Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1320 Gold and Silver Mountains Abound

Upon seeing Fu Cheng enter, Li Dongling made no attempt to conceal his presence and immediately turned on the speakerphone.

Tang Jun's voice came through the phone, "Mr. Li, Roger Ames, the new president of Warner Music, is interested in collaborating with Himalaya Music!"

Even over the phone, you could hear how excited Tang Jun was. Warner Music proactively approached Himalaya Records for cooperation, which was basically a gamble.

Once Warner Music opens its copyright library to Himalaya, the previously monolithic record industry will gradually open its doors to Himalaya Music!
Warner Music's move is destined to be a landmark in the history of the music industry, as it will shift the industry from traditional offline CD sales to online music platform sales.
Whether this step is good or bad, and how much impact it will have on the record industry, record companies, singers, music producers, and other sectors, is anyone's guess.

But one thing Li the Philanthropist is certain of is that in the next few years, the cassette and CD record stores that were once ubiquitous around the world and were once the most important part of record sales will gradually disappear from the world's sight.

Or perhaps many people haven't noticed that the store where they used to buy new records every week has quietly closed down.

Perhaps in the future, professional audio equipment stores may still sell physical records, but they will mainly sell collector's editions, autographed discs, or vinyl records as souvenirs. Ordinary records will basically disappear.

"As long as Warner Music is willing to cooperate, Himalaya Music will begin its cooperation with Warner Music according to the established conditions."

Paid records and music memberships can give Warner Music 70% of the revenue, but Himalaya Music requires long-term contracts, preferably eight or even ten years or more.

Li Dongling explained to Tang Jun on the other end of the phone.

Following Himalaya FM, various music websites will emerge, and even the major record labels may launch their own music websites.

Therefore, Himalaya Music's ability to secure partnerships with record labels must be based on long-term contracts, binding giants like Warner Music to Himalaya's chariot.

"Tell Warner Music that Himalaya Music can exchange equity with them, and that in the future Himalaya Music platform can become an ally with the record company."

Himalaya Music may be spun off from Feiyan Technology and listed independently in the future!

In addition, Himalaya Music will launch more features in the future, including the Himalaya Music Community, which will allow music fans and singers around the world to communicate in one music community.

In addition, Himalaya Music can also offer online concert ticket sales, merchandise, and souvenir sales, all of which can be done in collaboration with record companies such as Warner Music!
Himalaya Music hopes to establish a new music order with the record industry, not to destroy it.

Li the philanthropist instructed Tang Jun to paint a rosy picture for the record companies, telling them that Himalaya Music was not like Napster, trying to destroy the record industry.

Himalaya Music aims to establish a new order with the record industry, where everyone can continue enjoying hotpot, singing songs, and profiting together – why not?
In fact, to convince the record company of Himalaya's sincerity, Li Dashan exchanged Himalaya Music's shares with the record company, so that they would be on the same side from then on.

If record labels believe this argument, then Himalaya Music will become the largest, and perhaps only, sales channel in the history of the record industry!

In the past, record companies needed tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of physical CD stores to sell their products, but now Himalaya Music has directly replaced them.

As long as the major record labels are brought onto Himalaya Music's bandwagon, Himalaya Music will live as long as the record industry. As long as the record industry exists, Himalaya Music will never die. Himalaya Music can suck the blood of the record industry forever!

It's not just records; Himalaya Music also profits from concerts, concert merchandise and related products.

Whether record labels make money or not is unclear, but Himalaya Music certainly won't lose money.

But making money is only part of Himalaya Music's appeal; the most crucial aspect is its immense potential!

Just think about it: Himalaya Music, which was spun off from Feiyan Technology, is the world's largest record retailer, the largest online concert ticketing platform, and the largest online concert merchandise platform. How high can its valuation go?
If it goes public, the retail investors will be fleeced, and the cash they get from selling shares will probably be higher than Himalaya Music's profits over several years!
"Of course, Himalaya Music also needs to persuade them with reason. If Warner Music or other record companies are unwilling to accept Himalaya's cooperation, then Himalaya Music also needs to reason with them and let them know that Himalaya Music is the best choice!"

Li Dongling planned to use both carrots and sticks to deal with the record companies.

If record labels are unwilling to cooperate with Himalaya Music, then fight until they are willing to cooperate, and if necessary, even invest more money in pirate music websites such as Napster.

If one day Napster and other websites actually go public on Nasdaq, that would be a huge disaster!
"While collaborating with Warner Music, Himalaya Music also aims to collaborate with more independent record labels and artists, and even acquire them!"

After Li Dongling finished explaining to Tang Jun, he hung up the phone. Fu Cheng, who was sitting in Li Dashanren's office, was also somewhat alarmed when he heard about Li Dashanren's methods for dealing with those record companies.

Fu Cheng could foresee that those record giants probably had no choice but to choose Himalaya Music; otherwise, they might really be doomed and their coffins would slowly be closed.

"Following its first day of sales yesterday, the Feiyan 2nd Generation MP3 player has once again achieved sales of over 25 units today!"

Fu Cheng spoke to Li Dongling about the impressive sales figures of the Flying Goose 2, which had achieved over 200,000 units sold per day for two consecutive days.

