Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 312 Progress Speed
No one can stop the tide of the times, and even few can delay it.

The luxury goods market after the bursting of the Japanese bubble was doomed to a downturn, and Fengya travel luggage needed to expand into overseas markets, namely the American market.

As for China, we will have to wait until the 21st century to have enough customers.

In addition to the United States, the current Southeast Asian market also has great potential.

Taking Thailand as an example,
After the yen appreciated significantly, Japanese companies invested heavily in Thailand in order to cut costs. However, apart from a small amount of investment in the real economy, more of these funds flowed into real estate and the stock market.

This trend has accelerated especially since the Japanese bubble burst. People who are used to making quick money no longer want to earn hard-earned money.

In addition, China's competition in the manufacturing sector also makes everyone reluctant to move away from the virtual and toward the real.

Currently, Chinese workers have lower wages and their quality is far superior to that of Southeast Asian workers, so naturally people prefer China.

Therefore, Thailand failed to achieve rapid industrial upgrading with the help of Japan, but instead fell into the same real estate + financial bubble as Japan's bubble era.

However, this phenomenon is actually beneficial to Matsumoto Manufacturing.

The prosperity of the stock market and the real estate market will give rise to a large number of nouveau riche, and these people like to buy flashy and high-premium products.

The price doesn’t matter, what we want is something different and something classy.

Unfortunately, even if the US and Southeast Asian markets can be expanded, the sales volume of high-end suitcases is destined to decline sharply.

Thinking of this, Takeshita Masato directly suggested: "Matsumoto Manufacturing needs to expand more product categories, and we should also find a way to enter the related mid-to-high-end luggage industry."

"As for the methods, some are self-developed, and more are acquired."

Several major luxury giants in later generations, whether it is LVMH, which takes the diversified route, Kering Group, which focuses more on the luggage industry, or L'Oréal, the overlord of the cosmetics industry, basically take the route of acquisition and merger development.

If Matsumoto Manufacturing wants to rise, it must also make large-scale acquisitions.

If you can pull off the trick of a snake swallowing an elephant, you will have the capital to gain a foothold in the world.

"Then what brands do you think are more suitable for acquisition?"

Kobayashi Hiroaki doesn't understand the luxury industry and wants to learn more about it from young people.

"Since we want to enter this industry, we must make a big splash. Italy's Gucci, France's Hermes, and the United States' Tiffany can all be our targets."

Masato Takeshita also doesn't know much about luxury goods, but it doesn't matter. He just keeps his eyes on acquiring luxury goods companies that don't have any big backing.

Besides, failure doesn’t matter. As long as you can succeed, it will be enough to gain a foothold in the luxury market.

"Remember, we have money, and money is the most powerful weapon in the business world."

"Hi, got it!"

Now is the best time to enter the luxury industry and grab market share. Several major luxury groups basically completed their expansion in the 1980s and 1990s.

If we wait until the luxury landscape is initially established in the 21st century, it will be too late.

As for the reasons behind this, it actually has a lot to do with Japan.

Before the economic bubble burst, Japan’s luxury consumption accounted for 70% of the world’s total. It can be said that the vast majority of luxury brands in the world are supported by the Japanese.

Now, Japan's economy is in a slump and is about to enter a long-term slump. The purchasing power for luxury goods has dropped sharply. Many luxury brands that rely on the Japanese market are experiencing meager profits or even losses.

Everyone was happy when we were making money, but now that we are not making money, the conflicts are growing.

Once a conflict arises, it will give external acquirers an opportunity to take advantage.

Of course, there are also friendly ones. Because the company is losing money or making too little profit, everyone takes the initiative to join forces to better overcome the difficulties.

These are also the two main reasons why the luxury goods industry has changed from a flourishing industry to a monopoly by giants.

Only European and American brands are not enough, Masato Takeshita tapped the table subconsciously with his fingers, then slowed down and said.

"In addition to world-renowned brands, we should also find ways to acquire some of the national brands of China, Japan and South Korea."

“They may not be successful worldwide, but they are very well-known locally. If we develop it, the benefits may be even greater.”

"Hi!"

After giving a vigorous response, Kobayashi Hiroaki said a little embarrassedly: "We may not have enough funds to acquire so many brands at the same time."

"The prices of national brands from China and South Korea are not too expensive, and it won't cost much to buy more."

