Chapter 336: Eating from Both Ends
There was already a hint of coolness in the early morning of September, but Baichuan Feng still stood shirtless in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out quietly.
More than a month has passed since Shirakawa Electric's last briefing, and Shirakawa Feng recently met with auditors from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
If nothing goes wrong, Shirakawa Electric should be able to obtain marketing authorization soon.
During this period, he had another talk with IBM, but unfortunately the other party refused to give in on the patent sharing.
Baichuan Feng was not in a hurry, but since it was about to be launched, he might as well speed up.
Considering the timing, being able to announce good news at the beginning of the listing will surely help boost the stock price.
In that case, it's time to go meet Ohga Norio. I'm sure he has been waiting for me for a long time.
Turning his head to look at Seiko Matsuda who was still sleeping soundly on the bed, Shirakawa Feng shook his head.
The senior schoolmate and the literary young woman were really considerate. No matter how tired they were, they would always get up and make breakfast for Shirakawa Feng.
Unlike her, she only cares about her own comfort and falls asleep as soon as she is done.
After putting on his clothes, Baichuan Feng tiptoed out of the room. As for that little tiger tooth, let her be.
…
Shinagawa District, Sony Building.
For Shirakawa Kaede, who has revisited this place countless times, coming here feels like returning home, with a sense of familiarity.
He didn't even need to inform the front desk, he wanted to knock on Ohga Norio's office door.
But after thinking about it, I decided to forget it. It seemed that Ohga Norio was quite angry when he left last time.
The polite Baichuan Feng waited like a gentleman for the receptionist to come in and listened carefully at the door.
After making sure that there were no sarcastic voices coming from him, he followed in with a normal expression.
"Da He-san, I haven't seen you for a while now. You look much better."
That enthusiastic expression made Ohga Norio wonder how thick-skinned this guy was.
"So it's the most charming president of Neon, Shirakawa Kaede-san."
Ohga Norio showed a look of realization, then hurriedly stood up to greet him.
"As the birthplace of the world's first CD player, you are not at Shirakawa Electric, so what advice do you have for us here?"
"Uh," Baichuan Feng waved his hand modestly, "Ohha-san, there's no need for us to be so formal.
The rumor that this is the birthplace of the world's first CD is a misunderstanding.
Sony is the real creator, and it is absurd for people to spread rumors about it."
"Hmph," Ohga Norio sneered indifferently and didn't dwell on the matter anymore.
"Please sit down." He stood up from behind his desk and went straight to the sofa in the reception area and sat down.
Seeing that the other party no longer spoke harshly, Baichuan Feng also breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn't expect that Ohga Norio, who has always been very well-mannered, would have a weird day.
Tsk, it seems that he was really pissed off last time.
But it doesn’t matter, you’ll get used to it after being angry a little more.
“I heard that Sony’s CD player will be on the market soon, and the response at the press conference was very enthusiastic.
Here, Shirakawa wishes Sony's CD player a big hit."
Just one week after Shirakawa Electric held its briefing, Sony also held its own press conference.
As a Japanese technology giant, Sony's press conference is still very grand.
Its desktop CD player CDP-101 also received a lot of praise from the media.
After hearing what Shirakawa Kaede said, even though he knew he was trying to flatter him, Ohga Norio still felt a lot better.
Judging from the feedback at the press conference, the company does have high hopes for the release of CDP-101.
As for Shirakawa Electric's portable CD player, to be honest, Norio Ohga really didn't think it posed much of a threat.
Because according to their questionnaire analysis, many middle-class families pay more attention to sound quality rather than price.
On this point, Norio Ohga has full confidence.
In terms of listening experience, Sony's desktop CD player is absolutely better than Shirakawa Electric's portable CD player.
Since the threat was not that big and even the track was different, Norio Ohga felt a lot better.
"Sony's CD player will be released as planned . I wonder when Shirakawa Electric will release it..."
Seeing him staring at him intently, Bai Chuanfeng smiled and said, "October 15th."
"Hmm~" Ohga Norio nodded modestly, feeling quite satisfied.
Since it is half a month later than Sony, there is no problem at all.
"Ohga-san, what do you think of CD-ROMs?"
Taking advantage of the other party's good mood, Baichuan Feng also changed the topic to today's topic.
"CD-ROM?" Ohga Norio glanced at his expectant face and nodded slightly, "It's quite interesting."
"So, Mr. Ohga, do you think that CD-ROM can be promoted on a large scale?" Shirakawa Kaede revealed his true intention.
Ohga Norio tapped the table lightly with his fingers and said in a relaxed tone, "CD-ROM is the result of Shirakawa Electric's hard work in research and development. If you need to promote it, Shirakawa-san can do it himself.
In this regard, Sony highly appreciates your achievements and is pleased to see your company carry forward CD technology and further popularize it to a wider range of applications."
"This is exactly what Shirakawa Electric wants to do. However, as a pioneer of technology, I believe that with Sony's involvement in promoting this matter, CD-ROM will be available to the public more quickly."
