Black technology: a super empire spanning two worlds

Chapter 317 [You won't believe it until you calculate it; the calculation will give President Zhou a huge shock]

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment, then looked at Zhou Chengyang: "The current retail price of 11299 yuan for 'Flowing Star Language' is the price as a personal consumer product. But when it is sold to owners of foot massage parlors and adult entertainment venues as a means of production, it cannot be sold so cheaply."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengyang's eyes lit up: "President Xiao, do you mean to raise the price?"

As a groundbreaking humanoid robot product, Liuguang Xingyu is priced at only 11299 yuan, with a net profit margin of only 15%, which is split 70/30 between Lingjing Technology and Likang Technology.

Xiao Yu set the price so low to benefit the general public and to popularize humanoid robots.

However, as a means of production, when sold to businesses, the price cannot be so low; the product must be restored to its high-tech, high-added value.

If the price remains this low, it's practically giving money away to those business owners, who will make a fortune even more than Lingjing Technology.

Some merchants want to privately buy back large quantities of Flowing Star Language lifelike dolls from individuals and then use them as production materials to make money. This approach is not feasible because the personal version of Flowing Star Language lifelike dolls will have program restrictions. Unless it can be technically cracked, they can only honestly purchase unrestricted products from Likang Technology.

Seeing Xiao Yu nod, Zhou Chengyang couldn't help but ask, "What price do you plan to set?"

Xiao Yu countered, "What are the general prices for standard foot massage and foot bath services in ordinary foot bath shops in China?"

Xiao Yu actually knew that Xiao Lan could quickly find the answer.

Zhou Chengyang originally worked in the sex toy industry, which is a different industry, but Mr. Zhou still knew that.

Upon hearing Xiao Yu's question, he pondered for a moment before replying, "Currently, the general service price in this industry is about 68 to 108 yuan per hour for basic foot massage, and some high-end foot massage packages are 108 yuan per session."

Mr. Zhou paused for a moment and continued, "Mid-range health services, such as massage or fine massage, are priced between 128 and 168 yuan per hour; high-end package services, including full-body SPA or overnight stay packages, can be priced at over 200 yuan, such as a full-body massage package with foot massage and overnight stay, which can be priced between 450 and 500 yuan per person."

He had barely finished speaking when Yun Shu, who was standing next to him, suddenly smiled and teased, "You seem to know quite a bit about this. You've been out having fun quite a bit, haven't you? Does Sister Lan know?"

Upon hearing this, General Manager Zhou immediately and firmly denied it, saying, "I have absolutely never been to such a place."

Xiao Yu immediately laughed and said, "I believe you, Mr. Zhou. Even when his company's stock price was at its lowest, he was still a billionaire. Not to mention now he's a super-rich man with a net worth of tens of billions. How could Mr. Zhou possibly be interested in this kind of consumption? He must be going to places much more upscale than this."

Zhou Chengyang was greatly embarrassed and could only weakly say, "Mr. Xiao is joking. I really have never been there. Whether it's high-end or low-end, to be honest, my wife at home keeps a very close eye on me."

Hearing this, Xiao Yu chuckled. So, President Zhou was a henpecked husband.

However, on the other hand, Zhou's wife, Yun Ruolan, is no pushover either. Most importantly, the couple holds 39.58% of the shares in Likang Technology, with Yun Ruolan owning 15% and Zhou Chengyang owning 24.58%. Not exceeding 34% means they do not have veto power.

If he angers his wife, or even opposes her and sides with the external shareholders, he can achieve an absolute majority of 67% in voting on major company matters. Zhou Chengyang's 24.58% shareholding opposition cannot stop it. In other words, President Zhou will lose control of the company.

Only when the couple jointly hold more than 34% of the company's shares can they have absolute control over the company.

This little episode quickly passed, and back to the main topic, Xiao Yu pondered for a while before saying, "As a means of production, the price is 18.3 RMB."

Zhou Chengyang was stunned when he heard the price, and Yun Shu next to him was also taken aback: "18.3 per unit? Are you sure?"

Xiao Yu confirmed, "It's confirmed, it's 18.3."

Zhou Chengyang quickly did a silent calculation, then his eyes widened in surprise as he exclaimed, "Doesn't that mean a 13-fold profit margin?"

The production cost of this product is around 13000 yuan, which means a profit of 170,000 yuan for every unit sold. Even with a conservative estimate, the net profit wouldn't be less than 120,000 yuan. Even at 120,000 yuan, based on a 30/70 split, Likang Technology could net 36,000 yuan. Zhou Chengyang, increasingly excited as he calculated this, quickly calmed down and turned to Xiao Yu, saying, "Mr. Xiao, isn't this price a bit too high? Won't it affect sales?"

