Paris, France, Winter 98 Consumer Electronics Show.

In front of the exhibition area of South Korea Shihe Company, the crowd was crowded, and the audience was crowded one after another, tiptoeing, staring intently at the new product demonstration in the exhibition area. In the middle of the booth, a staff member held a flat silver box less than 2 inches square in his hand and loudly introduced to the crowd:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is our first MP3 Walkman. It has 64 megabytes of memory, which can store music on a cassette in its entirety. Powered by a single AAA battery, it can play continuously for 10 hours. Its timbre is not inferior to the usual Walkman on the market, but it weighs only a measly 45 grams.

"In order to meet the endless pursuit of fashion for the younger generation, our MP3 player has a pure metal shell, which can adapt to various outdoor environments. It is not afraid of bumps and abrasions, and even after five years of use, it will still maintain this beautiful luster, and even these exquisite patterns will never appear to blur in any way!"

At this time, other staff members had already stepped forward and handed the samples to the audience in the front row. Everyone scrambled with each other, and those who grabbed the samples, after only a brief glance, all shouted in a fuss:

"Oh, it's exactly the same as a Walkman!"

"It's so exquisitely made, it's like a work of art!"

"Be confident, remove the word 'like', it is indeed a work of art!"

"It's too upscale!"

"Look at this metallic luster, there is really a pattern engraved on it, the cake seller, there is actually a text, such a small word, they can still carve the effect of a flower body!"

"Honey, haven't you always wanted my Sony Walkman, I decided to give it to you, provided you buy me a Shihe MP3!"

"Whoever wants your big and ugly Walkman, whoever has a Walkman on his waist in the future, will be a fool who has never seen the world!"

"No, I can't wait, miss, please tell me, how much is this MP3, I'm going to buy it now!"

“......”

The madness in front of the booth attracted journalists and businessmen with a keen sense of smell. The latest consumer electronics product was first reported by various media outlets, and sensational words such as "epoch-making", "revolutionary", and "rewriting the rules" piled up on press releases like they didn't want money.

The major agents did not dare to delay for a moment, and immediately contacted the headquarters and branches of Shihe, and threw out an astonishing number of large orders. In order to get the spot before others, they even agreed to accept a premium that was not low, and gave generous gifts to market representatives from all over the world.

The world has entered the era of the global village, and the craze at the Paris exhibition has spread to Pengcheng in southern China in less than a day. In the general manager's office of Pengcheng Jiachuan Electronics Company, Wen Guohui met with Park Longming, a commissioner of Shihe Company who came in a hurry.

"Mr. Wen, first of all, allow me to give you a piece of good news. The C1 MP3 player, which is manufactured by your company for our company, has received amazing praise at the Consumer Electronics Show in Paris. So far, we have received orders for more than 20 million units.

"I don't want to hide from you, but according to a survey conducted by our marketing department at the show, what consumers value most is the appearance of this MP3 product, such a delicate metal case that has never been used in any consumer electronics before. This is confirmed by our agents around the world. They believe that this metal shell is the core competitiveness of Shihe MP3, and several other electronics manufacturers have also launched MP3 players, but because the appearance is too simple, it has not attracted the attention of consumers.

"The facts show that your proposal to use engraved metal casing on MP3 players is very correct, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to you and your company on behalf of our chairman Jin Sikun of Shihe Company. ”

Pu Longming spoke not too fluent Chinese, and said to Wen Guohui in an extremely exaggerated tone.

"yes, that's great. We started out as an alternative to your company, but the engraved metal case really worked. Allow me to express my heartfelt congratulations on the success of your company. ”

Wen Guohui replied with a smile, but there was not much surprise on his face.

Jiachuan Company has been producing consumer electronics products for Shihe Company for six or seven years, and Wen Guohui and Park Longming have long been familiar with each other, and they don't need to go around in circles to speak.

In the previous paragraph, Shihe Company was ready to launch an MP3 player, but the appearance design was slow to find a perfect solution. At this time, the MP3 player was at the beginning of the world, and in addition to Shihe, several Japanese and Korean electronics companies were also eyeing this product. The principle of MP3 player is not complicated, and the production of electronic parts is also very easy, and the difficulty lies mainly in the appearance.

As an alternative to the traditional Walkman, the MP3 player is thin and compact. But if you use a colored resin case, you will inevitably feel like a cheap toy. If it is replaced with a dark-colored engineering plastic with a stronger sense of weight, it is contrary to its fashion style. Of course, the use of metal shells is also a solution, but the high processing cost of metal shells has discouraged several electronics manufacturers, including Shihe.

