Video Editor

Chapter 169 The Big Fish That Took the Bait

No matter how crazy the outside public opinion was, Suning was managing his career and family with peace of mind, and soon it was 1959.

The Su-Sony factory was built in the New Territories. When the British Hong Kong government learned of Suning's idea of building a factory, they made it very convenient for him.

Because it was necessary to reserve space for the electrical appliance factories such as black-and-white TVs and color TVs in the future, Suning tried to make the factory area larger. After all, there are still many preferential policies for industrial land.

Seeing Suning's huge move in the New Territories, the British Hong Kong government became a little hesitant and only agreed to half of the land requested by Suning. The rest will be temporarily reserved for Su Sony and then decided based on the situation.

The reaction of the British Hong Kong government was within their expectations. After Suning obtained the approval, they started building the factory directly. By the spring of 54, when the German production line arrived in Hong Kong, it was ready for installation and production.

As for other real estate peers, while they were shocked by Suning's big move, they also began to speculate about the New Territories, wondering whether the British Hong Kong government had any plans for the New Territories.

May 54, 5 was the day when Sony's first generation transistor radio was officially launched. Thanks to Hong Kong being a free trade port, it was convenient for products from Hong Kong to be sold all over the world.

The Chinese red and brown transistor radio has four Chinese characters "Su's Sony" written in small seal script in the upper left corner. The radio is covered with metal-textured buttons, which fully demonstrate the high-end nature of the Su's Sony radio.

As soon as this classic transistor radio was placed in the windows of major shopping malls in the United States, American consumers rushed to buy it, and telegrams for additional orders were sent to Hong Kong.

In order to prevent emergencies, and because Suning was very confident in Su Sony's first-generation products, it had stored a lot of goods in Europe and the United States in advance, so the telegram for additional orders did not disrupt the production order at the Hong Kong factory.

Carl, the chief technical director of Su Sony, saw the popularity of the radio and looked at Su Ning in surprise, "Boss, take advantage of the popularity of the radio!
We at Su's Sony should expand our scale as quickly as possible and strive to capture the global market as soon as possible."

Looking at Carl's surprised face, Suning knew that he wanted to buy more German production lines. However, thinking of his own prediction, he shook his head helplessly, "Carl, this is not how business is done!

The emergence of a classic product is bound to lead to the emergence of a large number of imitators.

That’s why I’m particularly concerned about patent issues.”

"Huh? If there are any copycats, we'll sue them!
What is there to worry about?

"Karl, you must sue us!
But it will definitely have an impact on our products!

So we can’t be too radical!”

"Oh! This is such a pity!"

"Our transistor radio sells for fifty dollars, and it only costs eighteen dollars to make, so we have a lot of price advantages!
If imitators appear in the market, we will immediately respond and start lowering prices.”

"Huh? That's a good idea, Boss!

But we have sold nearly 150,000 radios so far, all at 50 dollars apiece.

If we suddenly lower the price, it will have a certain impact!"

"Yes! Carl, your concerns are justified!

We can simply cut unnecessary costs by changing the colors of the products and setting different price ranges!"

"Haha, the boss is smart!"

Suning didn’t know whether he was smart or not, but he was thinking in his heart that he had already laid the bait and now he was just waiting for the big fish to take the bait.

Sony radios were also placed in major shopping malls in Japan. Upon hearing the news, Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio came to check the enemy situation immediately.

It turned out that Su's Sony's first generation radio was actually the project they were researching, except that Su's Sony's radio had already been launched on the market.

"Baga, this Fatty Su is so unfair!

They actually plagiarized our idea and then brazenly said it wouldn't work!" Ibuka Dai's furious expression was evident.

Akio Morita, who was standing by, heard Ibuka Masaru's cursing, but did not respond at all, because he knew that their Tokyo Telecommunications Industry Co., Ltd. was completely finished.

"Ibuka-kun, it seems we have nowhere else to go!"

"Morita-kun, I won't give up so easily!