"As for domestic Japanese brands and world-renowned European and American brands, our ultimate goal is only one or two."

"As for the rest, we'll talk about it after our production is stable."

Having said that, the young man drank some tea to moisten his slightly dry throat, and continued the conversation about half a minute later.

"Also, if we want to enter the luxury goods industry, we must first have enough relevant talents."

"We are poaching a large number of senior business operators from Japan, the United States and Europe."

"In addition, the strength of the designer often determines the development of the brand. We should invest more in young designers to lead the development of the trend of the times. Just like our clothing brand."

After Xinghai Lifestyle Clothing Industry established its simple brand style, it became a world-class clothing brand in a short period of time.

This is the biggest benefit of leading the trend of the times, you can reap countless wallets.

"Please rest assured, President. I understand."

"Ah."

The young man nodded, then gave some worried instructions.

"The situation is different around the world. Once the acquisition is completed, the domestic and foreign markets must be operated separately. The European and American markets should be directly delegated to local leaders, and not everything should be reported back to the headquarters."

Kobayashi Hiroaki nodded continuously, and then responded respectfully, "I understand. I will fully delegate power to everyone."

Everything the president tells him to do must be done as he is told. This is the only rule of survival he has learned after reaching a high position.

At this time, Masato Takeshita suddenly thought of a crude view of luxury goods in later generations and immediately told him about it.

“Oh, I remember there is a saying that describes the luxury goods industry. A good brand must be able to tell a story.”

"We should also promote our branded chicken soup more in newspapers to deepen people's impression of the brand."

Storytelling is the most effective way to develop luxury goods.

Many premium products in the world make a lot of money by telling stories.

For example, the famous small can tea in China in later generations, and various ice cream assassins, just because they can tell stories, they are sold at dozens or hundreds of times the cost.

"Hey, President, please don't worry."

When it comes to storytelling for publicity, Hiroaki Kobayashi is full of information.

Because whether it’s an elegant travel suitcase or a minimalist clothing brand, it requires a lot of storytelling.

It can be said that most of the cost of suitcases and clothing is spent on storytelling.

This is also a characteristic of highly profitable industries, where advertising costs are often higher than costs.

The same is true of the gaming industry in later generations.

1 million for research and development, 2 million for publicity.

After emptying his stomach of all the food, Masato Takeshita leisurely left Matsumoto Manufacturing.

He has more important things to do, and coming to Matsumoto to create more is a habit.

The luxury goods development strategy just now was just a flash of inspiration in my mind, without any plan or layout at all.

As for the result, he is indifferent. Xinghai Group has already invested heavily in LVMH and Kering Group. No matter how the luxury industry changes, the company can make a lot of money.

Back in his office, Masato Takeshita looked at Secretary-General Keiko Sakai.

"Has IBM already taken the lead in integrating computer interfaces?"

"Yes, the president of IBM sent us an invitation letter, inviting our company to discuss the interface model together."

"No problem, reply to President Lou Gerstner immediately and we will be there on time."

"Hi!"

Just as Keiko Sakai was about to reply, the young man suddenly called her.

"Wait, let's inform President Chambers of Xinghai Technology first, and then let him decide what to do. He is the person in charge of Xinghai Technology, and what we need to do is to assist him."

Computer format integration is a major event that affects the world and can effectively promote the development of the computer industry.

But for the development of a single company, he is not that important.

At such times, young people are willing to help their subordinates demonstrate their authority.

"Yes, understand!"

After Keiko Sakai left the office, Masato Takeshita smiled happily.

After the USB format is unified, Xinghai Group will be the first to benefit.

For example, USB flash drives are very suitable for taking out after the interfaces are unified.

This product may not look impressive, but it will make floppy disks obsolete.

At the same time, the emergence of USB flash drives will also stimulate the development of domestic flash memory chips.

Thinking of USB flash drives, Masato Takeshita thought of another small invention that could make money easily.

“Should we launch the universal charger now?”

However, the young man thought about it carefully and finally gave up the temptation.

There aren’t enough mobile communication devices right now, so it’s best to wait a few more years.

These little inventions can wait, but Masato Takeshita, the PHS technology leader, really doesn’t want to wait.

He drove to the Xinghai Communications headquarters and went straight to the president's office.

