Chapter 373 Special Measures
"Boss, VCDs are not well known in India. If we want people to accept them, we must have a unique reason."
"What do you want to say?" Ron squinted at him.
“There are many private TV stations in Mumbai, and there is a category among them where subscribers are very loyal!”
"Um?"
"Adult movies every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday night!"
"Wow, you're such a wicked person."
Ron looked as if he was getting to know him all over again, and the other people in the meeting room started laughing too.
"This idea wasn't mine?" Ashish explained with a blushing face.
"I think it's something you can do." Ron didn't believe it.
“It’s Anand!” Ashish denied it flatly.
Ron paused and said, "You know what? This is possible."
"It's a good idea, but it's not suitable for Sur Electric to operate. It's too embarrassing."
"Boss, you also think this kind of film will be popular, right? After all, TV stations are too rigid and not flexible enough. With VCDs, people can watch whatever they want.
The most important thing is that the disc is cheap. I asked my colleagues at the University of Tokyo, and they said that it only costs a few rupees to press a film like this.
Those videotapes cost hundreds of rupees. No one, except people in offices, would spend that much money on something that is useless after just one viewing.”
Ashish's analysis is correct. Compared with videotapes, the biggest advantage of VCDs is that the discs are cheap enough.
The playback devices of the two are actually similar in price, and the VCR is even more expensive.
The videotapes used for playback are also generally expensive because they are cumbersome to copy.
In terms of mass production, VCD discs are far superior to the former. The comparison is not even on the same order of magnitude.
What is particularly rare is that burning the contents of a CD does not require a formal factory, and a burning machine can do it.
In other words, without paying attention to copyright, street vendors can burn CDs and become content manufacturers.
This is the most powerful aspect of VCD and the reason why it can quickly replace videotapes.
"What you said makes sense, but Soul Electric only needs to be responsible for VCDs." Ron still didn't give in.
"Boss, how can VCD be popular without movie discs?" Ashish was anxious.
"Sun TV has tens of thousands of movies in its copyright library, and we can also negotiate with Bollywood. We will first provide a batch of free discs to be included with the VCDs, and the rest will be left to the market."
"Huh?" Ashish asked puzzled.
"The content requires the participation of the general public, so we shouldn't interfere." Ron gave him a look.
Ashish gradually came to his senses and realized that they were not copyright holders and did not have sufficient content support.
Although Sun TV can help, their copyrights are limited and cannot meet the needs of the huge population.
What to do at this time? Piracy!
The street vendors, video tape sellers, and gangsters who hang out on the streets all year round have the sharpest sense of smell.
They will rush to any business that makes money.
It's like Johnny's New Joint, they still sell copies of adult films for 500 rupees!
The extremely strong market demand has created a steady stream of wealth for the New Federation in the past two years.
Ron just needs to say hello and Johnny can get the business done in minutes.
They also purchased previous film copies from other places, such as abroad.
It is unknown how many times the money changed hands, and the profits were naturally divided among the various levels.
VCD discs are much simpler. They just need to buy a few burners and have the final say on what kind of movies they want to make.
The New Federation guarantees that everyone will be willing to participate in this kind of business that controls the source of the channel.
Bollywood movies, foreign movies, adult movies, whatever you want.
They are also suitable for doing these gray businesses and don't have to worry about copyright issues at all.
However, it is not appropriate for Sur Electric to end up like this. They are a serious high-tech company and doing such a thing would be a loss of face.
Tsk, I have to say, the boss is very thoughtful.
"For genuine CDs, you can ask Dongda for help. They have a mature industry chain and low costs. For CDs from informal channels, you can import burners from Japan."
"I understand, boss, I know what to do." Ashish rolled his eyes.
After Soul Electric launched its two most important new products this year, Ron breathed a sigh of relief.
Pagers themselves have average profits, but they are an important part of the telecommunications industry.
With the name of a domestic product, it may not be very popular in the market, but it will have no problem becoming mainstream.
Ron has such confidence, which is also the most dazzling label of Sur Electric Appliances today.
Don’t ask, the question is, if you don’t buy it, you are not patriotic.
Populism in India is truly more prevalent than one can imagine.
The Sur Electric brand has become the pride of many Indians.
If they go abroad or introduce themselves to foreign friends, they will definitely mention Sur.
In some states, during elections, voters may attack their opponents by saying that the television in their opponent's home is imported, not Sol brand.
Why do Indians like the Tisul brand and regard it as a representative of domestic products?
No big deal, it’s cheap and easy to use.
Suer Electric's products have inherited the excellent genes of Dongda University. They are durable and not expensive.
Many production lines were built by Dongda people themselves, and are much more reliable than those of India.
But ordinary consumers don’t know that after using Sur Electric’s products, they are extremely satisfied with the quality and price.
Some people have even changed their views on "Made in India" because of this. The title of the pride of domestic products is recognized by the whole nation.
Why don’t other Indian brands have this honor?
In the final analysis, it’s still a failure!
Many products are made in workshops, so what quality can you expect from them?
The quality of the few larger brands is so-so, but the prices are too expensive.
In the end, the only brand that truly penetrated the masses was Soul Electric Appliances.
The word "high quality and low price" is the most appropriate to describe it.
