.
For example, in the early 2000s, there was a fierce battle between liquid crystals and picture tubes. At that time, most companies were betting on both sides. If Time Traveler's company was also in this field, it could directly go all out to develop LCDs.
< br>The current situation is also the same. Yang Wendong knows which products will have a market in the future. This is a stronger advantage than high technology.
Wang Zhiqun said: "Okay, I understand."
Yang Wendong thought for a while and asked: "Has our transistor production line been shipped normally?"
Wang Zhiqun said: "Yes, it has been produced normally. The current daily production capacity is about 20,000. It’s still improving, and many radio factories in Hong Kong have begun to use ours to replace transistors imported from Japan.” Make your own decision based on your needs. If the demand increases in the future, you can prepare to purchase production lines. Anyway, there should be many old production lines in the United States. "
Hong Kong's electronics industry has been based on this since the 1960s. With the blowout development, the demand for transistors is also getting higher and higher. If you seize this market, you can enjoy this wave of dividends even if you don't make consumer electronic products.
"Okay, if the market demand increases, I will report to you in time." Wang Zhiqun promised.
July 10th, still cloudless.
The blazing sun shines straight down from the sky:
In the Changxing Industrial Park in Kwun Tong, Yang Wendong and Wei Zetao came to a workshop with a group of people. Feel refreshed.
Yang Wendong asked: "Old Wei, how many workshops here have installed air conditioning?"
Wei Zetao replied: "In addition to injection molding, which itself generates a lot of heat, other workshops such as assembly , warehouses are all air-conditioned;
Mainly because many materials require temperature control. In addition, if the assembly employees are too hot, their work efficiency will be very low. Taken together, they will all be air-conditioned. "
"It doesn't have to be so cold, right? Yang Wendong felt the questions around him and asked with a smile.
Wei Zetao said awkwardly: "Maybe it's because the people below knew that you were coming to inspect the plastic bag production line, so they turned down the air conditioner."
Under normal circumstances, our air conditioner is only turned on until people don’t feel too hot, and is paired with an electric fan, which can save electricity the most. "
"Well, OK, it's good to save a little electricity. Hong Kong is also short of electricity now. "Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Drought will also affect electricity, and some areas in Hong Kong will also experience voltage shortages. Changxing Industrial's side is not affected much because of the good connections, but it must also use it sparingly.
For workers, it would be really nice to have air conditioning.
Wei Zetao said: "That's the plastic bag production line over there."
Everyone walked to a piece of equipment. On the far left of the equipment, there was a roll of film, layer by layer. After being pulled into the equipment, there is a complex cutting equipment in the middle of the equipment. On the right side, bags come out one by one. There are employees behind who collect the bags one by one.
Yang Wendong asked: "How many bags can this equipment make in a day?"
Wei Zetao said: "We can make 120,000 pieces a day, as long as we have enough materials."
"Wang Yongqing's production should be fine, right?" Yang Wendong asked again.
Wei Zetao replied: "No problem, their production capacity is more than ten times greater than that of my equipment, and the output that this equipment can provide far exceeds the needs of Carrefour Supermarket. "
"That means it can be supplied to the market?" Yang Wendong asked.
Wei Zetao said: "Yes, I will make plastic bags of different sizes and purchase equipment later. I estimate that by the end of the year, I will be able to produce dozens of different bags."
"Yes, OK." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "We will continue to expand the scale later. I want plastic bags to become one of Hong Kong's main export products."
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket. Today's data is not very good. Is everyone playing Black Wukong~~~
(End of this chapter)