Chapter 155: Flyman
Today, Hasegawa took the people from the marketing department to explore the channels and maintain the relationship between them.
As a result, I suddenly saw a Walkman that was very similar to my own Flashman in an electronics retail store.
The same color schemes, but with slightly different color styles, and the same in-ear headphones.
At first glance, Hasegawa thought it was his own Walkman, but when he got closer he saw "AIWA".
Hasegawa's heart skipped a beat, and without saying anything he picked up his two Walkmans and ran away. He finally got back to Shirakawa Electric, but Shirakawa Feng was not there.
He had no choice but to take the Walkman to the technical department and ask them to see what was going on.
Before he could even sit down, Shirakawa Kaede happened to come back, so Hasegawa ran upstairs without stopping, and then the current scene happened.
"Aihua's Walkman?" Surprised, Baichuan Feng couldn't help but stand up and walk forward.
How did Aiwa make Walkman? Did Sony give it local authorization?
But logically , Sony should have notified Shirakawa Electric in advance to discuss this matter together.
But Baichuan Feng didn't hear any relevant news. Was it because his sales were suppressed last month, and now he is letting the dog bite?
Putting aside all the speculations in his mind, Baichuan Feng picked up the Walkman handed to him by Hasegawa and looked at it carefully.
Hmm? Flyman?
Damn, when Baichuan Feng saw this name, he almost vomited blood.
Especially the first two letters of "fl", even the font is the same as the first two letters of flashman.
"walkman", "flashman", "flyman".
Damn, each name is better than the other.
"This birdman named his walkman Flyman?" Baichuan Feng felt his blood pressure rising.
"That's right, President. They are simply unreasonable." Hasegawa was also very angry. This was too obvious.
"This is a dog"
"Eh?" Hasegawa didn't understand what his president just said.
"It's okay." Baichuan Feng waved his hands irritably, and even spoke in his hometown dialect when he was excited.
The key point is that Aihua's shamelessness really made Baichuan Feng very angry.
Isn't this a complete copycat? It's a shame that a big company like Aiwa can do such a thing.
What made Baichuan Feng even more uncomfortable was that he was the one who personally agreed to the authorization of Aihua's in-ear headphones.
At the beginning, Yusuke Mibe had asked his subordinates to ask casually, because he heard that Shirakawa Electric had always been very generous in its authorization in this regard.
Since you can easily get the authorization, there is no need to force it.
Unexpectedly... Shirakawa Electric actually agreed.
What else is there to say? Aihua also unceremoniously equipped his own Walkman with the popular in-ear headphones.
For the licensing of earbud headphones, Shirakawa Electric will receive a few yen in patent fees for each pair produced by other manufacturers.
Compared to the selling price of thousands of yen, the patent fee of a few yen is nothing.
Therefore, many audio equipment manufacturers have obtained authorization from Shirakawa Electric.
But now we see that Aiwa not only uses its own Walkman, but also uses the headphones officially authorized by Shirakawa Electric.
Baichuan Feng felt so upset. This was so unethical.
In fact, he probably didn't expect that when Ozone Kozo saw Shirakawa Electric's Flashman, he had a similar expression...
So, it is said that the law of nature will never be spared...
However, the reason why Aihua did this can be traced back to Valentine's Day last month.
The sensation caused by Shirakawa Electric's Valentine's Day promotion far surpassed that of Sony.
Yusuke Mibe of Aiwa also immediately decided to develop several different color schemes like Shirakawa Electric.
It’s OK as long as the color is different from Shirakawa Electric, but I will accept the idea of different color combinations without hesitation.
In addition, March is also White Valentine's Day, and Shirakawa Electric will have a wave of activities on that day.
That’s just in time, as Aihua’s Walkman was also released on White Valentine’s Day.
Don’t you think this is a coincidence? What’s even more coincidental is that with this calculation, Aiwa doesn’t even need to do any marketing and can just start selling on this day.
It would be a waste if you don't take this ride, just like when Shirakawa Electric took advantage of Sony's hot sales of Walkman.
In a fake business war, you need to plan carefully and win the battle from afar.
In real business wars, you copy me and I copy you.
Just when Shirakawa Kaede was feeling depressed and was about to call Ohga Norio, Hasegawa said he had something else to say.
"President, Aihua not only imitates our Shirakawa Electric in every aspect, but even worse, their circuit design is almost the same as ours."
"Hmm?" Bai Chuanfeng's face turned serious.
In the past, Aiwa was famous for the name of the Walkman, the color scheme, and the marketing.
In the final analysis, it is just riding on the popularity and creativity of Shirakawa Electric. If you insist on saying it is plagiarism, it is really difficult to prove it because the matter is not clear at all.
But if the circuit board designs are similar, it is not just a matter of plagiarism, and it even involves the leakage of company confidential documents.
"Are you sure?" Bai Chuanfeng asked again seriously.
"OK." Hasegawa nodded seriously and took out two circuit boards.
"President, look, this is a comparison between our circuit board and Aihua's circuit board."
Just now in the technical department downstairs, Hasegawa had someone dismantle one.
After all, it's so popular that it's hard not to wonder whether the contents inside look similar.
As a result, they really look similar.