This achievement is remarkable even by global standards in the electronics industry, not to mention that Feiyan MP3 is an undisputed high-end electronic product!
The profit margins for high-end electronic products are the highest in the industry. While Apple's sales volume wasn't the highest in the entire smartphone market, it still captured over 90% of the market's profits. Feiyan MP3 players may not achieve Apple's dominance in the smartphone industry, but it's possible for Feiyan to capture over 50% of the global MP3 industry's profits.

"Of the two versions of MP3s released by Feiyan, the STN version accounted for about 65% of sales, while the remaining 35% were TFT LCD screen versions."

Fu Cheng said that, in comparison to the sales of the two screen versions of the Feiyan MP3 player, the cheaper STN screen version sold more.

The principle that price is king still holds true. Even though LCD screens offer a better user experience, the $100 price difference still leads many people to vote with their wallets and buy the STN screen version, which has a slightly inferior screen quality.

"Based on current user feedback, MP3 players with TFT LCD screens offer a better user experience."

However, the number of after-sales problems with LCD screens is almost twice that of STN screens!

Fu Cheng said to Li Dongling, "Integrating LCD screens into electronic products is quite a bold move in the global electronics industry."

However, this also brought problems with LCD screens. LCD screens are too fragile, and because they have only just begun to be promoted, all sorts of problems have started to emerge.

Even if a mobile phone or MP3 player with an STN screen is dropped on the ground, it can still be used after being picked up, but an LCD screen will be scratched immediately.

"The promotion of LCD screens cannot be stopped!"

"Not only MP3 players, but also Shenzhou computers, Shenzhou mobile phones, and other electronic products from the Dongke Group will gradually be equipped with LCD screens!"

Li Dongling understood what Fu Cheng was worried about: the fear that the screen issue would affect sales. But there was no turning back once the arrow was released. Dongling Hi-Tech's electronic products entering the LCD screen era was a foregone conclusion, and it was impossible to give up halfway because of a little setback.

Giving up now would be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater; once the era of LCD screens truly arrives, Dongling Hi-Tech will be in a real bind.

However, problems arising from LCD screens cannot be ignored.

"For any issues arising from the LCD screen, as long as it is within the warranty period, Dongling High-Tech's after-sales department will be responsible for free repair or replacement."

In addition, Feiyan Technology and Dongling Hi-Tech can contact insurance companies to launch insurance services such as accidental damage insurance and screen breakage insurance. The screen breakage insurance covers all electronic products from the Dongling Hi-Tech group; if a user purchases screen breakage insurance, the insurance company will cover any screen damage.

If Dongling High-Tech were to partner with insurance companies to launch these insurance policies, there would definitely be insurance companies willing to take the orders.

With Dongling Hi-Tech's annual shipments of mobile phones, computers, and MP3 players, the total number is in the tens of millions each year. Even if only a portion of users purchase insurance, the annual insurance amount would still be tens or hundreds of millions of US dollars.

This kind of screen breakage insurance isn't just available in China; it's popular overseas as well.

Based on the previous overseas screen breakage insurance or accidental damage insurance model, the two-year insurance premium would be between two hundred and three hundred US dollars, or seven to fifteen US dollars per month, etc.

But paying this fee doesn't mean you can rest easy; the insurance company or phone manufacturer won't be responsible if the screen breaks.

Instead, you pay for insurance first, and then pay $30 for each repair if the screen breaks, the back cover cracks, or water gets in. For other major problems, you pay $100 per repair.

It sounds expensive, but if it's just a replacement, like replacing an Apple phone screen in my previous life, or sending it for repair overseas without going through insurance, then you basically don't need to repair it anymore and can just buy a new one, because a repair costs four or five hundred dollars.

As for the claim that high-end phones like Apple are considered "common phones" overseas, where they can be easily replaced if they break and people don't care, and that people can change their phones every month, just take that with a grain of salt.

High-end electronic products are expensive everywhere in the world. Even in places like Germany and France, young people who spend two or three thousand euros a month on a mobile phone and then casually buy a new one every month are just talking nonsense.

"In addition to launching insurance, I will also have Dongfang Optoelectronics develop a tempered glass screen protector to protect the LCD screen."

"But most importantly, we must improve the quality of Dongfang Optoelectronics' LCD screens!"

Li Dongling knew that after-sales insurance, screen breakage insurance, or tempered glass screen protectors were all short-term solutions; the most important thing was the quality of the LCD screen itself.

"The promotion of Feiyan 2nd generation should continue. We can find more advertising, public relations and talent agencies to get celebrities, famous people and models to promote Feiyan MP3 players!"

"We also need to handle public relations with the media. Feiyan MP3 is positioned as a high-end product, and it also has a fashionable and cool image. We must maintain this!"

Advertising costs must be spent, as Li the philanthropist is hoping that Feiyan MP3 will become a cash cow. In its previous life, iPod could bring Apple billions of dollars in revenue every year. Even if Feiyan MP3 cannot compare with iPod, it is still a gold mine.

To mine this gold mine, you definitely need to invest in the preliminary preparations!
(End of this chapter)