Xiao Yu said calmly, "Is it expensive? You think it's expensive because the price of 11299 yuan is aimed at mass consumers, which creates this misconception. You're ignoring the advanced technology and strong competitiveness of this product. As a means of production, a price of 18.3 yuan is already extremely cheap."

After speaking, Xiao Yu pondered for a moment, then proceeded to calculate: "Let's take the standard service prices of the domestic foot massage parlor industry that you just mentioned as a reference, and considering the nature of the domestic 'rolling king' (referring to a specific online platform), let's assume that the industry includes various high-end packages and charges by the hour. Let's say the total average price is 35 yuan per hour."

"If there are many customers, the lifelike doll can be on display all day long, but it is impossible for it to be on display 24 hours a day. So let's calculate based on an average of 10 hours of operation per day, which is 350 yuan per day, and about 12.77 yuan per year. With an expected lifespan of 5 years, it can generate a total income of more than 63 yuan over the entire cycle."

"You can recoup your costs in less than a year and a half, and the remaining three and a half years are all profits. The total expected profit margin over five years is 208%. This is based on the characteristics of the top-performing companies in China. If you were the owner of a foot massage parlor, would you do this business?"

Priced at 18.3 yuan, it is certainly not cheap at first glance. However, considering its nature as a means of production, the focus is not on how expensive the product is, but on how much positive profit this product can bring.

The boss wasn't buying this product for pure consumer spending purposes, but rather because it was a means of production.

To put it more bluntly, it's about whether you make money or lose money in the end. As long as you make enough money to cover your costs and generate positive profits, then it doesn't matter how high the price is.

The difference is that the product pricing is higher, which increases the cost of entering this industry and requires more substantial financial strength to open and operate a store.

This was actually Xiao Yu's intention, because if the price was too low, not only would he make less money, but also because the entry barrier was too low, even small workshops could do it, and those small workshops were more likely to use heavy ingredients and do ruthless work.

Relatively speaking, it is more likely to breed industry chaos, after all, the sex and entertainment industry is a rather special track.

Raising the entry threshold for this industry can make it more standardized to a large extent. After all, the greater the investment, the greater the risk. If a business is forced to shut down for reckless practices, the owner will not be able to bear the consequences of such a large investment.

At that moment, Yun Shu, who was sitting next to Xiao Yu, suddenly took out her phone and used the AI ​​mirror on her phone to ask about some data on the current foot massage industry.

After a while, Yun Shu looked at the search data provided by AI Xiao Jing and said, "The latest publicly available data shows that there are approximately 20 foot massage businesses in China. The number of technicians alone exceeds 1000 million. Another set of data, including places like hair salons, suggests that the number may be as high as 1500 million."

Upon hearing this number, Zhou Chengyang subconsciously tried to estimate it, and what he found shocked him greatly.

Mr. Zhou was utterly shocked, seemingly talking to himself as he said, "If the lifelike dolls of Liuguang Xingyu replace these technicians, even if we calculate based on 1000 million people, the foot massage industry alone has a sales expectation of 1000 million. Priced at 18.3 each, wouldn't that be incredibly profitable?"

Yun Shu immediately followed up, saying, "If we can really replace human technicians in the foot massage industry, theoretically we could create a total revenue expectation of 1.83 trillion, of which 1.7 trillion would be profit, and the net profit could conservatively reach 1.35 trillion. According to the profit distribution plan of 30/70 between the two companies, Lingjing Technology would get 945 billion, and Likang Technology would get the remaining 405 billion."

Upon hearing these figures, and the fact that Likang Technology, a company in the foot massage industry alone, could reap a net profit of 4050 billion yuan, President Zhou was so shocked by the numbers that he almost fainted.

If you include other industries, how big would that be?

At this moment, a thought popped into President Zhou's mind: he had to cling tightly to Lingjing Technology.

After a moment, Xiao Yu glanced at the greatly shocked Zhou Chengyang and said with a smile, "Yun Shu's calculations are quite reasonable, and overall they are roughly correct. However, these are the overall expected figures, which are the numbers that can only be achieved by completely replacing human technicians."

Xiao Yu then added: "In reality, it is impossible to completely replace the previous one in the short term. It will take at least five years or even longer to complete, and that is only if your Likang Technology's production capacity can double every year."

……

(End of this chapter)