The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Shoo Morita is coming to Hong Kong? Visit our company?" After Chen Zhiwen heard the news, he almost thought that someone was joking with him?

I have no business cooperation or conflict with this old man. Although we both have a home appliance business, Sony does not make fans. As for refrigerators and air conditioners, neither has a large market share, and their price positioning is also different. Sony's strongest business is on color TVs, and this piece of Midea is not involved.

"It's true. I thought the other party was joking at first, but after they sent a fax through Sony's Hong Kong trading company, they confirmed it was true." An Qi said.

"The old man came to my side, 90% should be for the arcade." Chen Zhiwen confirmed this possibility after a little thought. With Sony's current scale in the global electronics market, only arcades, the black swan of the electronics industry, can This attraction attracted Shoo Morita.

"The Hong Kong Bureau of Commerce also knows about this matter. They want to hold a welcome ceremony at Kai Tak Airport, and would like to ask your opinion?" An Qi said again.

"Welcome ceremony? What does it have to do with me? They can do whatever they like, I won't go." Chen Zhiwen directly vetoed: "Shofu Morita came to my company, I can go to see him, but I want to pick him up at the airport , then forget about it.”

With Morita's status and status, if he comes to Hong Kong, it is normal for some officials or chambers of commerce in Hong Kong to go to the airport to greet him and hold a welcome ceremony, but he is lazy to go, and he is not his big client or partner. , the god of global management will not ignore him when he comes.

It doesn't matter if you go to the airport to pick up a friend, but if you pick up a colleague who has nothing to do with you, isn't that telling outsiders that you are shorter than the other party? Although Sony is indeed very strong now, no matter how strong it is, it has nothing to do with Midea, and it will not affect Midea. Besides, it is not that I invited the other party to come here.

"Okay." An Qi said immediately. He also knew the boss's character, but what the Hong Kong government and the chamber of commerce needed was Chen Zhiwen's reply, not hers.

"Everything in the company is business as usual, and there is no need to deliberately cater to it." Chen Zhiwen said again.

In this era, Japan's economy and technology are very strong. It is not bad at all to describe it as "the light of Asia". Many people in Asia admire Japan, and Shoo Morita is also one of the most powerful entrepreneurs in Japan. Coming to Hong Kong will definitely attract the attention of many people, including people from my own company.

"Okay." Angie nodded.

On July 10, at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, the business jet of Sony Corporation of Japan parked smoothly on the runway of the airport.

Ma Zhiqiang, the chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, came to pick up the plane in person. It is because many electronic companies in Hong Kong are now OEMs for Japanese companies. The Commerce Bureau of the Hong Kong government also sent a deputy director.

When Shuo Morita came to Hong Kong, Hong Kong's financial media also paid more attention. Many reporters also brought cameras and shot from various angles around them, watching everyone shake hands with each other.

After getting to know everyone's names, one of Morita Shofu's assistants asked, "Miide Electronics, is there no one here?"

"Midea Group is already waiting for Mr. Morita at their company headquarters." Ma Zhiqiang said with some embarrassment.

For him, it is a great thing for the Japanese god of business to come to Hong Kong, but the American company only replied that it would allow people to visit it. Just the day before yesterday, he went to the headquarters of Midea in person and wanted to To convince Chen Zhiwen.

Ma Zhiqiang, the chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, still has face, and Chen Zhiwen is polite to him, but when he heard that he wanted him to go to the airport to pick up people, he was directly rejected by Chen Zhiqiang. Ma Zhiqiang also understands that Midea is now considered in the global electronics industry. Some reputation, even if it is not as good as Sony, but there is no need to curry favor with others, but when he asked Midea to send a high-level district to pick up the plane, he was rejected. Don't even give it.

But the matter has come to this, it can only tell the truth.

The assistant was stunned for a moment. He had traveled to so many countries with his boss, including the presidents of some small countries. Now he came to Hong Kong, but this happened.

