Reinventing the Millennium

Mr. Tanaka, President of Japan Lexiang Electronics, once again met Mr. Fang of Yike.

Because the other party was very busy, he proposed to visit Shanghai several times but was declined, but the two parties still kept in touch.

At least, that's what Tanaka Miu thinks.

Just last month, he sent a New Year greeting message to Mr. Fang.

However, I never expected that the reason for coming to see Mr. Fang this time was about the head of Sony.

Tanaka Mito and his company subordinates have always claimed that Lexiang Electronics is Japan's Xiaoyike. Now seeing Mr. Fang getting involved with Lexiang's biggest enemy, he felt somewhat complicated and felt vaguely betrayed.

Big Yike and Xiao Yike, our goals should be the same! We should completely defeat Sony!

However, when he really saw Mr. Fang, he suddenly found a reason for him. Mr. Fang's Yike was no longer a challenger in music players. On the contrary, Sony was.

Mr. Fang has already defeated Sony’s players with Yike’s products!

Tanaka Ming was a little confused.

"Drink tea, Mr. Tian."

When Tian Zhong saw Mr. Fang handing him tea, he quickly took it and forgave him.

"Mr. Tian, ​​how is the development of Lexiang Electronics now?" Fang Zhuo took a sip of tea, called the Japanese by his Chinese name, and said with a smile, "I was walking around Tokyo last evening and saw your machine. Logo.”

Tian Zhongshi said seriously in Mandarin: "The biggest difficulty that Lexiang Electronics encounters now is the change of Japanese people's customs. Many people do not accept the trendy MP3 players and would rather stick to the old walkman and tapes."

Fang Zhuo nodded, the word "changing customs and changing customs" was used well: "Then Lexiang Electronics should increase its publicity. Is there any plan to go public in a few years?"

Tian Zhongshi smiled: "We plan to go public within three years."

2005+3=2008.

We are not only in the age of smartphones, but also encountering a financial crisis.

Fang Zhuo nodded and did not comment on this timing choice. The Japanese market is really useless compared to other markets. Lexiang Electronics is OEM produced by Yike, and its music copyright is also authorized by Yike. There is such a person who knows the local market well. Just compete on your behalf.

He drank two more sips of tea and talked about the main topic of this trip, including his doubts about Nobuyuki Dei, the head of Sony.

It is clear that the next candidate who has been negotiated by the outside directors has arrived in Tokyo. It is clear that the shareholders' meeting is approaching, so why does the boss avoid it?

After Tian Zhongshi listened carefully to Mr. Fang's description, he was surprised that he had a deeper influence on Sony than he thought. He only thought for a moment and replied: "Mr. Fang, this is Nobuyuki Idei showing his majestic patriarchal style. "

A majestic parent?

Fang Zhuo was stunned and wanted to hear the details.

Tian Zhongshi said in a critical tone: "Mr. Fang, you may not understand the strict hierarchy in our society, especially within Sony. Nobuyuki Idei often does not listen to the suggestions of senior management, not just , and there is very little room for suggestions.”

"Including the vice president and CFO, I don't often see Nobuyuki Dei."

"Mr. Fang, do you know the feudal samurai families in Japan?"

Fang Zhuo nodded.

Tian Zhongshi said in a low metaphor: "Nobuyuki Idei, the chairman and CEO, is like a noble. He has thousands of retainers in Japan and around the world. He believes that these retainers must be loyal to him. "

Fang Zhuo: "?"

He felt that Mr. Tian's description might contain some deeply personal opinions.

"Mr. Tian, ​​what do you think Nobuyuki Dei thinks of Stringer?" Fang Zhuo wanted to know what the feudal Nobuyuki Dei thought of Sony's American King based on Tanaka Mito's logic.

"If Stringer is indeed elected as the new chairman, this will indeed make history for Sony." Tian Zhongshi paused, "I was at Sony and some of my friends from that time to now think that Stringer is Idei. Nobuyuki’s greatest retainer, Nobuyuki Dei gave him a lot of independent power.”

Fang Zhuo understood that many people inside Sony believed that Stringer and Nobuyuki Idei were from the same line... However, the strange thing was that Stringer himself did not seem to have such an understanding.

"You and I will go meet Stringer tonight. Your words of a dignified patriarch are a bit beyond our expectations."

Fang Zhuo added more tea and said with a smile: "What do you think of Nakabachi Ryoji and Kutaragi Ken?"

