When will I have a long tassel?

Paris, France, 98 Winter Consumer Electronics Show.

The exhibition area of ​​Korea Shihe Company was crowded with people. The audience stood on tiptoe and stared at the new product demonstration in the exhibition area. In the middle of the booth, a staff member held a shiny silver flat box less than 2 inches square in his hand, and loudly introduced to everyone:

"Everyone, this is the first MP3 player launched by our Shihe Company. It has 64 megabytes of memory and can completely store the music on a tape. It is powered by a AAA battery and can play continuously for 10 hours. Its sound is no less than The Walkman is common on the market, but it weighs only a measly 45 grams.

"In order to satisfy the younger generation's endless pursuit of fashion, our MP3 player uses a pure metal casing that can adapt to various outdoor environments. It is not afraid of bumps and wear, and can still maintain this beautiful appearance even after five years of use. Glossy, even these delicate patterns never show any blur!”

At this time, other staff members had already come forward and handed each sample to the audience in the front row. Everyone was competing with each other. Those who had grabbed the samples only took a brief look at them, and then they all made a fuss and started shouting:

"Oh! What a shame, this actually has the same function as a Walkman!"

"The workmanship is so exquisite, it's like a work of art!"

"Be confident and remove the word 'like'. It is indeed a work of art!"

“Too high-end!”

"Look at this metallic luster. There are really patterns engraved on it. The cake seller actually has words on it. With such small words, they can actually carve them into a cursive effect!"

"Dear, haven't you always wanted my Sony Walkman? I've decided to give it to you, provided you help me buy a Shihe MP3 player!"

"Bah! Anyone who wants your big, ugly Walkman with a Walkman on his waist in the future is a fool who has never seen the world!"

"No, I can't wait any longer. Miss, please tell me how much this MP3 player costs. I want to buy it now!"

"..."

The craziness in front of the booth attracted journalists and businessmen with a keen sense of smell. Various media reported on this latest consumer electronics product immediately, and sensational words such as "epoch-making", "revolutionary", and "rewriting the rules" were piled on the press releases as if they were free of charge.

The major agents did not dare to delay for a moment, and immediately contacted Shihe's headquarters and branches in various places, placing large orders with staggering amounts one after another. In order to get the spot goods before others, they even agreed to accept a considerable premium and gave generous gifts to market representatives from various places.

The world has entered the era of global village. The craze at the Paris exhibition spread to Pengcheng in southern China in less than a day. In the office of the general manager of Pengcheng Jiachuan Electronics Company, Wen Guohui met with Pu Longming, the commissioner of Shihe Company, who hurriedly arrived.

"Mr. Wen, first of all, please allow me to tell you some good news. The Shihe C1 MP3 player produced by your company for our Shihe company has received amazing praise at the Consumer Electronics Show in Paris. So far, The orders we have received have exceeded 20 million units.

"I don't want to hide it from you. According to a survey conducted by our marketing department at the exhibition, what consumers value most is the appearance of this MP3 product. Such a delicate metal casing has never been used in any consumer electronics product before. . Regarding this, our agents around the world have also confirmed it. They believe that this metal casing is the core competitiveness of Shihe MP3. Several other electronic manufacturers have also launched MP3 players, but because the appearance is too simple, It has not attracted the attention of consumers.

"Facts have shown that your suggestion of using engraved metal casings on MP3 players is very correct. On behalf of Chairman Jin Sikun of our Shihe Company, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you and your company."

Pu Longming spoke not very fluent Chinese and told Wen Guohui in an extremely exaggerated tone.

"Really, that's great. We just recommended an alternative to your company at first, but unexpectedly this engraved metal casing really worked. Please allow me to express my heartfelt congratulations to your company on your success .”

Wen Guohui replied with a smile, but there was not much expression of surprise on his face.

Jiachuan Company has been manufacturing consumer electronics products for Shihe Company for six or seven years. Wen Guohui and Park Longming have long been familiar with each other, and there is no need to talk in circles.

Some time ago, Shihe Company was preparing to launch an MP3 player, but it was still unable to find a perfect solution for the appearance design. At this time, MP3 players were just coming out. In addition to Shihe Company, several Japanese and Korean electronics companies were also eyeing this product. The principle of an MP3 player is not complicated, and the production of the electronic part is also very easy. The main difficulty lies in the appearance.

As a replacement for the traditional Walkman, the main concept of MP3 players is thin, light and compact. But if a thin, light and compact thing uses a colorful resin shell, it will inevitably give people the feeling of a cheap toy. If it is replaced by darker engineering plastics with a thicker feel, it will conflict with its fashion style. Of course, using a metal casing is also a solution, but the high processing cost of metal casings has discouraged several electronics manufacturers, including Shihe Company.

