Chapter 370: Mass Production of USB Flash Drives
On September 1, 1994, Eva Pascoe, who was studying for a doctorate in cognitive psychology at the University of London, opened the world's first Internet cafe - Cyberia in the West End of London.
In May 1996, the first Internet cafe, Wigate, appeared in Shanghai's Magic City, offering Internet access for 40 yuan per hour.
Since then, more and more Internet cafes have sprung up across China.
As the Internet becomes more and more developed, Internet cafes that used to only be able to play single-player games have now entered an era of dial-up Internet access with unlimited data traffic.
Internet cafes have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and their number is increasing.
In order to open Internet cafes and make money more quickly, many people choose to go into alleys and houses, buy a bunch of computers, connect them to telephone lines and start working.
This is a black Internet cafe.
Li Quanwang's uncle Huang Dongheng and his colleagues run an illegal Internet cafe.
Because there is no need to go through formalities, the cost is extremely reduced, and the public's demand for Internet access is also rising. There are many examples of opening an Internet cafe to recover the investment in two months and start making money in three months. Although Internet cafes these days only allow people to browse the web, people still enjoy it.
But these have nothing to do with selling computers.
No matter whether it is a black Internet cafe or a white Internet cafe, computers are always needed, which is good for computer companies.
Computers produced by Jianlai Technology have always been in short supply.
Qian Hongli used to be engaged in computer assembly, and now he has simply branded and scaled up his business.
And scale helps reduce costs.
In addition, the chassis produced by Dingyuan Mould Factory can further reduce costs and enhance individuality - as long as you are willing to pay more, the design team of Dingyuan Mould Factory can even design an Internet cafe co-branded model exclusively for you.
Therefore, the host computers produced by Jianlai Technology are very popular, and the business is booming whether it is individual consumers or group purchases.
In addition, the Internet cafe version of Jianlai host comes with its own billing software, so Jianlai Technology's computers are the first choice for Internet cafes.
Jianlai Technology's products have been sold all over the country.
Today, Jianlai Technology has a beautiful assembly plant covering more than 10,000 square meters, where production is carried out day and night.
As a shareholder responsible for daily management, Qian Hongli owns a luxurious office of over 100 square meters.
Lu Yiming pushed the door open and walked in, jokingly saying, "Boss Qian, you are living a comfortable life these days."
Qian Hongli, who was sitting at his desk playing a card game, stood up when he saw Lu Yiming coming in. He asked in surprise, "Boss Lu, why are you here? You didn't even tell me in advance. You're a major shareholder, but you only show up a few times a month and you're not even seen at meetings. You're really too much of a hands-off boss."
Lu Yiming sat on the sofa, waved his hand, and said, "I need to study. Besides, I feel relieved to let you manage the company. Just sit back and wait for the dividends. Why work so hard?"
Although Qian Hongli complained, he was actually very satisfied with Lu Yiming. Having a major shareholder who was rich but didn't like to make trouble was a good thing that could not be found even with a lantern.
After chatting for a while, Lu Yiming took out a small box and said, "Here, let me show you something good."
He took out the USB drive and placed it in front of Qian Hongli.
What Qian Hongli saw was a circuit board wrapped in plastic. The circuit board was only the size of a thumbnail, and one end of it was equipped with a USB standard interface jointly launched by Intel and other companies in 1996.
This strangely shaped thing left Qian Hongli a little confused.
"What's this?"
Lu Yiming plugged this thing into the computer, opened the hard disk, and said, "See? There is an extra 8M hard disk space here. This is what I plugged in . This is the full text TXT document of the Xinhua Dictionary. This is an audio file of a song. I can drag it with the mouse and transfer it directly to this computer. Similarly, I can also drag things from the computer in at will and carry them with me."
Qian Hongli was indeed a businessman. He immediately saw the huge market hidden in this little gadget. His eyes lit up immediately and he asked, "Where did this come from?"
Lu Yiming said: "I have cooperated with Youyuan Electronics Factory to set up a new company called Mingyuan Technology. This is the laboratory version of Mingyuan Technology's first product. I call it a 'USB flash drive'. The appearance design and packaging are currently being carried out, and it will be on the market before the end of the year. At that time, it can be sold together with Jianlai Technology's computers."
When Qian Hongli heard this, he was immediately excited: "Is there such a good thing?"
Lu Yiming teased, "Isn't it a bargain for you again?"
