Chapter 408 – VCD player Prototype
Back at Beijing, school reopens. Feng Yu was able to enjoy his blissful school life again. He was able to do some readings and play some basketballs with classmates after classes. It was a relaxing life.
It was lessons as usual when Feng Yu’s pager starts to vibrate. He took a peep, and it did not indicate any urgent matters. He waited until after the lesson and went to the toilet. He took out a newly bought Sony Z1 and dial the number: “Hello? I am Feng Yu.”
“Manager Feng, the prototype is ready!” Jiang Wanmeng shouted excitedly over the phone.
The prototype was developed so early? The corners of Feng Yu’s lips curled up. Another cash cow had appeared.
“Have you notified Manager Fu?”
“I have called him. He said that he will be arriving tomorrow with his men. When are you coming over?”
“Maybe tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the prototype!”
Back at the classroom, Feng Yu asked Tian Lei to help him apply 2 days leave. He needs to go to Hefei City tonight. The earliest he could return was tomorrow evenings. Tian Lei did not ask why Feng Yu was going there. He just told him to leave everything to him.
After making some calls in the afternoon, Feng Yu knew that there was a flight to Hefei City in the afternoon at 3 pm. Thus, he skipped the afternoon classes and drove straight to the airport.
Feng Yu arrived at Hefei City at about 5 pm. When he stepped out of the airport, Jiang Wanmeng had sent someone to pick him up. That person was carrying a large placard waiting for him at the arrival hall. The car he used was an old rundown van!
Feng Yu was pleased. He knew Jiang Wanmeng did not use his money on luxury items. He had used all the funds on his research. It was worth giving Jiang Wanmeng shares.
“Have Manager Fu arrived?”
“Manager Fu will be reaching at night. He needs to transfer at Chengdu Tianfu airport.”
There were no direct flights from Hong Kong to Hefei in this era. There was only one flight in the morning between Shenzhen and Hefei, and this flight still have to stop over at Shanghai.
That night, Feng Yu was in his hotel room. But he could not sleep. VCD! This was a product that would revolutionize the world!
Videotapes and Laserdiscs will be replaced by VCD. As the compressing technology evolves, there will be Super VCD and DVD later on. These were all products that could monopolize the market.
But this time, Feng Yu will not only introduce Wind and Rain VCD. He will introduce Aiwa brand of VCD. The technologies used by both company will be slightly different, and both companies will be competitors. This was to prevent the companies from being sued for monopolizing the market.
If people found out that Wind and Rain brand, and Aiwa, were owned by the same person, then Feng Yu would use this technology to work with Lenovo. He will let CD-ROM replace all the floppy disk in the computers.
Feng Yu had finally contacted Lenovo, but the results were disappointing. The current Lenovo has not been restructured yet. It was not a shareholding. Liu Chuanzhi does not have a single share in the company.
When Feng Yu invited Liu Chuanzhi and his men to join him, he was rejected. It was because the computer research facility had told them that the company might be changed to a shareholding.
When the company was to change to a shareholding company, Liu Chuanzhi and the rest of the pioneer staffs will get some shares. Liu Chuanzhi will undoubtedly remain as the General Manager of the company, and the higher-ups had said that Liu Chuanzhi might even become the Chairman!
This was not a choice between being first in a village or second in Rome. Both options were good options. With the support of the country, Liu Chuanzhi felt that Lenovo will be the best in China and even the world. Although Feng Yu had promised to invest and give him shares, Feng Yu will still be holding on to the overall authority of the company.
Feng Yu was very disappointed when Liu Chuanzhi rejected him. But he remembered that after Lenovo was restructured, it sold some of its shares to other companies and these companies were private companies. The was also why Lenovo was known as a private enterprise in the future. It was because the government had only owned 30% of the shares.
Liu Chuanzhi refusal to join Feng Yu and insisted on remaining in Lenovo did not stop Feng Yu’s determination of getting a stake in Lenovo. If Lenovo wants to grow fast, funds were needed. In Feng Yu’s previous life, Lenovo used the strategy of reinvesting their profits to grow, and this strategy had limited its growth.
It was until 1996, Lenovo had accumulated enough funds to engage in a price war. That was the time when Lenovo became China’s number one computer company. It was only after a few more years when they accumulate enough funds to become one of the top few computer companies in the world.
If Feng Yu could not poach Liu Chuanzhi, then could he stop Feng Yu from investing in Lenovo? 586 computers will appear next year, and the development of computers will grow more rapidly. Foreign companies’ products will enter China.
Feng Yu does not believe that when he wants to invest in Lenovo at that time, they will reject him.
The computer research facility got its funding from the government. Don’t they want more funds to continue their research?
When the VCD entered the market next year, Wind and Rain will become one of the superpowers in the consumer electronics appliances. Feng Yu could exchange his shares with Lenovo.
Feng Yu fell asleep late at night. The next morning, when he went downstairs for breakfast, he saw Fu Guangzheng having breakfast. He had arrived late last night, and he did not wake Feng Yu up.
After breakfast, both went to the research facility. Jiang Wanmeng had been waiting for them.
“Please take a look at this. This is the VCD player prototype we have developed!” Jiang Wanmeng removed a piece of red cloth, showing a machine underneath.
It was about 20 cm thick and 50 cm long. The width was about 40 cm. It was much larger than what Feng Yu imagined. The casing was made of metal and seems heavy.”
“Manager Jiang, how heavy is this prototype?”
“About 13 KG.”
13KG? This was too heavy. A video cassette player weights only about 5 kg. Feng Yu remembered that VCD players were much lighter than video cassette players.
“Manager Jiang, can this player be made smaller and lighter?” Feng Yu frowned and asked.
“There should not be any problems. This was only a prototype. Many of the components can be replaced by plastics. But the cost will increase.” Jiang Wanmeng replied.
“Will it affect the quality?”
“That is not possible. The video quality is the most important technology of this player. We cannot compromise on the quality. This is only a prototype. We guaranteed that we will reduce the weight to about 8 kg within a month. We will change some parts, like the buttons, to plastics. The quality will not be affected.”
8KG was still acceptable. In the future years, an LCD TV will also weigh about 15 to 20KG. It seems that the heavier a product was, the consumers will think that it was of better quality. If the product was too light, consumers might think that it was an empty box.
“Fine. Do you have VCD discs? Play it. I want to look at the picture quality.”
Jiang Wanmeng removed the antenna from the back of the TV and connected the VCD player. He switched it on and insert the VCD into the player. He pressed a few buttons, and it started playing.
The TV showed the New Year’s Day award ceremony. The host’s features could be clearly seen on the TV, and the sound quality was crystal clear.
When the first song was performed, Feng Yu heard Nan Ge’s voice. He nodded with approval.
“Brother Fu, what do you think?”
Fu Guangzheng was clapping and nodding: “Luckily I had invested in this company. This VCD will surely replace video cassette players and will take the world by storm!”
Fu Guangzheng was overjoyed. He had never made any losses when he followed Feng Yu!
Luckily he was friends with Feng Yu!