Today I mainly want to ask the former Sony executive what he thinks of the current leader, but since he is here, I also want to ask the two current contenders for the president's position.

However, Tian Zhongshi's answer surprised Fang Zhuo.

"Ryoji Nakahachi prefers Nobuyuki Dei, and Ken Kutaragi is from former president Norio Ohga." Tian Zhongshi said with a very firm tone.

Fang Zhuo knew Norio Ohga, who was the last head of Sony before the 21st century.

He said in shock: "Norio Ohga is over seventy, right?"

Tian Zhongshi nodded: "Well, he's not dead."

Fang Zhuo: "..."

"Not only that, he is still trying to exert influence on Sony." Tian Zhongshi continued, "Norio Ohga has resigned from Sony, leaving only the title of 'Honorary Chairman'."

"Despite this, he still comes to work at the Tokyo headquarters every day."

Tian Zhongshi showed a meaningful smile: "A seventy-five-year-old honorary chairman comes to the office every day. Norio Ohga may be the representative of Japanese craftsmanship."

Fang Zhuo silently looked at this Japanese man's strange aura and was a little confused about how to evaluate it.

However, this news is really surprising.

Norio Ohga, who has long since resigned, seems to still want to show his presence in Sony's selection of president. Of course, Ken Kutaragi's outstanding performance in the PS business is also indispensable.

The situation looks quite clear.

Stringer, a foreign national, was one who wanted to take over Sony and impose massive cuts and layoffs.

The current head of Sony, Nobuyuki Dei, is on the side, and his preferred candidate for president is Nakahata Ryoharu, who wants to be further appointed as a "representative director."

The former head of Sony, Norio Ohga, is on the same side, and his preferred candidate for president is Kutaragi Ken, who has voiced his opposition to foreign chairman.

In contrast, the Sony Group itself still has a trend of thinking that requires changes to save Sony's decline. Some outside directors who are famous Japanese entrepreneurs generally believe that the Sony Group needs to break away from conservatism and embrace Western-style scientific management.

Fang Zhuo then chatted with Tian Shishi about the specific characters of Nakahachi Ryoharu and Kutaragi Ken. The former is cautious and peaceful, while the latter is arrogant and violent. Today, Sony has always been proud of only the PS, an electronic product that still performs well.

The chat didn't last long, but we made an appointment at nine o'clock in the evening.

After seeing off Tian Zhongshi, Fang Zhuo made a special call to Stringer. As expected, the American king didn't know that Norio Ohga still insisted on going to work every day and chose Kutaragi Ken.

Stringer was equally shocked to hear the news.

For a long time, he only said one sentence: "Sony is too close to Tokyo, but too far from New York."

Fang Zhuo found this American minister very interesting.

Soon, just when Fang Zhuo had sorted out his thoughts and was about to continue walking around Tokyo with his family, he received a call from Nakahachi Ryoji.

Ryoharu Nakabachi is different from the Japanese English accent of ordinary Japanese. His English is very standard and clear, and he made a request to visit Mr. Fang the next day.

Fang Zhuo agreed, knowing what this person wanted to do. It was nothing more than to meet with Stringer today to show his support for Sony's reform, and to increase lobbying when he met with him tomorrow. In the end, he settled on the condition of "representative director".

However, the more proactive Nakabo Ryoji is now, the more Stringer is probably muttering in his heart, there are no two days in the sky, there are no two masters, and the big chairman does not want the little chairman to appear.

Fang Zhuo planned to meet Stringer in the evening and hear about the situation of today's meeting.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Fang Zhuo put aside his thoughts and simply walked around Tokyo with his family. He found that... just shopping seemed quite tiring.

After he came back, he took a short break for a quarter of an hour, drank a cup of coffee, and called the product director Xu Keden.

Unlike Fang Zhuo's vacation, Xu Keden went to the manufacturer to investigate the situation after arriving in Tokyo. When the Sony shareholders meeting is over, he and Mr. Fang will contact higher-level people in Sharp and other companies.

"Mr. Fang, Sharp has a research project on capacitive screens, and the laboratory now has samples."

"But the current performance is still very average, and there is a long way to go before large-scale mass production."

Xu Keden mainly visited Sharp in the past two days. Their LCD business is developing very well, and they seem to be conducting a lot of research on the various applications of LCD.

"Already have a sample?" Fang Zhuo was slightly surprised. He didn't pay much attention to the "performance effect" and "large distance". Such capacitive screen is a very basic device for touch screen mobile phones.

