"Don't be nervous," Henry looked at Jiang Wanmeng's somewhat embarrassed expression, and smiled at him, "Maybe you should be glad that you came to Real-Networks." If you cooperate with C-cube companies to design decoding chips, they will also sell decoding chips to other companies in order to make more money! You know, if they don't sell decoding chips, then in the face of huge market demand, there will be other companies to design decoding chips! Businessmen are profit-seeking, and there is nothing wrong with that!

In fact, the American ESS company followed C-Cube and became one of the two companies that monopolized China's VCD decoding chips!

Not only that, another key technology of the VCD machine, the movement, is also controlled by Philips and Sony.

It can be said that China is a VCD country rather than a strong country.

Philips and C-cube sneezed, and the Chinese VCD market will catch a cold!

China's VCD, which has no key technology, can only be pinched by someone's neck! Although Jiang Wanmeng has a good idea, he can only cooperate with foreign companies to develop it, and this has to be said to be a kind of sadness.

Jiang Wanmeng heard this, frowning and pondering.

Henry continued: "In addition, the Chinese do not know what VCD is! Therefore, if the product is to be sold, it must be publicized in the early stage. However, with your financial resources, I am afraid that you will not be able to succeed! Once you wait until the Chinese know what VCD is, it is a critical moment to fight for production capacity. And the huge amount of publicity in the early stage will inevitably lead to a reduction in production costs! That is to say, it is completely to make wedding dresses for others!!"

"What's more, just to make a VCD machine, if there is no film source, users will not buy it, just like a gun, without bullets, it is not lethal. It is conceivable how difficult it will be as the first manufacturer to develop VCD machines!" The corners of Henry's mouth rose slightly. With a chuckle, "Maybe it's the first person to eat crabs, but it might also be a stepping stone for others!"

Jiang Wanmeng couldn't help but nodded, "Mr. Williams." You're right, these problems really need to be solved urgently, otherwise, even if you launch a VCD machine, it will be very difficult!"

Henry smiled. After the establishment of Wanyan VCD Company, in order to win the source of the film, it directly acquired the copyright of 11 audio-visual publishing houses. However, how useful are the copyrights of the 11 audio-visual publishing houses? The source of the film is pitiful, and users are not willing to buy it. A big reason why VCDs can be popular is the proliferation of pirated VCD discs!

"Mr. Jiang Wanmeng, you may know something about CD standards. CD technology patents basically belong to Philips and Sony. As early as the end of the 70s of the 20th century, magnetic recording technology has been matured, such as audio tapes, video tapes and so on. However, laser storage technology has only just begun to be studied, and as a result, this peach was picked by the famous Dutch company Philips, and they launched the LD (Laser-Disk) laser disc, which is the predecessor of CD.

Sony originally didn't have any technology in optical storage, but when I saw the LD laser disc developed by Philips, I couldn't help but realize the benefits of this kind of thing. So, with a shy face, he stepped forward and said that he wanted to cooperate. After that, Sony got the technology. Then I worked with Philips to promote the CD standard, but you can imagine how difficult it is to promote a standard. Sony and Philips eventually partnered with Hollywood studios and major global record labels to promote the CD standard. Even Sony has acquired Columbia Pictures!

What I mean by this is that if you cooperate with me, you will not only get technical and financial support, but also the support of Hollywood Galaxy Studios, and then you can get enough sources for VCD players after you win over a few film companies!!"

Jiang Wanmeng heard this. With a light in his eyes, he looked at Henry and couldn't help but say in a deep voice: "After saying so much, I already roughly understand what you mean." In general, you're my best partner! Mr. Williams, tell me how you're going to work together?"

Henry smiled slightly: "The two sides invested in the joint development of VCD machines, and the VCD decoding chip was designed by ARM company, and then authorized to the newly established VCD company for production and use! That is to say, the newly established VCD company will not be subject to the decoding chip! I think this way should be better than the way you cooperate with C-cube company!"

Hearing this, Jiang Wanmeng couldn't help but nodded, "Yes, it's indeed better than the cooperation method of C-cube company!"

