Chapter 161 Final Negotiations
This meeting was no longer a one-sided communication between Shirakawa Electric and Sony. One of the parties participating in the meeting also included the protagonist of this infringement storm, Aiwa.
Because there were too many participants, the conference room was moved to a larger one.
Sony and Aiwa occupied one side of the long conference table, while Shirakawa Electric occupied a separate side.
After the parties sat down, Baichuan Feng turned his gaze to the Aihua delegation opposite. He wanted to meet Sanbian Sang, the legendary talent who was comparable to Crouching Dragon and Phoenix.
However, Yusuke Mibe didn't see him, but he saw an unexpected acquaintance.
His dear senior, Nakajima Heitaro-san.
Baichuan Feng blinked, not quite understanding why he appeared in the Aihua delegation, and even in the center position!
But no matter what, when he saw this senior brother, Baichuan Feng still showed a friendly and enthusiastic smile.
However, when Nakajima Heitaro saw Shirakawa Kaede's overly enthusiastic expression, he turned his head away angrily.
Don't look at me, we are not familiar with each other.
Uh, Baichuan Feng withdrew his gaze in confusion. What injustice had this senior brother suffered?
But I can't just ignore him, Baichuan Feng felt a little wronged.
"Cough." Norio Ohga, who was sitting at the top, coughed lightly, attracting everyone's attention.
"Heitaro Nakajima-san will take over as president of Aiwa Corporation in a week.
Today's meeting can fully represent Aihua to make decisions."
Baichuan Feng was stunned. Oh my god, has senior brother been promoted to a capable president?
But thinking of Aihua's current situation, Baichuan Feng turned his eyes away with a guilty conscience. I really don't know you well, senior brother.
It is said that Heitaro Nakajima was able to take over as the president of Aihua because Ozone Kozo strongly recommended him.
The reason is very good. The development of CD has been basically completed, and the format standard will be announced to the public in a while.
As the core force among the developers, Heitaro Nakajima deserves to be rewarded.
Speaking of rewards, what could be more tangible than a promotion? It makes sense for him to be promoted from director of the research institute of the Walkman business unit to president of Aiwa Corporation.
Tsk, it’s indeed a big company, the human relations are really complicated.
“Everyone sitting here today must know the purpose of this meeting.
I hope everyone can solve problems through consultation and communication, and reduce meaningless and unreasonable suggestions and requests.”
Before the meeting started, Norio Ohga first stated the meeting minutes.
Because he knows that a meeting is actually a negotiation, and quarrels and disagreements may be difficult to avoid.
But he still hopes that both parties can communicate the problem harmoniously and resolve the matter as soon as possible.
There has been a lot of noise outside about this incident for more than half a month.
Even Sony has felt the pressure from various external parties, and the group hopes to resolve the issue quickly and move on from it as soon as possible.
In response to Ohga Norio's proposal, Shirakawa Kaede and Aihua 's acting president Nakajima Heitaro both nodded in approval, and they had to give Ohga Norio this bit of face.
Besides, if Aihua can accept the conditions of Shirakawa Electric, who would be willing to quarrel with him every day? Wouldn’t it be better for him to work hard to sell products and make money?
"In that case, Mr. Shirakawa, please state clearly what your company's demands are." Seeing that Shirakawa Kaede and Aihua had no objections, Ohga Norio went straight to the topic of the meeting.
As soon as Norio Ohga finished speaking, the legal representative of Shirakawa Electric immediately stood up and spoke.
The demands were still the same: 1 billion yen + a public apology + an immediate halt to all sales of Walkmans.
"That's impossible," Nakajima Heitaro, who had just been reluctant and full of resentment, immediately retorted.
"The total sales of Aiwa Walkman is less than one-third of 1 billion yen. Such a request is really unreasonable."
“But it is also true that Aiwa plagiarized, which caused huge losses to Shirakawa Electric.
All the designs of Flashman need to be started from scratch, and Aiwa has to bear this cost.
In addition, since Aiwa's products are too similar to Shirakawa Electric's products, many consumers have filed quality complaints about Aiwa with Shirakawa Electric.
This has caused great damage to the reputation of Shirakawa Electric, and Aiwa must also compensate for this.”
When it came to discussing the terms, Baichuan Feng selectively forgot that the person sitting opposite him was the senior brother he had just mentioned.
And I didn't just give the 1 billion yen randomly. Look how sufficient the reason is. It has nothing to do with how many Walkmans your Aihua sold.
"You..." Nakajima Heitaro was furious. "Even if we redesign it, the cost will definitely not be that high."
"Alas, the technical team of Shirakawa Electric is small, the development cycle is too long, and the staff salaries are relatively high. Brother, these are all costs."
Baichuan Feng sipped his coffee and explained calmly.
Seeing him like this, Nakajima Heitaro simply ignored him and turned to find Ohga Norio.
"Ohga-san, you know that Shirakawa Electric's requirements are too harsh. Aihua can't agree to such conditions."
Ohga Norio looked at both sides before speaking.
"You are all audio consumer product manufacturers, and you must be very clear about sales profits and various costs."
