Chapter 184: Harvest Moon
July and August in Tokyo are the summer vacations, and the holidays are also the most prosperous periods .
Almost all the shops on the street have put up signs for various activities, including vacation and travel, eating, drinking, entertainment, food, clothing, housing, transportation, etc.
As a consumer electronics manufacturer, Shirakawa Electric is no exception.
In addition to the popular GAME BOY, the second generation of Walkman was officially launched in July.
The low-end FM-01 is priced at only 18,800 yen, a price that shocked not only Sony but also other friendly companies.
Even the general public as consumers find it incredible.
Because from the very beginning of the Walkman's appearance, it was positioned as an entertainment product for the middle class.
After all, the price of twenty or thirty thousand yuan will still be prohibitive for some ordinary people who are not well-off.
But the price of more than 10,000 yen gives people a different impression.
A trip to a casino, buying a set of clothes, or having a slightly better meal will generally cost more than 10,000 yen.
But nowadays, with the same amount of money, you can buy the latest portable player.
This kind of machine that can be carried out, put in a pocket, or hung on the waist to listen to music anytime and anywhere is still quite attractive to the public.
Moreover, the unprecedented miniature size of FM-01 is also very eye-catching.
This player, which is said to be the smallest in the world, is only about the size of a cassette.
The low price and novel design have made FM-01 a popular product since the first day of its release.
It is so cheap that most students can afford it.
The emergence of FM-01 helped Shirakawa Electric further explore the grassroots market for Walkmans. The consumption habits of this group of people are generally within 20,000 yen.
They are not the users of the previous generation of Walkman, but a completely new audience attracted by the low price.
The benefits of this to Shirakawa Electric are self-evident. The company's base has been expanded, and it also provides potential customers for higher-level products in the future.
Only by constantly attracting new consumers can the company prosper.
If FM-01 discovered lower-end consumers for Shirakawa Electric, then SFM-01 labeled Shirakawa Electric as high-end and professional.
The significant improvement in audio quality has greatly improved the impression of Shirakawa Electric among discerning music enthusiasts.
Shirakawa Electric, which previously focused on mid- and low-end products, was completely out of their sight.
However, with the training of professional audio engineers headed by Ohki, Shirakawa Electric's attainments in audio technology have made a qualitative leap.
In addition, the well-made body and additional functions such as recording and radio make SFM-01 the first choice for those who pursue sound quality.
You know, Sony doesn't have this kind of high-end model at the moment.
This is also the reason why Shirakawa Electric can be so easily recognized as a high-end brand.
There is only one of its kind on the market. If you are not high-end, who else can be?
It has to be said that Shirakawa Kaede's decision to start developing the next generation product as soon as the first generation machine was released was extremely wise.
Sony was successfully overtaken and Shirakawa Electric took the lead.
Being so one step ahead, even the sense of honor of all the employees of Shirakawa Electric has increased several times.
"Mr. President, this is the financial statement for June." Assistant Komatsu handed the sorted documents to Shirakawa Kaede with admiration in his eyes.
Tsk, Assistant Komatsu now spontaneously adds the word "adult" after the president's name.
Baichuan Feng couldn't help laughing in his heart. He didn't realize that this little girl was so smart.
"Put it down first."
"Hai," Assistant Kosong responded crisply, then left the office in a hurry.
Of all the documents of Shirakawa Electric, Shirakawa Feng's favorite is the financial statements.
The strings of profit figures every month are more tempting than the beauties of the Showa era.
I picked up the report and took a quick look, and sure enough, it was.
Within one month of its release, GAME BOY achieved explosive sales of nearly 500,000 units.
It smells so good! Baichuan Feng licked the corner of his mouth.
The main reason why so many products can be sold is that they are cheap.
Its original positioning was to target groups such as children and students, so the low price is entirely due to sales volume.
But to Shirakawa Kaede's surprise, quite a number of adults also liked this handheld game console.
The initial target set by Shirakawa Electric was 200,000 to 300,000 units in the first month, but now it has been raised by nearly two times.
Although the handheld game console is priced cheaply, Shirakawa Electric has improved its own processing industry chain.
For each handheld game console priced at 5,200 yen, Shirakawa Electric can make a profit of nearly 2,000 yen.
So don't underestimate this cheap product, its profitability is not bad at all.
In the first month, Shirakawa Electric generated nearly 1 billion yen in profits, which was basically the same as its previous Walkman business.
But the principle remains the same, such high profits can only last for one month at most.
Why? Because according to information collected by Shirakawa Electric, other competitors may enter the market starting next month.
The handheld game console craze jointly promoted by Nintendo and Shirakawa Electric finally made the greedy competitors unable to hold back .
After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this kind of low-cost, cheap machine is so popular that it must be profitable.
This is how business works. It is impossible to always have the upper hand, and it is also impossible to be without competitors.
Fortunately, the Walkman still has half a year of development time, but the handheld game console will have to enter a fierce fighting environment in advance.
But Shirakawa Electric is no longer what it used to be, so we'll see what happens.
