Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 369 The Little Smart Phone Arrives

After completing the last transaction, Masato Takeshita stretched and yawned as the guests left.

Working long hours for a week straight has made my eyes blurry.

"Well, it's finally over. Yukiko, go and tell everyone to call a meeting in the conference room."

"Yes, President!"

A dozen minutes later, the young man sat in front of the podium and asked, "Is anyone absent?"

"No, everyone is here."

"Ah, very good."

Masato Takeshita responded with satisfaction, and then resumed spouting correct but meaningless platitudes.

"Everyone has worked hard during this time."

"It's not hard work, it's what we should do."

Motivated by the huge bonuses, no one felt the hardship. They were now eager to throw themselves back into work and win even more bonuses.

"Forehead……"

He was momentarily at a loss for words, but quickly smiled nonchalantly and said...

"Although no one feels it's too hard, the company still has to follow the rules. Every time a fund completes its liquidation, the employee in charge of that part gets a long vacation."

"This time is no exception."

"Starting tomorrow, everyone will have a 21-day free vacation. After 21 days, there will be no need to go to work. The company will provide everyone with a 30-day round-the-world trip."

Xinghai Fund follows a long-term stock investment strategy, and the fund can be launched at any time.

Therefore, there is no need to prioritize the fundraising and investment of the third phase of the Zodiac Fund; it doesn't matter whether it's done a day earlier or later.

"Great, this is the perfect opportunity to go out with my girlfriend."

"I want to go camping with my daughter and wife and enjoy nature."

“I’m also planning to go on a trip with my family. My father is very interested in China and has always wanted to see the Great Wall and Mount Tai.”

"Oh, are you going to China? I'd like to go see it too."

Listening to the discussions below, Masato Takeshita couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Who could have imagined that in just over twenty years, the relationship between the two countries would go from friendly to hostile?

In 1994, although the Japanese economy was in recession, the public remained largely left-leaning. Right-wing elements were still marginalized in society.

Therefore, the Japanese people have a very high level of goodwill towards China and also hope that China can rise rapidly.

However, this rise must remain under Japan's control and cannot surpass Japan's.

Their ideal positions are similar to those of the United States and South Korea.

All I can say is that the Japanese government is really being a bit delusional.

Japan is not the United States, and China is not South Korea; neither can be replicated in any way.

The relationship between the two in later generations is more or less the opposite.

At the same time, China now has a very high level of goodwill towards Japan, regarding Japan as the pride of East Asians.

As for those unpleasant experiences from the past, they are temporarily relegated to the margins of society.

However, this situation of high mutual goodwill requires maintenance from both sides.

If Japan's economy fails to improve in a few years, more people will definitely move to the right.

This is a typical social phenomenon.

In the post-pandemic era, the rise of right-wing forces in many European countries has been accompanied by years of economic recession.

When the economy is booming, there are many opportunities for both the country and individuals, and people tend to act more to the left.

We support environmental protection, diversity, and the interests of all minority groups.

When the national economy is in a downturn, people no longer pay attention to grand issues and are more inclined to satisfy their own small family needs.

They no longer care about messy global social issues, but value daily necessities more, and their thinking is gradually becoming more conservative.

In other words, if Masato Takeshita wanted to change the right-wing trend in Japan's future, he had to help Japan get out of its economic quagmire.

If he fails to do so, the situation between the two countries will only continue to deteriorate.

Economic development is the foundation of everything.

After a flurry of random thoughts, Takeshita Masato's resolve only grew stronger.

He must leverage his own strengths to ensure that Japan has a place in the chip, mobile phone, and internet industries.

In this way, Japan will have more room to maneuver, and Sino-Japanese relations will not break down.

After the meeting, the employees of Xinghai Fund could leisurely enjoy their holiday. Meanwhile, Masato Takeshita, a guy with an abundance of ideas, continued to strive for his ideals.

At 10 p.m., Takeshita Masato sat listlessly in the small conference room of Xinghai Electronics, watching Honda Nishitaro rush in with documents in his hand, and subconsciously asked him a question.

"Is this today's sales report?"

After several years of adjustments, Xinghai Group finally launched the world's first PHS (Personal Handyphone System) mobile phone on the market.

In the future, Japan will also be one of the winners in the global communications market.

Of course, the technology of PHS (Personal Handyphone System) was relatively crude and low-end, which meant that it could only be developed and popular in developing countries.