Authorized production obviously means that the new company has the autonomy to decode the chip, and can produce as much as it wants, without worrying about being stuck!

"Hehe," Henry smiled, looked at him, and asked lightly, "So how should the equity be distributed?"

Jiang Wanmeng hesitated and did not speak.

Henry asked, "How much money can you come up with?"

Henry had seen Jiang Wanmeng's personal information in his previous life and clearly remembered that on March 18, 1993, Jiang Wanmeng and Sun Yansheng jointly invested 17 million US dollars to establish Wanyan Company. However, Jiang Wanmeng's personal wealth may not be so much, but the company he represents behind him is rich.

In the previous life, Wanyan VCD Company was a collective-owned enterprise, that is, a state-owned enterprise. Sun Yansheng belongs to foreign capital, but does not hold shares!

Jiang Wanmeng hesitated for a moment, and then said, "$10 million!"

In the spring of 1992, Comrade Xiaoping's speech in the south removed the obstacles to further speeding up reform and opening up and making greater use of foreign direct investment.

Jiang Wanmeng couldn't help frowning when he heard this. In his opinion, Henry's investment of 20 million US dollars, holding 70% of the shares, is very reasonable, and Henry has provided greater help to the company! But in this way, his own side is equivalent to losing control of the company, and he doesn't know whether the leaders behind it agree or not?

For a while, Jiang Wanmeng didn't know how to answer.

Henry took a sip of the glass of water and took a slow sip without urging. Jiang Wanmeng said to Henry with an embarrassed face: "Mr. Williams, can you invest less?"

"How much?" asked Henry faintly.

Jiang Wanmeng didn't say how much, "Mr. Williams, I mean, it's better for our side to hold an absolute controlling stake in the company!" Jiang Wanmeng was a little embarrassed, and when he spoke, he didn't dare to look at Henry's eyes.

When Henry heard this, he frowned and said, "I'll contribute funds, technology." The source of the film, but the number of shares is small, do I have the words 'serve the people' written on my head?"

Jiang Wanmeng smiled awkwardly and said, "You can give a little less money......

"Huh. It's okay to spend a little less money, but in order to protect my interests, the production authorization of the decoding chip will be cancelled!"

Jiang Wanmeng was stunned when he heard this. Jiang Wanmeng also hopes that after being authorized, he can generate his own decoding chips and sell them to other companies to make money......

"Mr. Williams. Look, isn't this just said that the production of decoding chips will be licensed to VCD companies?" Jiang Wanmeng looked at Henry and said.

"Mr. Jiang Wanmeng, you have to figure out what the core technology of VCD is. The most important thing is the decoding chip! If you go to C-cube, they will never license it to you, that is, you can't make money by selling the decoding chip. And we cooperated, and we were willing to give up this profit, but you did not show sincerity. Do you want me to give up the profits of the decoding chip for nothing?!!"

When Jiang Wanmeng heard this, his face turned red, and he suddenly didn't know what to say. He was silent for a moment before he said, "So, Mr. Williams, I'll go and tell the company about your request first, and then I'll reply to you?"

Hearing this, Henry's face softened slightly, and then he responded, "Well, okay!"

After Jiang Wanmeng left. Henry pondered in his heart that VCD machines are too competitive in China, but they cannot be sold in European and American countries. In fact, it is more profitable to sell decoding chips. Henry had deliberately anticipated it. The company behind Jiang Wanmeng would never agree to let Henry have an absolute controlling stake in the company.

State-owned enterprises have never lowered their vigilance against foreign investment. And more importantly, they are used to being the boss, unwilling to be the second, and they are still subordinate to foreign businessmen!

Sure enough, the next day, Jiang Wanmeng came to RealNetwork with a look of disappointment.

"Mr. Williams. I'm very sorry, but we insist on holding an absolute controlling stake in the company?" Jiang Wanmeng said.

"So?" Henry asked faintly, looking at him.

