Black technology: a super empire spanning two worlds

Chapter 300 [Product Pricing]

Ten minutes later, Xiao Yu invited Zhou Chengyang to a room next door. Lin Baiyu was also there, and there were only the three of them in the room.

Xiao Yu looked at Zhou Chengyang and said to him, "President Zhou, I have a suggestion. You should stop developing that product and just shut it down completely, freeing up all the resources."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengyang hesitated for a moment: "This..."

A complete halt would mean that all the R&D investment made in the past few years would be wasted.

Xiao Yu didn't mince words and stated directly, "Lingjing Technology has already solved the main technical problems of the lifelike doll we just demonstrated. I want to package the entire product and give it to Likang Technology for consumer terminal business. Lingjing Technology will handle all technical support, while Likang Technology will be responsible for branding and operation, and managing the consumer terminal business well."

Zhou Chengyang, who had been hesitant, was stunned upon hearing this, but inwardly he was overjoyed. After recovering, he said without hesitation, "Since I have handed over my soul to Lingjing Technology, President Xiao, I choose to win without lifting a finger. You tell me what to do, and Likang Technology will do it."

"Are you kidding me? What kind of situation is this?" President Zhou already understood perfectly well.

Especially after visiting the erotic dolls made by Lingjing Technology, Zhou Chengyang realized even more deeply that Lingjing Technology's willingness to cooperate with Likang Technology was like a huge windfall falling on Likang Technology.

If Lingjing Technology wanted to do this business itself or cooperate with other manufacturers, that sex doll would absolutely crush all competitors in the industry, and Likang Technology's previous investment would still be worthless.

Because compared to Lingjing Technology's sex doll, it has no competitive advantage whatsoever. It's a complete and utter defeat, and its price is even two or three times cheaper than Likang Technology's so-called secret product.

With such an exaggerated gap, what's the point of even trying? It's better to just go bankrupt and liquidate early, at least you'll have more money left.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn't help but laugh and say, "Haha, President Zhou is indeed a straightforward person with genuine feelings."

After a pause, Xiao Yu pondered for a moment before adding, "Regarding the distribution of rights, responsibilities, and profits, all comprehensive costs, including production costs, operating costs, and marketing costs, will be borne entirely by Likang Technology. After deducting the comprehensive costs, we'll split the net profit of the product 30/70, with me receiving 70% and you 30%, how about that?"

Mr. Zhou nodded repeatedly without hesitation and said, "Absolutely no problem. I can accept even a 20/80 split, let alone a 30/70 split."

Zhou Chengyang was well aware that Likang Technology had absolutely no bargaining power. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Likang Technology was being given a free meal by being able to cooperate with Lingjing Technology.

It doesn't matter who Lingjing Technology feeds this meal to.

Even if no one else gives it to them, Lingjing Technology can take it all without any problem; their technological strength speaks for itself.

Given this situation, how could President Zhou dare to bargain? Closing his eyes and surrendering his soul was the most correct course of action.

To be honest, Zhou Chengyang still doesn't quite understand why Lingjing Technology doesn't develop its own end-consumer business; they have the capability to do so without any problem.

However, if Lingjing Technology really does create its own brand and develop its own end-consumer business, then Likang Technology will have nothing to do with it, and will be completely crushed by Lingjing Technology as a competitor.

However, Mr. Zhou no longer needs to worry about these issues, because Likang Technology has already partnered with Lingjing Technology. Such concerns should be directed at other companies in the same industry.

Finally, Zhou Chengyang couldn't help but ask curiously, "Mr. Xiao, what price do you plan to set for this product?"

It's worth noting that the production cost of sex dolls is relatively low, while the selling price is not, generally achieving a profit margin of over 300%, with some high-end customized products even reaching over 500%. However, because this sector is so niche, despite the high profit margins, the overall market size is not large.

Xiao Yu wants to promote it as a mass consumer product. He wants market scale, so the profit margin of the product can't be so exaggerated. Too high a price will affect its popularization.

Upon hearing Zhou Chengyang's question, Xiao Yu seemed to be talking to himself as he said, "If we calculate based on a further reduction of one-third, that would be around 13000 yuan. If we include the government's subsidy of about 20%, it can be further reduced to around 1 yuan."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengyang was stunned and asked, "How could the government possibly subsidize this product?"

Xiao Yu smiled and said, "I will push for this. I can't say it's 100% guaranteed, but the chances of it being granted are very high."

Clearly, Xiao Yu was planning to submit a report stating that, in the foreseeable future, with the significant increase in life expectancy and the resulting population pressure, this product could objectively contribute to solving the enormous population pressure, and the probability of it receiving government funding and subsidies was very high.

Moreover, this is not necessarily a pure loss for the country.

Because this product can also contribute to social harmony and stability, and reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, which in turn saves on medical expenses, the overall savings in public governance costs may be greater than the subsidies given.

Zhou Chengyang obviously hadn't thought of this aspect, at least not yet, but he was quite confident, because Xiao Yu was currently being treasured by the country, and the higher-ups would definitely take his voice seriously.

At this moment, Xiao Yu continued, "Profits should not be too high. Too much profit will make it too expensive and will not help to expand the market and achieve popularization."

After a moment's thought, Xiao Yu said, "Let's aim for a net profit margin of around 15%, and no more than 20%."

Zhou Chengyang did some mental calculations. If the net profit margin was split 30/70, then Likang Technology would only have a net profit margin of 3.91%. Such a high-end, high-tech product was actually sitting at the same table as the profit margin of low- and mid-end manufacturing industries.

After a moment, Zhou Chengyang said weakly, "President Xiao, isn't this profit margin a bit too low...?"

Xiao Yu calmly said, "The greatest significance of this product is not how much money we make, but rather expanding the market scale. As long as the profit margin can sustain the company's operation, that's enough. My definition of the success of this product is that consumers dare to stop demanding confidential shipping, dare to place orders openly, and even dare to take their cyber-rubber wives out. That is true success."

Clearly, Xiao Yu wants to break the psychological shackles of the general public, so that they are no longer ashamed to talk about such things. As more people use it, they will become more open about it, but it will take some time.

This strategic plan is also a prelude to Xiao Yu's later development of butler-level humanoid products, which will shine in application scenarios such as elderly care and patient assistance, and comprehensive housekeeping services. This is the real highlight.

Once consumers have adapted to this new thing, it will become as commonplace as mobile phones and cars.

The subsequent second, third, and fourth generation products were continuously iterated and upgraded, gradually making the sex dolls more and more powerful and capable of doing more and more things. Naturally, they smoothly transitioned to butler-level sex doll products, and that's when the high added value profits began to be released.

Zhou Chengyang didn't have much to say. He just followed the boss's instructions and did whatever he wanted. He only had one principle in mind: don't think about anything else, just cling tightly to President Xiao's coattails.

……

(End of this chapter)