Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 324: LED Plus
Because he was worried about being exposed, Masato Takeshita went to several toilets to eavesdrop, as those who went to the toilet just now were all agents.

Finally, I found that when talking about the cafeteria, no one mentioned that the cafeteria was used to deal with superiors.

"There should be no problem, but to ensure the authenticity, we should check the system tomorrow to find out."

Every company has spies from the headquarters. They work as usual on weekdays and then report on the company's daily situation every week.

However, even so, the Xinghai Group has many corruption problems.

The last president of Xinghai Electronics retired to the position of chairman because of these issues. Without decision-making power in the company, he would leave quietly after one or two years.

In fact, the young man wanted to fire the former president, but it was too difficult. Japan's unique lifetime employment system makes it difficult to deal with employees who are corrupt.

At most, the funds will be recovered and then distributed to remote places.

Thinking of the corruption issue, Masato Takeshita immediately gave instructions to Keiko Sakai and Miho Uchida after leaving Xinghai Manufacturing.

"You two should collect and organize this year's recruitment information tomorrow morning. I will use it in the afternoon."

At present, it is difficult for Japanese college students to find jobs. He is worried that some employees will collude with others and come up with tricks to help them get jobs for money.

"Yes, President."

The two responded in unison.

After visiting Xinghai Manufacturing, the next stop is the Xinghai Liquid Crystal Laboratory in Tokyo.

This will be the birthplace of another subsidiary of Xinghai Technology, helping Xinghai Electronics solve problems with mobile phones and computer screens.

After some brief pleasantries, Takeshita Masato casually asked, "Do you have any idea about LED backlight technology now?"

The advancement of LCD, or liquid crystal panel technology, also relies on the blue light LED invented by Shuji Nakamura.

This is why Nichia Chemical in its previous life could become one of Japan's top optical giants in just a few years.

The application range of blue light LED is really wide.

As for why among the three primary colors of red, green and blue, only blue light LED won the Nobel Prize.

It is mainly considered from the perspective of R&D difficulty and effect.

The development of red and green LEDs is very simple, similar to building a cabin. As long as you learn a little, you can quickly achieve it. Blue LEDs are like building a skyscraper, and the difficulty is directly on another scale.

"It's still under experimentation, and the time required is uncertain."

It is difficult to guarantee the time for experimental research even when it comes to the final stage, let alone just starting now.

Tsuyoshi Koizumi, the person in charge of the Xinghai liquid crystal experiment, did not dare to make a guarantee and could only give a vague response.

"I see. Do you have any ideas, Nakamura-san?"

Masato Takeshita sighed, then looked at Shuji Nakamura, the head of the Tokyo LED Laboratory jointly established by Nichia Chemical and Xinghai Technology.

LCD backlight technology requires the support of LED lamp beads, and the highest authority in this area is Shuji Nakamura.

With such favorable conditions, the young man would naturally not sit idly by and watch the LCD laboratory work hard on its own, and started the joint R&D model early on.

"I'm still trying, and I can't confirm how long it will take."

Although blue light LEDs are available, it is only a matter of time before white light LEDs emerge, but it is really impossible to confirm how long this time will take.

It took 3 years in my last life, I don’t know how many years it will take in this life.

"Understood. If the group invests another 100 million, will it be enough?"

"That's enough. Our funding is sufficient. Please rest assured, President. We will develop new LCD backlight technology as soon as possible to surpass Sharp and Hitachi."

"Very good, we must have this spirit."

In the mid-90s, Japan was at its strongest in terms of LCD panel production, with companies such as Sharp and Hitachi monopolizing more than 90% of the global market.

If Xinghai Group can catch up with these leading giants, it will be able to achieve fully independent production of major components for mobile phones and computers.

He didn't want to have to go to the panel company and apologize for the development of Xinghai mobile phones in the future, just like Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi in his previous life.

The laboratory must have sufficient funding, but the establishment of a panel production line is not that important.

Firstly, Xinghai Group is still at a second-rate level in the field of LCD panels.

Secondly, Japan's LCD panel industry has also encountered similar problems as the semiconductor storage industry.

The United States has begun to crack down on Japanese panel manufacturers and intends to support South Korea in seizing the LCD panel market.

Similarly, the Japanese panel industry will face a similar fate as memory chips. Without sufficient strength and market, it is easy to become meat on the chopping block.