But that's okay, as long as you can make money, it's a good technical approach.

Putting aside other factors, as long as they maintain stable development in developing countries, their user base and profits can definitely surpass Qualcomm's approach.

As for Japan, it only serves as a demonstration and is destined not to have many users.

"Yes, Chairman. This is today's sales data from NTT."

"Thanks to our advertising and NTT's strong promotion, the sales of PHS phones exceeded 32000 units on the first day."

"The start has been excellent, and there is a very good chance that annual sales will exceed one million."

Annual sales exceeding one million was already a remarkable achievement in 1994.

Even Motorola phones only sell a little over 1000 million units a year.

Besides, this is just the Japanese market. Once we enter the telecommunications markets of Southeast Asia, China, and other countries, sales will increase several times or even dozens of times.

Xiaolingtong has the potential to achieve annual sales of over 100 million units.

However, at that time, Xinghai Group will find it difficult to retain its PHS (Personal Handyphone System) business.

But it doesn't matter, Xinghai Group can still make a fortune just by selling the core components of PHS phones.

A similar situation occurred with the VCD, which was invented by the Chinese in their previous lives.

Chinese factories that manufacture VCDs work themselves to the bone but barely make any money. Meanwhile, companies like Toshiba and Sony, which control the core components, profit immensely.

Of course, Xinghai Electronics also appears among the giants like Sony and Toshiba in this era.

Xinghai Electronics is making a killing selling both high-end VCD players and core components.

Unfortunately, this is the only time Xinghai Electronics can profit from audio-visual equipment. In the next DVD revolution, Xinghai Group will be a minor player.

You can earn a little, but it's destined to be little.

“Great, keep up the good work and expand our domestic promotional efforts. We want to create a model project and then enter the Southeast Asian and Chinese markets.”

Masato Takeshita has no intention of making a single penny from investing in the Japanese market for three years; in fact, he plans to lose a significant amount of money.

Foreign telecom companies need to see significant user growth data before they will be willing to adopt our services.

"Yes, please rest assured, Chairman."

Hideyuki Hasegawa, the president of Seikai Electronics, is very good at understanding his superiors' intentions and immediately knows what he needs to do next.

Spending money, still fucking spending money.

A week quickly passed, and Xinghai Electronics' newly launched PHS (Personal Handyphone System) mobile phone sales exceeded 20 units this week.

The results were excellent, exceeding the expectations of both Xinghai Group and NTT.

It seems that Japan's prolonged economic recession has indeed impoverished some people. They cannot afford expensive mobile phones, but still need to make calls, so they can only buy cheap PHS phones.

"Hello, this is Inoue Kumaji. Can you hear me?"

"Mosimoxi?"

"Mosimoxi?"

……

Soon, scenes similar to those in China in the early 21st century began to appear on the streets of Japan.

Countless people are frustrated by the intermittent signal, but in the end they can only endure it.

PHS phones are cheap, and call charges are even cheaper. You don't mind that I'm poor, and I won't mind that your signal is bad.

Since we can't leave each other anyway, what else can we do but make do?

However, a skilled propaganda department can turn a bad thing into a good thing.

Soon, with the strong promotion of Xinghai Group, "Moshi Moshi" became a hot word in Japan.

Newspapers and television began to make jokes about PHS (Personal Handyphone System) signals.

But in the process, the fact that PHS phones were cheap and calls were also cheap also got into the minds of the Japanese.

Now, not only working people, but even students with little money have started buying PHS phones.

However, the student population mainly likes the compact and cute design of the PHS phone and its text messaging function.

Making a phone call directly feels awkward, especially on a train. Texting doesn't have this problem, which suits the Japanese mindset perfectly.

Besides, text messages are very cheap, costing only 10 yen per message.

High school students can easily post hundreds of messages after doing odd jobs for a few hours.

Thanks to the support of young students, sales of PHS phones did not drop much in the second month, remaining at a high level of 21.

In other words, in just two months, Xinghai Electronics sold more than 40 PHS phones in Tokyo alone.

One million units sold annually?

Do not!
Xinghai Electronics' current goal is to achieve annual sales of over two million units in the Japanese market.

"That's amazing! He can make something out of such outdated technology."

NEC President Tadahiro Sekimoto is very envious of Xinghai Electronics, because its mobile phone sales are still hovering around 400 million units.

In fact, the rapid rise of Xinghai Electronics had a significant impact on Japanese electronics manufacturers.

