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Compared with the original time and space, Sony's defeat in the videotape format war can be described as a complete rout - not only Betamax in the field of home video recorders for mass consumption, but also VHS that was dialed by Tang Huan; Even betacam in the broadcast-grade field for high-end applications is struggling. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

At this stage, Sony's well-known business scope includes consumer electronics and professional electronic products including Trinitron, Walkman, Betamax, etc.

Seeing the loss of betamax and betacam in the market, Sony, who is powerless to return to the sky, is not an exaggeration to say that it is painful to break the liver and intestines.

In order not to be completely eliminated from this market, Sony began to officially produce VHS video recorders this year. The embarrassment can be imagined.

In the midst of painful learning, unlike most people at Sony who review the hard technical indicators such as picture quality, sound quality, and duration of the video tape format, Akio Morita, who is the chairman, believes that the entertainment content provided by Tang Huan's soft resources such as movies, television, records, and sports provides vital support for VHS in addition to conventional technologies and channels.

In other words, after careful consideration, Akio Morita intends to step into the entertainment content production industry in a variety of ways to inject fashion vitality into his own products and further grasp the market.

Once he had made up his mind, Akio Morita set about pushing forward with this plan.

In terms of capital, now that Japan's economic situation is bullish, Sony, which has excellent performance, will not worry about money more and more; It's the acquisition target, which really makes Akio Morita think a lot.

There is no doubt that if Sony wants to buy a film company, it will definitely aim at Hollywood, and the options outside the United States do not make sense at all. Moreover, the current Hollywood film companies are expanding horizontally to television and other fields, and once they are in the bag, they can be said to be counted in one fell swoop.

But the problem is that the Hollywood landscape has been turned upside down by Tang Huan, and the easy-to-get equipment such as Lianmei, MGM, and Twentieth Century Fox has been collected by him, and the remaining big film companies are all hard bones.

Paramount, the giant of the former Hollywood giants, doesn't need to think about it, although Tang Huan has cut off a lot of excellent works, but it is still in a stable state of sustained success, and the Japanese who appear as outsiders are not ready to spend $10 billion, it is better to avoid respect.

Warner, who has performed equally well, must also be excluded, Steve Ross is in contact with the Times Group, and he can't hide Akio Morita, who has long been in the United States.

After narrowly escaping a hostile takeover by Saul Steinberg in 1984, Disney Disney's Roy Disney replaced the board of directors and reappointed management to tighten control.

MCA's Universal Pictures may be the most ruthless member of Hollywood's eight major Hollywood companies by Tang Huan, but its joint venture with Paramount, United International Pictures, is still operating very successfully.

More importantly, Universal Pictures, which had a copyright lawsuit over Donkey Kong and EA, had a similar affair with Sony in 1984 over whether the Betamax video camera infringed the copyright of the film. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled to allow private use of the VCR equipment, which allowed Sony to escape.

There is such a historical gap between Sony and Universal Pictures, and it is naturally difficult to sit together.

In this case, the only option left for Sony is Columbia Pictures, and if you want to buy this company, you can't avoid Coca-Cola and Tang Huan.

Akio Morita, who has examined the Hollywood landscape very closely, arrived in San Francisco and arrived at the press conference of Studios 1988 with Norio Ohga.

After seeing first-hand the demonstration of the multimedia capabilities that this graphical user interface operating system gives to personal computers, Akio Morita became more and more worried.

In the choice of personal computer standard camp,Sony did not have a problem like the mistake of the videotape format in line,Not because of how far-sighted,But the choice is very simple,Fangyuan personal computer not only natively supports Japanese,And powerful,All of a sudden, IBM-PC in Asia is not attractive。

However, Sony's Fangyuan personal computer compatible machine is not as good as the single-gun three-beam color picture tube Trinitron and Walkman Walkman, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is not an exaggeration to say that everyone is unpopular.

