Chapter 188: The Unexpected Road
Both Professor Yamada and Hiroshi Arai had previously thought of Shirakawa Electric as a pure manufacturing company.
The company's main business should be its Walkman and the so-called portable game console that was recently launched.
But after reading the information handed over by Baichuan Feng, the facts completely exceeded their expectations.
Unknowingly, Shirakawa Electric has extended its tentacles into the tertiary industry.
Raw material processing, manufacturing, retail, infotainment industry...
How long has Shirakawa Electric been established?
Professor Yamada and Yu Arai looked up and looked at each other, and saw the shock in each other's eyes.
Then they turned their eyes away tacitly and suppressed the various thoughts that kept emerging in their minds.
"Shirakawa-kun, do you want to set up a special holding company to divest Shirakawa Electric's existing shares and manage them separately?"
As someone who has worked in the financial industry for most of his life, Arai Yu could see through Shirakawa Feng's thoughts at a glance.
"That's right," Baichuan Feng nodded affirmatively, "I think that Baichuan Electric can just be a manufacturing company.
As for shares in other companies, it is best to separate them and manage them separately.
Otherwise, as the companies grow and their members increase, the departmental structure will inevitably become bloated and equity management will become increasingly chaotic.”
Shirakawa Feng has thought about this matter for a long time. As an industrial company, Shirakawa Electric is best to maintain its purity.
The equity of other companies can be listed under Shirakawa Electric for a short period of time, but it is not a long-term solution.
Arai Yu nodded, "I roughly understand what Shirakawa-kun is thinking. This is indeed beneficial to the development of Shirakawa Electric."
The existence of holding companies is tailor-made for this situation, in order to clarify the respective interests and make clearer and more reasonable resource allocation.
"Then Senior Arai..." Shirakawa Kaede looked at Arai Yu with inquiring eyes.
"Please rest assured, Baichuan Holdings will properly handle the equity issue."
This little thing is no problem for Yu Arai, who has been immersed in this field for many years.
After hearing Arai Yu 's assurance, Shirakawa Feng also felt relieved.
"In that case, I'll leave it to you, senior." He stood up and bowed to Arai Yu.
Matters like these, which concern the company's future, must be handed over to people who can be trusted.
Professor Yamada personally recommended his classmate to come here, and he also graduated from Meiji University.
Because of these relationships, Shirakawa Feng felt at ease handing the matter over to Senior Arai.
"Shirakawa-kun, prepare all the materials as soon as possible.
After Baichuan Holdings is established, I will personally handle the divestiture of each shareholding.
Regarding the other necessary personnel after the establishment of the holding company, please fill them in as soon as possible."
In the future, Yutaka Arai will be roughly equivalent to a professional manager of Shirakawa Holdings.
Of course, although a big shot like him has retired, Baichuan Feng will naturally give him benefits if he is re-hired.
It is probably a virtual stock that can pay dividends. Relationships are relationships, and interests are interests.
"Don't worry, Arai-senpai . The information has already been prepared. As for the other staff, they are also in the process of recruitment."
Shirakawa Holdings needs experienced professionals like Yutaka Arai, and fresh blood is also indispensable.
This part of talents is probably recruited from schools with strong related majors such as Meiji, Waseda, Osaka University, and Hitotsubashi University.
In the future, Shirakawa Holdings will specifically manage the equity of Shirakawa Electric, Anko Electric, HAL, and Bic comera.
As for decision-making or resource allocation, it is not the right time yet, so I will not participate for the time being.
As for the chairman of Baichuan Holdings, of course it's Baichuan Feng himself.
Well, isn’t this a promotion from president to chairman?
Although it is self-proclaimed, it does not affect his happy mood at the moment.
Seeing that Baichuan Holdings was about to get on the right track, Baichuan Feng felt a little relieved.
It turns out that these things are more suitable for professional managers to be responsible for.
He only needs to firmly grasp the company's equity and control and grasp the general direction of future development.
After visiting the company of his student, Yamada was filled with emotion.
When he came out of Shirakawa Electric, his old classmate Yuya Arai followed him out.
The two stood at the gate of Shirakawa Electric, watching the people coming and going. It was a busy scene and they fell into silence for a moment.
After a long time, Arai Yucai finally spoke hesitantly.
"Yamada, your student may become a remarkable figure in the future."
Professor Yamada's eyes were a little complicated, sometimes happy and proud, and sometimes worried and uneasy.
But in the end, he calmed down and regained his calm demeanor.
"No one can predict what will happen in the future. It all depends on him."
"Tell me," Arai Yu moved closer to him, "Is it possible in the future... to take that unimagined path?"
A look of determination flashed across Yamada's eyes. "If that day ever comes, please take good care of me, Arai-san."
As he said this, Professor Yamada actually bowed solemnly to Arai Yu.
Arai Yu's face also turned serious. "Don't worry, if it is really possible, I also want to witness the rise of a new force. Arai will spare no effort then."
Only after getting the assurance from his old friend did Yamada feel relieved.
But this is easier said than done, as Neon has not changed for a long time.
…
Sony, an old friend of Shirakawa Electric.
At this moment, Ozone Kozo was gathering department members to study something.
