Without any prior communication, Mr. John Sanderson, the temporary head of Mason Battery Company, was frightened by Han Chudong's words.
Duracell wants to spend 8 million US dollars to acquire technology patents? After the product comes out, it will take out 5 million US dollars to advertise and expand the market? How come the person in charge has never heard of this?
John Sanderson looked surprised, his mouth slightly open, he felt like he had found a treasure, it turned out that the company he managed was so "powerful".
Ishikawa Hayabusa, a veteran employee of Panasonic, was also puzzled at this moment. Seeing that Han Chudong spoke as if it were true and looked young, he did not look like a seasoned business fox. He was wondering if he had not collected all the information and had missed some important news.
After a moment of silence, he said to Han Chudong: "If it is really an excellent product, then it is definitely worth investing a large amount of money in publicity, but...producing dry cell batteries and running a company are not easy things. The reason we came here today is to investigate and understand your company's patents, and we will give you a fair offer to consider purchasing it."
That’s not what I said before.
Ishikawa Hayabusa originally said that he would give him an offer that would definitely satisfy him, but after being intimidated by Han Chudong, he dared not make such big promises anymore.
After all, even Duracell's "eight million US dollars" was rejected. This number was almost the same as the approximate price given by Ishikawa Hayabusa's boss, so Ishikawa Hayabusa couldn't make up his mind and needed to communicate more with his boss and seek advice.
Therefore, when the words came to his mouth, it became that he just came to understand the situation today and he didn't have the confidence to take it down in one fell swoop.
It’s not that Panasonic lacks confidence.
Above Panasonic is the Sumitomo Group, which is backed by the White Water Group. Even adding two or three more zeros after the eight million US dollars is just a small problem. The key is that Ishikawa Hayabusa has no decision-making power and still has to act according to his boss's mood.
Han Chudong was also testing.
He knew that his patent could make money, but he thought that it would be possible if he could save some time and make back the profits of the next few years in one go, thus quickly recovering the funds.
Investing money in other areas will not necessarily earn you less money than selling batteries.
In comparison, Mason Battery lacks sufficient room for growth. Unless it continues to develop new technologies, its long-term profits will be limited at a glance.
Although Duracell's market value is more than 100 million US dollars, it has other business support.
If you want to reach the heights of Duracell, you need to continuously accumulate word of mouth, and it will take almost several years of competition to occupy a relatively good position in the market.
However, it would be a different story if you had sales channels to borrow from.
Han Chudong is currently considering whether he can cooperate with Panasonic, using sales channels to open up the market while also using long-term benefits to exchange for some funds.
"Wait a moment, I will show you the patent application documents and the test and development data at that time. Who is the expert in the field of alkaline dry batteries?" Han Chudong asked these people.
A young Japanese man sitting on the sofa in the group of four answered, "My name is Takeshi Okano, and I graduated from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tokyo."
"That's fine..."
Using the key to open the filing cabinet, Han Chudong found the patents and testing information related to the Mason battery. These things were sorted out by Kyoko Mochizuki and classified into different categories, making them easy to find.
Then he took out a thick stack of documents and said to them, "Take a look first. I'll ask the lab to send samples over now. I'll buy some Duracell and Panasonic batteries on the way. Then we can do a comparative test, which will be more intuitive."
"Thank you very much!" replied Ishikawa Hayabusa.
Nowadays, American businessmen like to do business with Japanese businessmen, so the Japanese are very humble here. Sometimes they deliberately bully them and lower the price, and in the end the deal can usually be made.
They appear harmless, and backed by cheap labor in Asia, the products they produce are not only of good quality but also cheaper than similar products, typical examples being cars, home appliances and various spare parts.
It developed relatively early and happened to be at a good time. The United States had not yet begun to become vigilant. The Plaza Accord only came about later.
…
Let the other person look first.
Han Chudongzhen called and asked the battery laboratory to send samples over.
Also brought along was a set of toys in a large box. The researcher, who graduated from the California Institute of Technology, began to assemble...a circular track in front of everyone.
Several finished four-wheel-drive racing cars made of wood are placed on Han Chudong's desk.
As I said before, it's not that it's impossible to put this toy on the market as soon as possible, but there's no need to do so for the time being. The market popularity of toys such as the Super Magic Ball and Beyblade has not faded yet, and putting it on the market now will only squeeze out its own market.
After installing the batteries, the three toy cars started running around in circles on different tracks.
The speed is relatively fast, and these are all sample toy cars, with no corners cut due to manufacturing costs.
The car equipped with Panasonic dry batteries stopped first, and soon after, the car using Duracell batteries also stopped. Only the car using the sample battery was still running, but its speed was not as fast as before.
There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!
It ran around the model track for more than thirty laps before gradually stopping due to exhaustion of power.
In the eyes of Ishikawa Hayabusa and others, this is already a remarkable result. It is normal to surpass Panasonic's dry battery, and being better than Duracell's flagship product is a success.
If the acquisition is successful, it will be enough to help Panasonic's dry cell battery business reverse its decline and turn defeat into victory in the international dry cell battery market.
It is not enough to just have enough electricity, the manufacturing cost must also be considered. If the selling price is too high, it will inevitably affect sales and profit margins.
After asking the technician who graduated from the University of Tokyo in Japanese and learning that the technology was relatively mature and advanced, Ishikawa Hayabusa said, "Excuse me, after mass production, what will the cost of a single AA or AA battery be?"
"They are all very common raw materials. The insulating ring at the bottom of the battery needs to be customized separately. The greater the production volume, the lower the cost will be. I can't give you an accurate number for now. The cost of production in Asia is definitely much lower than that in the United States."
After Han Chudong finished speaking, he wrote a number on a piece of paper and showed it to Ishikawa Hayabusa separately, saying, "If it is produced in Asia, it will be about this much. To be honest, rather than selling the entire set of patents to you, I hope that both parties can cooperate and achieve a win-win situation."
The paper says "7 cents to 10 cents", which does not include the costs of advertising, transportation, sales, etc.
The low- and mid-end manufacturing industries in the United States will definitely be destroyed, and the unlucky ones will be the middle and lower class residents who need to earn a living. If harsh protective tariffs are not established, they will not be able to stop the impact of low-priced goods from developing countries.
Japan took advantage of this and successfully opened up a gap in the markets of developed countries, dumping Japanese-made products on a large scale. It then used the money earned to develop technology, acquire or invest in various high-quality assets, and thus keep its economic development speed at a relatively high level.
In just over a month, the battery production line will be ready for production. Han Chudong has already asked someone to do a market survey and has a rough idea of the production costs.
I took a sip of red tea and waited for the other party to respond whether they would cooperate.
Ishikawa Hayabusa was not too interested in the latter part of the sentence, so he changed the subject and asked, "If we acquire the entire set of patents, what is your expected price?"
"At least 15 million US dollars..."
…