Chapter 403: Mankind's Primary Productive Force
Not to mention that Tanimura secretly resold the secrets of Shirakawa Electric's handheld game console, in November, Shirakawa Electric launched a new product.
That’s right, in the last two months before the end of the year, Shirakawa Electric is preparing to provide benefits to its male consumers.
What kind of benefits? Well, nothing much. It's just that a kind of desktop computer called VCD has begun to be promoted vigorously.
The main target of promotion is office workers who go to work every day, especially male office workers.
According to the official statement of Shirakawa Electric, this device called VCD will greatly facilitate people's movie-watching experience.
It was the first breakthrough of CD discs in the field of film and television, and also a revolution in home audio and video entertainment systems.
The core technology of VCD player, in addition to the laser decoding system similar to CD player, it also uses a new compression technology for audio and images.
It uses MPEG-1 compression encoding in the video field and MPEG 1/2 Layer 2 (MP2) encoding in the audio field.
The purpose of doing this is to cram in as much video and audio content as possible within a capacity of 700 to 800MB.
However, although the format has been compressed, the overall video quality is still comparable to that of VHS tapes.
But when it comes to videotapes, that brings up another issue.
Since the image quality of VCDs and videotapes is comparable, why would consumers choose the unfamiliar VCD and abandon the VCRs they were used to?
The answer is still the price. The price of VCD is much lower than that of home video recorder.
When it comes to bringing a new technology to the market, Shirakawa Electric's always-on winning formula is low pricing.
Although the routine is old and the moves are not new, it works.
Take the VHS videotape player for example. The first commercial model was launched by JVC in 1976 and sold for around 256,000 yen.
The normal selling price of the videotape that comes with it is around 6,000 yen.
After seven or eight years of development, a low-end VCR now costs nearly 180,000 or 190,000 yen, while the price of a videotape remains around 5,000 or 6,000 yen.
But a VCD player only costs 120,000 yen, which is almost half the price of a VCR.
As a medium for carrying content, CDs have always been known for their low prices.
Similar to CD records, the price of VCD discs is roughly around two to three thousand yen.
Of course, the specific price is related to the content, and the pricing of this part mostly depends on the content distributor's positioning of its own films.
So all in all, VCDs are half the price of videotapes, which is why Shirakawa Electric is so confident in challenging the status of VHS videotape players.
As for why the price of VCD was set so low, apart from the desire to penetrate the market, VCD itself also had some flaws.
For example, VCD discs cannot be reused like videotapes. They are write-once media and the content on them cannot be changed.
In addition, VCD discs can only store up to 80 minutes of video content, but videotapes can hold two or even three hours of movies.
Because of this shortcoming , VCD decided to adopt a low-price strategy.
Of course, there is no doubt that Shirakawa Electric is still profitable at this selling price.
Its production process is similar to that of desktop CD players and is already very mature.
With a price of 120,000 yen, a profit of more than 30,000 yen is still no problem.
In order to promote its own VCDs, Shirakawa Electric not only took the low-price route, but also put a lot of effort into content distribution.
…
In early November, a new type of video discs was suddenly put on the shelves in large quantities in a video store in Shinjuku.
"Eh" Momotaro, who often visits here, was surprised when he saw a whole row of shelves suddenly appear in the store.
Is this... a new product? Momotaro ran straight to the extra row of shelves in surprise.
How come all these pink film companies went haywire overnight?
It’s really exciting that so many new films have been released.
Momotaro looked at the colorful covers on the shelves as if he was looking at a great treasure.
"Momotaro, do you want to try it?" At this time, Oki, the owner of the video store next to the counter, gave Momotaro a look that said you understand.
"Ahem~" Momotaro nodded reservedly, "Of course I have to criticize new products. Oki-san, still the old price, 2,000 yen a plate?"
Momotaro is a frequent customer here. He rents a videotape for 2,000 yen a week and knows all of them.
But this time, Oki unexpectedly shook his head. "To rent, it's 1,000 yen per ticket. To buy directly, it's 2,000 yen per ticket."
"Eh?" Momotaro looked at Oki in surprise, "Oki-san, your store is closing?"
"Baga~, what are you talking about?" In the cold winter, even Da Muqi's bald head began to shine.
“Sorry, then… then…” Momotaro really wanted to say, if it wasn’t a clearance sale, how could it be so cheap.
He didn't believe that the cunning Da Mu would suddenly have a change of heart.
"This is a VCD, a brand new home video player. It's much cheaper than a videotape. Do you know CDs?"
As he spoke, Da Mu unpacked a packaged VCD disc, revealing the glittering disc surface inside.
"Oh, it's a CD record." Momotaro knew about CD records, which were very popular nowadays.
"Idiot, it's a VCD disc, not a CD record." Da Mu corrected him rudely.
"So do I need a CD player to play them?" Momotaro was a little disappointed. He had a VCR at home but no CD player.
"Stupid, I already told you it's a VCD disc, so of course you need a VCD player to play it."
Ooki thinks Momotaro is a complete blockhead and the name Ooki should be given to him.
"VCD player?" Momotaro was still a little disappointed, as he didn't have this thing at home.