At this time, Jiachuan Company suddenly told Shihe Company that they had found a cheap solution for processing metal casings, which could reduce the processing cost of a player's metal casing from nearly 100 yuan to less than 20 yuan. Jiachuan Company also provided a sample of the metal casing. The patterns and text engraved on it were extremely exquisite, which immediately impressed the product designers of Shihe Company and made them determined to use pure metal casings for their newly launched MP3 players.

Shihe Company placed a small-scale order with Jiachuan Company. As a trial sample, Jiachuan Company completed the order in a short time. After inspection by Shihe Company, it was determined that the quality was high and very stable.

What was on display at the Paris Consumer Electronics Show this time was this batch of samples manufactured by Jiachuan Company. As expected, it caused a sensation, turning several other companies that also launched MP3 players into completely onlookers.

Wen Guohui knew about the hot sales of Shihe MP3 players at the Paris exhibition as early as the first time. Of course, he had to grasp this situation in advance. If he had to wait for Park Yongming to inform him, he would not be able to obtain the maximum benefit in the subsequent negotiations.

Park Longming also knew that this kind of thing could not be hidden from Wen Guohui, and it was completely wishful thinking to gain a negotiating advantage by concealing the truth. The cooperation between the two parties is not a one-and-done deal. Jiachuan Company will not ask for excessive prices, and Shihe Company does not need to sit back and pay back the money. Only when the matter is discussed can it be conducive to the development of cooperation.

"From now on, within the next year, we need Jiachuan Company to produce 30 million C1-type MP3 players for us. Can Jiachuan Company do it?" asked Pu Longming.

"There is no problem with the electronic part at all. The bottleneck is only in the processing of the metal casing. The equipment we use to process this metal casing is an engraving and milling machine produced by Linhe No. 1 Machine Tool Factory in my country. We have calculated that according to normal workload, every thousand units The monthly production capacity of engraving and milling machines is 1.2 million casings. To reach an annual production capacity of 30 million units, we need to purchase 2,000 engraving and milling machines. So far, we only have 100 units that Linyi Machine has provided us for free trial Prototype." Wen Guohui said.

The amount proposed by Park Longming was within Wen Guohui's expectation. He was not intimidated by the amount, nor did he show any ecstasy.

"So, how long will it take for you to purchase 2,000 engraving and milling machines?"

"This depends on the production capacity of Linyi Machinery. I am very worried that they will not be able to produce 2,000 engraving and milling machines in a short period of time. What's more..."

"Besides what?"

"I'm worried that Linyiji is not the only customer like us."

"You mean..."

Park Longming's eyes were a little straightened.

Wen Guohui's words were very obscure, but Park Longming understood them all at once. Wen Guohui said that it will take some time for Linyi Machinery to produce 2,000 engraving and milling machines, but these engraving and milling machines will not necessarily be sold to Jiachuan Company, but will be competed by other companies.

These companies that competed with Jiachuan Company to purchase engraving and milling machines naturally also took a fancy to the business opportunities in the metal engraving market. The largest users in the metal engraving market are consumer electronics manufacturers like Shihe Company. So the question becomes, besides Shihe Company, which other manufacturers will launch their own metal-cased consumer electronics products?

The answer is very clear, that is, the competitors of Shihe Company who became bystanders at this Paris exhibition. After these companies see the popularity of Shihe MP3 players, they will not hesitate to switch to metal casings, and then Shihe's advantage will disappear.

"Mr. Wen, you must get these engraving and milling machines before other OEMs, and delay the time for other manufacturers to obtain engraving and milling machines as much as possible," Park Longming said.

The failure of Jiachuan Company's production capacity to increase rapidly is no longer Park Longming's biggest concern. What he needs to consider is that other foundry companies cannot obtain similar production capacity, otherwise Shihe Company will be in trouble.

"I'm afraid this will be difficult."

"If you can order 2,000 units at one time, don't they consider the needs of large customers?"

"I think if my peers were to place orders, they would be of this size."

“What if you are willing to pay a premium for each engraving and milling machine?”

"But in this case, our OEM profits cannot be guaranteed."

"Of course this part of the premium is provided by our Shihe company, and we will not let your company suffer losses."

"If that's the case..., then I can give it a try."

A smile appeared on Wen Guohui's face. What he needs is Shihe Company's promise to pay the premium for equipment purchase. As for worrying about the production capacity of Linyi Machinery, that is a negotiation strategy. After trying out the first 100 prototypes, he placed an order with Linyi Machine. At this moment, the 2,000 engraving and milling machines he needed were already on Linyi Machine's production line.