Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 74 Going Home
"How is it going? Has any news come from the United States?"

After Christmas, Masato Takeshita found Hiroaki Kobayashi as soon as possible.

He wanted to know the sales of suitcases in Europe and the United States during the Christmas period.

Christmas in Europe and America is equivalent to the Spring Festival in East Asian countries. People will buy a lot of things in advance, and then on Christmas Day, the family will get together to enjoy a good life.

This period of time is usually when European and American people spend the most money, similar to China's pre-Qingyuan stockpiling.

"The data has been sent to North America, and Europe is still counting. In the North American market alone, we sold a total of 327 million suitcases during the Thanksgiving-Christmas period."

"Among them, 41 pieces of Fengya suitcases were sold; 104 million pieces of Shuying suitcases were sold; and 182 million pieces of Linglong suitcases were sold."

"In terms of channels, JCPenney has the highest sales volume, and Fengya travel luggage has the highest sales volume..."

Kobayashi Hiroaki calls major distributors almost every day to learn about the daily sales of suitcases, so he can sort out the relevant sales data immediately after Christmas.

"What about our competitors?"

The production of trolley suitcases is very simple, and the authorized companies have already produced finished products. These companies, with the help of Matsumoto Manufacturing, also sent suitcases to major shopping malls.

“It’s not clear, but preliminary estimates put the sales volume at over 500 million.”

"It's a pity that there are so many. If the company's production capacity could keep up, at least half of the orders could be taken."

The suitcases manufactured by Matsumoto have already gained a certain brand recognition. Many people prefer to buy Matsumoto's products even if they are more expensive.

Especially in Japan, Matsumoto Manufacturing has a monopoly on more than half of the market. In the high-end field, other suitcases except Fengya are not sold at all.

This may also be related to the Japanese herd mentality.

Everyone else buys Fengya but you don’t. Is it because you can’t read the atmosphere and you’re not sociable?

"Yeah, indeed, what a pity."

Kobayashi Hiroaki felt equally upset when he saw the market being conquered by other companies due to insufficient production capacity.

This is all money, and it's gone just like that.

"Forget it. I don't want to think about it anymore. Our factory is simply unable to expand in the short term. If we want to solve the production capacity problem, we still have to build a factory in China as soon as possible."

When Masato Takeshita thought of China's rich industrial workers, he wanted to set up a suitcase manufacturing company in China immediately.

Unfortunately, the time is not right now. No matter how anxious I am, I can only wait until after the Spring Festival.

“Well, it’s a good place indeed.”

With Masato Takeshita's tireless indoctrination, the management of Matsumoto Manufacturing has gradually realized the benefits of China.

China can provide as many workers as Japan needs if it can't solve its domestic worker problems.

After sending Kobayashi Hiroaki away, Masato Takeshita found Suzuki Zensuke, the production manager.

"Vice President Suzuki, the company plans to purchase 10 more suitcase production lines. I hope you can make reservations before the New Year."

"So many? Does China need so many?"

Zensuke Suzuki didn't quite understand why his president wanted to buy so much.

"It's okay. It's better to be prepared."

Masato Takeshita ordered 10 production lines at once, with the main purpose of spending all the profits generated in Japan, so that the company can pay less tax or even no tax.

As for liquidity, it mainly depends on the profits generated in the United States. In this way, the company can temporarily avoid paying taxes in Japan and thus obtain more profits.

Anyway, he can complete the basic operation of exchanging dollars for yen in the United States and avoid losses caused by exchange rate changes.

This is also a common practice used by many multinational groups, who do not bring profits back to their own country but continue to keep them in overseas markets.

There are three obvious benefits to doing this. First, the company does not have to pay a lot of taxes.

Second, the company has more cash flow.

Third, you can earn a lot of interest on this money.

As intelligence from Europe was gradually collected, Masato Takeshita soon learned about the sales situation in Europe.

Due to Matsumoto Manufacturing's insufficient investment in Europe, the company's sales there were also severely insufficient, with less than 100 million units.

And most of them are elegant, and the sales of mid- and low-end products are very few.

Now the relationship between Matsumoto Manufacturing and other luggage companies is somewhat similar to the relationship between Sony and Nintendo in the gaming industry in the past.

Nintendo's game consoles have a firm grip on the domestic market and are also quite strong in the United States.

Sony, on the contrary, is performing somewhat poorly in Japan, but has the largest market share in Europe and is gradually surpassing Nintendo in the United States.

This rule also conforms to the development status of the suitcase project.

Matsumoto Manufacturing has a firm grip on its domestic market, while its U.S. market is being eroded by competitors and it may only be able to retain a portion of it in the end.

As for the European market, it has no presence at all and it would not be surprising if it is completely lost anytime soon.

But this is normal.

The suitcase market is too large and the entry barrier is too low, so Matsumoto Manufacturing can only take a piece of the pie at most.

……

As the Spring Festival approaches, Matsumoto Manufacturing officially begins its annual holiday on the 30th.

"Do you want me to take you home directly?"

Izumi Sakai is the type of person who is quiet in front of strangers, but talkative and cheerful in front of acquaintances.

She looked at her boyfriend openly, chuckled and rejected the idea: "Not yet. Maybe next year. We can meet each other's parents next year."

"Well, it's up to you."

The young man nodded in understanding, sent her to the station, and then watched her get in a taxi and return home before he drove quietly to his own home.

In this world, Takeshita Masato's family consists of 4 people. In addition to his parents, he also has an older sister who married to Yokohama.

His family was financially well off: his father was an engineer, and his salary and bonuses covered the family's living expenses, as well as his tuition at a private university.

“Is this my home in this world?”

Masato Takeshita looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar building in front of him, and for a moment he sat in the car in a daze.

After an unknown amount of time, he heard someone knocking on his car window and suddenly woke up from his dream.

"Hey, driver inside, this is not a place to park, can you please give way?"

Masato Takeshita looked at the familiar face in front of him, quickly opened the car door, got out and said, "Mom, it's me, I'm back."

"Oh, it's Masato who's back."

The middle-aged woman immediately showed an expression of surprise, then wiped her hands on her clothes as if they were dirty, and finally walked quickly forward, took her son's hand and asked him many questions.

"Why have you lost so much weight? Didn't you eat well at school? Or is the food there not that good? Otherwise..."

Masato Takeshita replied in a speechless tone: "Mom, you are exaggerating. I have measured myself and I have gained 2 kilograms since I came back this time."

(End of this chapter)