Chapter 339: Walking Upside Down
After preliminary consultations with Sony and Philips, the three companies basically reached a consensus on the CD-ROM specifications.
The standard will be led by Shirakawa Electric, in conjunction with Sony and Philips.
Jointly release the CD-ROM Blue Book as industry guidelines to regulate the production and R&D routes of future CD manufacturers.
However, the current blue book is only a draft, and the underlying error correction mechanism still needs to be readjusted by Sony and Philips.
Once all of this is ready, the technical specifications of the CD-ROM will be made public.
But even though it was just a draft, it did not affect the three companies' joint statement announcing that CD-ROM had officially entered the commercialization process.
This press conference was still held in the lobby of the Imperial Hotel.
However, the protagonists this time are Shirakawa Electric, Sony and Philips.
At the press conference, Shirakawa Kaede stood in the middle, with Ohga Norio and Simon on both sides.
Everyone held the CD in their hands to show the media the official launch of the CD-ROM.
The flash lights at the scene lit up, and Shirakawa Kaede, standing in the middle, looked dignified and full of vigor.
The moment the picture froze, many people seemed to see a new technology giant rising.
This is not an exaggeration. CD-ROM is the first step for Shirakawa Electric to ascend to the throne.
In the subsequent media interview session, both Norio Ohga and Simon praised the future prospects of CD-ROM.
And they all said that Shirakawa Electric played a key role in this.
The atmosphere on the scene was harmonious, without any of the verbal sparring and tension that had occurred at the negotiation table before.
As for when CD-ROM can be put into commercial use, which has attracted media attention, the three companies all agreed that storage optical discs will be available in ordinary people's lives as early as next year.
It is almost October now, and it will be put into commercial use in a few months, which is already very fast.
The main reason is that CD technology is relatively mature, and the production of CD-ROMs is almost the same as that of music CDs CD-DAs. The factory can start production immediately by switching the mold.
At the same time, Sony and Philips will also exert their influence to promote the popularization of CD-ROMs.
In addition to the CD itself, a series of supporting software and hardware will also be included in the development plan.
As for content producers, everyone will also act separately and strive to bring a complete ecological environment to CD-ROM.
The media present applauded excitedly and expectantly at the fact that optical disc storage could be commercialized so quickly.
Alas, the world has suffered from floppy disks for a long time.
700MB versus less than 1MB of storage capacity, who wouldn’t be looking forward to it?
There were indeed some people who were not so happy about it. At least Robert, the IBM technical director at the scene, had a serious look on his face.
When the press conference came to an end, he immediately found Baichuan Feng who was about to leave.
"Mr. Shirakawa, if CD-ROMs are to become truly popular, IBM is the best choice. Would you really not consider it?"
"Mr. Robert, we are happy to cooperate with IBM, but your offer is really unacceptable.
Now that we have Sony and Philips joining us, the promotion of CD-ROM specifications will be greatly accelerated."
Baichuan Feng expressed regret that he really could not help and that it was IBM's insincere negotiation conditions that hindered the cooperation between the two parties.
Robert's frown seemed to have furrowed even more.
"We can discuss the conditions in this regard. There is no need for us to sever our cooperation relationship because of this issue."
"Of course," Baichuan Feng nodded in approval, "but time may be a little tight, Baichuan Electric will be officially listed in two days.
Mr. Robert should have understood at that time that my time was not that abundant and we had more things to announce to the public.”
"Really? Congratulations then." Although he was anxious inside, Robert still congratulated him gracefully.
"Thank you." Baichuan Feng nodded, then turned around and prepared to leave.
"Oh, by the way," he turned back after taking two steps and said casually, "The Blue Book will be officially released in a week.
We also organized the entire CD Alliance to jointly submit the CD-ROM industrialization standard to the ECMA International Organization."
"What?!" Robert's face changed drastically, and his mouth opened so wide in shock that an egg could fit in.
By the time he reacted and wanted to look for Baichuan Feng, the other party had already left and there was no trace of him.
In a hurry, Robert didn't care about much else and immediately ran to the nearest phone. He needed to make an overseas call immediately and couldn't delay for a moment.
He was able to remain calm when he heard that Shirakawa Electric was going public.
But the ECMA international organization mentioned in Baichuan Feng's last sentence made him uneasy.
This is an international organization dedicated to the standardization of information and communication systems. It is also called the European Computer Manufacturers Association.
Basically all existing European companies that manufacture, sell and develop computers and telecommunications systems are its members.
As long as the standards are included in the system, they will basically become the default specifications adopted by everyone.
Moreover, the European Computer Manufacturers Association is not only joined by European companies, but also some American multinational companies are among its members.
More critical is the ECMA International Organization, whose standardization process is very commercial.
According to the organization itself, this way of operating can reduce the impact of bureaucracy.