Even if Fatty Su applied for a patent in advance, I decided to imitate it directly!
This will not only save a lot of R&D costs, but also hit Sony, which is seeking revenge against Fatty Su."

"But aren't you worried that Fatty Su will sue us?"

“Haha, Morita-kun!
Fatty Su is just a Hong Konger, and the laws of our Great Japan will not serve him!"

"Huh?" Looking at Ibuka's careless and underestimating look, Morita Akio shook his head helplessly, but said nothing more.

Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio also acted very quickly. Within days of the Su's Sony radio being released, high-quality imitation transistor radios began to appear in Japan, selling for as little as $45. Upon hearing this market feedback, Carl, well prepared, immediately launched the second-generation Su's Sony radio into the Japanese market for just $40, dealing a head-on blow to Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio.

"Nani, how come Fatty Su reacted so quickly?
The second generation radios are cheaper now than ours?"

"Jing Shen, let's lower the price as soon as possible!
After all, the cost is only about twenty-five dollars.”

"Well! Let's lower it to thirty-eight dollars!" Ibuka Masaru thought carefully for a while, then nodded in agreement with Akio Morita's suggestion.

Before Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio announced the price reduction, they had already received a summons from the Japanese court. It turned out that Suning had already started suing them.

Before Suning started selling transistor radios, it had already begun contacting the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, preparing to establish a branch factory of Sony in Japan, which would not only produce radios in Japan, but also televisions and other home appliances.

When Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry saw that Suning had made such a large investment and had already started selecting the location for its Japanese factory, it became excited.

After Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio took the bait, Suning immediately complained to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and filed a lawsuit in the Japanese court.

When the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japanese court saw the patents owned by the Su family and thought of the large investment that Su Sony was about to make in Japan, they all became worried and sent out subpoenas immediately.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry summoned both Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio, reprimanded them for their actions, and ordered them to remove all transistor radios from shelves.

"Mr. Su, our Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan has ordered Tokyo Telecommunications Industry Co., Ltd. to temporarily stop selling radios.

We will wait for the court’s decision before we deal with them.”

"Very good! Mr. Koizumi, you guys are really awesome!

I am now more confident about my future investments in Japan!"

Hearing Su Ning's praise, Koizumi couldn't help but reveal a delighted expression, "Mr. Su, it's an honor for our Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to satisfy you!"

"Very good! I will consider using your Japanese production line in Japan.

I believe it will be a great boost to your industry!"

"Hi!" Koizumi could no longer suppress his inner joy.

"Mr. Su, I have something else to ask you!"

"Koizumi-kun, tell me!"

"Mr. Su, is there any possibility of reconciliation with Ibuka's Tokyo Telecommunications Industry Co., Ltd.?"

"Hmm? Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio have done great harm to our Su Sony this time.

Not only did it cause Su Sony to lose a lot of money, but it also invisibly damaged our company's reputation."

"This"

"But for the sake of Koizumi-kun and your Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, both sides can negotiate!
However, Ibuka Masaru must agree to our acquisition of Sony Corporation.

And Ibuka Masaru and Morita Akio must work at our Sony Corporation!"

"Great! Mr. Su, don't worry!

I will definitely make Jing Shenjun and Morita Jun accept your acquisition!"

"Haha, I have full faith in Koizumi-kun's abilities!

But there are always many variables.

If Ibuka-kun and Morita-kun really don't want to stay at Sony, I won't force them!
But they must sign an agreement not to engage in the semiconductor industry for 20 years."

"What?" Koizumi widened his eyes in shock when he heard Suning's next request.

"Why? Koizumi-kun, do you think Su's request is excessive?"

"Mr. Su, your request is not excessive at all!
After all, Ibuka-kun and Morita-kun have been working in the semiconductor industry for so many years.

If they don’t stay at Susoni, it will definitely cause harm to Susoni.”

"Yes! I hope Koizumi-kun can understand! I'll leave the rest to you!"

(End of this chapter)