"Okay, think about how to better match sales and make a plan for me. I'm leaving now."
"good."
Lu Yiming left Jianlai Technology and returned to Bihailongting. Just as he was about to enter the door, he saw Zhang Xiaolong walking out with a briefcase. Lu Yiming stopped him and said, "Hey, Zhang Xiaolong, where are you going?"
Zhang Xiaolong saw Lu Yiming and said, "It has been raining for the past few days. I have a few floppy disks that have become damp and scrapped. I'm going out to buy some floppy disks."
Then, he said thankfully, "Fortunately, I have backed up all the important information in it, otherwise I would have worked in vain this month."
When doing software development, it is inevitable to often use some data storage tools.
At that time, the mainstream data storage product on the market was the floppy disk. A 3.5-inch floppy disk had a capacity of only 1.44MB, but was sold for hundreds of yuan. It also required the installation of a driver to use it, which was very troublesome.
Zhang Xiaolong used to spend a lot of money on floppy disks from selling pirated CDs. Although he is now with Lu Yiming and has plenty of money, he still can't help but complain: "These floppy disks are too troublesome to use and store. Isn't there a safer and more reliable way to store data to replace the crappy floppy disks?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Of course."
He took out the USB drive and said, "This is it. It's Mingyuan Technology's new product. I named it the USB drive."
"You? Name it?" Zhang Xiaolong looked at the thing in Lu Yiming's hand in surprise.
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Yes, I invented it. The patent number is US6829672."
Zhang Xiaolong couldn't help but take a breath.
What kind of monster is this Mr. Lu?
Zhang Xiaolong found it a little unbelievable: "Can this thing replace floppy disks?"
It's just a circuit board with a USB port soldered on it. It doesn't look like a serious product at all.
Lu Yiming said: "This is the first generation of the product. Try it and see if it works well. If there is anything that needs improvement, tell me after you use it. It will be automatically recognized when plugged into the USB port of the computer, and then you can store files."
“Plug and play?”
Zhang Xiaolong was shocked by the convenience of this USB flash drive.
Lu Yiming said: "The USB drive driver is placed in a chip called the main controller, so as long as it is plugged into the USB port of the computer, its driver will be automatically installed, and the installation is very fast."
If any product wants to sell well , it must reduce the user's operation steps as much as possible and lower the threshold for using the product.
Therefore, Lu Yiming attached great importance to this aspect and specifically asked Cheng Xiaohua to make relevant improvements.
"Okay, I'll take it back and try it out."
In the next few days, Zhang Xiaolong used the USB drive several times and gave Lu Yiming some suggestions for improvement.
Lu Yiming gave his suggestions for improvement to Cheng Xiaohua, who immediately led the team to make public relations improvements.
A week later, the improved USB flash drive officially went into production. Lu Yiming also specially designed several designs. The metal shell with an industrial aesthetic looked very "high-end" at first glance. It was also made into a keychain, which was very easy to carry.
Subsequently, Jianlai Technology started an activity where one could get a USB drive for free when buying a computer, and officially launched this new revolutionary product into the market.
Every time Jianlai Technology sells a computer, it means a USB drive is used by a customer, and then there will be a second and a third one.
More and more people began to accept and favor USB flash drives, and Mingyuan Technology gradually came into the public eye.
The new product, mobile USB flash drive, swept the electronic market like a wave and won a lot of praise from users.
Although the overall sales volume was not very high due to the short period of time, Zheng Youyuan was overjoyed by the trend. He directly gathered all the employees of the company and held a grand celebration banquet.
Many people in Baiyun City's upper class circles heard about this incident. They cursed Zheng Youyuan for his bad luck, but at the same time they felt a little regretful.
If they had taken the initiative to cooperate with Lu Yiming at the beginning, would this benefit have fallen on them?
In the Lin family mansion, Lin Yuantao, who had just recovered from his health, moved back home from the hospital.
Although he was lying on the hospital bed before, he still knew all the information he needed to know. Therefore, after Lin Shuyi came back from the company, he called her to the study.
Facing Lin Shuyi, Lin Yuantao sighed and said, "Ah, I really misjudged her before."
It turned out that when Lin Shuyi learned that Lu Yiming had offended Li Chaoren and then the Lingdong Merchants, she ran to discuss it with Lin Yuantao. As a result, Lin Yuantao chose to protect himself and stay out of this matter. In this way, even if Lu Yiming was liquidated, those people would not be able to implicate the Lin family.
