Chapter 29 The Big Fish Taking the Bait
No matter how crazy the public opinion outside was, Suning managed his career and family with peace of mind, and soon the time came to 1954.
Su's Sony factory was built in the New Territories. The British Hong Kong government knew about Suning's idea of building a factory, which really opened the door to convenience.
Because it needs to be reserved for electrical appliances factories such as black and white TVs and color TVs, Suning tries to enlarge the factory area as much as possible. Anyway, there are still many discounts for industrial land.
Seeing Suning's huge move in the New Territories, the British Hong Kong government was 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 it depends on the situation.
The response of the British Hong Kong government was as expected. Suning received the approval and immediately started building the factory. After the German production line arrived in Hong Kong in the spring of 1954, it was ready to be installed and put into production.
As for other real estate colleagues, while they were shocked by Suning's generosity, they also began to speculate about the New Territories and asked whether the British Hong Kong government had any plans for the New Territories.
May 1, 1954 was the day when Sony's first-generation transistor radio was officially launched. Thanks to Hong Kong being a free trade port, products from Hong Kong were easily sold to all over the world.
The Chinese red and brown transistor radio has four Chinese characters written in small seals on the upper left corner of Su's Sony radio, and the whole body is covered with metallic buttons, all of which highlight the high-end quality of Su's Sony radio.
As soon as such a classic transistor radio was placed in the windows of major shopping malls in the United States, American consumers went crazy for it, and telegrams for additional orders were sent to Hong Kong.
In order to prevent emergencies from happening, and because Suning was very confident in the first-generation products of Su Sony, it had stocked them in European and American countries in advance, so the telegram of additional orders did not disrupt the production order of the Hong Kong factory.
Karl, the chief technical director of Sony Su, saw the popularity of radios and looked at Suning in surprise, "Boss, take advantage of the popularity of radios now!
We, Su Sony, should expand our scale as soon as possible and strive to occupy the world market as early as possible."
Looking at Carl with a surprised look on his face, he knew that he wanted to buy more German production lines. But thinking of his own prediction, Suning 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.
This is why I am particularly concerned about patent issues."
"Huh? If there are imitators, we will sue them!
What’s there to worry about?”
"Karl, you will definitely sue us!
But it will definitely have an impact on our products!
So we can’t be too aggressive!”
"This...hey! This is such a pity!"
"Our transistor radio sells for fifty dollars and costs only eighteen dollars, so we have a lot of price advantages!
If imitators appear on the market, we will respond immediately and start selling at lower prices."
"Huh? The boss has a good idea!
But so far we have sold nearly 150,000 radios, all at a price of $50.
If we suddenly reduce prices, it will have a certain impact!"
"Yes! Karl, you are very worried!
It’s just that we can completely reduce unnecessary costs, just change the product to a few different colors, and then set different price ranges!”
"Haha, the boss is so smart!"
Suning didn't know whether he was clever or not, but he was really thinking in his heart, "The bait has been cast by him, and now he is waiting for the big fish to take the bait."
Su's Sony radios were also placed in major shopping malls in Japan. After receiving the news, Ibuka and Morita Akio immediately came over to check on the enemy's situation.
It turned out that Su Shi Sony's first-generation radio was actually the project they were researching, but Su Shi Sony's radios had already begun to go on the market.
"Baga, this Fatty Su is so unjust!
He actually copied our idea and even boasted that this way would not work!" Jing Shenda's angry expression was palpable.
Akio Morita on the side heard Ibuka's swearing, but did not respond at all, because he knew that their Tokyo Telecommunications Industry Co., Ltd. was completely finished.
"Jing Shen, it seems we have no way out!"
"Morita-kun, I won't give up so easily!
So what if Fatty Su applied for a patent in advance, I decided to imitate it directly!
This will not only save a lot of research and development costs, but also combat Sony's retaliation against Fatty Su."
"But...but aren't you worried about Fatty Su suing us?"
"Haha, Morita-kun!
He, Fatty Su, is only a Hong Konger, and our laws in Japan will not serve him!"