After listening to Baichuan Feng's words, Ohga Norio said in his heart, "As expected."
The promotion of CD-ROM ultimately depends on Sony's help. He had anticipated this at Shirakawa Electric's briefing.
He waited at Sony for more than a month, but the other party only came to him today.
This efficiency is somewhat inconsistent with his reputation for being proactive.
Although he was wondering what the other party was planning, Ohga Norio had already thought of an excuse.
"Since Sony's current strategic focus is on the CD player business, it may not be able to help promote CD-ROMs.
In addition, we need to convince the board of directors to help Sony's competitors promote the format. Without a good reason, it will be difficult to do so."
I knew it would be like this, Baichuan Feng sighed secretly in his heart.
The previous sentence was nonsense, it was just an excuse, Baichuan Feng simply ignored it.
The real reason is the latter sentence. The so-called appropriate reason to convince the board of directors is nothing more than asking for benefits.
He had thought of this before coming, but he still visited in person because he had to do so.
Not to mention that Sony is the inventor of CD technology, it cannot avoid the issue of original technology licensing.
CD-ROM was developed based on the original CD technology, and this part of the patent naturally includes Sony and Philips.
Although before developing CD-ROM, Shirakawa Electric signed an agreement with Sony and Philips and obtained the license.
But when it comes to real interests, why would you do it yourself if you can leave the other party alone?
Maybe, but that would also mean the breakdown of the alliance between Shirakawa Electric and Sony and Philips.
In more serious cases, the entire CD Alliance may isolate Shirakawa Electric.
Therefore, Baichuan Feng did not want to directly break off relations with these giants unless it was absolutely necessary.
When doing business, especially if you want to grow into a new giant, you can't just blindly work hard.
Only by uniting the interests of the majority can we have the last laugh.
Taizu told us this a long time ago.
It is true that Baichuan Feng is young and hot-tempered, but he is rational enough.
His ultimate goal is to maneuver between these giants and pave a new path for the development of Shirakawa Electric.
As for suffering some grievances in front of the big guy and bowing your head a little, that’s nothing.
However, how could Baichuan Feng, who always prepares for the worst, be unprepared?
"It would be a pity if Sony could not participate in the promotion of CD-ROMs due to business reasons.
Shirakawa Electric has reached a cooperation intention with IBM. The two parties will invite major computer hardware manufacturers around the world to jointly develop various specifications for optical drives and CD storage discs.
We strive to standardize them in the industry and apply for formal specification documents from the international ISO organization.”
Hmm? Ohga Norio, who was relaxed just a moment ago, sat up straight subconsciously. "IBM?"
A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. If there is anyone that Sony can take seriously, IBM is definitely one of them.
"Of course," Bai Chuanfeng nodded as if it was a matter of course. "As a leader in the computer industry, how could IBM not be involved in optical disk storage technology?"
Ohga Norio's expression became uncertain. CD technology was obviously invented by Sony first, so why should IBM reap the benefits?
This is a matter of standardization in the CD field. As the inventor, how could Sony be absent?
And if the CD-ROM is certified by ISO, Sony's name will not be on the list.
How will the outside world view Sony, and how will Norio Ohga face the questions from the board of directors?
"IBM was in Tokyo dealing with Hitachi's case, and I happened to have a chat with their top management about this matter at a briefing.
IBM was very optimistic about the prospects of CD-ROM and after a month of negotiations.
At present, we have reached a cooperation intention on some of the contents.
Well, of course, because of the current public opinion environment in Japan, both parties will handle this matter in a low-key manner for now."
While Ohga Norio was still thinking quickly about the pros and cons, Shirakawa Kaede slowly revealed some information.
Norio Ohga had also read the relevant media reports about the meeting between Shirakawa Kaede and IBM executives at the briefing.
I didn't expect that the other party was talking about this matter. No wonder both of them were smiling. It turned out that they already had the intention of cooperating.
Not to mention Ohga Norio's imagination, Shirakawa Kaede breathed a sigh of relief.
Judging from the other party's expression, he should consider his proposal carefully.
As for the cooperation with IBM, that depends on how you understand it.
At IBM, Shirakawa Kaede said that if necessary, they would work together with the CD Alliance to promote the standardization of CD-ROMs.
At Sony, it means that Shirakawa Electric has reached an agreement with IBM to jointly promote the formulation of standards for optical disc storage across the industry.
What banner you hold high depends entirely on which wind blows.
So, let me ask you, is this banner popular or not, and is it effective or not?
"Dahe-san, I am sorry for bothering you today.
Shirakawa Electric is extremely eager for Sony to join in the promotion of CD-ROMs. Please be sure to consider it.
After all, we are natural allies, and IBM is not one of us."
Baichuan Feng, who transformed into a devil, sighed meaningfully.
After saying this, he bowed, said goodbye and left.
In the office, Norio Ohga thought for a long time before finally calling his assistant.
"Go check if any IBM executives have come to Neon recently, where they are staying, and whether anyone from Shirakawa Electric has visited them. If possible, try to get some information."
Assistant "Hayi" took the order and left.