In particular, Suer Electric has been promoting its products as fully self-developed, 100% controllable, and locally produced in the past two years.
When these halos are added together, aren’t they the glory of domestic products?
Ron was confident that he could open up a market for his own pagers and, through bundling sales, accumulate a group of customers for the newly established Indian Mobile Communications.
After a few years, these pager users will be able to seamlessly switch to mobile phones.
Well, it’s still manufactured by Sur Electric and serviced by India Mobile Communications.
This is his ultimate goal, and he has been cultivating the mobile communications market since the pager era.
VCD is an exploration of the home audio-visual market, and home entertainment will become an emerging market direction in the future.
Sur Electric will also launch new products such as speakers and microphones this year, all of which are to match the release of VCDs.
Sur Electric is also trying to develop other small items such as cameras and memory cards.
However, Ron did not pay attention to these matters one by one, and he left all the responsibility to his subordinates.
If the business develops well in the next few years, he plans to re-divide Sur Electric into different business units based on product types.
White appliance division: water conditioners, electric fans, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners.
Small appliances division: rice cookers, juicers, microwave ovens, ovens.
Home Audio and Video Division: TVs, VCDs, speakers, microphones, laptops
Mobile Communications Division: Pagers, mobile phones, walkie-talkies, radios
That's basically it; the product segments will be refined over time. Ron's plan is to gradually adjust the business units starting next year and complete their establishment by the turn of the millennium.
After the meeting, Ron wanted to go back and comfort Xiao Nia.
But Ashish shamelessly said that his sister Laju missed Ron so much recently that she was even bedridden.
What could Ron say? He could only give Lazhu a few injections to inject some energy.
Ever since Kavya and Isha became pregnant one after another, he has now completely let himself go.
He doesn't want any umbrellas or anything like that. He wants to tear off his outer clothes and be his true self.
Well, let’s talk about another side. After taking the boss to his sister’s place, Ashish hurried home again.
He still lives in the apartment on Mira Road, which he bought for more than one hundred thousand rupees.
The seemingly luxurious appearance of the community buildings gives residents the illusion of living in luxury and being in a foreign country.
The developers imagined that the exoticism must be "luxurious", so the style is all imitating Western styles.
Ordinary people in Mumbai can do without properly functioning home appliances, 24-hour running water, and wide and smooth roads, but they cannot lack style and lose face.
When Ashish bought the apartment here, he imagined himself becoming a real middle-class person, but the houses here don't stand up to scrutiny.
The newly built walls were already leaking, and the low-rise buildings had elevator shafts but no elevators. Those moving out of the slums for the first time could only afford the outward appearance of grandeur, not the inner practicality.
It's flashy so be it, after all, building a house takes much more time, effort and money than building a good house.
The community's Mumbai-style gate best fits the Mumbai style. Just looking at the exterior, you would think the interior is quite spacious.
Even the tube-shaped buildings in the city center have majestic and tall archways outside. Who would have thought that the rooms inside are actually as small as a matchbox?
There is only one main road in the community. A young couple is strolling on the road, enjoying the cool breeze at night.
When people came out of the train station, their mood couldn't help but cheer up. Looking west, they saw no buildings in sight, only green grass, salt fields and swamps.
The west of Mumbai is close to the sea and is where people tend to live, but urban planning insists on expanding the suburbs to the east.
Although there are swarms of mosquitoes at night, it is quiet because most of the residents - former slum dwellers - can no longer afford cars after buying houses, not to mention that the road conditions are too bad to drive.
With Ashish's income, he could have bought a higher-end apartment in South Mumbai.
It’s just that many of his aunts and uncles live here, and many of them are inseparable.
Indians attach great importance to family values, just like Anand, who still lives in the slums and refuses to move out.
He passed by a large pond that had been silted up for a long time. Countless mosquitoes gathered there, like a thick black cloud attacking passers-by.
The peddler hit a street lamp hard, and it worked. The lamp lit up in response to the violence.
Huge complexes are named after builders or their deceased relatives.
The complex of buildings where Ashish's family lives begins with "Chandresh": Chandresh Darshan House, Chandresh Mandir House, and Chandresh Chaw House where Ashish and his family live.
Well, this Chandresh is the name of the developer.
Ashish knew this man, a member of the Indian Parliament from the BJP, and they had even had drinks together at Malabar Hill with Ron.
A sign on the front door of Ashish's new home reads: "If you don't love your country, you're unworthy of being a human being. If you don't use Sur appliances, you're unworthy of being an Indian."
The first half of the slogan was written by his father, and the second half was naturally added by Ashish.
His father was an ardent patriot. Whenever he heard the national anthem played on TV, he would order his family to stand and salute.
Even if the children were asleep, he would shake them awake, except when they were sick, in which case he would sit up in bed instead of getting out of bed.
Now that Ashish and his friends have grown up, they still have this habit.
Before he even entered the house, Ashish heard a commotion inside.
He knew that his cousin and his family were visiting again; they lived in the same community.
This was just what Ashish was looking for.
The CD business that the boss mentioned is very promising.
He can choose not to do it, but he can give it to his family.
Ashish is a qualified Indian who keeps good things within his family.
(End of this chapter)
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