It is not surprising that Panasonic's entry into Shirakawa Kaede has reached the limit of Sony's ability to block for half a year.

After all, there are so many audio-related, consumer electronics companies in Japan. Joining forces to exert pressure is impossible for anyone to ignore.

In addition to the current Panasonic, there are also Sanyo, Pioneer, Hitachi, NEC and other companies behind it, all of which will launch their own Walkmans.

It is conceivable that this year's walkman market will definitely not be divided by Sony and Shirakawa Electric as last year.

With so many manufacturers entering the market, fierce competition is inevitable, and even a decline in profits is inevitable.

In the face of their lack of tricks, everyone has a wealth of product experience.

On top of the design of the Walkman, its own R&D strength can definitely be satisfied.

Even Shirakawa Electric is the younger one compared to them.

So can we join forces with Sony like we did with Nintendo last time?

Don't even think about it, these companies are not relying on the pile of broken copper and iron of others.

If it could do that, Sony wouldn't let go of the license.

Therefore, in the face of this situation, we can only face it with a dignified and upright momentum, and to put it bluntly, it is to cultivate ourselves.

"We're going to put a little more effort into the design of the next generation of Walkmans this year."

Shirakawa Kaede fiddled with the Panasonic Walkman in his hand and said thoughtfully.

Yasuda and Daki both nodded solemnly, with so many opponents pouring in at once, everyone was a little big.

Everyone competes in the same field, and off-board moves are basically useless. Then the rest depends on their abilities.

"What's special about the design of the new friends?"

Only by knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can we make the most appropriate strategy in a targeted manner.

"It's basically the same design as ours, and the only thing that may be a little distinctive is that the audio effects of each tuning are different.

Some have excellent treble, some have amazing bass, and in general, each has its own merits. ”

In this regard, Damu has the most say, and he has a rough idea of the audio effects of each product after he auditions.

"How do we compare to theirs?" Shirakawa Kaede sat up straight, this is part of the internal strength, and he must not be sloppy.

Da Mu replied confidently, "There are winners and losers for each other, at least they will not be worse than them." ”

"Yo Xi," Shirakawa nodded approvingly, "Keep it up, and in the end, we have to aim to surpass our competitors." ”

"Hai" Oki answered.

Portable listening is an auditory art, first of all, in terms of sound quality and sound effects, everyone is standing on the same starting line.

I have to say that it was worth spending a lot of money to hire a professional sound engineer.

Without them, it is estimated that Shirakawa's performance in audio technology would be very mediocre now.

Now being able to keep up with the big army is already an amazing progress.

"There's not a big gap in audio technology, so we're going to have to figure something else."

For this, Shirakawa Kaede already had some thoughts in his heart.

"President, do you have any suggestions?" Yasuda, who knows him, knows that his president must have his own plans.

Shirakawa Kaede nodded, "Let's see if we can make some breakthroughs in terms of functionality and ease of use." ”

How easy is it to use?

Everyone frowned and began to think about it.

"Consider making a Walkman with an automatic strap flip function." Shirakawa Kaede didn't sell it, and directly said his thoughts.

"Auto-flip?" Yasuda's eyes lit up.

"That's right," Shirakawa Kaede demonstrated, holding the machine in his hand, "after the broadcast is over."

When the toggle button is pressed, the motor is reversed, and the head reads the information from the end.

In this way, the automatic tape flip function can be realized, eliminating the trouble of manual tape flipping.

Of course, I'm just trying to put forward an idea, and I'll leave it to you how to implement it. ”

There are many different kinds of walkmans in later generations, and there are also many strange functions.

But this kind of practical function, Shirakawa Kaede thinks it can be regarded as a major innovation of the Walkman.

As for why didn't you take it out in front? Doesn't that mean waiting for now?

Good things, of course, have to be squeezed slowly.

Otherwise, in the face of competitors, they will not be able to come up with a favorable counterattack.

"Genius-like idea" Yasuda, who is a straight man, can't help but be amazed by this idea.

This is a unique secret technique, which can be described as a real person who has no one.

"In terms of technical difficulty, there shouldn't be much of a problem." After a little assessment, Yasuda replied in the affirmative.

It's an idea, not a way to achieve it.

"Okay" Shirakawa Kaede nodded, "This function will be used on mid-to-high-end models first."

As for the low-end models..."Shirakawa Kaede thought for a moment that there was no good way, "Continue to reduce costs, and save unnecessary places."

If the ex-factory price can be less than 10,000 yen, there will be not many people who can compete with us. ”

If there are competitors who are also good at doing low-end to enter the game, then they can only deal with it at a lower price.

And Panasonic, which is good at low-end, is not only low-end, but also experienced in high-end products.

It's a lot of pressure.

"When will Sony's new model be launched this year?" After discussing for a long time, Shirakawa Kaede almost forgot about his old friend.

"It is said to be in May" Hasegawa has been paying close attention to the movements of competitors.

And according to the teaser information released by Sony, there should be more than one model.

It is likely that there are even more positioning models like us, or even more than us. ”

Okay, one by one, it's menacing.

"Looks like we're going to have to hurry up." Shirakawa Kaede put down the machine in his hand and sighed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in the next six months, our goal is to have a lower-cost low-end model.

