Chapter 311 License Plate
"How much is this thing?" Ron had nothing to do on the plane back home.
"$1,000, and it's much more convenient than your satellite phone." Mary lowered her head, her fingers clicking non-stop.
"It's a bit expensive, but it's really light." Ron weighed the thing in his hand and fiddled with it with interest.
Well, the phone he's holding is the Nokia 2110, a new phone that was released last year.
This time when I was walking on the street in Dubai, I happened to see a businessman holding it and chatting non-stop.
Ron suddenly remembered that it was already 1995 and mobile phones had been available for a long time.
After staying in a place like India for too long, my horizons have become narrower unconsciously and I have become completely out of touch with the forefront of the world.
However, India is not without mobile phones. The Maharashtra government just started pilot deployment this year and it has not yet been officially put into commercial use.
Ron guessed that there were only tens of thousands of mobile phone users in India, which was negligible compared to the population of one billion.
In order to try something new, he also asked Mary to buy a few.
There are more than just Nokia mobile phone brands available in Dubai, including Motorola, Ericsson, IBM, and more.
Considering that the Indian government was promoting the GSM network, Nokia was finally chosen.
As a result, Mary was completely attracted to this little gadget soon after she got it.
What fascinated her was not the editable text messages, nor the magical function of storing 99 contacts, but Snake!
This generation of Nokia mobile phones has three built-in games, including the famous Snake.
"Let me try." Ron couldn't help but feel itchy.
"You have it, dear." Mary dodged.
“It’s more fun when two people play.”
Ron leaned over and picked up the phone, his thumbs clicking away.
Soon, the snakes filled the screen.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Mary said in surprise.
"That's child's play. I just broke the record casually. Sigh."
Bang, he was careless and didn't dodge.
"Oh, what a pity."
"It doesn't matter. We will have plenty of opportunities in the future."
After saying that, Ron turned over the phone, opened the back cover, and started removing the battery.
"What's wrong?" Mary asked curiously.
"I want to take it apart and see." Ron had no tools, so he had to give up.
"Are you planning on it again?" Mary understood.
"Don't underestimate this little thing. It will have a bigger market than televisions in the future."
"A cell phone costs a thousand dollars, while the cheapest TV only costs a hundred dollars. That's a tenfold difference." Mary shrugged.
"No, anything new is expensive when it first comes out. But as long as the technology matures, ordinary people can afford it."
"So the mobile phone is your next product?" Mary assembled the Nokia and started playing Snake again.
"Difficult!" Ron shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because Todai doesn't have it either." He spread his hands.
As a representative of Ziyan Technology, whether it can succeed depends entirely on whether its hometown, Dongda, can open source.
Unfortunately, even the University of Tokyo couldn't handle this thing, and it is basically monopolized by Japanese, Korean, European and American companies.
"What are you going to do?" asked Mary.
"We can only wait for a while, but this business cannot be done."
"What do you mean? Like other Indian companies, they charge high prices for OEM products?"
"No, I'm going to set up a telecommunications company and get a license first."
India issued a new telecommunications policy last year, allowing private companies to participate in telecommunications services.
However, the traditional fixed-line telephone market has long been monopolized by state-owned enterprises, and few outsiders can get a piece of the pie.
Not to mention the mobile market, the government is still in the pilot stage and there are no commercial customers at all.
However, foreign telecom giants are ready to make a big move.
Ron knew that with India's current economic situation, it would be difficult for the mobile business to be profitable.
Except for a few people in big cities who can afford mobile phones, ordinary people are just watching the fun.
Maybe there will be continued losses within five years.
But he still plans to get the license first, because it will be more difficult to get it later.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t poop, you have to occupy the toilet first.
It just so happens that Sun TV is expanding its cable network in major cities in India and building several signal base stations at the same time, so it's not a big problem.
We will suffer some losses in the next few years, but once Sur Electric's mobile phones come out and a wave of contract phone bundles are launched, we should be able to make the money back.
Ron spent the next few hours on the plane thinking about this.
Only after returning to Gujarat did he begin to take stock of what he had gained from his trip to Dubai.
After finding the right channel, it only took a few days to establish and open the Suer Electric Appliances Dubai office.
And in just a few days, we received a considerable order.
As early as a few months ago, Vinod took a batch of prototypes to Dubai for the first stop.
Many people are interested in Sur TV simply because it is cheap.
The black and white model costs more than $200 in the international market, but Soul Electric only offers it for $150.
A color TV that costs over 600 US dollars can only cost around 500 US dollars if you choose Soul Electric.
Merchants are profit-driven, especially large merchants engaged in international trade. A single point of profit is enough to attract them.
Unfortunately, there was no official certification from Dubai, so the goods could not enter the port and could not be traded.
Now that all the procedures are complete and there is bank funds as a guarantee, it can naturally dispel the concerns of many traders.
Most customers going to Africa ordered black-and-white TVs. Since the owners had limited resources, the most cost-effective 14- and 18-inch TVs sold best.
All in all, there are more than 100,000 units, which is pretty good.
