What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 597 Complementarity
Hong Yu is the head of the "Sound Mapping" team at Carbon Silicon Data Company.

He has a relatively unconventional personality, and he is half of the way about his work out of interest. He is also grateful to the company for being tolerant of him leading such a team to research technologies that don't generate much profit.

Before Zhong Zhiling asked his boss for help, Carbon Silicon Data had already contacted other game companies to try to promote their little feature, but had not received a response.

Hong Yu discussed with his colleagues in private and felt that if there was still no future, it would be better to switch to the silicon carbon group to work on the voice function of the car system, or directly switch to the application scope of voice recognition to text.

However, he did not expect that after Mr. Yu tried it out, he soon received good news. Sohu was conducting a closed beta test of a game called "Sword Immortal" and they could try to cooperate. If the results were good, they could use it for internal testing next month.

Hong Yu quickly connected with other companies to showcase the technical results, but while some were indeed decent, others were far from what he expected.

Just as he was feeling uneasy, Sohu made the decision immediately.

"Yes, it works well and we can get in on the collaboration."

Hong Yu felt a little embarrassed by the other party's efficiency: "Our technology can be further optimized, and the effect should be even better."

"It's okay, it would be better if it were more accurate, but the current version can be used directly. The accuracy of recognizing face-shaping is a topic of discussion, but the effect is terrible, which is also a topic of discussion," a Sohu employee responded.

Hong Yu suspected that the other party was mocking him, but he couldn't tell from their tone, so he could only silently continue to research and optimize the technology, hoping not to let President Yu down.

It's always easier for manufacturers to collaborate by pushing things down from the top.

Yu Xing found the carbon silicon data technology quite interesting, and without thinking too much about it, he called Zhang Chaoyang of Sohu and got his approval after only mentioning its interesting aspects.

Zhang Chaoyang didn't care much about such minor details of cooperation. Just then, President Yu called and mentioned a direction he had been considering recently: he hoped that Sohu Video could promote cooperation with Douyin on film and television copyrights.

"Mr. Zhang, you can just let your subordinates handle this kind of thing. Is it really worth you talking to me about it?" Yu Xing was quite surprised.

Zhang Chaoyang has always been quite interested in film and television. Sohu Video was a product that Sohu once poured resources into, but it chose a different path and now only has a considerable number of users in the American drama category.

However, competition in the online video market is particularly fierce, and copyright prices are soaring due to competition from multiple players.

Sohu internally discussed creating a short video app to rival Douyin, Weishi, and Kuaishou, but Zhang Chaoyang rejected the suggestion. He still has a passion for long-form videos and wants to allocate resources to that area.

Zhang Chaoyang believes that the video industry is not monopolistic; as long as good dramas are continuously produced, there will be room for survival. Therefore, he wants Sohu Video to shift from purchasing copyrights to producing its own films and television series.

However, Sohu Video currently only has 9000 million monthly active users, far fewer than iQiyi with 3 million monthly active users, Tencent Video with 2 million monthly active users, and Youku Tudou with 1.5 million monthly active users, all of which are backed by BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent).

The carbon and silicon data of Lingang came into view, and short video apps like Douyin could definitely be used as tools for traffic generation and distribution.

"President Yu, what do you mean by this? Didn't you call me to promote that little technology to the company?" Zhang Chaoyang said enthusiastically. "I see that your short videos are doing very well, and our long and short videos complement each other perfectly."

Yu Xing asked, "Can they really complement each other?"

Zhang Chaoyang replied decisively: "Of course it can!"

This is the current mainstream view in the industry: short videos will not only not affect film and television dramas, but will also provide excellent promotional functions.

Yu Xing laughed and said, "Then... who's paying whom?" "Mr. Yu, you can give me money if you want," Zhang Chaoyang joked. "We can discuss the specifics of the cooperation next month in Lingang. I really want to see how Lingang's carbon silicon has managed to develop new energy."

Yu Xing felt this was like a windfall; Douyin now has a film and television editing category, and the traffic is quite substantial.

"Mr. Yu, you know that 360 has launched a 'Quick Video' service, right?" Zhang Chaoyang brought up another matter.

"Yes, of course I know. We recently partnered with 360, and the transaction for the Universal Key is still awaiting approval," Yu Xing replied.

Zhang Chaoyang asked, "Do you think it's not too late for 360 to do this now?"

When Yu Xing communicates with this group of people, he always listens to their opinions and then reflects on them. Zhang Chaoyang wouldn't bring up 360's short videos for no reason; it's simply that Sohu is also assessing this market.

He pondered for a moment and said, "President Zhou must think it's not too late, but the market is indeed highly competitive right now and lacks traffic. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bought Master Key. Personally, I think... hehe."

Yu Xing chuckled, his answer being quite tactful.

Zhang Chaoyang believes this view aligns with his own.

After he ended the call, the next afternoon he discussed the development of the short video business at a Sohu executive meeting, citing Yu Xing's views as evidence.

“President Zhang, President Yu’s short videos are very successful now, and he certainly doesn’t want more competition, but we can’t afford to. We can’t ignore the huge market brought about by the explosive growth of smartphones,” Vice President Zheng Xuan argued forcefully.

Zhang Chaoyang patiently explained, "The short video market is huge, but rushing in is just burning money. We can do it, but we can only do it in a differentiated way. Lingang not only has Douyin, but also the latest trending topics."

"The latest trending topics also generate a lot of traffic, but this is mainly text and image information."

"Could we create a short video information tool?"

"We will both differentiate ourselves from the market and leverage our strengths in the information market that we have accumulated over the years."

Zhang Chaoyang explained his thoughts.

Zheng Xuan frowned, believing that both this kind of differentiation and 360's differentiation in "Quick Video" face a major problem: both are hoping that leading products such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weishi will not focus their attention on this niche direction.

However, they are still in fierce competition and have not been able to spare the energy and resources. Once the mainstream market structure is established, any slight shift in direction will instantly squeeze out the so-called differentiation.

Her views did not receive much support, because Zhang Chaoyang's attitude was already very clear, and because Sohu's current situation makes it difficult to invest heavily in multiple areas.

Zheng Xuan's opinions were ignored and she was subsequently attacked one after another. She simply submitted her resignation and immediately contacted her former colleagues in Lingang, preparing to defect to Yu Shiye.

If segmentation were so easy, and competition so easy, then Mr. Yu wouldn't have sold WeChat in the first place.

Zheng Xuan was filled with rage; it was easier to storm Chang'an than to pass the imperial examinations.

(End of this chapter)