"We give up the authorized production of decoding chips, but your company must ensure that you will provide VCD companies with sufficient decoding chips. "The company behind Jiang Wanmeng doesn't think that the decoding chip is much profitable, and winning the controlling stake of the company is far more important than having the right to produce the decoding chip. Between C-cube and Henry, they still lean towards Henry, on the one hand, because of rmvb, and on the other hand, because of the source of the film.

At first, they decided to work with C-cube and use MPEG technology, but they thought that the rmvb format seemed to be better! At least the rmvb format was better than the mpeg-1 format!

After listening to what Jiang Wanmeng said, Henry couldn't help but smile, "Okay, since that's the case, I'll invest $4 million and get 30% of the equity, how about it?"

Jiang Wanmeng thought about it a little in his heart, and immediately agreed: "Okay, no problem!"

Henry said, "Well, we can sign up and set up a company at any time now!"

Jiang Wanmeng nodded and said, "Mr. Williams, what do you think the company name should be called?"

Henry thought for a moment and said, "How about Wanwei VCD Company?"

Jiang Wanmeng joked: "Hehe, others are majestic, but we are majestic!"

Henry smiled and did not speak. I just put the names of both sides together, how can I have a majestic idea. Thank God that Wanwei VCD will not go out of business in the future......

Henry asked tentatively: "Mr. Jiang Wanmeng, do you think that after the VCD machine is made, should you apply for a patent for the whole machine?"

Jiang Wanmeng shook his head and said: "There is no need, in China, patents are all fictitious!"

In fact, everything that can be pirated by the VCD function is pirated, only the movement and decoding chip require powerful technology, so piracy cannot be made, and you can only buy it from other companies......

However, Jiang Wanmeng obviously fooled the foreign market.

In Latin America and Africa, VCD still has a certain market, although it is far less than that of China. However, the pressure of VCD competition in China is so great that it is simply jaw-dropping! Every year, CCTV is the king of VCD machines, and the top ten advertising fees are also VCD machines.

CCTV advertising has changed from a liquor label to a VCD label!

Henry reminded solemnly: "Whether it is useful or not, the patent of the whole machine still has to be applied for !!."

"Well, well, apply for a patent for the whole machine when the time comes!" Jiang Wanmeng nodded.

At this point, Henry asked, "Are you going to put the video file in RMVB format on the CD?"

"That's right!!" Jiang Wanmeng replied.

At present, MPEG-1 has not yet become a standard, and it will not be formalized until the end of 1992. Therefore, Jiang Wanmeng did not realize the influence of MPEG-1 after the formation of the standard! But Henry knew that after the MPEG-1 became a standard, Sony, Philips and other companies would launch VCD technology based on MPEG-1.

VCD is nothing more than a product of the transition from CD to DVD.

It's just that after the Suofei Alliance made the VCD disc, it was only applied to the computer. However, Wanyan VCD was the first company to develop a VCD player and apply it to televisions. This change of thinking made Suofei Alliance stunned, and it was not expected that VCD would achieve unreasonable success in the world's audio-visual industry in China!

The reason why Suofei Alliance did not think of developing VCD players is because VHS video recorders have been popularized in Europe and the United States, and even if VCD players are made, there is no market. On the other hand, VCD was limited by the technology at that time, and the resolution of the image was too low, which was slightly inferior to the most traditional VHS video tape, and could not replace the position of VHS video recorder at all!

Developed countries are the big consumers and the goal of the Suofei Alliance. Therefore, they did not see the Chinese market at all. When video recorders were popularized in Europe and the United States, China had just begun to reform and open up, and it was relatively backward, and few families owned video recorders. Undoubtedly, the first contact of many Chinese is not a video camera, but a VCD player!

In the end, VCD became popular in China, while developed countries in Europe and the United States still used video recorders until the birth of DVD.

The VCD disc developed by the Sofei Alliance uses MPEG1 technology, and Henry can't fight it at present, and he can't fight it at all!

CD standard, Suofei Alliance, seize the opportunity, there is no way.

DVD standard, but it can be contested!

(PS: These days, my cousin is doing a happy event, so the update has been delayed, woo, they are all married, and the author is still a bachelor...... ）

(To be continued.) )