"Then go directly to Midea." Morita Shofu said directly without any abnormal expression after listening to the simultaneous interpreter beside him.

"Mr. Morita, why don't you go to the hotel to rest for a while, or you can have lunch before going to Midea." Ma Zhiqiang said.

"No, just go directly." Morita Shofu said to the translator.

After listening to the translation, Ma Zhiqiang had no choice but to agree. Under some arrangements, a convoy of Rolls-Royce and a number of Mercedes-Benz cars drove towards Admiralty with Shofu Morita and his group. .

After a while, the car arrived at Xinghe Building, which is also the headquarters of Midea.

The door was desolate, and there was no one lined up to welcome him. After Morita Shofu got off the car, he wondered if he had come to the wrong place.

Ma Zhiqiang was a little embarrassed and said, "Mr. Shengtian, let's go in first."

"Okay." Morita Shofu seemed to understand a little bit, and nodded in agreement.

After entering the gate of the building, Ma Zhiqiang hurriedly trotted to the front desk of the lobby. Fortunately, the front desk had already known about Shoo Morita's arrival, and was about to take a group of people to the highest office.

This finally made Ma Zhiqiang feel relieved. If Chen Zhiwen really didn't take Morita Shofu seriously, he would be caught in the middle as an entertainer, and he would be unable to step down.

After taking the special elevator to the 46th floor, Chen Zhiwen was already waiting at the elevator entrance.

"Mr. Morita, hello." Chen Zhiwen looked at the energetic old man in front of him, and said neither humble nor overbearing.

Although I don't like the Japanese very much, it's not that I really don't give any face. Shoo Morita can be regarded as a famous figure in the history of business. He has great achievements in the fields of radio, music playback, and color TV. promotion.

But it is limited to this. The role of Shoo Morita is mainly for Sony and Japan. He has developed Sony into a global electronics giant and improved Japan's electronics industry to a certain extent. Compared with those who have had an impact on human history Businessmen, such as Jobs who proposed the concept of the personal computer and the invention of the smartphone, Bill Gates who launched a visual operating system, and Musk's promotion of electric vehicles and recyclable rockets, are far behind, and they are not at the same level at all.

"Mr. Chen, hello." Shoo Morita bowed slightly, not knowing what level of etiquette is considered in Japanese culture.

"This way, please." Chen Zhiwen pointed the direction sideways, and a group of people marched to the inside of the building, where some fruits and drinks were also prepared.

Lei Shengli also came here, and with the help of simultaneous interpretation, he began to introduce to the few people who followed Shofu Morita that the office on this floor belongs to Midea. It is a very large exhibition hall, and some samples of all Midea products are put here.

Morita Shofu didn't speak all the time, just listened to the translator's introduction. These home appliances are very common, and he didn't have much interest until he came to the three arcade machines.

It took Lei Shengli a few minutes to introduce the gameplay of the three games respectively. With the permission of Shofu Morita, several Japanese players started to play. After a while, they played very enthusiastically. If it was not for Shofu Morita Here, it is estimated that there is a lot of noise.

Shoo Morita was even more surprised to see that his subordinates were so addicted to it so easily. He had actually played these games before, but obviously he didn't have so much fun.

"Have you never played?" Chen Zhiwen approached the beautiful female translator and asked.

The female translator shook her head and said, "I haven't seen such things in Japan, and they should be the same."

"The bar culture in Japan is not developed, so the operating method in the United States will not work in Japan." After the female translator whispered her conversation with Chen Zhiwen to Morita Shoffo, Morita Shoffo explained.

"I know that. In the whole of Asia, there are basically no bars." Chen Zhiwen also nodded.

The current mainstream market for arcade machines is bars. Even though Henry Morgan has used his connections to send arcade machines to many shopping malls, universities, and even airports, the number of these is still limited. Compared with the tens of thousands of bars all over the United States, it is not an order of magnitude at all. Reasonably, this is basically the case in Europe, where all white people live.