Of course, what is more important is that the current LCD display technology is still immature and it is easy to fall behind as soon as it goes into production.

There is no need for Xinghai Group to enter this industry now. It is better to step out and clean up the mess when Japanese companies are defeated.

Although he did not understand LCD panel technology, he still stayed for a whole afternoon to show his importance to the panel industry.

The main thing is to chat with the chief scientists in the laboratory and encourage them to do it boldly, and the company will provide a guarantee for everyone.

At the same time, I also used words and expressions to hint to them that they could poach talent from several companies on a small scale.

A major shortcut to technological advancement is to poach talents from advanced companies.

The next morning, Masato Takeshita began to inspect Xinghai Life, but this time, he only brought Keiko Sakai with him.

As for Uchida Miho, who is still in training, she is doing the recruitment-related tasks assigned by the young man, which can be regarded as a small test of her abilities.

It is not enough to have a vision for discovery. To become his secretary general, you also need outstanding information gathering skills.

The two of them were already very familiar with each other, and Takeshita Masato crossed his legs in the office and asked, "Kobayashi-san, how is Matsumoto Manufacturing's progress in the luggage market other than suitcases?"

Kobayashi Hiroaki was not as relaxed as his own chairman, but he also said in a relaxed tone: "The several products developed by the company are currently only put into the mid-to-high-end market on a small scale, and the results are quite good."

"However, we are not sure whether this popularity is inflated, so the company will continue to take small steps and run fast."

The company gradually expanded production and tested people's acceptance. After obtaining the most authentic and effective data, it started large-scale production.

Avoid waste and also avoid damaging the brand image.

The market for Fengya and Shuying suitcases is indeed sluggish, but they still bring the company hundreds of millions of dollars in profits every year.

Once the brand image is damaged and becomes a backlog product, the two major brands may lose all their profits.

No one will spend money to buy luxury goods without style.

"Okay, as long as you have made up your mind."

Self-operated brands are not Masato Takeshita's focus for the time being, he asked in a slightly deep tone.

“How is the acquisition of luxury brands going now?”

"We are still in the stage of ambushing stocks and we expect to launch the operation in the middle of next year."

In most stock markets around the world, a 5% stake is required to trigger a notification, so if one wants to acquire a company covertly, they typically entrust an investment bank to complete the preliminary preparations.

For example, it may acquire 4.9% on its own, and then sign commission agreements with several investment banks, each of which acquires less than 4.9%.

Then, at the right time, for example, when they have acquired 30% or even 40% of the shares, they will announce it and take control of the company in one fell swoop. The most exaggerated example of this method is Porsche.

It used various means to obtain the majority of Volkswagen's shares.

Unfortunately, Volkswagen has a special law in German law. Even if Porsche acquires all the shares circulating in the market, it cannot complete the controlling stake. In the end, Porsche becomes a subsidiary of Volkswagen.

But the Porsche family did not lose out. Not only did they become the largest shareholder of the Volkswagen Group, they also re-entered the Volkswagen Group and have a great chance of becoming the new boss of the Volkswagen Group in the future.

"Which family is the one in ambush?"

"Gucci, the founding family of this company is constantly fighting among themselves, so we can take it over relatively easily."

Gucci began to have internal strife in the 50s, and during its peak period, the company's chairman was assassinated.

The disunity of the family also gave Matsumoto more opportunities to break in.

"Good choice."

In addition to the infighting within the founding family, another favorable factor in taking over Gucci was the decline of the company's brand.

Today's Gucci is no different from Chanel before fashion boss Karl Lagerfeld took over, and the brand has been in decline for a long time.

"By the way, now is the best time to get into European luxury watches. We should buy as many as possible while others are not paying attention."

The European mechanical watch industry was almost destroyed in the 1970s and 1980s. Except for a few brands, most of them went bankrupt.

The main reason was that electronic watches and quartz watches appeared at that time, and both of them were far superior to mechanical watches in terms of accuracy.

In addition, both represent the world's advanced technology and are synonymous with progress.

Of course, price is always the most important reference factor.

When both were first invented, they were very expensive to produce.

When others see that you are wearing an electronic watch, they will know that you are rich. This is in line with the mentality of some people who want to show off but don’t want to be too straightforward.

As a result, in the 1990s, the cost of electronic watches continued to decrease year by year, and finally in the mid-to-late 1990s, they could no longer maintain their former high-end status.