After a brief greeting, the young man directly told the president of Xinghai Communications, Jiro Sasaki, the purpose of his visit.

"It's like this. I want to know the development progress of PHS technology."

"It is progressing very smoothly and we expect to be able to conduct the first field test in March next year."

Xiaolingtong is an outdated technology with a relatively simple technical model. If NTT had not delayed it, it might have been tested this year.

However, thanks to the backward technology and NTT's lack of attention, Xinghai Group was able to easily obtain the key technology of Xiaolingtong.

The Xinghai Group also holds the majority of shares in the Xiaolingtong communications equipment company jointly established by the two companies, up to 75%.

As for the patents related to the Xiaolingtong mobile phone, Xinghai Group even achieved 100% exclusivity. Once Xiaolingtong is popular in developing countries, it will naturally reap the most profits.

"Very good. The research direction must highlight our technological advantages."

"Communication equipment is cheap, PHS phones are cheap, and call charges are cheap."

"In short, we want to take advantage of our price advantage and grab a share of the mobile communications market."

In fact, the greatest significance of Xiaolingtong to Xinghai Group is not to make money, but to stimulate the development of its chip industry.

If all the chips in the Xiaolingtong industry chain come from Xinghai Group, the general chips developed within the group can also quickly expand to world-class levels.

In addition, Xiaolingtong is also conducive to the development of the wafer foundry industry.

Because the wafer foundry industry requires a lot of practice to make continuous progress, and after the rapid development of Xiaolingtong, it can provide Xinghai Wafer with a large number of chip orders.

"Please rest assured, President. We have been working hard in this direction."

As the president of the company, Jiro Sasaki is naturally very aware of the advantages of PHS technology.

To this end, he directly asked the company to replace the Xiaolingtong mobile phone with a plastic shell in order to reduce production costs as much as possible.

Mobile phones cost tens of thousands of yen, even hundreds of thousands or even millions of yen, while our PHS only costs 20,000 to 30,000 yen.

As for mobile phone bills, they were cut by more than half in order to attract more low-end users.

But then again, because of the problem with telephone signals, mobile phones are not the biggest victim of PHS technology; pagers that can only send text messages are.

After the emergence of Xiaolingtong, the pager industry was quickly eliminated by history.

Runxun, where Xiao Ma Ge works, is a pager company. It will probably be eliminated even earlier in this life.

Because the youth had already decided that once Xiaolingtong could be listed, they would immediately negotiate with the relevant companies of China Telecom.

The earlier it is released in China, the earlier you can make money.

"Very good. I just need to have this momentum of "I am the only one who can do it better than me."

Masato Takeshita was very satisfied, and then he smiled and patted the receiver and said, "Tell me immediately when the technology is mature, and I will arrange for some telecom giants to experience our PHS."

"Hi, got it!"

Xinghai Group has basically completed its layout in developing countries.

Whether in Southeast Asia or South America, Xinghai Group owns more than 15% of the shares of local telecom giants.

These stocks can easily influence their decisions and boost the development of the Xinghai mobile phone and PHS industries.

Xiaolingtong technology represents the present, but CDMA technology is more important.

He said frankly: "I don't understand CDMA technology, but I know that business development needs to rely on the power of the country, so the company mainly follows the Qualcomm route."

"As for Europe's technology route, we mainly focus on understanding it, and we don't need to invest too much in research and development."

Western Europe's power is too dispersed, and even if it leads in the short term, it will eventually fail.

The Internet is a typical example. It is obvious that Europe’s is more advanced, and more countries choose to support it.

But the one who has the last laugh is still the United States.

When there are too many countries, various disputes will easily arise, delaying technological progress.

The reason why China was able to catch up and compete with the United States in the field of communications technology in later generations was because of only one voice.

As for Japan, it does have only one voice, but its size is insufficient to develop global standards.

"Yes, I will gradually adjust the allocation of resources."

"Well, but that's not enough. In this way, the company will invest another 500 billion yen every year to increase the research and development progress of the Qualcomm route."

Xinghai Communications started late and must spend more money if it wants to surpass Qualcomm.

He doesn't want to be blackmailed by Qualcomm in the future and have to pay large fees every year.

"Hi, thank you, President!"

Jiro Sasaki was very happy because the company had plenty of research funds to use and he no longer had to worry about those scientists who complained about insufficient funds every day.

(End of this chapter)