Xu Keden nodded, he was also surprised when he visited Sharp's laboratory.

Now that there are capacitive screen samples, it would not be so whimsical to implement the full touch screen that Mr. Fang mentioned.

Xu Keden continued: "Mr. Fang, do you want to get anything from Sony this time?"

Fang Zhuo was surprised that Teacher Xu suddenly asked this question and said with a smile, "Why did Teacher Xu say this?"

"This morning, I was communicating with a Chinese from Sharp. He mentioned Sony's relatively good things and said that Sony's mobile phone cameras are very good." Xu Keden said, "Oh, yes, he also said that Sony now has an image sensor. He was poached by the company’s project, and he was very optimistic about it, but he didn’t change jobs.”

Camera? Image Sensor?

They are all mobile phone parts.

Fang Zhuo hesitated and said: "Teacher Xu, you may have misunderstood. It's not what I want from Sony, but what excellent things Sony has that I can cooperate with. I'm mainly here to watch the fun."

"I guess it will take a few days. As for you, let's see what excellent and cutting-edge mobile phone parts Sony and Japan have that we may need."

"Sony's devices and technologies will be easier to negotiate with. As for other brands, it shouldn't be difficult to talk about their attitude first."

Xu Keden understood.

He thought for a while and said: "When I came back in the evening, I called Sony and asked about their image sensors. They made CMOS. I called China again and asked about it. It may be more cutting-edge."

"CMOS is a complementary metal oxide semiconductor. Sony used to make CCD imaging equipment. Domestic experts say that CMOS is likely to replace CCD in the future."

He reminded: "Sony's CMOS should be of high value. Mr. Fang, it is worth cooperating with us. It is an integrated circuit itself. Maybe there are prospects for cooperation between Bingxin and this one."

Fang Zhuo blinked and said something bad, insisting on mentioning the ice core to me.

He nodded seriously: "Okay, got it."

Xu Keden didn't know whether Mr. Fang knew about it, so he reminded him one last time: "Mr. Fang, for Sony's research in this area, can we ask Sony to cooperate and develop with us? Can we set up a laboratory in China?"

"Or, simply spin it off, and Yike can take a stake. Well, if it can be spun off, maybe it can be bought."

Seeing that the product director was getting more and more outrageous, Fang Zhuo said amusedly: "You're still splitting up the company, Mr. Xu, do you think I'm here to be the chairman of Sony? Wake up, I'm here to see the fun."

Xu Keden muttered angrily: "Aren't they all the same? Don't you have a good relationship with Sony's future chairman?"

Fang Zhuo pretended not to hear.

However, the Sony Group has many businesses and covers all aspects. It is indeed like a treasure trove to be discovered. Sony Bertelsmann Music is in a declining stage and can wait a little longer.

Maybe we can really talk about CMOS image sensors like this. Stringer is not planning to eliminate bloated departments and products. I will ask about this situation tonight.

If Sony doesn't want it, Yike can try to help.

Think about what your friends think and worry about what your friends worry about.

The only one who can save Sony is Stringer.

Fang Zhuo asked Xu Keden to compile a more detailed opinion from domestic experts, and try to make it understandable to a layman like himself.

At this stage, the domestic foundation for various components of mobile phones is very weak. If you want to come up with a mobile phone that can compete with Apple when it comes out, you really need to carefully select all kinds of cutting-edge research.

Nine o'clock in the evening.

Fang Zhuo came as scheduled to see Stringer, who was visited by Nakaba Ryoji today, and asked Tian Zhongshi to wait on the first floor.

Instead of smoking cigars this time, the two drank tea.

As the fragrance of tea lingered, Stringer came up to express his feelings.

"Last year, I came to Tokyo to attend Sony's annual shareholder meeting. I sat on the podium in the headquarters conference hall for a total of five hours."

"No one, not a single person asked me about Sony Entertainment."

"Fang, do you know how I feel?"

Fang Zhuo's expression was a bit subtle. He was 62 years old, and he was sitting there like a gangster?

He said nothing, knowing that this one would continue.

"They don't think entertainment is Sony's real direction." Stringer shook his head slightly. "I can feel that they think the United States is too far and too noisy. They are so conservative and stubborn."

Fang Zhuo spoke up: "You are in Tokyo today, which has proven them wrong."

Stringer took a sip of tea and exhaled.

"This will be a beautiful start for Sony." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "I think Sony has found their best reformer."

Stringer nodded and said seriously: "I want to replace Nakahachi Ryoji."