Baichuan Feng put down the report in his hand and sighed with satisfaction. It felt so good to make money.
“My mouth is watering.”
"Hmm?" Baichuan Feng pursed his lips subconsciously.
"Ha~" Kobayashi Asuka's mischievous laughter came.
Baichuan Feng reacted and rolled his eyes at her, "Xiaolin-san is so naughty too?"
"Shirakawa-kun taught me well." Asuka Kobayashi gently placed a cup of iced coffee in front of him.
Baichuan Feng took a sip of the coffee without hesitation. The cool water flowed down his throat, refreshing his whole body.
It was so enjoyable that he shivered with pleasure.
"There is no suitable candidate for the job advertisement yet?" Putting down the cup, he began to care about another thing.
"It's not easy to find someone who understands both finance and management." Asuka Kobayashi said there is no suitable candidate yet.
"That's true," Baichuan Feng sighed.
The reason why he wanted to recruit talents in this area was because he felt that the equity and structure of Shirakawa Electric were somewhat confusing and it was time to sort them out.
But there is no need to rush for now, you can look for it slowly later.
"In addition, someone from Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank called and asked when it would be convenient for them to visit us."
"Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank?" Shirakawa Feng was a little surprised. "These people in the financial industry have sharper noses than dogs."
"Pfft~" Hearing Shirakawa Kaede's complaints, Asuka Kobayashi couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"How rude!" After laughing, she rolled her eyes at Baichuan Feng in reproach.
"I feel like they understand the business operations of Shirakawa Electric better than I do as the president." Shirakawa Feng shrugged.
This was not just one bank that had offered to visit him. Financial had all contacted Shirakawa Electric.
"Let's arrange it for next week." After thinking for a while, Baichuan Feng postponed the time to next week.
Although I am very busy, I still want to meet the people from these banks.
Especially for those engaged in manufacturing, a helping hand from banks at a critical moment may help the industry come back to life.
"Yeah." Asuka Kobayashi nodded and took note. As soon as summer vacation came, she would almost always work full-time at Shirakawa Electric.
I said I would go on a trip with her, but it has been put off until now and I haven't been able to go.
I owe Kobayashi again, Baichuan Feng muttered to himself.
…
The second half of 1980 was destined to be a time of harvest for Shirakawa Electric.
The successive launch of Walkman and handheld game consoles not only enriched Shirakawa Electric's product line, but also greatly enhanced the company's reputation.
Consumer electronics manufacturing companies are open to the general public, so once their sales become hot and their reputation becomes known, their influence will spread rapidly.
As the founder of Shirakawa Electric, Shirakawa Kaede's name is not only known to ordinary people, but even the managers of those giant companies have gradually turned their attention to him.
But that's all for now, they have seen too many companies rise and fall.
Most of them are very popular for a while, but eventually become obscurity in the world.
So he only glanced at him occasionally, but Baichuan Feng's name was already well-known.
So when Shirakawa Electric's products are causing another wave of craze, what is our dear president doing?
Ahem, Shirakawa Kaede is watching a movie.
That’s right, it’s the movie “The Quiet Sea That Summer”.
Actually, the movie has been released for almost a month, but it was delayed because Shirakawa Kaede was busy with work.
It wasn't until today that I had the time to sit down with Yuko Tanaka to appreciate their debut work.
In the dark movie theater, Baichuan Feng held her hand and squeezed it mischievously twice.
Yuko Tanaka gave him a reproachful look in return, signaling him to just watch the movie with peace of mind.
She is very concerned about her debut work. As an actor, the big screen is undoubtedly the destination of her dream.
Putting his thoughts aside, Shirakawa Kaede watched the movie patiently. It must be said that Joe Hisaishi's music is really addictive.
The dialogue-free scenes in the movie are entirely supported by background music.
Although he has not yet become a famous master in later generations, he has the fragments provided by Baichuan Feng.
Once inspiration is awakened, the creation is almost completed in one go.
Baichuan Feng tasted it carefully, hmm, it still tasted the same.
When the image of Shirakawa Electric's first-generation Walkman flashed across the screen, a knowing laugh rang out in the cinema.
Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, another year has passed.
Baichuan Feng turned his head, and the two of them smiled at each other in the dimness.
Time passed and soon the movie came to an end.
At the end of the film, Takako, played by Yuko Tanaka, puts the photos of the two of them on a surfboard and slowly pushes it into the sea.
At this moment, bits and pieces of the time the two people spent together flashed across the screen, and the chant of silent love was repeated over and over again.
Suddenly, Bai Chuanfeng turned his gaze and saw the beautiful woman beside him with a sparkling look in her eyes.
Baichuan Feng took her soft hand and patted it gently.
Tanaka Yuko wiped off the crystal, tilted her head and rested her forehead on his shoulder.
"I'm so scared that Shirakawa-kun will suddenly disappear one day."
"Eh" Baichuan Feng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How could he disappear for no reason?
"Please don't worry, Senior. Maybe one day, after a while, I'll get tired of you seeing me."
"No way." Tanaka Yuko held his hand tightly, fearing that he would really disappear.