The failure of the competition in the videotape format, coupled with the average performance of personal computer products, made Norio Oga feel impetuous, and complained in a low voice: "I knew this was the case, and I refused Tang Huan to join the CD alliance in the first place." ”

"That could have been even worse. Tang Huan, who was full of confidence at that time, may really be able to come up with a set of technologies that are enough to threaten the CD. Akio Morita said calmly: "Let Tang Huan join the CD Alliance, so that even if the situation is bad, we will not be excluded." ”

Talking, Andy? Grove was sent out with a spring breeze on his face. Akio Morita and Norio Oga greeted Tang Huan at the right time, and then everyone was able to sit down and have a good conversation.

"Fangyuan computer's support for VCD is becoming more and more perfect, and the price of specialized VCD players is gradually decreasing, especially the available VCD program content is becoming richer and richer, and the first example of successful commercial use of digital video standards is about to be born in the hands of Tang." Akio Morita complimented with feeling.

Tang Huan snorted a haha and said modestly: "The most obvious products affected by VCD are laser discs with a low market share, and the market that is most likely to accept VCD is those emerging economies where home video recorders have not yet been fully popularized, and VCD's industry status is still very limited." ”

"But no matter what, the trend of digital video applications has finally been led by Tang." Akio Morita may not have noticed it himself, but there was a faint sense of loss in his tone - Sony had retreated from all fronts in the videotape format war, and digital video was lagging behind, and it was really becoming more and more passive.

"Even if VCD can be fully recognized in the world's most important markets, such as the United States, Europe, and Japan, its standards are friendly and open, and Sony will always have the opportunity to be deeply involved." Tang Huan smiled and fed the other party a reassuring pill.

Akio Morita couldn't say that Sony was not used to this kind of passive industry status, but fortunately, the topic direction was smooth, so he quietly turned to ask: "It can be seen that Hollywood's attitude towards VCD is still very friendly, which in turn helps its promotion." However, I heard that Tang directly owns three members of the 'Hollywood Eight' and indirectly controls the huge influence of the other one, which has caused more and more monopoly doubts. ”

"When the business grows bigger, it is inevitable that some boring guys will jump out and make noise, and it won't have much impact for the time being." Tang Huan replied with a smile, he had already analyzed that Akio Morita still wants to lead Sony into Hollywood after all.

As expected, Akio Morita continued: "Although this kind of opposition is not yet a substantial threat to Tang, it will eventually form a market that cannot be ignored after a long period of accumulation, and it is necessary to take precautions. ”

Tang Huan raised his eyebrows and asked modestly, "So, does Sheng Tian have any good advice for me?" ”

Akio Morita, who was broken, coughed lightly and said slowly: "Sony also has plans to combine fashionable entertainment content with high-end hardware products. It is better to sell Don to us the shares of Columbia Pictures in his hands, and at the same time, the beauty of adults can also eliminate those voices who question the monopoly. ”

"Does Sony want to go to Hollywood too?" Tang Huan, who made a surprised expression, immediately said earnestly for the sake of the other party: "The water in Hollywood is too deep, and Sony will be burdened by this." ”

Listening to Tang Huan's chattering "heart-to-heart", Akio Morita snorted coldly in his heart, "It's strange to believe you." Didn't you also break into Hollywood as an outsider and run a thriving business? The true intent of these remarks. I'm afraid you're worried that Sony is also supported by Hollywood content, which threatens your industry. ”

After receiving the glance from Akio Morita, Norio Oga took over with a teachable attitude: "Don's personal experience is very valuable, and if Columbia Pictures can be successfully acquired, Sony will definitely learn from it and hire a senior Hollywood filmmaker to manage it." ”

