Chapter 894 What a Good Deal
"Actually, it's not a videotape. It's something similar to a videotape..." Seeing that Zhang Bin didn't seem interested, the middle-aged man hurriedly explained.
"If it's not a videotape, then what is it?" Zhang Bin asked with a frown.
"Boss, do you know CD? And LD, which is laser disc." The middle-aged man gestured.
Seeing Zhang Bin nod, the middle-aged man continued, "I received news that Shenghua Group has just invented a new disc player. This disc player can use CDs to play movies, and the clarity is very good, much better than the videotapes we use now."
"Shenghua Group? Is that the Shenghua that's listed on the stock market?" Zhang Bin suddenly sat up straight and asked.
Seeing the middle-aged man nod, Zhang Bin frowned for a moment. Of course he knew Shenghua Group. Shenghua is now very famous in Hong Kong, especially after Shenghua Clothing went public, Shenghua Group has become one of the famous companies in Hong Kong.
But Shenghua is not limited to the clothing industry. Shenghua's core coverage is very large. The clothing industry is only a part of Shenghua. Shenghua also includes subsidiaries such as Shenghua Telecom, Shenghua Real Estate, Shenghua Electronics, and Shenghua Computer. In addition, Shenghua recently acquired Liu Liu's factory in the mainland and sold its clothing business. Therefore, Shenghua adjusted its industrial structure.
After the adjustment, Shenghua has performed very well in the stock market. Since its listing, its market value has increased nearly tenfold, and it has been sought after by many investors in Hong Kong.
Compared to ordinary Hong Kong people, Zhang Bin had different feelings towards Shenghua because he knew very well who the boss of Shenghua was. Zhang Bin and Lu Sanxi had kidnapped Qin Zhengguo in Pengcheng before, and because of a momentary negligence, Zhang Bin almost fell into the hands of the mainland police.
If he had not run fast and found a boat to Hong Kong, Zhang Bin might have been eating peanuts in the mainland and the grass on his grave would be very tall now.
Zhang Bin didn't know Qin Zhengguo's identity until he arrived in Hong Kong. One time, Zhang Bin accidentally saw Qin Zhengguo and Song Yuanchao together on the street. Oh, and Li Daqi too.
That time, Zhang Bin recognized Qin Zhengguo and was surprised how this person knew Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi. After investigation, Zhang Bin found out that Qin Zhengguo was actually a friend of Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi, and also the boss of Shenghua Group.
Later, Zhang Bin gradually figured out the situation of Shenghua Group and learned that not only Qin Zhengguo, but also Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi were the bosses of Shenghua, among which Song Yuanchao was the real boss of Shenghua.
When this news was confirmed and reached Zhang Bin's ears, Zhang Bin felt mixed emotions. You know, when he was in Shanghai, he had done clothes hanger business with Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi. At that time, Song Yuanchao had not yet made a fortune. Like himself, he was an educated youth who had just returned to Shanghai from other places and did not even have a proper job.
But what about now? Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi have both become wealthy people. I heard that Gu Jie is also a shareholder of Shenghua. Although he does not have a specific position in Shenghua, his identity as a shareholder is real.
After Shenghua went public, its assets skyrocketed, and a large part of Shenghua's companies were not listed and were still in the hands of Shenghua Capital. Zhang Bin had heard about this in Hong Kong, and was aware of the current scale and strength of Shenghua. He also understood how amazing the wealth of Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi was.
However, Zhang Bin still didn't know about Shenghua's real core industry, and he didn't even know Shenghua's overseas capital situation. He only knew about Hong Kong . If he knew the real wealth of Song Yuanchao, Zhang Bin would be so shocked that his eyes would pop out.
Many times, Zhang Bin asked himself, if he had not been greedy and forced Wang Jianjun to leave Song Yuanchao and start his own business, he might have become a big shot by following Song Yuanchao.
Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world. Now Wang Jianjun is still eating steamed buns in the northwest. Zhang Bin ran to Hong Kong in a panic because of the kidnapping incident and ended up in his current state. In order to avoid being recognized, he ate too much to turn himself from a thin man into a fat man.
For these reasons, when Zhang Bin heard the name of Shenghua Group, he paid special attention to it. However, except for himself, no one knew his relationship with Shenghua, let alone his past.
"Tell me more about it..." Zhang Bin immediately became interested. He knew Song Yuanchao's ability and vision. Since Shenghua launched a new electronic product that could replace videotapes, then Song Yuanchao must have made the decision. Song Yuanchao was so optimistic about this product, so there must be something unique about it, otherwise Shenghua would not have valued this product so much.
The middle-aged man explained to Zhang Bin, but Zhang Bin was still confused after listening for a long time. He raised his hand to stop the middle-aged man from talking and asked directly if there was any real object. He wanted to see the real object.
