Chapter 337 He Who Gets the Standard Gets the World
Coming out of the Sony Building, Shirakawa Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
Judging from Ohga Norio's expression just now, he should be more cautious about the promotion of CD-ROM.
The reason why the other party seemed not very enthusiastic at the beginning was actually that he wanted to raise the price.
What Sony wanted was nothing more than the dominance in setting CD-ROM standards, and Shirakawa Kaede understood this.
Again, participating in standard setting means long-term benefits and voice in the future.
This is true for IBM and Sony.
None of these giants are easy to deal with, and they don't care about short-term gains at all.
Shirakawa Kaede also had the same goal. He wanted Shirakawa Electric to take the lead in the standardization of CD-ROMs and optical drives.
Having the right to formulate industry standards means having the right to speak and the right to lead.
The future technical route and specifications for the development of optical disc storage will all be decided by Shirakawa Electric.
Other manufacturers can only become followers and passively follow the footsteps of Shirakawa Electric.
By taking advantage of this, Shirakawa Electric can always seize the initiative and maximize its profits.
Not to mention that Shirakawa Electric can win easily just by relying on the patent rights in its hands.
Think about the widespread application of optical disk storage in the future and its market position that will last for decades.
Just this part of the patent fee every year is enough for Shirakawa Electric to make a living.
First-rate companies sell standards; second-rate companies sell services; third-rate companies sell products.
This sentence applies at all times, and Baichuan Feng has been working towards this goal.
The Walkman brand started out by selling products and services. When it decided to enter the CD player market two years ago, it negotiated with Sony to join the CD Technology Alliance.
However, Shirakawa Electric was still very weak at that time, and Ohga Norio looked down on his own small arms and legs.
Thus, Shirakawa Electric's first attempt to enter the strategic layout of standard setting ended in failure.
Later, when Shirakawa Kaede was negotiating the infringement case with Aiwa, he pretended to be on the move but secretly tricked Ohga Norio into opening up the research and development license of CD technology to Shirakawa Electric.
After learning from his mistakes, he invested a huge amount of money and let SIC concentrate on research and development for two years, and only today did it come up with the CD-ROM.
Now, with the help of CD storage technology, Baichuan Feng wants to take a step forward.
This will be the first time that Shirakawa Electric has participated in the formulation of industry standards and the first time it has taken a step towards transforming into a technology giant with technological hegemony.
So neither IBM nor Sony can stop this step.
Holding the patent for CD-ROM technology, Baichuan Feng will not change his mind in the face of them.
However, given Shirakawa Electric's current size and influence, it is difficult for it to promote the standardization of optical disc storage on its own.
This is why he contacted IBM and took the initiative to approach Sony at the same time.
IBM has a huge influence in the computer industry, and the application, promotion and standardization of optical drives cannot be separated from its participation.
Sony is the original inventor of CD technology. Only with its leadership in the standardization of CD-ROM could it gain widespread response and maximize its influence.
What's more, this part of technology naturally includes some of Sony's CD patents, which cannot be avoided .
As for these two giants, Baichuan Feng has certainly thought about how to deal with them.
After quietly reviewing his plan in his mind, Baichuan Feng turned around and gave instructions.
"Xiaosong, go contact Philips.
Let's say we are willing to work with them to develop industry standards for CD-ROMs and explore the application of CDs in other fields.
You can leak some information, but not too much. Just let those who should know know it."
"Yeah!" Assistant Komatsu nodded solemnly.
…
As one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, Philips has tens of thousands of employees around the world.
It has three major divisions: consumer electronics, healthcare, and lighting.
Currently, profits from consumer electronics business account for the majority of Philips' revenue.
Therefore, Philips headquarters also pays special attention to the consumer electronics business, and the annual investment in research and development is an astronomical figure.
As a multinational company, it also has a branch in Neon.
Of course, Philips Neon Division also paid attention to the CD-ROM technology announced at the Shirakawa Electric briefing.
The relevant information was even passed on to Philips headquarters in Amsterdam, southern Netherlands as soon as possible.
To be honest, Philips headquarters was shocked when they learned the detailed parameters of the CD-ROM developed by Shirakawa Electric.
Unlike Sony, which currently only focuses on the audio-visual field, Philips is a typical technology-based company.
At the same time, as a pure listed company, as long as it can bring profits to the company, the company will make biased decisions without hesitation.
What is the application prospect of CD-ROM ? Just compare it with floppy disk.
In particular, this new CD format is a more in-depth secondary development based on its own technology.
Philips was very happy to learn the news and immediately checked its own authorization records.
Why check authorization records?
Well~ If this Shirakawa Electric is not within the authorized scope of Philips, then I'm sorry, the CD-ROM belongs to Philips.
However, to Philips' disappointment, there was indeed such an authorization record two years ago.
And it wasn't Shirakawa Electric that took the initiative to apply for it. It was authorized by Sony and Philips signed it.
Faced with this authorization letter signed voluntarily, Philips headquarters remained silent.
But they soon regained their joyful mood since this was a format developed based on CD technology.
Then Philips had something to say, and so within two days after Shirakawa Electric's briefing, the Neon branch took the initiative to contact Shirakawa Electric.