"Huh?" Seeing Ibuka's careless and underestimating appearance, Morita Akio helplessly shook his head, but said nothing more.
...
Dai Ibuka and Akio Morita also acted very quickly. Just a few days after Su's Sony radios were launched, high imitation transistor radios began to appear in Japan, selling for only $45.
After receiving feedback from the market, Carl was well prepared and immediately launched the second-generation Sony Sony, which was priced at only 40 US dollars, on the Japanese market, giving Dai Ibuka and Akio Morita a head-on blow.
"Nani, how could Fatty Su react so quickly?
Now the second generation radio is cheaper than ours?”
"Ibuka-kun, we might as well lower the price as soon as possible!
After all, the cost is only about twenty-five dollars."
"Yeah! Let's lower it to thirty-eight dollars!" Ibuka thought carefully for a while, then nodded and agreed to Akio Morita's suggestion.
Before Yamada Ibuka and Akio Morita announced the price reduction, they had already received a summons from the Japanese court. Suning had already started suing them.
Before Suning started selling transistor radios, it had already started contacting Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and was preparing to establish a Su-Sony branch factory in Japan. It would not only produce radios in Japan, but also produce televisions and other home appliances.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan became very excited when they saw that Suning had made such a large investment and had begun to choose the location of the Japanese factory.
After Yamato Ibuka and Akio Morita swallowed the bait, Suning immediately complained to the Japanese Ministry of Economy and Trade and filed a complaint with the Japanese court.
When the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japanese court saw the patent documents owned by the Su Corporation and thought of Su Corporation's Sony's upcoming large investment in Japan, they all became worried and immediately issued a subpoena.
The Ministry of Industry and Economy summoned Ibuka and Morita Akio at the same time, reprimanded them for their behavior, and ordered them to remove all transistor radios from the shelves.
"Mr. Su, the Ministry of Industry and Economy of Japan has ordered Tokyo Telecommunications Industry Co., Ltd. to temporarily stop selling radios.
We will wait for the court’s decision before dealing with them.”
"Very good! Mr. Koizumi, you are really good at what you do!
I am more confident about my next investment in Japan!”
Hearing Suning's praise, Koizumi couldn't help showing a happy expression, "Mr. Su, it is our honor at the Ministry of Industry and Economy of Japan to satisfy you!"
"Very good! I will consider using your Japanese production line in Japan.
I believe it will be very helpful in promoting your industry!"
"Hi!" Xiaoquan could no longer suppress his inner joy.
"Mr. Su, I have one more thing to ask you!"
"Koizumi-kun, tell me!"
"Mr. Su, I wonder if there is any possibility of reconciliation with Ibuka's Tokyo Telecommunications Industry Co., Ltd.?"
"Hmm? Dai Ibuka and Akio Morita have done a lot of harm to our Su Clan Sony this time.
Not only did Su Sony lose a lot of wealth, but it also harmed our company's reputation."
"this......"
"But for the sake of Mr. Koizumi and your Ministry of Industry and Economy, the two sides can negotiate!
However, Mr. Ibuka will agree to our acquisition of Sony by Su Corporation.
And Dai Ibuka and Akio Morita must serve in our Soushi Sony!"
"Great! Mr. Su, don't worry!
I will definitely let Ibuka-kun and Morita-kun accept your acquisition!"
"Haha, I have no doubts about Koizumi-kun's abilities!
But there are always many variables in things.
If Mr. Ibuka and Mr. Morita are really unwilling to stay at Su Family Sony, I will not continue to force them!
But they must sign an agreement and are not allowed to engage in the semiconductor industry for twenty years."
"Nani?" Xiaoquan's eyes widened in shock when he heard Suning's next request.
"What? Mr. Xiaoquan, do you think Su's request is excessive?"
"Mr. Su, your request is not excessive at all!
After all, Mr. Ibuka and Mr. Morita have been working in the semiconductor industry for so many years.
If they don't stay in Su's Sony, they will definitely cause harm to Su's Sony."
"Well! It's best if Koizumi-kun understands! I'll leave it to you next!"
Chapter completed!