At this time, Jiachuan suddenly told Shihe that they had found a cheap solution to process the metal case, which could reduce the processing cost of a player's metal case from nearly 100 yuan to less than 20 yuan. Jiachuan also provided samples of the metal case, which was carved with intricate patterns and text, which immediately impressed Shihe's product designers and made them decide to use a pure metal case on the new MP3 player.

Shihe company placed a small-scale order to Jiachuan company, as a sample of trial production, Jiachuan company completed this batch of orders in a very short time, and the company inspected and determined that the quality was high and the quality was very stable.

The samples exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show in Paris were the samples manufactured by Kagawa, which unsurprisingly caused a sensation and turned several other companies that also launched MP3 players into complete bystanders.

Shihe MP3 player sold well at the Paris exhibition, and Wen Guohui knew it as early as the first time. Of course, he had to know this situation in advance, and if he had to wait for Park Longming to inform him, he would not be able to win the maximum benefits in the follow-up negotiations.

Park Longming also knew that this kind of thing could not be concealed from Wen Guohui, and it was complete wishful thinking to gain an advantage in negotiations by concealing the truth. The cooperation between the two sides is not a one-shot deal, Jiachuan Company will not ask for a sky-high price, and Shihe Company does not need to sit on the ground to repay the money, and only when things are said will it help the development of cooperation.

"From now on, in the next year, we need Jiachuan to produce 30 million C1 MP3 players for us, can Jiachuan do it?" asked Park Yongming.

"There are no problems at all with the electronic part. The bottleneck is only in the processing of the metal housing. The equipment we use to process this metal shell is the engraving and milling machine produced by the first machine tool factory in Linhe, China. We have calculated that according to the normal working load, the monthly production capacity of 1,000 engraving and milling machines is 1.2 million shells, and to achieve an annual production capacity of 30 million units, we need to purchase 2,000 engraving and milling machines. So far, we have only 100 prototypes that Pro Yi has provided to us for trial. Wen Guohui said.

The amount proposed by Park Yongming was expected by Wen Guohui, and he was not intimidated by this number, nor did he show an ecstatic look.

"So, how long does it take for you to purchase 2,000 engraving and milling machines?"

"It depends on the production capacity of Linyi machines, and I am worried that they will not be able to produce 2,000 engraving and milling machines in a short period of time. Not to mention ......"

"What's more?"

"I'm worried that Pro Yi is not the only customer of us. ”

"You mean ......"

Park Yongming's eyes straightened a little.

Wen Guohui's words were very vague, but Park Longming still understood it at once. Wen Guohui said that it will take some time to produce 2,000 engraving and milling machines, and these engraving and milling machines will not necessarily be sold to Jiachuan, but other companies will compete with them.

These companies that bid for engraving and milling machines with Jiachuan Company naturally also fancy the business opportunities in the metal engraving market. The largest user in the metal engraving market is none other than consumer electronics manufacturers such as Shihe. So the question is, in addition to Shihe, which other manufacturers will launch their own metal shell consumer electronics?

The answer is clear, and that is the competitors of the few companies that have become spectators at this Paris exhibition. After seeing the popularity of Shihe MP3 players, these companies will not hesitate to switch to metal housing, and then the advantages of Shihe will disappear.

"Mr. Wen, you must get these engraving and milling machines before other OEMs, and delay the time for other manufacturers to get engraving and milling machines as much as possible. Park Yongming said.

Whether Jiachuan Company's production capacity can be increased rapidly is no longer Park Longming's main concern, what he needs to consider is that he cannot let other OEM companies obtain similar production capacity, otherwise Shihe Company will be in trouble.

"I'm afraid it's hard. ”

"If you can order 2,000 units at once, don't they take into account the needs of large customers?"

"I think my peers, if they were going to place orders, would be on this scale. ”

"What if you're willing to pay a premium for each engraving and milling machine?"

"But in this way, our OEM profits cannot be guaranteed. ”

"This part of the premium is of course provided by our company, and we will not let your company suffer losses. ”

"If so...... Then I can try. ”

A smile appeared on Wen Guohui's face. What he needs is that Shihe promises to pay a premium in equipment procurement, and as for worrying about the production capacity of Linyi machine, that is a negotiation strategy. After trying the first 100 prototypes, he placed an order with Linyi Machine, and at this time, the 2,000 engraving and milling machines he needed were already on the production line of Linyi Machine.

(End of chapter)