However, what Lin Yuantao could never have expected was that Lu Yiming actually used the power of others to his advantage and used the Cantonese business gang to deal with the Lingdong business gang. Not only did he successfully overcome the crisis, he even bought up the assets of Liang Shuzhen and Zuo Chunrong. It was simply a magical operation.
Nowadays, Lu Yiming and Zheng Youyuan's business is booming, making Lu Yiming very popular among the Cantonese business community. Many people want to cooperate with Lu Yiming to develop new business.
Lin Yuantao said: "I should have listened to you at the beginning."
When Lin Yuantao decided to stay out of the matter, Lin Shuyi disagreed and felt that she should speak up for Lu Yiming.
Lin Shuyi said, "Lu Yiming had offended Li Chaoren before, so when Liang Shuzhen and Zuo Chunrong targeted him, it was not appropriate for our Lin family to intervene. According to the situation at the time, there was nothing wrong with your decision, father."
Lin Yuantao sighed and looked at Lin Shuyi calmly: "You don't have to cover up my mistakes. I was wrong, and I'm not an old stubborn person. I still have the courage to admit my mistakes."
Then, he showed a gratified expression and said to Lin Shuyi, "I am old and don't understand the world anymore. It's time for me to have a good rest. From now on, the company's affairs will be completely handed over to you. I will no longer interfere."
Lin Shuyi was surprised and asked, "Dad, are you going to officially retire? I think you are still strong and healthy, and you can work for another ten years."
Lin Yuantao said with a smile, "Work for another ten years? Do you want to break my old bones? Forget it. I should spend my free time drinking morning tea with old friends, walking the birds and appreciating the flowers. You will be in charge of the company from now on."
If it were in the past, Lin Yuantao would certainly not feel comfortable handing over the Jingwan Group, which he founded, to his daughter, even though Lin Shuyi had performed well enough.
But after this incident, Lin Yuantao realized that he was no longer as good as his daughter in business acumen, so he missed out on the good USB project.
This is enough to show that the future is destined to belong to the young.
A few days later, Lin Shuyi asked Lu Yiming to have afternoon tea with her, and during the chat, they talked about the USB flash drive project.
"I'm very curious. Since you invented the product and your father owns a lean mold factory, wouldn't it be more profitable to develop and produce it yourself? Why did you want to cooperate with Zheng Youyuan? And even gave him 60% of the shares."
Lu Yiming saw through Lin Shuyi's thoughts at a glance and teased, "Why, you want to buy shares?"
Since everyone was so familiar with each other, Lin Shuyi didn't hide anything and said bluntly: "Who wouldn't want a business that can make money?"
Then, Lin Shuyi couldn't help but complain again: "If you had brought up the USB flash drive project, I would have been able to convince my dad to support you. But you didn't say a word and went to Zheng Youyuan for cooperation."
Lu Yiming curled his lips and said sarcastically, "You are not going to release the eagle until you see the rabbit."
Seeing that Lin Shuyi's expression was a little unnatural, Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm not that petty, and I didn't take my anger out on the Lin family because of what the Lingdong Merchants did to me. The reason why I found Zheng Youyuan to cooperate with him is because he runs an electronics factory. For USB flash drives, technology alone is not enough. If you want to make money, you still have to start production as soon as possible."
After hearing these words, Lin Shuyi felt relieved.
Just as Lu Yiming said, cooperation with Zheng Youyuan is an inevitable choice. After all, Jingwan Group is good at real estate, but to produce consumer electronic products is like being completely clueless.
As far as Lu Yiming could remember, Langac had suffered a great loss in this regard. Although the USB flash drive was successfully produced thanks to the efforts of Deng Guoshun and Cheng Xiaohua, due to insufficient production capacity, the market was soon taken over by the swarm of copycats.
Although I later recovered some of my losses through a patent lawsuit, this amount of money is far less than the profit from directly selling the USB flash drives!
With this previous experience in mind, Lu Yiming naturally attached great importance to the production of USB flash drives, and was even willing to make concessions on shares in exchange for Zheng Youyuan's full support.
Now that the USB flash drives have been successfully put into production and have entered a crazy capacity expansion mode, Mingyuan Technology is expected to swallow up more than 90 percent of the entire flash drive market in the next two years.
Make a fortune before other competitors react.