Tang Huan smiled and shook his head, as if defeated by the stubbornness of Akio Morita and Norio Oga, so he dissuaded Sony's strategy from another angle, or more accurately, found a new excuse for refusal, saying: "In recent years, many Japanese companies have come to invest in the United States in a big way, which has been portrayed by various media as 'Japan has bought the whole of the United States', which has caused panic among the American public. If Sony succeeds in acquiring Columbia Pictures, the billions of dollars invested will inevitably set a record for the largest M&A by a Japanese company in the United States, and beware of being the target of such negative emotions. ”

"Greedy guy! Is this a sign of 'the largest M&A in the world' to imply that Columbia Pictures is expensive? Akio Morita, who was full of slander, said with a smile: "Tang is worthy of being our best friend, thinking about the difficulties that Sony may encounter. ”

"However, in my opinion, the United States is currently in the midst of a recapitalization."

"Among the recent mergers and acquisitions in the pipeline, Philip Morris America's acquisition of Kraft Foods involves at least $13 billion; The Kohlberg-Kravis-Roberts leveraged buyout of the tobacco company Reynolda Bisco will use more than $25 billion; Think about 1982, Tang and many consortiums also used more than $10 billion to acquire Pacific Bell. ”

"Compared with these big moves, Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures is obviously overshadowed, and even if the media wants to render, the attention will quickly be attracted to more sensational capital operations."

Tang Huan seemed to be exhausted by the eloquent Akio Morita, waved his hand, and could no longer find a reason to excuse himself, so he started Tai Chi, "Since Sony has made full preparations for all kinds of possible situations, of course I have no reason not to be beautiful." However, I am not the only major shareholder of Columbia Pictures. Coca-Cola, have you been in touch? ”

"We have had a smooth contact with Coca-Cola, and the only remaining problem should be the price." Akio Morita replied with a smug attitude.

"Okay, okay, then on my side, there is only the price problem left." Tang Huan laughed loudly, "In this way, your plan is really beyond my expectations, and I also need to make some preparations here, why don't you wait for me to go to Japan later, how about officially starting negotiations?" ”

Tang Huan's excuse for delay was reasonable, and Akio Morita was not good to continue to persecute, so he had to nod and agree, and after chatting about some topics, he politely refused the banquet invitation of the richest man on the grounds that he still had to travel, and got up to say goodbye.

After waiting for the car, Norio Ohga asked worriedly: "Tang's intention to delay is obvious, and nothing else will happen." ”

Akio Morita analyzed with a firm expression: "Of course, Don does not want to see Sony learn from his successful experience. However, he has always valued his own credibility, and since he will be an adult, he will not regret it, and the preparation we need to do is how to public relations and negotiation. ”

"There's a convenient way to break through. That Miss Masako Wada was quite trusted by Tang, and many Japanese companies and the business of the companies under her command began to come into contact with her. Norio Ohga's handy arrival made them, who had just been painstakingly lobbied, laugh heartily.

However, Tang also did his friend's duty. I don't think the reminders he said were entirely alarmist. Norio Ohga said with a deep groan. Akio Morita was leading the plan to enter Hollywood, and although he agreed, he had to help the other side fully assess the risks.

Akio Morita nodded thoughtfully, "This problem is also easy to solve, just like Tang, professional things, let those professional people do it." ”

……

After Akio Morita and Norio Ohga left, Zhuang Menghua, who came to report on the IPO of Datang Mobile Communications Company, asked suspiciously: "I can see that you don't really reject selling Columbia Pictures to Sony, so why do you act like you want to refuse and welcome the last one?" Isn't it hard to feel so troublesome? ”

Tang Huan touched his nose and said with a dry smile: "Sony's use value is not a one-time consumable, I am here to get vaccinated in advance in the future, lest they be turned over and resent me." ”

Zhuang Menghua rolled her eyes, "You, a monk who became a monk halfway, are proud of the spring breeze in Hollywood for all to see; The scheming Japanese, even if they are worse, can they be so bad? ”

Tang Huan said leisurely: "You don't understand, my smooth sailing in Hollywood has an exclusive secret recipe, and Sony can't copy it." (To be continued.) )