As well as mid-to-high-end models with automatic strap flip function, of course, other ideas can also be put forward.

In addition, in terms of market differentiation, we should also pay more attention and do more feedback surveys.

As long as there is customer demand, we also do niche special positioning products.

If we don't occupy this part of the market, others will occupy it.

And we have a first-mover advantage, and we're going to keep that lead for a long time. ”

"Hay!" Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.

Those niche positioning products, Shirakawa Kaede does not plan to let go.

No matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat, and besides, I would rather eat it myself, and don't leave it to my opponent.

Nowadays, there are too many people sharing the cake.

The usual leftovers that are not very sweet are now picked up and stuffed into the mouth.

In the fiercely competitive market, everyone will come up with all means to survive.

Shirakawa Kaede has already come to his senses and is ready for this.

I had a meeting with everyone in the Walkman Division, and after they left, Shirakawa Kaede's expression began to become serious.

When I had a meeting with everyone, I swore so much, and it was also to enhance everyone's confidence.

But no matter what the final result is, it is foreseeable that Shirakawa Electric will not have as much profit in the field of walkman as before in the future.

The market is so big, so many manufacturers come in, after all, they want to take away a part of the profits.

The profit of the walkman has decreased, but at this moment, Shirakawa Electric has emptied its family funds again.

It's really hard to do.

There is a bit of a small profit and quick turnover, but fortunately, Shirakawa Electric and Nintendo cleared the market in advance.

Otherwise, this year's Baichuan Electric's profits in the local area are estimated to be reduced.

The overseas market will probably be the main profit of Shirakawa Electric this year.

However, overseas markets also have their own problems, mainly from two aspects.

First, Panasonic's friends also want authorization in overseas markets.

They also have their own branches abroad, and the market performance of Sony and Shirakawa Electric is in their eyes, how can they be indifferent.

For these new friends who came to the door, Shirakawa Kaede also had a big head.

Sony can't stand it, can he stand it?

Definitely not.

However, Shirakawa Kaede hasn't let go for the time being, and the performance of their local market is still unknown, so they haven't pressed too hard.

But Shirakawa Kaede knew that if the local market was good, he would have to honestly release the authorization in less than half a year.

After that, there was no other good way than to collect a patent fee.

He's not stupid enough to work against so many businesses, unless he doesn't want to mess around in neon.

This is the first problem in the overseas market.

As for the second one, it obviously comes from the identity of Shirakawa Electric.

Yes, Shirakawa Electric's business card in North America is a Japanese company.

At this time, the reputation of Japanese companies in North America was not very good, especially the workers in the automobile industry, who hated Japan to the core.

Now that Shirakawa Electric's products are on sale in North America, how can it escape the eyes of those capitalists.

All kinds of troubles will always come to the door.

It's not a big problem now, but if it continues, it is possible that Shirakawa's tariffs will rise significantly.

But his rival Sony has no such troubles, and it is only a matter of time before he falls into the disadvantage.

So why doesn't Sony have such trouble?

There are two reasons, Sony is listed in the United States, and Sony has a factory in the United States.

This is a proper rice enterprise.

Wall Street looks, yo, own people. Everyone put down their guns and don't cause misunderstanding for their brothers.

And Shirakawa Electric doesn't have such treatment, not to mention all kinds of troubles, and staring at your eyes all the time.

If it weren't for the fact that the robbery was too dazzling, it is estimated that they would have done it a long time ago.

Just come to the door every day, and I don't know how many people to invest.

What kind of investment is nothing more than wanting a piece of the pie.

Shirakawa Kaede doesn't have a good way to do this for the time being, and the temporary plan is to prepare to build a factory in the United States.

At the very least, this would silence some politicians, provide jobs, increase taxes, and give an explanation there.

Even if the cost of rice is higher than neon, there is no way to do it.

If you want to make money, you still have to pay your name.

Overall, the situation that Shirakawa Electric is facing this year is much more complicated than last year.

The larger the volume, the more revenue will be, but the easier it is to attract the attention of others.

It's a real headache to be disturbed.

When Shirakawa Kaede was bored, there was suddenly an extra cup of coffee in front of him.

"Eh" Shirakawa Kaede raised his head, "It turned out to be Kobayashi-san."

He put away his worries and smiled.

"Troublesome again?" Kobayashi Asuka looked at his frowning brows and knew that he was in trouble again.

"It's not a worry, it's a little trouble at most." Shirakawa Kaede took a sip of coffee comfortably.

I'll talk about it when things come, and now I don't have to worry about not being able to eat.

Seeing that he didn't seem to be a fake, Asuka Kobayashi also put her mind at ease.

"Have you hired a babysitter at home lately?" She asked nonchalantly as she stirred the coffee with a spoon.

"Huh?" Shirakawa Kaede gave her a strange look, "How do you know?" ”

I did hire a nanny recently, and I also brought a nutritionist with me.

I just took up my post yesterday, so you see it's unfortunate.

"Really?" Kobayashi Asuka glanced at him suspiciously.

"Of course, not only that, but there are nutritionists and drivers." Shirakawa Kaede felt that he was telling the truth.

Did you guess wrong?

Asuka Kobayashi felt that she might really be wrong with Kaede Shirakawa.

(End of chapter)