It is said that CCTV invested 3 million yuan to film the 1986 version of "Journey to the West". Four years later, due to a shortage of funds, it borrowed another 3 million yuan from the Eleventh Bureau of the Ministry of Railways to complete the filming.
That means we are still short 3 million.
The Dream of the Red Chamber is similar to Journey to the West. CCTV invested 5 million yuan, but was short 3 million yuan.
However, in order to make these two TV series even better, Zhao Ye doesn't mind investing a little more.
The main purpose of investing in these two dramas was to enhance the company's reputation.
If I want to make money, I don't plan to rely on this.
Haier invested tens of millions of yuan to produce the film "Haier Brothers" in order to enhance its corporate image.
Compared to Haier, Wujiang Company is nothing.
Currently, the domestic film and television market is not mature enough, and Wujiang does not plan to get involved in the film and television industry for the time being.
Of course, they might also follow Haier's example and make an animated film to promote themselves.
Starting in the 1980s, domestic animation studios such as Shanghai Animation Film Studio began to decline.
Because making animation didn't make money at the time.
Moreover, their competitor, RB Animation, doesn't charge money; in fact, they pay for it themselves.
For example, Casio, an RB electronics brand that had just entered the Chinese market, wanted to advertise on CCTV, but there was no precedent for this. At that time, CCTV did not have many commercial advertisements, let alone advertisements for RB companies.
So Casio came up with a particularly ingenious solution.
At the time, the Japanese animated series Astro Boy was a huge hit, and Casio's spokesperson was also Astro Boy. So Casio thought, "If you can't just put my ads in, then I'll put my ads in the animated series. You put my ads in the animated series, okay?" In the end, the Astro Boy animated series aired on Chinese television and became an instant national sensation. Casio's digital watch ads also appeared as product placements in the end credits, quickly making Casio one of the most familiar foreign brands to Chinese people.
Throughout the entire process, the animated series "Astro Boy" not only didn't receive a single penny in copyright fees, but also lost money because it was considered advertising revenue.
If we broadcast your Shanghai Animation Film Studio's animated films, my TV station has to pay to buy them; but if we broadcast Japanese animated films, the Japanese companies actually pay us to watch them. How do you compete in this situation?
The same approach applies to Transformers.
When the Transformers animated series was released in China, it caused a sensation. How much should such a well-made and exciting animated series cost?
The answer is also free, given away for free.
Why? Because I give away my animated films for free, but I make money from Transformers toys.
Wujiang Company may be able to save China's animation industry because it can also play the same tricks as Japanese and American companies.
...
The next day, Guan Manshan called again.
"Mr. Zhao, the production team leaders of 'Journey to the West' and 'Dream of the Red Chamber' were overjoyed to learn that you were willing to invest in their productions. When do you have time to talk to them and finalize the investment?"
“Okay, no problem, they can come to my company or me anytime.”
"Okay, I'll tell them."
"Yes, I look forward to meeting and talking with them," Zhao Ye nodded.
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Ye lowered his head to process the documents. When he saw that Imagine typewriters were all the rage in the United States and that daily orders were soaring, he couldn't help but smile slightly. To compete with Wang An typewriters, one must be fast, decisive, and force the other party to give up the competition in the typewriter market.
Zhao Ye still hoped that Wang Laboratories could transform and invest heavily in PC development. Wang An was very arrogant and disdained to associate with IBM, so the computers developed by Wang Laboratories would not be compatible with IBM-PC, and naturally would not use Microsoft systems.
If Wang Laboratories had fully committed to the personal computer market, given its technological prowess and influence in the US at the time, the outcome would have been uncertain. Of course, the possibility of Wang Laboratories failing was still significant. However, this would inevitably have delayed Microsoft's development, at the very least reducing Microsoft's profits considerably.
This gives Wujiang Company more time to develop.
Developing an operating system requires far more manpower and resources than developing ordinary software, and even in the 1980s, it was no easy task.
Zhao Ye checked the time; it was 11 a.m., which was about 10 p.m. in New York.
Zhao Ye picked up the phone and called Wang Anshi's home directly to inquire about the recent response from Wang Anshi's company.
"Mr. Wang, what countermeasures has WangAn Company taken?"
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "Wang An Corporation is also helpless in the face of a price war. As far as I know, the production cost of a Wang An typewriter is around two thousand four hundred US dollars, and the middlemen also need to make a profit. Therefore, Wang An Corporation dares not engage in a price war with us. I heard that Wang An Corporation's factories have already stopped producing typewriters..."
“We can still make a lot of money selling our typewriters for $2,000. We will try to sell as many typewriters as possible and achieve high volume with low profit margins. I predict that the American typewriter market will decline in less than three years, and then it will be the era of personal computers!”
"Understood, boss. Don't worry, our branch is planning to spend a lot of money on advertising in newspapers and on television."
"Okay, that's settled then. You should get some rest, bye!"
Zhao Ye hung up the phone and nodded to himself. It seemed that Wang An Company had run out of tricks. Chinese companies are best at price wars. In his previous life, they had defeated countless European and American companies, and Wang An Company was no exception.
In fact, Wang Laboratories is already considering a transformation.
Wujiang Company lacked any sense of ethics and directly lowered the price to a level that Wang An Company could not accept.
If Wang Laboratories were to engage in a price war with Wujiang Company, it would likely lose money on every unit sold.
Such involution, how could it have come to this...?
I can't afford to mess with them, I think I'll just have to change my approach!
Inside a villa in Silicon Valley, Dr. An Wang, who was over sixty years old, seemed to have aged several years. He instructed his son, "Try to sell off all the remaining typewriters... Our company will be transforming from making typewriters to manufacturing them!"
"Dad, are we just going to give up on the typewriter market so easily?!" Wang An's son, Wang Lie, said unwillingly.
“What good will it do if we don’t give up? What do we have to compete with Imagine typewriters?” Wang An countered.
"This..." Wang Lie was speechless.
Wang An sighed, "Forget it, it's better to withdraw sooner rather than later and cut our losses. Market competition is just that ruthless. If we can beat IBM, then other companies will beat us. I was still hesitant about fully entering the PC market, but now we have no other choice. I, Wang An, will develop a computer and beat IBM in the market again!"
The existence of the Imagine typewriter made Wang An feel as if he had seen the pinnacle of typewriter design. The Imagine typewriter was impeccable in both its appearance and functionality. Wang An couldn't think of any way to improve upon it and surpass it.
Moreover, the Imagine typewriter was so outrageously priced that Wang An completely gave up on competing with it.
Wang Lie was still not satisfied. Wujiang used unfair competition methods, which was egregious. I believe that the just American law will protect our American companies!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
