Chapter 245 Kent's Big Business
Tokyo, Aiwa Corporation headquarters.
At this moment, Nakajima Heitaro was sipping his coffee happily, his expression of enjoyment was indescribably comfortable.
Tsk, it’s summer now, how about going to Hawaii for a vacation?
Well, I also need to persuade the person in front of me.
"Xiaochuan, I've said it before. As long as we can open up the North American market, Aiwa will definitely achieve greater success.
Look at it now, our Walkmans are sold out before they are even distributed.
What is this? This is the charm of Aihua!
Of course, this is also inseparable from the efforts of Mr. Ogawa.
So don’t worry about digital audio or analog audio anymore.”
Hiroshi Ogawa still had a conflicted look on his face. He had already planned to apply for a transfer back to Sony's CD department.
Even if the application is not approved, it will be fine to persuade Nakajima Heitaro to establish a CD department in Aiwa.
After all, in order to promote the CD format, Sony now welcomes other manufacturers to join the CD Alliance.
So as long as Aihua wants to do it, there is no problem at all.
Originally, Nakajima Heitaro was also tempted, but the news from the other side of the ocean made him temporarily put the plan on hold.
Out of stock! Out of stock! Out of stock! The phone calls from the United States demanding delivery are almost overwhelming.
Nakajima Heitaro, who was originally worried about the development of Aihua, felt like he heard heavenly music.
In less than a month, Aiwa's first batch of 300,000 Walkmans were sold out at the speed of light.
Especially in the past week, all the Aiwa Walkmans on the market seemed to have disappeared overnight.
This... Aihua's Walkman is a big hit in North America? !
After the surprise, Nakajima Heitaro was left with only excitement.
What does this mean? It means that in the low-end market, Shirakawa Electric's Walkman is being suppressed by itself.
Alas, Junior Brother Baichuan was too kind-hearted and easily agreed to Aihua’s request for authorization.
Nakajima Heitaro felt a little embarrassed, and decided to treat his junior fellow apprentice to a drink later as a way of thanking him for his care.
Although he was thinking this, he immediately notified the manufacturing department to focus on producing the overseas version of the Walkman.
We must seize this great opportunity to seize the low-end market in North America. Whether Aiwa can hold out for a while depends on this wave.
Unfortunately, it takes at least a month for a cargo ship sailing from Japan to reach North America.
Nakajima Heitaro only regretted that he had stocked too little and was too conservative at the beginning.
A great opportunity to swallow up the market was missed in vain.
However, this time he will definitely stock up enough. He directly placed a production order for 1 million units and is waiting for the products to be shipped to North America.
Pulling his thoughts back to his senses, Nakajima Heitaro coughed lightly.
"Xiaochuan, you should just stay in the Walkman Division. The future here is bright!
In addition, considering your previous hard work, the company will give you a special reward.
The salary will also be significantly increased, please continue to work hard in the future."
This... Xiaochuan hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and agreed because of his financial ability.
He also heard the news that Aiwa's Walkman was selling well in North America.
Maybe just like what Nakajima-san said, Aihua's walkie-talkie might really be of great use.
Let it be analog audio, for the sake of Prince Shotoku, Ogawa decided to humble himself a bit.
After dealing with Hiroshi Ogawa, Heitaro Nakajima hummed a Noh play while enjoying his coffee.
By the way, I heard that Junior Brother Baichuan is in North America right now.
Not knowing whether Aihua's sudden advance would scare him, Nakajima Heitaro picked up the phone, found the phone book and started looking for contacts.
Beep~beep~beep
"Hello?"
"Well, Junior Brother is me, Nakajima."
"Huh?" It took Baichuan Feng a moment to realize that this was a call from Japan.
"So it's you, Senior Brother. I wonder what's the matter that has you so worried at this late hour?"
Nakajima Heitaro looked at the time and almost forgot that it was still night in the United States.
"I'm so sorry to bother you so late at night. Actually, it's nothing, I just wanted to ask if everything is going well for you in the United States.
When we get back to Tokyo, let's go to the izakaya and have another drink together."
"Okay, junior brother, I was thinking the same thing." Baichuan Feng put down the pen in his hand and nodded to thank the American sweetheart who brought him coffee.
"That's a great coincidence. So it's settled."
"no problem."
"By the way, Junior Brother, is everything going well there, and is Shirakawa Electric's business progressing smoothly?"
“There are occasional fluctuations, but everything is under control.”
"Yeah, that's great."
After hanging up the phone, Nakajima Heitaro frowned.
Everything is under control? You are kidding.
He just didn't believe that with Aiwa's hot sales, Shirakawa Electric would not be affected at all.
It seems that my junior brother is just too proud, and he wants to show off in front of me even after he has slapped himself in the face.
Oh, it seems that this glass of wine for brother is reserved~
On the other side of the ocean, Baichuan Feng hung up the phone with an inexplicable smile on his face.
Since that senior brother is so concerned about the situation of Shirakawa Electric, let's confirm the situation here with Julis and the others.
It was so late, and Baichuan Feng was still staying in the branch office working overtime.
Not only him, but also Ulis and Howard were there.
After all, with so much money invested, it is only natural to keep a close eye on the market at all times in case of any unexpected situations.
Ten minutes later, Baichuan Feng and the others gathered together again in the conference room.
"Julis, tell me about the situation." Baichuan Feng skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point.
"Except for the first ones sold, all the Walkmans that Aiwa has on the market have been collected and sent to those three cities.
Just like the boss said, through local gangs and some special means, they are only open to African Americans and not sold to white people. "
"Very good," Baichuan Feng nodded, "How is the effect?"
Howard and Ulis both laughed at this question.
"Boss, I have to say you have a genius mind. The results you achieved are better than I expected.