However, compared with the enthusiastic Philips, Shirakawa Electric was much colder.
At that time, Baichuan Feng was busy dealing with people from IBM, and he knew what Philips was planning.
So Shirakawa Electric dragged Philips while focusing on attacking IBM and Sony.
After I had almost figured out the details of the latter two, I remembered Mrs. Philip.
The reason why Philips was contacted in the end was that its existence was not that important to Shirakawa Electric.
Compared with IBM, Philips has little presence in the computer industry.
Its influence in the audio-visual field is similar to that of Sony, but Sony is a local Japanese company.
When Shirakawa Electric wanted to find an ally, Sony was of course the first choice.
Only when things weren't going well with the first two would Baichuan Feng bring Philip out and give him a shake.
Look, you don't cooperate with me, but there are many people who want to cooperate with me.
In the southern part of Minato Ward, Satoshi Toriyama, the president of the Neon Philips branch, was busy at his desk, processing documents.
Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard, "President, there is good news!"
Before the figure arrived, excited voices could be heard from afar.
"Xiaotian, as an assistant, you must remain calm and don't let outside news interfere with your judgment."
Toriyama Satoshi didn't even raise his head and gave a lecture as usual.
"Mr. President, Shirakawa Electric has invited us to discuss the formulation and promotion of CD-ROM format standards."
"Eh?!" Toriyama Satoshi looked up in surprise, "What?"
"President Shirakawa's assistant called me personally and said he wanted to invite you to discuss the future of optical disk storage."
"Quick! Notify headquarters immediately!
Thanks to the active mediation of the Neon Branch, Shirakawa Electric finally agreed to jointly develop the CD-ROM format with us!"
Not to mention that Toriyama Satoshi was overjoyed and took credit for it to the headquarters. Upon learning the news, Philips headquarters immediately sent people to Japan.
As for the visitor from Philips, Baichuan Feng certainly wouldn't deliberately keep him hanging.
After all, it is an internationally renowned company and one of the inventors of CD technology. Discussing CD-ROM standardization with Philips was part of Shirakawa Kaede's plan.
Unlike Sony, Philips is obviously much more positive about this matter.
It does not constitute a direct competitive relationship with Shirakawa Electric. Although there is overlap in the CD player market, Philips' home base is in Europe.
As one of the giant companies, Philips also understands the benefits of participating in standard setting.
It even has a history of monopoly. In the 1920s and 1930s, Philips was one of the organizers of the famous Apollo Monopoly Alliance.
This alliance exists to monopolize the lighting market, and through internal patent trading, it has occupied the vast majority of the lighting market share.
This is how they manipulate the lighting market, prevent the development of long-life bulbs, and prevent other companies from entering the lighting field.
When it comes to monopoly and how to control the discourse power in the industry, we at Philips are professional.
It may not be realistic to maintain an absolute monopoly in the current era, but the industry's discourse power can be manipulated.
There is no doubt that standard setting is the best way to achieve this goal.
With Philip's active cooperation, Baichuan Feng's talks with them went quite smoothly.
The other party was not as domineering as IBM, nor did it have as many concerns as Sony, so it made certain concessions in terms of dominance over CD-ROM specifications.
Because for Philips, this is a free benefit.
Shirakawa Electric has done the most difficult and expensive work. What's wrong with making money while lying down?
So the man fell in love, and the woman was interested in him, and they flirted with each other.
Although the standardized files for CD-ROM are about to be born, some people can't wait to see it.
…
"Ohga-san, Shirakawa Electric has leaked a piece of news to the outside world through Philips. It is said that both parties are preparing to formally submit the CD-ROM audit documents to the ISO international organization."
"Has the other party responded to our conditions?"
The assistant shook his head silently, and Ohga Norio's already gloomy expression became even gloomier.
During this period, Sony has put forward its own demands to Shirakawa Electric.
As long as Sony is allowed to lead the standardization of CD-ROM and make certain concessions on patent sharing.
Sony could then use its connections and influence to fully cooperate with Shirakawa Electric in promoting the application and development of optical disc storage.
However, with the cooperation of Philips, Shirakawa Electric did not respond to Sony's conditions at all.
Now seeing that the two families seemed to be turning their fake play into reality, Ohga Norio could no longer maintain his previous composure.
Because he believed that Mr. Shirakawa, who did not play by the rules, might really abandon Sony and bring Philips to do it on his own.
I didn't expect that a feint was made in front of me just a moment ago, revealing the existence of IBM.
After attracting Sony's attention, it turned around and went to Philips.
No, the IBM place is not necessarily a cover. It is very likely that Mr. Shirakawa has an astonishingly big appetite.
"Ohga-san, should we wait any longer?"
The assistant's question woke up Norio Ohga, who was slightly distracted.
After considering for a long time, he shook his head slightly.
Norio Ohga didn't dare to take the gamble, because Sony couldn't afford to miss the opportunity to set the CD-ROM standard.
Otherwise, not only will there be no benefits, but Sony will no longer have any say in the field of optical disk storage.
If we lose our voice in the industry, the consequences will be disastrous.
At the same time, Sony will also lose all face if its reputation spreads.
If any of these accidents happened, Norio Ohga would not be able to explain it to the board of directors.
