Chapter 395: You TM think you are Bing Xixi
As soon as Lu Yiming arrived at Youyuan Technology, Zheng Youyuan told him the company's situation straight away: "Mr. Lu, there are fake USB flash drives on the market."
"Copycat? So fast?"
Although Lu Yiming knew that the fake USB flash drive would definitely appear, after all, it was such a big market that everyone would be jealous of it. But what Lu Yiming didn't expect was that the fake USB flash drive would appear so quickly.
The Chinese New Year has just arrived. Are the domestic technical capabilities for producing pirated products so strong?
Zheng Youyuan was not vague either. He immediately took out the fake USB flash drive he bought from the market and handed it to Lu Yiming: "Take a look at this first."
Lu Yiming took it and checked it, and found that the USB flash drive in his hand was exactly the keychain shape he designed. He thought it was Mingyuan Technology's own product, but when he took a closer look, he found that the USB flash drive in his hand was roughly made, especially at the place where the outer shell was connected, there was even a gap visible to the naked eye.
He gently pried it apart with his hands, and the parts inside immediately scattered all over the floor.
With regard to the materials and craftsmanship, Lu Yiming immediately became angry: "We produced this ourselves? Didn't I emphasize that Mingyuan Technology's products must strictly control quality? Product quality issues will seriously damage our brand image!"
Cheng Xiaohua told Lu Yiming with a bitter face: "This USB flash drive is a knockoff, not produced by us."
Zheng Youyuan also said: "Because the number of customer complaints about product quality has suddenly increased in the past two days, I noticed this matter, and then bought a few samples from the market, and found that the situation is more serious than I thought."
When talking about this, Zheng Youyuan's expression was more serious than ever before: "Now fake and inferior USB flash drives are sold all over the streets. The other party's shipments are very large. They can be bought in several computer malls and home appliance stores in Baiyun City. As a result, a large number of customers come directly to Mingyuan Technology for trouble when they encounter quality problems."
Zheng Youyuan became more and more agitated as he spoke, thinking that he had been blamed for the counterfeit goods for no reason, and he immediately started to curse: "Before, when they sold fake goods, they at least changed the shell, but now they even copied the shell directly. Aren't you afraid of having a son without PY?"
Leaving aside the financial losses, the damage to the brand image caused by counterfeit and shoddy products is fatal.
After all, customers don’t care whether what they bought is a fake or not. They only know that Mingyuan Technology’s USB flash drives are easy to break, so naturally the impression they have is bad.
It was not until this moment that Lu Yiming realized that the other party's counterfeit USB flash drive was directly aimed at Mingyuan Technology. Even the appearance was exactly the same. The only difference was that the quality was several levels lower.
Lu Yiming asked: "Have you found their production base? If the shipment volume is large, it is definitely not a small workshop."
Zheng Youyuan said distressedly, "I have mobilized the company's people to look for him, but we have traveled all over Baiyun City and still can't find him. I guess the other party's factory is probably not in the city, or even in this city. Where can I find him in such a short time?"
After listening to this, Lu Yiming also had a gloomy expression. He frowned and thought carefully and said, "This is not a solution. If it really doesn't work, talk to the people who sell fake USB flash drives. They can't be unaware of where these fakes come from, right? Where are the most popular places for fake USB flash drives?"
Zheng Youyuan gnashed his teeth and said, "It's Pengrun Electric. They are the most arrogant. Many salesmen dislike the small rebate we give them, so they directly sell fake and shoddy USB flash drives to customers, just because the counterfeit manufacturers give them higher profits."
When Lu Yiming heard this, he was immediately shocked: "Good fellow, knowingly selling fake products?"
Do you TM think you are Bing Xixi?
Of course he had heard of the name of Pengrun Electric. After all, its founder Huang Junlie was once the richest man in Xia Country. Then he was sent to prison by shareholders and spent more than ten years crying behind bars.
This incident caused a sensation across the country at the time. After all, it was not common for the richest man to go to jail.
As for Pengrun Electric, it is purely a product of the times under the business philosophy of "channel is king". After all, in the current domestic home appliance market, there is no technology and no quality. If it wants to sell well, it can only engage in price wars and carry out various promotional activities.
Therefore, the concept of marketing was hyped up crazily, and people advocated that sales is king.
However, in reality, Pengrun Electric is actually a vampire, sucking blood from manufacturing companies and causing the entire industry to enter a vicious cycle of bad money driving out good money.
Because of the price war, profits are low, and because of the low profits, there is no money for research and development. Because there is no research and development, the only way to maintain market share is to rely on price war, and ultimately they sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire.
If possible, Lu Yiming really doesn't want to deal with such profit-driven platform companies.