Ever since the black guys got those cheap Walkmans, they have been showing them off to the people around them.
They said this was the gospel from Wakanda, that Aiwa was an African-American brand, and so on.
In addition, when white people wanted to buy from them, they were ridiculed and mocked. Now our Epworth has almost become the pride of the African American nation. "
“Haha~”
Hearing Ulis's exaggerated performance, Howard couldn't help laughing.
"That's not all. I heard that some African Americans went too far, causing some coffee shops in white areas to put up signs at the door. African Americans and Aihua are not allowed to enter!"
"Ha" This time even Baichuan Feng couldn't help laughing. When it comes to making fun of things, the Americans are no worse.
"Boss, now Aihua is in the same category as watermelon, fried chicken, and grape soda."
After laughing, Yuris added something meaningful.
What political correctness and racial discrimination? Sorry, the latter is the main theme in North America at the moment.
Just look at the expressions of Howard and the others and you'll know that everyone is used to it.
They will never touch anything with African color, and will never associate with them.
"Have all these Walkmans been distributed?" Bai Chuanfeng pinched his chin and began to ponder again.
"Yes, because the price was low enough, they were sold out very quickly. More than 200,000 Walkmans were all bought up by the blacks in just one week."
What are more than 200,000 films? There are more than 1 million black people in New York, not to mention several cities combined.
Of course, Baichuan Feng would not think of giving each of these black people a copy. He just wanted to equate Aihua with African Americans.
"Boss, what should we do next?" To be honest, Yulis was a little impatient at this moment to see whether Aihua would still be popular among African Americans in the future.
"What's next?" Baichuan Feng smiled, "Besides continuing to find ways to tie these two together more tightly, there's only one word: wait."
Howard and Ulis looked at each other, both with anticipation on their faces.
It will take time for African Americans to be equated with Aihua.
However, once this consensus is reached in some mainstream cities, it will soon spread to the surrounding satellite cities.
At this time, Shirakawa Electric does not need to do much, just wait for market feedback.
…
June passed quickly and July followed.
"Boss, the goods have arrived! They have arrived!" Jim ran excitedly to the abandoned warehouse where they usually gathered.
"Jim, are you sure the source of the information is reliable?" Kent stepped forward and grabbed Jim by the collar.
"Of course," Jim nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "Uncle Sam's store has a lot of stock."
"Good," Kent high-fived excitedly, "We are going to discuss a big deal today."
In the past month, Kent has made a lot of money by acting as Aihua's middleman.
But at this moment he was no longer satisfied with purchasing goods from Daddy Bailey. He disliked that Daddy Bailey always delivered too little goods each time and did not give much in kickbacks.
Kent now has a bigger appetite. He wants to find bigger suppliers himself and become the agent of Aiwa in the entire Queens and even New York City.
So, ready to do big business, he took a large group of his men and headed straight to Uncle Sam's store two blocks away.
The shop there was bigger than Papa Bailey's, and although it was run by a white man, Kent felt that he could temporarily endure the humiliation for the sake of big business.
Soon Kent and his gang arrived at Uncle Sam's store in a fierce manner. The salesperson saw a group of black men coming from a distance and was so scared that he almost called the police.
"Yo! Aihua Walkman, all of them!" Kent crossed his arms and raised his chin, looking indescribably cool.
"What...what?" the salesperson was confused.
"I say," Kent said emphatically, "I want all the Aihua Walkmans here!"
The salesperson still looked at Kent stupidly, "Are you sure, sir? It's $99 a piece. We have more than a thousand in stock in our warehouse. Do you want all of them?"
"Wait a minute," it was Kent's turn to be confused, "What do you mean by $99? Shouldn't it be $59?
Mother FK! You don’t think I’m stupid and want to blackmail me? ! ”
As he spoke, Carter grabbed the salesman's collar with one hand and lifted him up.
"Sir, you must be mistaken. Aihua's Walkman is very scarce and the price has increased now."
The salesperson explained tremblingly, slowly reaching his hand under the counter.
He finally realized that this group of black men were here to rob.
Aiwa Walkman is so popular that the first batch sold out at lightning speed as soon as it was put on the shelves.
Now, after a month, the goods have finally arrived again, so of course the price has to go up.
Mistake? Kent rolled his eyes, then he slowly approached the salesperson and whispered.
Wakanda
"What?" The salesperson was stunned.
"Wakanda!" Kent patiently repeated the code again.
The salesperson remained stunned.
"Mother FK! I say Wakanda!" Kent roared, "Hurry up and take out the Aihua Walkman in your store. That's our African-American stuff, you white guys can't touch it."
Kent grabbed the salesman by the collar and shook him like a noodle.
"Bang!"
Jim, who was standing behind Kent, shuddered. He was very familiar with this voice.
In the past, he had relied on his keen sense of smell to avoid countless gang fights.
Not only him, but other gang members subconsciously took out their weapons the moment they heard the sound.
When other customers in the store heard the gunshots, they screamed and ran away.
Under Jim's horrified gaze, Kent, who was as strong as King Kong, fell straight down.
What followed was the trembling figure of the salesperson holding a black pistol.
"Damn it! He killed Boss Kent!" The gangsters yelled without caring about anything.
Then, under the leadership of someone unknown, they took their weapons and started beating the salesperson "bang! bang! bang!"
In the chaos, the gang members restocked their guns and immediately ran into the store to start buying things for free.
Aiwa Walkman is the first one to be included, and some other high-value products are also not left out.
There were all kinds of electrical appliances, guns, etc. He even didn't forget to grab a handful of chewing gum at the door before running away.
As for Kent, he lay on the ground side by side with the salesperson with his eyes wide open, as if he was still discussing big business.