On the Asian side, there are not many bars at all. One is that the economy does not allow it, and the other is that the culture is different. In Japan, a developed country or a developed city in Asia, there may be some, but it will not be of a large scale.

The most common game hall in later generations is not yet available, mainly because arcade machines are too expensive.

"It's a pity. Japan's current consumption power has basically reached a quarter of that of the United States. It's a pity that this market has given up." Shuo Morita said.

"What's Mr. Morita's idea?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Can we go to a quieter place to talk?" Morita Shofu said again.

"Yes." Chen Zhiwen nodded, and said, there is a reception room next door, we can go there, there is the sound of the game, and the two bosses are here, they probably won't be comfortable playing.

After talking to Lei Shengli, Chen Zhiwen took Morita Shofu and the female translator to the next door.

The reception room is facing south. The sun is very high on this day, and only a small amount of sunlight comes in. It is not dazzling, but it makes people feel refreshed.

"Sit down, what would Mr. Morita drink?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Ordinary tea will do," Morita Shofu said.

After An Qi took the order, she went to the side to make tea, and Chen Zhiwen asked, "Do you have any thoughts on what Mr. Sheng Tian said just now?"

"Yes, the success of arcade machines depends on the bar culture in the United States, but it doesn't work in Japan. It would be a pity not to develop such a large market. So my idea is that Sony will obtain the exclusive agency rights of Midea Group in Japan. , use our resources to rapidly expand the Japanese market." Morita Shofu said with a smile.

"However, Midea already has several distributors in Japan." Chen Zhiwen said.

In the early stage of development, Chen Zhiwen acquiesced in Henry Morgan's exclusive agency rights in the entire United States because he needed to rely on Henry Morgan's resources to quickly open up the market and at the same time advertise well for other parts of the world.

But other places are different. First, when developing these places, Midea has already gained a lot in the US market. Second, the success of the United States is naturally a bargaining chip in negotiations. Therefore, many larger European countries have two Three dealers, although Japan can't develop bars, but still choose one for each island, but the sales volume is a bit too bad.

"Don't worry about this, Mr. Chen. I, Sony, will solve the internal affairs in Japan. As long as you agree, I will naturally persuade Midea's agent in Japan." Morita Shofu said.

"Okay, if you can do it, I have no problem here, but the problem is still the same as before. How should Japan develop without a large number of bars?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

With Sony's status in Japan, it is not difficult to suppress a few small dealers, especially this distribution task can hardly open up the market in Japan.

"Ali Ga Dao." An Qi came over and handed the tea to everyone, and Morita Shofu expressed his thanks.

After taking a sip of tea, Shoo Morita said, "Good tea."

"Mr. Morita, if you like it, I can give you some," Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile. The tea he prepares in each reception room and office is the top-quality tea and coffee purchased by the client from the mainland. The taste is very good , and many people around the world who like to drink tea have never had such a good fortune.

"Thank you very much." Morita Shofu nodded, and then said: "Let's get to the point. There is no bar culture in Japan, but there is a lot of KTV culture. This KTV is a place where big guys go to sing together. In fact, every bar also has it. It's just a little bit different."

"KTV?" In addition to this familiar word, Chen Zhiwen immediately thought of this place, but he still had some doubts, so he asked: "Mr. The bar is completely different, and the customers in each KTV are also fixed, which is not conducive to the business model of the arcade?"

"There will indeed be a big difference, so we can't copy the American model." Morita Shofu said with a smile: "The first problem is the price. The price of American arcade machines is too expensive, and this is placed in Japanese KTVs. It is absolutely impossible to succeed.”

"The price of arcade machines is the same globally, it is impossible to be cheaper in Japan." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said. If the prices were different, wouldn't the smuggling situation be in full swing?

"I'm not talking about new games, but two years ago, such as "Snake". Two years have passed, and the price of the same chip has dropped by more than half. I think the price can also be greatly reduced. Right?" Morita Shofu asked.