Top of the big era

Compared with Japanese companies, Zhou Buqi prefers to cooperate with Korean companies. The reason is also simple. Korean companies have stronger execution capabilities, higher efficiency, and easier communication.

Koreans speak English just like Chinese people, and you can learn it very well with just a little practice. Japanese English, that sounds like a real headache.

However, this is Zhou Buqi’s first contact with LG furniture.

The main thing is to get familiar with each other first.

Getting acquainted.

Don't be in a hurry and negotiate the cooperation at once.

LG’s power battery is quite powerful.

Now, LG's power battery business is just a sub-business of LG Chem and has just developed. Later, when the era of new energy vehicles arrived, LG Chem split off the battery business and listed it separately, becoming LG New Energy.

It can be said that it has firmly stepped on the trend.

Just like SK Hynix.

The current core business of SK Group is SK Telecom, which is engaged in the operator business. After a few years, it will be SK Hynix. Among the top ten companies with the highest market value in South Korea, SK Hynix is ​​the representative of SK Group.

LG's current core business is LG Electronics. But they focused on making power batteries, and even split it into LG New Energy, which took off immediately. The market value of LG New Energy is similar to that of CATL in China. It ranks among the top ten large companies in South Korea by market value and is the core of LG Group. business.

Tesla, under Musk's leadership, has always been cooperating with Panasonic Batteries.

Zhou Buqi doesn't like Panasonic very much.

I am more inclined to cooperate with LG to purchase LG power batteries.

From a long-term perspective, SK Group's transformation relies on Hynix, and behind this is Boss Zhou's promotion and support; LG Group's transformation relies on power batteries, and behind this is Boss Zhou's promotion and support.

Coupled with the newly emerging new force Kakao Group.

In fact, these companies can become giants without Zhou Buqi's "support". But the Koreans don't know, and they have no foresight. They only think that Boss Zhou's support and advice have enabled them to achieve great success.

How much kindness is this?

In this way, Zhou Buqi really has a good grasp of the Korean market. The accumulated favors alone are enough for him to dominate the Korean market with ease.

If a trainee is disobedient and says something that shouldn't be said, the chaebol can help to deal with it quietly; or if boss Zhou drinks too much one day, something unexpected happens, and he accidentally pushes him sexually after drinking. A female idol... These local chaebols in South Korea will help her deal with subsequent troubles no matter what.

I would rather have the female idol jump off the building than tarnish Boss Zhou's reputation.

Leaving LG, basically nothing has been negotiated.

First get to know each other and make friends.

After getting into the commercial vehicle, Zhou Shaoning took the lead in explaining, "There are currently three main suppliers of battery cells, Sony batteries, LG batteries, and domestic ATL batteries. Sony batteries are the best and the most expensive. Yes. Asda mainly purchases Sony batteries and ATL batteries."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Then we should support domestic products!"

"Uh..." Zhou Shaoning paused and explained, "To be precise, ATL is a foreign company registered in China, and its major shareholder is the Japanese company TDK Group. However, just like many Internet companies, the major shareholders are foreign investors. , it cannot be said that ATL is a Japanese company. It is a Chinese brand."

"The factory is in the country, the jobs are in the country, and the tax revenue created is also in the country. This is enough." Zhou Buqi waved his hand, "The supply chain system must be as localized as possible, so that it will be more competitive."

Zhou Shaoning said: "The overall quality of current mobile phone batteries is not outstanding enough. Most excellent smartphones use Sony batteries, followed by LG batteries."

"Differs greatly?"

"Not much. And with the improvement of lithium battery technology, the requirements for battery cells will also decrease. In the long term, neither Sony batteries nor LG batteries can be rivals of ATL batteries. In China Full-series operation allows ATL Battery Cell to give the most competitive quotation."

"So in the short term, Sony batteries will still be the main ones..." Zhou Buqi felt a little strange, "Can't we really replace Sony batteries with LG batteries?"

Zhou Shaoning looked strange, "This is the contract you signed!"

"I?"

Zhou Buqi had long forgotten.

Zhou Shaoning said: "Back then...it was five or six years ago. In order to sign back the copyright of the 'Spider-Man' series from Sony Entertainment, you reached a package cooperation agreement with Sony. This included Sony batteries. LG The price of battery cells is lower than that of Sony batteries, but it is not so low that it cannot trigger changes in the terms of the supply chain.”

"That's it..." Zhou Buqi scratched his head, "By the way, I bought their robot business from Sony."

Zhou Shaoning smiled and said: "Yes, it is in that package agreement. Sony batteries are still very good. The Aster series uses Sony batteries, which is completely in line with the market positioning. iPhones now generally use LG batteries, but some high-configuration Pro This version also uses Sony batteries.”

Zhou Buqi asked: "You won't be able to change it in the future?"

Zhou Shaoning said: "It can be changed. The contract is only for ten years. Just don't renew it. By then, domestic ATL batteries will be produced, lithium batteries will be more mature, and battery technology will be less demanding, and the cost will become The first choice element of the battery supply chain. Sony battery cells should basically be marginalized, so it is natural to cancel the order for Sony battery cells, and they can’t say anything.”

This is also an important hidden danger in high-tech research and development.

Once it is not handled well, even if the technology is successfully developed and recognized by the market, the company may go bankrupt. Because many times, technological breakthroughs in other fields have resulted in this field no longer requiring high-tech support.

Like HDTV.

In the past, data transmission was limited. In order to make their own TVs clearer and more colorful when viewed, TV manufacturers invested a lot of money in research and development and made in-depth efforts in the field of digital imaging.

Especially those Japanese TV manufacturers.

It can be said to be unique in the world.

Later it stopped working.

Technology has advanced, and the amount of data transmitted has increased significantly. There is no need for the TV to switch signals. The original signal is directly projected on the screen, and it is already an ultra-high-definition image.

Ruined!

Many of the TV signal conversion and digital imaging technologies that Japanese companies invested heavily in research and development are useless.

Television has been completely reduced to a gadget with little technical content.

The advantages of domestic manufacturing are reflected.

Domestic TV manufacturers do not have such high-end technology and have not done such research and development, but they have a huge cost advantage... Domestic TV manufacturers have all emerged and began to take food from Japanese and Korean TV manufacturers.

Therefore, when investing, Buffett's very important concept is not to invest in R\u0026D-oriented technology companies.

The risk is really too great.

Failure in R\u0026D is a risk, and success in R\u0026D is also a huge risk.

Not necessarily when, but from an unexpected angle, he encountered a devastating blow.

In the TV industry where Japanese companies once dominated the world, except for Sony TV which was competitive in the field of high-end TVs, the rest have basically died, and it has become an era where domestic TV manufacturers with little technical content are arrogant.

Zhou Buqi pondered and said: "Sony batteries cannot be modified, and high-quality and low-priced domestic ATL batteries must also be supported, so we can't place orders for LG batteries?"

Zhou Shaoning smiled and said: "Yes, there is a way!"

"any solution?"

“Aren’t you a director of Xiaomi?”

"Um?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

Zhou Shaoning said: "The core areas of Xiaomi's supply chain are all supplied by Japanese companies, which are extremely expensive. Now it is the third generation of Xiaomi, the brand has risen, and the market visibility has also increased. They also want to adjust the supply chain. Xiaomi's The batteries used are Sony batteries, which is actually not necessary at all, and it’s not a high-end machine costing five to six thousand yuan.”

Zhou Buqi's eyes lit up, "It makes sense!"