However, people still have a huge demand for luxury watches, so they have turned back to old mechanical watches.

The European watch industry has recovered and luxury watch companies have been re-established.

Yes, you are not mistaken.

Many luxury watch brands around the world today are new companies established in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the two have an inheritance relationship, so they can also be considered as one.

“Luxury watches?”

"Yes, we need to be quick. If we are late, there will be many competitors."

Another major driver of the recovery of the European mechanical watch industry is American consumers.

Next year can be regarded as the real beginning of the Internet industry. Not only was Netscape Navigator born in this year, but so was Yahoo, which changed the Internet world.

Since then, the whole world has entered the tide of the Internet age.

The Internet will also replace top technology industries such as semiconductors and become the new leader in wealth creation.

More importantly, this wealth-creating leader is particularly generous and will distribute a large number of shares to employees, and then the employees can wait for the listing to realize their dream of getting rich.

What to do after getting rich?
Most ordinary people naturally just buy, buy and buy.

In the early stages of an Internet company, most employees are men, and they pay more attention to watches than bags.

The European mechanical watch industry has finally achieved far greater development than in the past thanks to the prosperity of the Internet industry.

As watch companies made money, they had more money to advertise. Eventually, wealthy people and nouveau riche also joined the business, and even the investment theory of expensive watches was born.

If it happened in the early 80s, it would definitely make people laugh out loud.

"Yes, President!"

Kobayashi Hiroaki had a solemn expression on his face, preparing to pass the president's instructions to Jason Charlie, president of Matsumoto Manufacturing's European branch, as soon as possible.

These are senior talents that Xinghai Manufacturing spent a lot of money to poach from lVMH to help Fengya Travel gain a foothold in Europe.

Although its market share is only 12%, it is a proportion that luxury goods companies outside of Europe cannot even dream of.

This is old Europe, which is the world leader in luxury goods. Even the United States cannot match it.

"We also need to pay more attention to our local brands and buy more to expand production."

It's hard for top brands to compete with European brands, but mid-range products are still okay. Japan is also a developed country and has some brand appeal.

"Okay, I will arrange it as soon as possible."

Since Matsumoto Manufacturing is preparing to reorganize into a luxury goods company, it would be inappropriate to continue using this name.

Masato Takeshita really wanted to change his name, but he didn't want to break his promise.

"The company name still has the word Matsumoto, and then it will be changed to something like Matsumoto Fashion. I wonder if Matsumoto Yusaku will agree?"

"Whatever, at most I'll just give him some money. Anyway, as long as the name Matsumoto is mentioned, it won't be considered a breach of promise."

Matsumoto Manufacturing, the key is the family name Matsumoto, not the manufacturing suffix.

As long as he notifies them properly and shows enough sincerity, the Matsumoto family will not refuse and the journalists will not cause him trouble.

Thinking of this, Takeshita Masato suddenly raised his head and asked, "Kobayashi-san, do you know where the company's founding family, the Matsumoto family, lives?"

Kobayashi Hiroaki was stunned, not knowing what the president meant, but he still responded honestly.

"I know. It's not far from the company."

Matsumoto Manufacturing was just a small company before the young man took over, and the two original presidents often invited the management to dinner at their home.

Kobayashi Hiroaki has been there dozens of times, so he is naturally not unfamiliar with it.

"Is such that……"

Masato Takeshita explained the reason why he suddenly asked for the address and also asked for Kobayashi Hiroaki's opinion.

"The company really should change its name to reduce its influence in the high-end market. I think it would be perfectly fine to do so and then give it 100 million or 200 million yen."

Kobayashi Hiroaki had long wanted to change his name. The presence of the word "manufacturing" in the company name really affects the brand image.

"Okay, you help me explore the way first, and then we can find something to visit in person."

When asking someone to do something for you, you still need to be polite, especially when facing the founding family.

Of course, this phenomenon only applies to when the founding family of the company completely leaves the company or holds a majority stake.

If the founding family only holds a portion of the shares in the company, he, as the boss of the company, must definitely continue to weaken its control and eventually make his own position as stable as a rock.

For example, Nichia Chemical and Masato Takeshita used the method of dripping water wearing away a stone to expand their influence little by little to the maximum.

Now, even if the founder Nobuo Ogawa comes back, he will not be able to shake the position of young people in Nichia Chemical.

(End of this chapter)