"Why don't you try it first?" Da Mu's eyes started to become obscene and his voice was full of temptation.
"Try it first?"
"Yes, there is a VCD experience room in the store, it's very private~" Omu's eyes began to become abnormal.
Glancing at the colorful shelves, Momotaro nodded honestly in affirmation, "Okay!"
Picking up a VCD, Momotaro walked into the inner room, where there was a different world.
However, less than ten minutes after he entered, Momotaro came out with a red face.
"Mr. Omu, where can I buy a VCD player? Is it expensive?"
Hearing the call, Da Mu perked up, "It's not expensive, we have it in the store!"
As he said this, he bent down and took out a packaged VCD player from under the counter and placed it on the table.
"Here, Shirakawa Electric, a brand name~"
"Inside Sri Lanka~"
While Momotaro was looking at him, Ohki raised his finger and said, "The price is 120,000 yen, which is much cheaper than the VCR at home."
This price is indeed cheaper than a VCR, but 120,000 yen is not a small amount of money. Momotaro was a little hesitant.
Seeing that he was interested, Da Mu immediately struck while the iron was hot and said, "Momotaro, as long as you buy it, you can pick two more CDs on the shelf !"
Hey, this... Momotaro couldn't help but let his eyes drift towards the shelves.
"Plastic-covered Book" series, "Mature Secret Garden", "Yumiko's Real Story", "Venus" series, "Michiko's Shy Notebook"...
Hiss~ I haven’t seen any of these Momotaros.
The most important thing is that none of them have videotape versions, they are all produced by a distribution company called Nibangmao.
Momotaro, whose head was full of blood, got excited and took out his wallet without thinking.
He counted the money briefly and stuffed it into Oki's hand . "Here, 120,000 yen."
After paying, Momotaro couldn't wait to start picking goods from the shelves.
After choosing for a long time, he wanted all of them because he had never seen them.
"Momotaro, rent some more. They're 1,000 yen each, which is pretty cheap."
Yes, Momotaro's eyes lit up. He almost forgot that a videotape was worth the price of two VCD discs.
So Momotaro, feeling relieved, picked out ten CDs at once, including the two free ones, a total of twelve and took them all away.
Watching Momotaro grunt as he walked out of the store holding the VCD player, Oki nodded the cash in his hand with satisfaction.
How much money can you make from renting CDs? Selling VCD players is a much better way to make money. The commission you get from this is much higher than renting.
Shirakawa Electric's VCD players are not only cheap, but also come with a large number of discs for sale at one time.
Among them, there are old movies from various film companies and TV dramas from TV stations, but the most numerous are still pink movie discs.
Just look at the video stores on the street today and you will find that more than 90% of the videos on the shelves are adult tapes.
There is no doubt that the reputation of mankind's primary productive force is not for nothing.
Therefore, in terms of promotion, Shirakawa Electric naturally included this part in its plan.
Of course he will not participate in the actual content distribution, but someone can.
For example, the Mud Stick Co., Ltd. under Ota's name is a good choice.
You see, the shelves full of clay cat works were the first shot in the company’s fame.
As Momotaro tasted the sweetness of the VCD player, he recommended this new player to his colleagues with a beaming face the next day.
Of course, recommending the player is just a cover, and exchanging strange knowledge is the ultimate goal.
A group of grown men huddled together and whispered for a long time, then dispersed with mysterious smiles on their faces.
Within half a day, all the male members in the company learned a new word, clay cat.
When a man is thinking about something, he never considers the price when buying things, just like Momotaro did in the beginning.
In such excitement, I took a VCD home.
If their wives ask about it, they can righteously take out the serious movie discs they have prepared as a cover.
It is said to be cheaper than a VCR, so I will use it to watch movies from now on.
Of course, what to use it for later is another matter.
…
In November, Shirakawa Electric's VCD player began to gain popularity among male customers after it was launched on the market.
However, it will take time for the market to mature, and Shirakawa Electric is not in a hurry about this.
After all, it is not the main product. Promoting the CD is the first purpose and profit comes second.
Therefore, Baichuan Feng, who was not very concerned about this matter, turned his attention to another matter near the end of the year.
"Mr. Ishii, thank you for your mediation... Of course! You are right, intellectual property rights must be respected!... Yes, Japan still needs to learn from the United States in this regard..."
After hanging up the phone, Baichuan Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that the wishful thinking of those gangsters will not come true for the time being.
A congressman who was on good terms with Shirakawa Kaede just called to inform him that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry had held its first discussion on the feasibility of centralized R&D of processor chips.
However, it was clear that several members of the meeting strongly opposed certain aspects of the meeting theme.
What era is this? We are still engaging in technology sharing. This is a disregard for intellectual property law and patent law. This is a step backwards in Japanese history!
Ultimately, due to the large controversy, MITI decided to conduct research before discussing the issue.
Therefore, SIC does not have to worry about its chip technology problems for the time being, but now that the gangsters have temporarily stopped.
But Baichuan Feng wanted to take the initiative to find two of them to have a good chat. In fact, there are many ways for them to cooperate with each other.