Local traders in the Persian Gulf prefer color TVs. The local per capita income is generally higher than that of Asian countries, and the consumption level is also significantly higher.
They placed an order for 50,000 to 60,000 units, and Ron was quite satisfied.
Excluding Sri Lanka, this is the first time that Suer Electric has gone overseas, and it can be considered a good start.
Only when your reputation gradually improves will you attract large-scale transactions.
Traders in Dubai asked Sur Electric to deliver the goods within three months, but in fact it only took one month.
Jamnagar already has 15 production lines, and the super park is also halfway complete. With orders for hundreds of thousands of units at only half of production capacity, it's easy to handle.
The reason why Ron is keen on overseas trade is that the profits are higher than in India.
The purchase price from those traders is about 1.5 times that of India. Ron has to consider the shipping cost and additional surcharges.
For example, the logo and instructions of the TV must be translated into Arabic or English.Duty rates in Dubai are very low, but they do exist.
After deducting all these, we can earn about 30% more per TV set than in the country.
With such a good situation, Ron wanted to maximize the production capacity of all the factories.
He stayed in Gujarat for only two days before flying back to Mumbai without stopping.
Whether it is the telecommunications license or Sun TV, there are many things waiting for him.
Of course, as the end of the year approaches, he also needs to take stock of his assets.
Throughout 1995, Surdu was undergoing a period of frantic expansion, building three branch factories alone, with most of the funds raised through loans.
The Lucknow plant in Uttar Pradesh was originally planned to invest 300 million rupees, plus supporting production lines totaling 500 million.
In addition, the cement plant expansion, which increased production capacity six or seven times, also required money, 800 million rupees.
The money was all taken out in the form of loans, partly from the State Bank and partly from Roy's Sahara Bank.
It’s not that Ron couldn’t borrow money from the bank, it’s purely to take care of Sahara’s business.
After all, all the cement for Roy Real Estate Company is supplied by Sur, and everyone exchanges gifts.
The factory in Gujarat is the largest, with a construction cost of 1 billion. If you take equipment and personnel into account, the cost will be no less than 2 billion.
There is another mine under construction in Mundra with an initial investment of Rs 400 million.
Ron's investment in Modi's hometown was as high as 2.4 billion rupees. The BJP only gave him a loan of 500 million, and he had to solve the rest by himself.
Tamil Nadu is even more outrageous. The scale of the factory is similar to that of Gujarat, but it has an additional port costing US$200 million.
That’s not all. The production line at the Sur Park in Mumbai has been expanding, which has also cost more than 500 million rupees.
Let's calculate how much it would cost Ron to build all of these assets.
Well, not much more than 12.5 billion rupees, 310 million US dollars.
After reading the report, Ron scratched his head and thought he would not have given it a try if he had known this earlier.
Fortunately, we were able to raise 4.2 billion yuan from banks, and the initial stage was entirely supported by these loans.
However, the investment was worth it, and Sur Electric's profits grew rapidly this year.
As of early November, the profit from the TV business alone was 7 billion rupees.
After integrating the sales data of products such as water air conditioners and rice cookers, Suer Electric Appliances has about 8 billion yuan in its account, which is sufficient ammunition.
Of course, in order to support the construction of branch factories in various places, in addition to bank loans, Ron also invested 2 billion rupees in cash.
After deducting these, he still had 6 billion rupees in his account, most of which was converted into US dollars.
Overall, this amount of money wasn't enough to repay the bank loan. But Ron wasn't worried at all, because as the various factories started production one after another, Soul Electric's profits continued to hit new highs.
The company produces 500,000 television sets, 50,000 water air conditioners and electric fans, and 100,000 rice cookers and juicers per month, with a net profit of Rs 2.5 billion.
In just six months, he was able to earn back the bank loan he owed. More importantly, production capacity was still increasing, and profits would continue to grow.
Alas, the amount owed was still not enough for Ron to feel the pressure of overdue payments.
So he invested heavily in Sun TV, spending a total of 700 to 800 million rupees, all of which were loans.
However, this business has its own set of accounts because of the participation of Mary and others.
The cable TV network's money-burning activities have not stopped, and it will have to continue to borrow money in the future.
As for the miscellaneous income from travel agencies and tourism companies, it was only 200 to 300 million rupees a year, just enough for Ron's living expenses.
He was a sophisticated man now, even having his drinking water flown in from abroad. He had nearly a hundred servants, and most of his daily necessities were not only expensive but also disposable.
To be honest, Ron is considering buying a private helicopter.
His villa is at the southernmost tip of Mumbai, but the headquarters of Sur Electric is in the central area, 30 kilometers away as the crow flies.
Given the traffic conditions in Mumbai, it takes him more than an hour to go to the headquarters each time, which is a waste of time.
If there is a helicopter, it will arrive in more than ten minutes.
A helipad has been reserved in advance in the headquarters building. Now, by modifying the back garden of the villa, an air route between the two places can be opened.
He needs to consult an international consulting company. No matter what, he must enjoy the life of a real master.
But before that, let's focus on the present. The pilot for Sun TV has ended and "Celebrity Cooking Competition" is about to start.
(End of this chapter)
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