“What did you say? A Sony Director asked you to contact me and wants to meet me? Huh?! That Director is the Chairman’s son?! Do you know what he wants from me?” Feng Yu was surprised. Sony had always treated him as their enemy, and they can never be friends. Why is this Director asking for a meeting?
“Boss, I think that Ichigo wants to cooperate with us. Some of Sony’s technologies are still the most advanced in the world. I think we should meet him first.”
Feng Yu thought for a while and wanted to reject this meeting. But Sony is quite strong in some areas, and he does not mind working with them if they are willing to be his follower.
“Then, you represent me to speak to him first. Anyway, I will be visiting AIWA in a few days, and you can let me know the progress then.”
Two days later, Feng Yu arrived in Tokyo and saw Kameda Masao.
“What happened?”
“Boss, I think it is impossible to cooperate with Sony. That Ichigo is too full of himself and still thought Sony is the number one consumer electronics company globally. The terms he offered are ridiculous.”
After all, Kameda Masao is Japanese and looks forward to seeing Japan’s companies returning to their peaks. Sony was once the pride of Japan, and he secretly hopes Sony can return to their glory days.
But Kameda Masao is currently the CEO of Wind and Rain Holdings and needs to place Wind and Rain Holdings’ interest first. Wind and Rain Holdings’ subsidiaries, AIWA and Wind and Rain Games are competitors of Sony.
Of course, if cooperation between competitors can benefit both parties, Kameda Masao will not mind cooperating with Sony. There are many strong consumer electronics companies in this sector, and the market is growing. Cooperation can kill off other competitors.
But Kameda Masao did not expect Ichigo to be so arrogant. The terms he offered were too ridiculous and made it sound like he is helping them out of pity.
Kameda Masao couldn’t understand why Sony had sent a young brat to negotiate with them. Are there no other capable Directors in Sony? Is it because his father is Sony’s Chairman, Ken Kutaragi?
“Oh? What terms had he offered?”
“Sony wants to cooperate with our Wind and Rain Holdings’ subsidiaries. He said Sony will use their gaming console technology, DVD technology, flash drive technology, digital camera technology, mobile phone technology, LCD display technology, etc., to exchange for our technologies.”
“How is this exchange going to work?”
“Using one of their technology to exchange for one of our technology.” Kameda Masao replied.
Feng Yu almost burst out laughing. Wind and Rain Electronics owns the most advanced DVD technologies in the world. The DVD forum’s technologies are more advanced than the DVD alliances’ technologies. More than 80% of DVD players in the world are using the DVD forum’s standards and technologies. Why should they exchange with Sony?
Which idiot will use 100 USD to exchange for 100 Yen?!
Most MP3 manufacturers are still imitating AIWA’s MP3 technologies. Although Sony does not want to imitate AIWA, AIWA’s designs, technologies, and concepts have been in the lead.
Even Samsung’s YP player or Apple’s iPod is not good enough to exchange their AIWA technologies, let alone Sony.
Flash drive technologies between both companies are on par. Sony had caught up in USB technologies and had applied their SD card technologies on their MP3 players.
There is no need to exchange Flash drive technologies, and both sides have their strengths. But Feng Yu’s TF cards are half the size of SD cards, which is his advantage.
Although the SD card’s maximum storage is 256 MB, and the 512 MB will be developed soon, Feng Yu had increased the TF card’s development funds. The TF card’s storage can catch up with the SD card within two years, and the TF card can replace the SD card, but the SD card cannot replace the TF card.
That’s why Feng Yu will never agree to this exchange. When the 512 MB TF card is ready, he will give out the patent authorization for his 128 MB TF cards to other companies. This will allow more manufacturers to join the TF card family. Many companies from the DVD forum had approached Aiwa Electronics to buy or get authorization for this patent.
Sony is leading in digital camera technologies. Even after Feng Yu bought the technologies from Kodak, his digital camera technologies are still lagging behind Sony.
After Feng Yu bought the technologies from Kodak, he sold them to another two camera companies in China. He managed to recover some of his costs, and he can still continue to use the technologies based on their contracts.
If Sony had made this offer earlier, Feng Yu might agree to cooperate with them. However, he has Kodak’s technologies, and it is enough. Both companies’ development directions are not the same, and two more camera companies in China are developing these technologies. With the Chinese government’s funding, their technologies can catch up with Sony. In Feng Yu’s previous life, Sony’s digital camera was overtaken by other Japanese companies.
Feng Yu will never use his mobile phone technologies for exchange. Still, he will consider if it was Nokia who offered. Feng Yu was never interested in Sony’s mobile phone technologies!
If Sony had not cooperated with Ericsson in the future, its mobile phone business would be gone. Even after they join forces with Ericsson, their mobile phone division is not doing well. Even the HTC phones are selling better than them.
But Feng Yu does have some interest in Sony’s LCD technology. Still, he is more interested in Sony’s Plasma display technologies.
If Sony is willing to use its Plasma technologies for exchange, there is still room for negotiation.
“Go and tell Sony that we can negotiate if they are willing to use their plasma technologies for exchange. As for their other technologies, I am not interested!”
Currently, plasma technology is split between two camps. Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, JVC, etc., control the Japanese camp, and the Korean camp is controlled by Samsung and LG. Chang Hong, a Chinese TV manufacturer, and a few Taiwanese companies are also researching this technology. In Europe and western countries, Thomson and Philips are also trying to develop this technology, but they are not making any progress.
Suppose Feng Yu can get this technology through an exchange. In that case, he can sell it to Chang Hong and increase Chang Hong’s competitiveness in the global market.
Kameda Masao passed Feng Yu’s message to Ichigo, and Ichigo is furious. You all are not interested in Sony’s technologies except for our Plasma technology? Are you implying that only our Plasma technology is better than you all?!
Do you all have plasma technologies in the first place?! You want to use your LCD technologies to exchange for our LCD and Plasma display technologies?! Dream on!
We, Sony, are also not interested in your technologies!
Do you think Sony will not return to its former glory if we don’t cooperate with you all?!
Translator’s notes:
Ken Kutaragi