"So," Ohga Norio straightened his posture, "I propose that Aiwa pay Shirakawa Electric 500 million yen to compensate for the infringement, reputation loss and labor redevelopment costs."
"Oga-san!..." Nakajima Heitaro subconsciously wanted to object, as the price was still far beyond his expectations.
Ohga Norio raised his hand to signal Nakajima Heitaro to calm down, but his eyes were always fixed on Shirakawa Kaede. "What do you think, Shirakawa-san?"
500 million yen, Shirakawa Kaede quickly calculated in his mind.
According to Shirakawa Electric's internal estimates, Aiwa's total sales of Walkman players in the past half month were only around 300 million yen.
Moreover, the delivery time was mainly concentrated in the first week. In the following period, due to the decisive action of Shirakawa Electric, sales almost stagnated.
Not only that, even most retailers went to Aiwa's headquarters to protest and demand returns.
So in general, Aiwa suffered a huge loss this time, and 500 million yen is probably its payment limit.
Thinking of this, Shirakawa Feng nodded. "Shirakawa Electric accepts this amount of compensation, but Aihua must publicly apologize for his actions."
This is only natural. Even if Baichuan Feng did not make such a request, he would have taken the initiative to bow and apologize according to his daily life habits.
After all, in the face of irrefutable evidence, any excuses are feeble and powerless.
Therefore, neither Ohga Norio nor Nakajima Heitaro objected. However, the latter still seemed a little unwilling.
After all, as the president, any loss of the company's interests will be the subject of evaluation of his performance during his tenure.
If Heitaro Nakajima wants to return to Sony in the future, he must protect the interests of Aiwa.
Seeing that Baichuan Feng didn't make trouble again, Ohga Norio breathed a sigh of relief, "Then this meeting is over..."
"etc"
The sudden sound made Ohga Norio change color and made Nakajima Heitaro shudder as if in response to the stress.
Uh, Baichuan Feng put down his hands embarrassedly. I was just making a statement. Is there any need to be so nervous?
"Mr. Shirakawa, do you have anything else to add?" Ohga Norio's expression became serious again.
Supplement? Of course. Baichuan Feng coughed lightly, "I have no objection to the terms of Aihua compensating Baichuan Electric.
But now that we have discussed the compensation terms, should we talk about the infringement issue next?"
"Please don't go too far, Shirakawa-san. Aihua has already paid the price for her actions."
Nakajima Heitaro complained indignantly, this Meiji master... bah, shitty junior fellow, he is just a scoundrel.
Nakajima Heitaro was very regretful at this moment, regretting his decision.
He should have handed over the lawyer's letter from Shirakawa Electric directly to Mr. Ohga Norio when he received it at the beginning of the year, and there wouldn't be all these troubles now.
"Senior brother, you can't say that." Although Nakajima Heitaro had abused him thousands of times in his heart, Shirakawa Feng still affectionately called him senior brother.
“Aiwa’s compensation is for the plagiarism of Shirakawa Electric, but the matter of infringement of the Walkman Patent Alliance has not been clarified yet.
What do you think, Ohga-san? "Baichuan Feng deliberately emphasized the word "alliance".
Ohga Norio was stunned. If Shirakawa Kaede hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about it.
Aihua's Walkman is not only suspected of plagiarism, but also has an infringement issue.
It copied the design of Shirakawa Electric and infringed Sony's local patent.
Perhaps Sony deliberately ignored this issue in order to protect its own interests, but Shirakawa Kaede is not stupid.
As I said, I am also a member of the patent alliance. You, Sony, may not care, but I, Shirakawa Electric, do care.
I have to give an explanation for the infringement of patent rights. But don't forget that I hold the overseas authorization.
Obviously, Ohga Norio also figured this out, but he was just confused by Shirakawa Kaede's straightforward acceptance of the conditions.
Both Ohga Norio and others thought that the matter had come to an end.
But who would have thought that Shirakawa Kaede would use the patent as an excuse to trick Sony again.
It is true that the previous one was aimed at Aiwa, but Sony is also within Shirakawa Kaede's target range.
He knew very well that Aiwa had absolutely no authorization from Sony, and he also understood that even if Sony paid attention to this at the moment, it would be happy to pretend to be confused.
If he is not satisfied, the worst that can happen is that he can scold Aihua in private. After all, it is an internal matter of the group.
But if it is put on the table, there will obviously be more variables.
For example, when faced with Shirakawa Kaede's accusations, Sony could not think of a suitable explanation or reason to cover it up.
As a result, the conference room fell into a strange silence for a while.
"Ohga-san" In the end, it was Shirakawa Kaede who broke the silence first, "Can I have a word with you for a moment?"
Everyone in the conference room was stunned. This is...
Ohga Norio pondered for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement.
So, under everyone's gaze, Shirakawa Kaede and Ohga Norio stood up and walked towards the lounge next door.
Nakajima Heitaro really wanted to get up and go together, but he also knew that this must be some private transaction.
Whether Aihua can withdraw safely from this negotiation may depend on this private compromise.