The middle-aged man was very embarrassed about this. He told Zhang Bin that he had only seen the real thing once, because the product had not yet been officially launched on the market. If he did not have a friend who was a manager of a department store and happened to visit and saw Shenghua’s technicians demonstrating the product to the people in the department store, he would not have known about Shenghua’s product.
"Have you ever inquired about when this product will be on the market?" Zhang Bin asked.
"I seem to have heard it was early September. I'm not sure about the exact time, but it's definitely around that time period." The middle-aged man thought for a moment and replied.
"Early September?" Zhang Bin stood up and walked around the office. It was already August, and there was only a short month left until early September.
If Shenghua's product is launched on September 1, then Zhang Bin has less than a month to go on the market. And from what the middle-aged man said, Zhang Bin learned that Shenghua is already preparing for the launch, otherwise it would not have contacted the department store and conducted product demonstrations.
There is no shortage of smart people in this world. Shenghua is a big company and has launched a new electronic product that can replace traditional videotapes. Soon, someone will know about this news and react. Among these people, it is very likely that there are groups that originally made pirated videotapes. If they intervene in this business first, then Zhang Bin will have no chance.
Thinking of this, Zhang Bin turned around and said a few words to the middle-aged man, asking him to contact his friend in the department store immediately and get a prototype of Shenghua's product no matter what the cost. He should inform him as soon as he got the prototype, as he wanted to see what kind of product this was.
A few days later, the middle-aged man called Zhang Bin and said that he had finally got a prototype after spending some money. Zhang Bin went to the company without saying anything. When he arrived at the company, the middle-aged man had already set up the prototype. When he saw the machine, which was about the same size as a VCR but thinner, shining with silver light, Zhang Bin hurried forward to take a look.
After looking left and right for a long time, Zhang Bin asked how to use the machine.
The middle-aged man told Zhang Bin that this machine was called a VCD player, and that its usage was similar to that of an ordinary videotape player. He then took out the disc given by Shenghua and taught Zhang Bin to operate it on the spot.
When the VCD disc is put into the VCD player and the machine completes the search and starts playing, the connected TV will show the picture and sound. Zhang Bin stood in front of the TV with one hand on his chin, watching the movie playing in front of him. It took him a long time to watch it.
After one disc finished playing, the middle-aged man was about to change to the next one, but Zhang Bin waved his hand to stop him.
"It's really good. The picture and sound are much better than videotapes. Besides playing movies, what other functions does it have?"
"You can also play regular CDs, or use the machine as a karaoke machine."
"Oh, try these two functions." Zhang Bin gestured.
The middle-aged man responded and changed a CD. Through the external speakers, melodious songs came out from the speakers. After listening to a song, the middle-aged man changed a karaoke disc, then connected the microphone and let Zhang Bin try it.
Zhang Bin enthusiastically held the microphone and howled along with the live music. Then he put down the microphone contentedly and signaled the middle-aged man to turn off the machine.
"It's indeed a good thing. It seems that Shenghua is going to make a lot of money again." Zhang Bin said this sourly. He felt very emotional in his heart and thought about the mistakes in his decision-making back then.
Life is like this. People experience countless choices in their lives. Each choice is a path towards life. There are many forks on the road, and no one knows where it leads. At the time of making a choice, it is impossible to know where the end of the chosen road will be.
If he could do it again, Zhang Bin would definitely not make the same decision as before and would continue to follow Song Yuanchao. Zhang Bin thought that his ability was not bad, maybe not as good as Song Yuanchao, but better than Li Daqi, not to mention Gu Jie, who was more than enough.
If he had continued to follow Song Yuanchao at that time, perhaps he would be a shareholder and senior executive of Shenghua now, and the wealth and status he obtained would be incomparable to what he has now. Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in this world, and Zhang Bin can only think about it in his heart. Everything has long gone with the wind.
"This machine is not cheap. I heard that it costs nearly NT$3,000 in Hong Kong, and the price in mainland China seems to be just over NT$2,000."
Zhang Bin nodded slightly. This price was indeed a bit high, but it was not unacceptable. Currently, a high-end video player was slightly cheaper than this price , but from the product point of view, Shenghua's VCD was obviously more advantageous.
After all, VCD is a new product. It not only has the same functions as a videotape player, but can also play CDs and karaoke. In addition, CDs are much more convenient to carry than bulky videotapes, and the image and sound quality are also better than videotapes. Once the product is on the market, it is sure to be a big seller.
Zhang Bin immediately understood that the middle-aged man was right. With the launch of this product, the videotapes that had been popular for many years would inevitably be eliminated. This was a technological innovation and an industry subversion. If he could seize this opportunity to grasp the market changes, he could tear open a hole in the original pirated market, thus replacing the original pirates and becoming the leader of the industry.
By then, he would definitely make a fortune by relying on this business, and the profits earned would be much greater than making a crappy movie. Thinking of this, Zhang Bin's eyes became brighter and brighter, and even his breathing began to become a little rapid.