But there is no way. Nowadays, counterfeit USB flash drives are rampant, and they sell fake products knowingly. We have no choice but to deal with them.
Lu Yiming thought about it and made a decision immediately: "I'll find a day to visit."
The seventh day of the Lunar New Year is Human Day, which originated from ancient Eastern mythology. Legend has it that when Nuwa first created the world, she created chickens, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows, horses and other animals, and then created humans on the seventh day. So this day is also called "Human Day".
The custom of Human Day has existed since the Han Dynasty. It began to be taken seriously after the Wei and Jin Dynasties and became one of the annual dietary customs of the Han nationality.
In the southeastern coastal areas, the custom of celebrating the Human Day is still retained.
When Lu Yiming woke up drowsily after hearing the chirping of birds outside the house, Ning Xuehua was already busy. On the kitchen stove, seven kinds of vegetables were neatly arranged: mustard greens, kale, leeks, spring greens, celery, garlic and thick petals.
Lu Yiming yawned and asked, "Are we going to eat Qibao Soup today?"
Ning Xuehua smiled and said, "After a few days of eating a lot of meat and fish, it's time to eat some vegetarian food."
Since it is Human Day, one naturally needs to settle down and recuperate, but Lu Yiming did not get to rest. After a simple breakfast, he went out and headed straight for Pengrun Building.
Because they had greeted each other before, Lu Yiming soon met Huang Junlie in person.
This person, whom he had only seen in newspapers and on TV, was now standing in front of Lu Yiming alive.
"Happy New Year, Mr. Huang."
Lu Yiming cupped his hands as a greeting, then introduced himself, "I'm Lu Yiming."
Huang Junlie was indifferent to Lu Yiming's visit. He pointed to the sofa with his right hand and said, "Please sit down, Mr. Lu. I wonder what you want to see me about today?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Pengrun Electric has created a new model for home appliance retail in Xia State. Of course, I want to learn from it. Being able to come up with such a new model, Mr. Huang will definitely become one of the representatives of the Lingdong business group in the future, and there will definitely be a place for you on the Hurun Rich List."
Huang Junlie was not moved by Lu Yiming's flattery. Instead, he responded sarcastically, "When it comes to making money, I can't compare to Mr. Lu. He ranks sixth on the Hurun Rich List at such a young age. It's really amazing. I can't compare to him."
After a few polite words, Huang Junlie obviously had no intention of making friends with Lu Yiming: "Tell me, Mr. Lu, you came to see me during the New Year, you can't be looking for me for tea, right?"
Because of the previous incident between Zuo Chunrong and Liang Shuzhen, Lu Yiming was directly put on the blacklist of many people within the Lingdong Business Group, not to mention that he also offended Li Chaoren.
As one of Li Chaoren's die-hard fans , Huang Junlie was very considerate of him by being willing to meet him.
Since Huang Junlie said so, Lu Yiming naturally didn't bother to waste time talking to him and directly stated his purpose: "Pengrun Electric now has stores all over the country, with a loud reputation and deep-rooted in the hearts of the people. It is a well-known giant home appliance chain retail enterprise. Isn't it time to pay attention to its own brand image?"
Huang Junlie's face darkened when he heard this: "Boss Lu, what do you mean by this?"
Facing Huang Junlie's anger, Lu Yi was obviously not in a hurry, and slowly said: "Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to cause trouble, it's just that recently someone in your Pengrun Electric Appliances has been selling counterfeit USB flash drives. I wonder if you, Mr. Huang, know about this?"
Huang Junlie replied without hesitation: "Is there such a thing? Don't worry, Mr. Lu, I will definitely check it out when I get back and give you a satisfactory answer."
However, Lu Yiming would never believe such an obviously perfunctory statement, and he said directly: "At present, only Mingyuan Technology has the relevant patent technology for USB flash drives in the world. If Pengrun Electric wants to sell USB flash drives, we can cooperate with each other."
What this means is that Pengrun Electric Appliances should purchase its products through regular channels and stop doing weird things that embarrass everyone.
But Huang Junlie didn't intend to give Lu Yiming this face, and even played Tai Chi with him: "Let's talk about cooperation later, I'm very busy, let's have tea next time when we are free."
This was obviously a way of sending the guest away with tea. The other party had no intention of cooperating with Mingyuan Technology at all.
Lu Yiming naturally understood Huang Junlie's thoughts. When he stood up, his eyes became sharp. "Mr. Huang, as the saying goes, courtesy comes before force. I have been polite when I should be."
Huang Junlie sneered and looked into Lu Yiming's eyes without hesitation, his tone even more mocking and disdainful: "Then I'd like to see how Mr. Lu will be rude."