What that thing is, of course, the next generation Walkman launched by Shirakawa Electric.
Since the launch of Shirakawa Electric's new Walkman in July, the growth of Sony's Walkman business has visibly declined.
Who are the culprits? It's the two products they have in their hands now.
To be honest, the speed at which Shirakawa Electric launched its next generation of products far exceeded their expectations.
The reason why Sony's Walkman business declined is because Shirakawa Electric took the lead in upgrading its products.
There are not only low-end models, but also higher-end models than Sony.
Why was Sony able to surpass Shirakawa Electric in the past? Wasn’t it because the quality of its first-generation models was superior to that of the other party?
But now such an advantage no longer exists, as Shirakawa Electric has more high-end models.
As a result, the impact on Sony's Walkman business was significantly increased.
To be honest, they felt the pressure because Shirakawa Electric was growing too fast.
Previously, they were dismissive of Shirakawa Electric's products, but now the SFM-01 is something they can take seriously.
From being dismissive to taking it seriously, this is enough to explain the problem.
However, it is not to say that Sony cannot produce such high-end models, but that they are slow, or that the initial decision was made too slowly.
According to the plan, Sony will launch the corresponding high-end models next year.
Now, however, Shirakawa Electric has taken the lead, and the same is true for its low-end models.
"How is it? What do the technical department think?"
Ozone Kozo held the low-end model of FM-01 and frowned in thought.
At this moment, a staff member in charge of technology quickly spoke up.
“It’s not technically difficult, we at Sony can definitely make similar products.
It’s just that the profit is not as expected, and whether the low-end products will affect our brand positioning. "
In fact, this is also what Ozone Kozo was struggling with, although he had issued the order to develop low-end models very early on.
The purpose was also to squeeze Shirakawa Electric out of the Walkman market, but who knew that the other party would act so quickly.
What shocked them even more was that the price was only 18,800 yen.
You have to know that at the beginning, Sony's own low-end positioning was roughly on par with Shirakawa Electric's mid-range models, around 25,000 yen.
But what the hell is a Walkman that costs just over 10,000 yen? Can such a device really produce sound?
The fact is, it can.
Sony can also do it, but the profits are hard to describe.
If he didn't do it, Ozone Yukizo felt uncomfortable seeing the new models of Shirakawa Electric selling well.
Go ahead, the price is too low and the profit is too low for Sony.
And the price was so cheap that Ozone Kozo felt like he was snatching food from a trash can with a country bumpkin.
This made him, who was proud of his status, feel very uncomfortable.
Moreover, Sony has been influential since its establishment due to its technological innovation and unique quality.
In the eyes of the outside world, the company has always been synonymous with high-end, and the same is true of Sony's own strategy.
Therefore, taking the ultra-low-end route goes against the company's basic strategy.
Thinking of this, Ozone Kozo waved his hand and said, "Sony will not participate in the market below 20,000 yen.
We will continue to implement the original strategy, but we need to speed up our R&D, especially in overseas markets so as not to lag behind too much.”
Ozone Kozo could already imagine that Shirakawa Electric would soon launch three models corresponding to the local market in overseas markets.
Falling behind by one step means falling behind at every step. This is not a good sign.
The fact that Shirakawa Electric entered the overseas market so early was not only beyond the expectations of Norio Ohga , but also of Kozo Ozone.
As expected, that Shirakawa Kaede is Sony’s biggest threat.
"Mr. Ozone, we can actually launch low-end models overseas as well."
At this moment, another staff member suddenly made a suggestion.
"No," Ozone Yukizo subconsciously wanted to refuse. Sony's image overseas could not be tarnished.
"Ozone-san, please listen to me," the staff member quickly explained, "low-end models don't need our branding."
"Hmm?" Ozone Yukizo was stunned for a moment, "Tell me in detail."
The staff under "Hayi" immediately offered a suggestion. "We won't do it, but we can let others do it, such as Aihua..."
Ozone Kozo's eyes lit up. This... seems like a possible idea.
Aiwa has no brand image burden, and the public overseas is unaware of previous infringement incidents.
Therefore, it is most appropriate to let Aiwa compete with Shirakawa Electric in the low-end models.
"Arrange it immediately. Give Aihua some technical support when necessary."
"Hai!"
As long as it could cause trouble for Shirakawa Electric, Ozone Yukizo thought it was worth a try.
…
Nintendo, Shirakawa Electric's new friend.
At this moment, Yamauchi Bo and Yokoi Gunpei were also discussing the topic of Shirakawa Electric.
"The other party's handheld game console sales are almost over a million?"
"Huh!" Gunpei Yokoi looked as if he was biting a lemon.
Although Nintendo's total sales of handheld consoles are higher than Shirakawa Electric's, that is the combined sales of the two handheld consoles.
In terms of each other's first handheld game consoles, Nintendo may not necessarily be as good as Shirakawa Electric.
"How are the reviews for the Raiden game?" Yamauchi Bo asked calmly.
"Unexpectedly popular" Gunpei Yokoi was very interested in Shirakawa Electric's handheld game console.
"Hmm." Yamauchi Bo glanced at Yokoi Gunpei.
The latter confirmed with his eyes that it was a signal of desire, and everything was self-evident.