Commercial operation means that as long as the operation is good, Shirakawa Electric's CD-ROM will soon pass the review and be officially included in the ECMA standard system.
Also, don’t forget which country Philips is from. It has irreplaceable influence in Europe.
This is why Robert's face changed drastically and he was in a hurry, once ECMA standardization was successful.
Then the room left for IBM to operate will become smaller and smaller, and IBM may be forced to comply with its standards in the end.
It would be a waste of time to completely lose the right to speak on CD storage for the sake of unrealistic benefits.
Apart from Robert's urgency, Baichuan Feng is in a very good mood now.
Just yesterday, Shirakawa Electric officially received the listing license from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the listing date is the first day of October.
There are only two or three days left, and in the meantime, all the underwritten shares of Shirakawa Electric's issued shares have been divided up in the primary market.
Even Kitado Securities, which has few channel resources, has sold all of its new shares, with a total profit of more than 10 billion yen.
Baichuan Feng certainly had reason to be happy as he earned a large sum of money from this business.
Moreover, Beidu Securities has since entered the securities industry, and Beidu Bank's financial system has become more complete.
Because it has obtained marketing authorization, Shirakawa Electric does not have to comply with the silent period rules for the time being.
However, after the listing, there will still be a silent period in the first natural month.
Therefore, taking advantage of this brief interval, Shirakawa Electric not only announced the acquisition of marketing authorization, but also took the opportunity to hold a CD-ROM press conference in conjunction with Sony.
In the next period of time, all we have to do is wait for the moment of listing.
…
Unlike Shirakawa Kaede who was in a very good mood, Yamauchi Hiroshi who was far away in Kyoto was not in such a good mood.
Just like now, every time I make a public appearance, there are annoying reporters surrounding me and buzzing with questions.
"Yamauchi-san, what do you think of Shirakawa Electric's upcoming entry into the home game console market?"
"Will the listing of Shirakawa Electric bring operational pressure to Nintendo?"
"Nintendo has already lost the handheld game console business to Shirakawa Electric, so will the same fate befall home consoles?"
Microphones were blocking Yamauchi Hiroshi's way, making it difficult for him to move.
The flash lights flashed again and again, making him even more upset.
Today is the award ceremony for the Brick Breaker Masters Tournament held . The company's president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, personally presented the awards and took the opportunity to promote his own color TV game console.
Nintendo has been holding such events since 1979, and it has a history of more than three years.
It has to be said that when it comes to entertainment, Nintendo has a unique talent in its genes, and it has been developing deeply in this direction.
However, recently, because Shirakawa Electric is about to go public, the media's attention has been focused there.
At the same time, Shirakawa Electric also occasionally reveals the development progress of home game consoles through the media.
With the occasional leak of spy photos, the discussion volume of Volkswagen-related topics has also been steadily increasing.
This set of operations can be said to be a clear demonstration of hot traffic marketing.
Shirakawa Electric is happy, but Nintendo is the one who suffers.
When it comes to game consoles, the first thing the media thinks of is its competitor, Nintendo.
So whenever there was something going on, reporters would catch Yamauchi Hiroshi and ask him about his opinions on Shirakawa Electric.
It would be fine at any other time, but today is Nintendo's home tournament, and you're still asking me this question. This is totally disrespectful to me, Shan.
Yamauchi Hiroshi, known as the "tyrant", is not a person with a good temper.
Game businessman Henk Rogers once commented that Yamauchi is a hard man to please. If you dare to openly oppose him, your good days will be over.
With such a personality, would Yamauchi Hiroshi be able to endure such harassment from reporters in public?
Yamauchi Hiroshi, who was wearing brown glasses, glanced around with contempt.
The reporters who were buzzing around suddenly fell silent.
"If that thing sells a million units, I'll walk with my head down!"
After making these resounding threats, Yamauchi Hiroshi left the award ceremony without looking back.
"Wow!" The reporters were excited!
This is definitely big news! It is Nintendo’s declaration of war against Shirakawa Electric!
The reporters who reacted suddenly flashed their cameras and tried desperately to catch up with Yamauchi Hiroshi who had turned around.
However, due to the obstruction of Nintendo staff, few people succeeded.
But no matter what, Yamauchi Hiroshi's flag, which carries the meaning of a bet, has been raised openly.
The reporters felt that the trip was worthwhile and were smiling with joy.
Don’t you want to come after seeing this news headline?
Not to mention that Yamauchi Hiroshi left the award ceremony in a huff, nor how the reporters would report the incident afterwards.
But it was already the last day of September, and there were less than 24 hours left before Shirakawa Electric went public.
Tokyo is a completely different place.
Stock investors are gearing up for the action, and intermediary institutions are also eager to make a move. Everyone wants to get in early to get a piece of the pie.
Everyone thinks they will make money, but those who get cut are just too greedy and don’t run fast enough.