Before leaving, Lu Yiming looked at Huang Junlie deeply and said, "You will see."
When Lu Yiming went out, he met a woman who looked somewhat similar to Huang Junlie, but Lu Yiming didn't think much about it and just left.
What he didn't know was that this woman was Huang Junlie's third sister Huang Xiuhong.
Huang Xiuhong walked into Huang Junlie's office and asked, "When I came in just now, I saw that Lu Yiming. Why did he come to see you, second brother? What happened?"
Huang Junlie said nonchalantly, "It's a small matter. It's nothing more than one of us was selling pirated USB flash drives, and he came to threaten me. He wanted me to cooperate with him to sell genuine products, but I refused."
Huang Xiuhong frowned slightly and asked, "Why didn't you agree? There's no need to offend a self-made tycoon like Lu Yiming for such a small matter, right? When doing business, we should try to be harmonious. The Lingdong Merchants' Clan is a thing of the past. Even if Lu Yiming offended Li Chaoren, there would naturally be people from the Li family to deal with him. Second brother, there's really no need for you to be a target in front."
She knew that Huang Junlie was a loyal fan of the Li family, and that Lu Yiming's offense against the Li family was common knowledge in the circle, so he thought that Huang Junlie was helping the Li family vent their anger.
Huang Junlie shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Third sister, your personality is really not suitable for fighting in the business field. Do you think I did this just to vent my anger on behalf of the Lingdong Merchants and Li Chaoren? You are wrong, absolutely wrong. I am targeting Mingyuan Technology."
Huang Xiuhong was even more puzzled after hearing this: "You have never met before, and you have no business dealings. Why are you targeting Mingyuan Technology?"
Seeing that his third sister still didn't understand the essence of the problem, Huang Junlie had to patiently remind her: "We at Pengrun Electric Appliances are engaged in the business of channel dealers. The essence of channel being king is that only we can be king and dominate. As for those manufacturing companies, they must obey our deployment and management."
"So when necessary, we can suppress their market share and let them know who has the final say. Do you understand now? The dispute between Lu Yiming and me is not a dispute of pride, but a dispute of interests."
There is no doubt that Huang Junlie is an ambitious businessman who is profit-driven and unscrupulous.
The reason why he targeted Lu Yiming was not just because of personal grudges, but to seek greater benefits. He wanted to step on Mingyuan Technology, which was in its heyday, and use this to demonstrate the strength of Pengrun Electric.
As for the extent of damage this would cause to Xia Country's home appliance market, he didn't care at all. After all, business is business, and as long as it is not illegal, he will make money in any way he can.
In terms of business philosophy, many people in the Lingdong business group share the same business philosophy as Li Chaoren.
As for Lu Yiming, the first thing he did when he returned to Mingyuan Technology was that Zheng Youyuan came to him eagerly to ask about the results of the negotiation: "Did you talk to Mr. Huang? How did the talk go?"
Lu Yiming spread his hands and said, "Well, as you can see, nothing has been agreed upon."
Zheng Youyuan was not surprised or surprised by this result. Instead, he sighed and said, "It's pretty much what I thought. What are you going to do next?"
The USB flash drive is not only the only product of Mingyuan Technology, but also a golden goose that lays eggs for Youyuan Electronics Factory. Now that this golden goose has been mixed with impurities, Zheng Youyuan is of course very unhappy.
Lu Yiming was actually very clear about Huang Junlie's thoughts. After all, he had seen many such things before his rebirth.
The problem of differences in ideas obviously cannot be solved through verbal negotiations.
Pengrun Electric wants channels to be king, while Mingyuan Technology pursues technology to be king. The two parties are not on the same channel at all.
It was naturally impossible for Lu Yiming to give in to Huang Junlie. After all, the Mingyuan Technology he envisioned was to take the research and development route. How could he work like a slave for channel dealers and give them money to eat and drink?
"Now that we have said all the good things, the only thing left to do is to take action."
"How do you do it? Get someone to smash his store?"
Zheng Youyuan's face was full of curiosity, and there was even a hint of eagerness to try in his eyes.
Lu Yiming didn't expect that Zheng Youyuan, at his old age, was still so aggressive.
"What are you thinking? I don't do anything illegal. I just took action, not necessarily with violence. Please don't make us look like a gang, okay?"
When Zheng Youyuan heard that he couldn’t smash the store, he felt it was a pity.
"Hey, I'm old now. If it were in the past, I would have knocked on your door a long time ago."
Lu Yiming was speechless after hearing this.
People doing business these days are really wild. If verbal fights don't work, they resort to physical fights. Could this be the real high-end business war?
