Chapter 432 May
Akash agreed to go with Karuna and the others without much hesitation, especially after hearing the name Sun Media.
Everyone knows that it is Mr. Sur's property. His two sons have even received subsidies from Sur Hospital.
Regardless of whether he can change India, he would make such a choice simply out of consideration for repayment.
Su Erxian’s kindness is not over yet!
Of course, he admitted that the huge potential of "India's first Internet video website" attracted him.
A market with a billion people, industry pioneers, leading Internet companies... just hearing about it makes people excited.
If he doesn't join Sun Media, will he continue to teach computers in this slum?
Shabby!
Akash is unwilling to continue to be a nobody. He is a returnee from Silicon Valley and a leader in the industry.
There is a great opportunity in front of him now. Hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to his intelligence.
Sun Media will establish a new Internet business department, with Akash in charge. Its future success will depend on how much he learns in Silicon Valley.
After casually placing a chess piece, Ron turned his attention to Suer's phone.
Since the national subsidies were launched at the end of last year, mobile phone sales have been climbing steadily.
Today, there are more than 2.2 million mobile phone users in India, 60% of whom use Sur phones.
The combination of cost-effectiveness and national subsidies is indeed a killer feature, directly occupying half of India's mobile phone users.
To be honest, if it weren't for Sur Electric, the number of mobile phone users in India might only be in the millions.
Considered from this perspective, Ron is indeed driving the development of India's telecommunications industry.
Of course, most users who buy Sur phones choose India Mobile as their operator.
Bundled sales, promotional discounts... just a few tricks can tie users down tightly.
As of April 1999, the number of mobile phone users of India Mobile has exceeded 1.2 million, making it the largest telecom operator in India with the most users.
Yes, India Mobile has surpassed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in market share and is the undisputed industry leader.
It was worth it for Ron to spend two or three years to invest money and build base stations.
One step ahead, one step ahead at every step, he is sure to be the leader of India's telecommunications industry.
The best part is that the chips produced by the University of Tokyo have entered mass production, and the first batch of goods, totaling 50,000 pieces, was delivered at the beginning of the month.
According to the original plan, the monthly chip output should be around 100,000.
Unfortunately, the contract manufacturing plant at Dongda University has just adopted a new process this year, and the yield rate is still unstable.
It is expected that production will gradually catch up in two to three months.
However, the first batch of goods is sufficient for Sur Electric Appliances for the time being.
This year's Sur mobile phone will be iterated, with all aspects from design to chips being self-developed.
The engineering prototype is currently being debugged and is expected to be launched on the market in two months.
With this time as a buffer, there won’t be too much pressure to stock up on new models.
"Is Huazi communicating with the chips at Dongda?"
“Yes, boss, after all, they designed the chip,” Ashish replied.
"Have their technical team follow up closely. Sol has signed a contract, and the purchase price for each chip is $8. If the yield rate is too low, we will not be responsible for any excess costs."
"Don't worry, boss. They are more anxious than us. Su Er is the first major international customer there."
Since it is advertised as self-developed, the design company naturally uses the name of Sur Electric.
The name of Sur Electric is also useful when looking for chip processing factories and placing orders.
Not to mention that the University of Tokyo attaches great importance to it. They regard this as an important symbol of the semiconductor industry going abroad.
Only with a major customer like Sur Electric can the contract manufacturing plant generate profits. Only with profits can it afford to upgrade to the next generation of manufacturing processes.
If this business is big enough and can be sustained for a long time, it might be able to revitalize the entire industry chain.
Ron didn't think too much about it, he just wanted cheaper chips.
"After changing the chip, our costs were directly reduced by 1,500 rupees. After mass production, the costs of other parts can be reduced by about 20%. This is a great improvement." Ron was very pleased.
"The marketing department has calculated that the total cost of the next generation mobile phone will be around 3,000-3,200 rupees. We can definitely raise the price to 6,000 rupees."
"Let's set it at 6499. This will ensure both profit and market competitiveness."
"Yes, boss." Ashish looked confident.
At over 6,000 rupees, it is affordable for most white-collar workers, and the Sur phone will definitely see a sales explosion.
Of course, in terms of technical strength, there is still some gap between their mobile phones and imported products.
It is said that brands such as Nokia and Ericsson are already developing color screen mobile phones.
Even the current black and white screen has rich functions. Motorola even supports users to browse the web. Can you believe it?
Other features such as sending and receiving emails are standard, and some even have touch screen functions.
However, they are also more expensive, generally costing more than 15,000 rupees.
Sur mobile phones are much simpler, and can be called unfinished houses in the mobile phone industry. Their only advantage is that they are cheap.
Ron wasn't worried about sales, nor did he have any pressing desire for Internet access.
The conditions do not allow it. In India's current situation, those advanced functions are completely useless.