Baichuan Feng picked up the two circuit boards and compared them in detail.
They are indeed very similar. Apart from a few differences, the layout of most components is pretty much the same.
He didn't believe that the designers from the two companies would have the same idea, even the circuits they designed were so similar.
If it wasn't that one in ten thousand chance, then...
There was a hint of coldness in Baichuan Feng's eyes. Core technology is related to the survival of a company.
No matter who leaked this technical information, Baichuan Feng had no intention of letting it go.
"Can we conclude that they plagiarized?" The most urgent matter was still the matter of Aihua's Walkman.
"It's difficult." Hasegawa looked as if he had eaten a fly.
"Although most of the circuits are similar, some changes have been made to a few key places, which makes it difficult to accuse them of plagiarism."
Aihua also makes audio equipment, although to save time.
But they won’t copy it blatantly, as they will not make any slight changes to it, leaving you with no way to sue them.
It was also because of the reference that Aiwa was able to launch its own Walkman in less than two months.
Even with Sony's strength, it took almost half a year to develop the Walkman.
With Sony as a reference, Shirakawa Electric made a simplified version, and it took nearly half a year to redesign the circuit.
Aihua copied it directly and made some minor changes. In less than two months, the Walkman was on the market.
The speed is just like taking off from an airplane.
"No, we can't let Aihua get away with it like this."
Although he couldn't sue him, Baichuan Feng couldn't swallow this anger.
He wanted to call Norio Ohga to ask whether Aiwa had obtained Sony's authorization.
As a member of the Walkman Patent Alliance, Shirakawa Electric has the right to decide whether to authorize other manufacturers.
When Shirakawa Electric and Sony shook hands and made peace, the two companies had already tacitly formed a Walkman patent alliance.
The reason for doing this is that Shirakawa Electric has overseas patents and Sony has domestic patents.
In theory, Shirakawa Electric can authorize Sony or other companies.
The same is true for Sony, whose licensing scope is limited to the domestic market.
So in order to keep their actions in line, the two companies formed the Walkman Patent Alliance.
In the future, any third Walkman manufacturer joining will need the consent of both companies.
Now that Aiwa is openly producing Walkmans, has it obtained local authorization from Sony?
If this is the case, then Shirakawa Kaede will have to have a good argument with Ohga Norio.
If Sony doesn't pay some money to compensate Shirakawa Electric, Shirakawa Kaede will not be so easy to deal with.
After all, we also have overseas patent authorizations. If you can do it on the first day, then I can also do it on the fifth day.
But if Sony didn't authorize it... that would be even better.
This time, Baichuan Feng has no intention of negotiating with the other party at the negotiation table. The seniors from the Meiji University Law Department will definitely teach Aihua a lesson.
As one of the vested interests in the patent alliance, Sony will probably have nothing to say.
…
Just as Shirakawa Kaede was about to have a chat with Ohga Norio, a similar scene was happening at the Sony Building.
"Sanbian, give you a reason to convince me what is going on."
Ohga Norio, who always smiles, now looks indifferent. In front of him is the Walkman that Aiwa has just launched.
"Smith Marseille~"
Swish, Yusuke Mibe was not vague and bowed 90 degrees.
He kept his word. He had thought about it when he was about to rush into the Walkman.
If Sony takes the blame, then bow and apologize.
I have already bowed and apologized, what else do you want?
So when he heard Norio Ohga's question, Yusuke Mibe didn't even hesitate.
He lowered his head, bent over, and apologized; the whole process was smooth and seamless.
"What I want is a reason, not an apology!" Ohga Norio's face darkened.
Yusuke Mibe's heart skipped a beat, but he decided to tell the truth.
“Ohga-san, Sony is the absolute controlling shareholder of Aiwa.
If Aiwa makes a profit by producing the Walkman, then in the final analysis, it is creating profits for Sony.”
"Is this your reason? Or do you, Yusuke Mibe, think Sony and me, Norio Ohga, are fools?"
Ohga Norio had an ambiguous smile on his face, which was different from his usual smile.
Ozone Kozo, who was listening quietly at the side, subconsciously lowered his head when he saw Ohga Norio's expression.
However, Yusuke Mibe thought that since he had already done it, Sony would not order Aiwa to stop the production of Walkmans.
And what he said was true, Aiwa's profit is Sony's profit.
Similarly, if Aiwa loses money, Sony loses money.
Aiwa invested so many resources in the production of Walkmans that a large number of them were needed just for stocking.
If you press the stop button now, you will inevitably suffer huge losses.
Will Sony just sit and watch Aiwa suffer losses and also suffer losses?
Therefore, relying on this relationship, Yusuke Mibe bowed again in response to Norio Ohga's questioning.
"Smith Marseille"
Ohga Norio laughed. He took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on slowly.
"Sanbian, you can go now."
Huh? Mibe Yusuke raised his head in disbelief. Is this the end?
He blinked and saw that Ohga Norio still didn't say anything.
He could only suppress the doubts in his heart, bowed and left.
The office returned to silence again.
"Oga-san..." Ozone Kozo was about to say something.
However, Ohga Norio raised his hand to stop him from asking further questions.
"Prepare to re-select candidates and wait for the next board meeting."
Ozone Kozo nodded, understanding.
