Chapter 137 Return to the Negotiation Table
When Ozone Kozo arrived at Ohga Norio's office, he met an unexpected person, Nakajima Heitaro.
"What a coincidence, it turns out that Mr. Nakajima is here too." Ozone Yukizo suppressed his surprise and greeted him calmly.
Nakajima Heitaro, who was giving a report, looked a little embarrassed when he met Ozone Yukizo here.
But he quickly suppressed his discomfort and said, "Today I came to report to Mr. Oga on the latest development progress of the CD. I will also visit Mr. Ozone later."
Nakajima Heitaro's research institute was under Ozone Kozo's business unit, although the two had similar job levels.
But now that he appeared in Ohga Norio's office, he was suspected of reporting to a higher level.
This is also the reason why Nakajima Heitaro was a little embarrassed just now. As for what Ozone Yukizo would think, it is hard to say.
"Okay, Mr. Nakajima came here at my request to report on the progress of CD research and development." Knowing that the atmosphere was not harmonious, Norio Ohga smoothed things over in time.
As Sony grew, not only did the functions of its major departments overlap, but the staff teams also showed signs of being bloated.
Norio Ohga was well aware of all this, but there were too many veterans and factions within the company, and it would not be resolved in a day or two.
"Ozone-san, are you here regarding Shirakawa Electric?"
Hearing Ohga Norio's question, Ozone Kozo nodded awkwardly, "I'm sorry to disappoint Ohga-san."
Ohga Norio waved his hands. He was not surprised by the result.
Since the other party dared to launch the Walkman project without any scruples and did so many tricks on the patent, how could they let it go easily?
"Don't worry about it, Mr. Ozone. If that's the case, then we should start the acquisition negotiations with the other party as soon as possible.
The board of directors decided that the first batch of overseas markets for Walkman would be developed in the United States and the United Kingdom, which was of utmost priority.
The implementation of the overseas expansion plan must not be affected by other things, understand?"
"Yes!" Ozone Kozo bowed his head respectfully and agreed.
Nakajima Heitaro, who was sitting next to him, had been watching the show with his eyes wide open and eating melons in secret. Fortunately, he was smart and got rid of this hot potato in time.
Thinking about it now, it was a wise decision.
"I heard that Nakajima-san is the senior of Shirakawa Kaede, the president of Shirakawa Electric, so why not let Nakajima-san step in during the acquisition negotiations?
Maybe the other party will happily agree to our acquisition for the sake of our fellow disciples’ friendship.”
Nakajima Heitaro, who was eating watermelon, was stunned. Then he looked up suddenly and saw Ozone Yukizo opposite him looking at him with a smile.
And Ohga Norio beside him also showed an inquiring look, and Nakajima Heitaro felt a chill in his heart.
"Ozone-san, you are joking. I am not familiar with him and we have no connection at all."
"But I heard that it was Mr. Nakajima who initially handled the Shirakawa Electric issue, and the top management didn't receive the relevant news until after the New Year."
Nakajima Heitaro's face turned pale, "Ozone-san!..."
"Alright!" Ohga Norio raised his hand to interrupt their argument, "I'd better trouble Ozone-san to handle this matter. As for Nakajima-san, the development of CD cannot afford to fail either."
"Yeah!" Ozone Kozo and Nakajima Heitaro both lowered their heads and responded.
The topic had reached this point, and Ohga Norio was no longer in the mood to let them continue talking.
After waving goodbye to the two, he began to think about Sony's subsequent digital strategy.
Outside the door, Ozone Kozo and Nakajima Heitaro looked at each other coldly.
The superior-subordinate relationship that had been maintained on the surface was now more like a broken window paper and completely ceased to exist.
But in the end, neither of them said anything. They just passed each other with cold faces and without saying a word.
…
Shirakawa Electric.
Three weeks have passed since the first communication with Sony.
Except for the first two weeks due to Sony's channel blockade, Shirakawa Electric encountered some difficulties in the distribution of Flashman.
The so-called blockade was naturally broken in the following week with the participation of Keio Department Store and Tokyu Department Store.
Recently, I saw Flash Man on the shelves in other department stores, which attracted a lot of buyers.
Because of the lure of profits, the original electrical appliance retailers began to secretly put Flashman on the shelves.
But it was just a secretive thing, and the billboards outside didn't mention anything about Flashman.