Not to mention Internet services and email, even the signal coverage is not comprehensive. It is too early to talk about these.
Ron was looking forward to the market performance of the new phone, but another major event happened in May.
There was a fierce exchange of fire between Pakistan and India on the Kashmir border, which the media called the "Kargil War."
According to India, the Babayang soldiers disguised themselves as guerrillas and launched attacks on Indian-controlled areas.
The scale of the fighting between the two sides was not large, but it was extremely fierce, and the battlefield lasted for several days.
The entire Indian people are now outraged and demanding retaliation.
Apart from all kinds of public opinion, Vajpayee also made gestures.
Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat have all begun mobilization, and all major railway stations have been temporarily requisitioned.
Train after train sped by, heading north, loaded with tanks, heavy artillery, armored personnel carriers, and thousands of soldiers.
A war seemed imminent, and countries around the world called on both sides to remain calm.
Are you kidding? These two just had a few big fireworks displays last year. If they start fighting now, and the intensity escalates, what will happen?
Regardless of the panic outside, Ron started to worry about Chopra and the others.
The movie "Mission: Ksenia" was shot on location, and I don't know what the crew is doing now.
Before he could inquire about the news, Chopra called his cell phone first.
It turned out that they had returned to Mumbai for just two or three days, and Chopra couldn't wait to share the exciting experience there.
In his words, "We narrowly escaped war!"
Ron was also very curious about what had happened to them, so one morning he visited the other party's villa in Bandra again.
Ron was a little surprised when he walked in. If he guessed correctly, the room was full of the film's creators.
The only difference is that one of the leading actors, Shah Rukh Khan, is not there, and he is replaced by another young man.
"Ron, come here, let me introduce you, this is Hitik Roshan."
"Hello, Mr. Soul." The young man came over and saluted.
Chopra said he replaced Shah Rukh Khan as the militant in the film.
It’s not that Shah Rukh Khan’s schedule conflicted, but Chopra felt that his salary was too high.
The film was made on a budget of just Rs 40 million and involved a lot of location shooting and firefighting scenes, so the production budget was tight.
If Shah Rukh Khan is forced to sign, he may have to direct commercials for half a year to be able to afford it.
Although Ron is rich, as a qualified director, he will not increase the budget indefinitely.
Shah Rukh Khan felt a little regretful about this, but not disappointed, as he didn't care about the remuneration.
In Mumbai, the real money-making process for actors isn't in films.
Shah Rukh Khan was paid 30 lacs for the film "Mission Kashmir", for which he had to travel to many places and work for several months.
He could earn ten times the money by appearing in a Pepsi commercial for three days. The reason he took the movie role was that without the movie, no one would recognize him in the commercial.
The profits from commercial advertising allow stars to maintain their lifestyles, which in turn indirectly subsidizes and helps the operation of the film industry.
In return, the films take on the responsibility of driving merchandise sales, and Indian films feature advertising at a level unheard of in Hollywood.
The male and female protagonists would sing and dance around a huge Coke can prop for six or seven minutes to a song sponsored by Coca-Cola, and no one would mind.
What is commercial is also art, and there is no distinction between elegant and vulgar Indian films.
Generally speaking, missing one movie is not a big deal for Shah Rukh Khan. As a popular movie star, he has no shortage of exposure.
The one who replaced him is the 25-year-old new actor, Hrithik Roshan.
He is the son of a popular movie star in the 1970s and has only appeared in one movie directed by his father, which is still more than a month away from release.
Li Tik has a very Western look, with green eyes, a straight nose, a firm jaw, strong arms, and a perfect body with every inch of muscle just right, which is only possible due to his passion for fitness.
He is a handsome young man and is definitely popular among girls.
But he was polite and humble, listening carefully to the conversation between Chopra and Ron.
The reason Chopra used him was simple: it was cheap.
Of course, there are risks as well, that is, Li Tik is not very famous, which may lead to unfavorable box office performance of the movie.
But Chopra could no longer wait, and the film's budget did not allow him to delay any further, so filming had to begin.
Thank God, although the filming process was not smooth, it ended perfectly in the end.
Chopra said they constantly consulted with the military on the ground to test whether the film's fictional world was tenable in reality.
He also had the manuscript reviewed by a senior intelligence official, who questioned a scene in the script where Khan shot and killed two militants during interrogation.
"You shot them down with just two shots!" the intelligence officer said to Chopra. "If it were me, I wouldn't lift a finger against them, because every time I cut off a finger, I have less leverage.
If I cut off one of his arms, I have less leverage, and if I kill him, I have no leverage at all."
For people in the intelligence agency, the body is a very precious resource. It must be preserved and pain must be inflicted slowly and bit by bit. Every organ and every fingerprint has value.
"But none of this matters. You know what happened in the Kargil War, right?" Chopra beamed. "We were right there."
(End of this chapter)
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