Today, Baichuan Feng was sitting in the office, looking at the report in his hand with a smile on his face.
As for what he is so happy about, it is nothing more than that Flashman's first month sales have come out.
Including the more than 9,000 units sold during the Christmas period, Shirakawa Electric has shipped a total of 110,000 Flashman units since its release.
If it weren't for Sony's intervention in the middle of the month, the number would be even higher.
However, there is no need to worry about the problem of channel blockage in the future. Baichuan Feng believes that the sales volume next month will only be higher and not lower.
After this matter with Sony is over, Shirakawa Feng plans to give Sony a tough fight in terms of sales in the market.
But we’ll talk about these things later. Right now, there are more worthwhile things to be happy about.
The payment for 110,000 Flashman units and 160,000 pairs of headphones has arrived.
After deducting 10%-15% of the channel share and operating costs, Shirakawa Electric received a one-time payment of 2.3 billion yen.
Although the net profit is only over 700 million yen after deducting management costs, material and labor costs, the funds that Shirakawa Electric can mobilize at this time have reached 1.8 billion yen.
A wave of fat, really a wave of fat.
Even if the balance of the previous materials is paid off in one go, the remaining amount is still a huge sum.
With so much money, the first thing Baichuan Feng thought of was to spend it.
Although theoretically speaking, Shirakawa Electric was his sole proprietorship at that time.
A large part of this money could also go into his pocket, but the extremely high progressive personal tax made Baichuan Feng give up this idea.
Spend the money so that when you calculate corporate taxes next year, the corresponding investment portion will be deducted.
The remaining surplus would then begin to be taxed again, which would be the wisest approach.
As for where Shirakawa Electric needs to spend money now, there are too many.
There are currently only three production lines for Walkman. As the market gradually opens up, this production capacity will definitely not be able to meet the huge market demand.
Not to mention the future overseas markets, but at present Shirakawa Electric's territory has expanded to its limit.
In the existing factory area, if we add one more production line at most, the site will be completely filled.
If you want to continue to expand production capacity, you have to think of other ways.
Replanning the factory site will be an inevitable choice, and the location must be large enough, preferably around Tokyo.
If you want to meet the above conditions, there are not many places to choose from.
Shirakawa Kaede raised his head and looked towards Kawasaki City across the Tama River.
However, these are not urgent for the time being. Instead, when it comes to land planning, Baichuan Feng has the idea of buying land again.
Where to buy it? Of course, it’s within Tokyo.
The bubble is only a few years old, so it's not too much to buy a few residential villas. He doesn't know how to do anything else, so he can make a fortune by hoarding some land and selling it in time.
If he hadn't gotten in touch with the real estate company , he would have been even bolder.
However, buying residential land is secondary. What he really wants to buy is the land for the future Shirakawa Electric headquarters.
That would be a huge amount of money, because as a headquarters site, both the location and the area of land need to be carefully selected.
It's grand and big enough, so it goes without saying that it will cost a lot of money.
You may not be able to afford it now, but you can still choose the land of Shirakawa Research Institute.
That’s right, Baichuan Feng wants to make the research institute independent, or simply set up a subsidiary to specialize in the research and development of high-end technologies.
Ota Ward is definitely not suitable. Firstly, there is no space, and secondly, the work of the research institute no longer requires the factory's equipment.
Advanced instruments must be purchased separately to support the research and development work.
Therefore, the best option is to choose a new location and move the research institute directly there.
"Boss, here we go again, here we go again!"
Just when Baichuan Feng was thinking about how to spend the money, Hasegawa's familiar voice came from afar again.
After running around for about twenty days, the channels in major cities have basically been opened up, and the remaining details can be left to the people below.
Hasegawa himself has returned to Shirakawa Electric in the past two days.
"Sony?" This time, Baichuan Feng knew what it was about without having to guess.
"Mr. President is really smart. Sony's second note is coming again!"
Unlike the first time when he was nervous, Hasegawa was much more confident this time.
Want to block our distribution channels? Sorry, we have already cleared the country.
Looking at Hasegawa's fearless look, Shirakawa Feng found it a little funny.
But this is indeed something worth being proud of. I believe it will be difficult for Sony to control them this time.
Looking at the note in his hand, Baichuan Feng let out a breath.
Well, it's time to put this matter to an end.