NEC, Kyocera, Sony... which once held a place in the global mobile phone market, have now all become other companies.

However, in a sense, this is also a good thing.

The mobile phone divisions of other Japanese companies will decline sooner or later, so it's better to move the projects elsewhere as soon as possible. Maybe they can create new winning projects.

Of course, Xinghai Group also welcomes competition from major electronics manufacturers.

Perhaps, under the guidance of Xinghai Electronics, Japan's mobile phone industry will have the potential to rival the two major conglomerates in China and the United States in the future.

If NEC is one of envy, then Kyocera is one of wanting nothing more than to take its place.

Kyocera President Kazuo Inamori seized the opportunity presented by Japan's opening of its telecommunications industry to enter the sector. However, due to pressure from NTT, business progress was very slow.

If there is a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) industry, it will quickly have millions of users, thus supporting the company's development.

"What a pity, why is it a supplement to landline telephone information?"

Kazuo Inamori reviewed the document several times, but in the end, he had no choice but to put it aside.

If they were to pursue the mobile communication route, even if Xinghai Electronics' PHS phones were cheaper, he would be confident in competing with them.

There was no way to supplement landline phones, as his newly established telecommunications company didn't offer that kind of service at all.

NTT's nearly century-long monopoly in Japan's telecommunications industry is no joke; it is unrivaled in the domestic landline telephone market.

Only Toshihiko Yamashita, the third president of the Panasonic Group, saw an opportunity and prepared to produce and sell PHS phones.

This product prioritizes cost-effectiveness, which aligns well with Panasonic's corporate characteristics.

Furthermore, Panasonic's business scope does not include the telecommunications industry, thus avoiding competition with NTT and allowing for easy entry into the market.

After all, even NTT certainly wouldn't want the entire PHS (Personal Handyphone System) industry to be monopolized by Xinghai Electronics.

This is not a normal cooperation model between large companies; it involves too many layers of entanglement.

"No, Sony is the king of the Japanese electronics industry."

Norio Ohga couldn't tolerate Sony being overshadowed by Seikai Electronics, so he called Ken Kutaragi to his office.

"When will our PS game console be released?"

Sony would never get involved in such a niche project as PHS (Personal Handyphone System).

Sony should be focusing on the global console gaming market, which has hundreds of millions of users.

"It's already in the final testing phase and will definitely be launched this year."

Ken Kutaragi was very familiar with the PS game console project he led; he considered it his everything.

“Very good, the company will invest another 200 billion yen.”

Norio Ohga was very happy and continued to pour money into it, singing in a tenor style.

"Yes, President."

Kutaragi was surprised to find an unexpected delight during his visit to the president's office, and his face was filled with smiles.

With this 200 billion, the project has a higher margin for error.

In addition to the PS game console project, Norio Ohga is also preparing to make a push in the mobile phone market.

He plans to spend a lot of money to design a more beautiful new phone.

He discovered that the vast majority of mobile phones on the market lacked aesthetic design and were too crudely designed.

Xinghai Electronics was naturally aware that its competitors were making moves in various fields.

However, the mobile phone business has now reached a bottleneck and it is difficult to make a breakthrough.

Hideyuki Hasegawa went directly to his own chairman, hoping to get some new advice.

"The new phone has no design direction?"

Yes, I'm sorry.

"You guys shouldn't rely on me too much."

Despite saying that, Masato Takeshita still picked up the Seikai phone on the table and watched it intently.

"If you want to research a new mobile phone, you have to start by finding its flaws."

"For example, can the antenna be built-in?"

Early mobile phones all had a protruding antenna, which was to make it easier to obtain mobile phone signals.

If the phone's antenna could be placed inside the phone, it would definitely attract many users who care about aesthetics.

"Yes, Chairman, I understand."

Hideyuki Hasegawa was very happy; it was indeed most convenient to go to the chairman when there was something to do.

"Also, could the phone screen be designed in color? Compared to a monochrome screen, everyone would definitely prefer a color screen."

"We've thought about that too, but the technology isn't quite there yet."

Anyone with a brain can quickly figure out the idea of ​​a color screen. But figuring it out doesn't mean you can actually make it; it's not going to happen anytime soon.

"That's not important. What we need to do now is to keep pushing forward and strive to become the first mobile phone manufacturer to launch a color screen."

Nokia, the third largest mobile phone manufacturer, is developing too fast and is already showing signs of surpassing Xinghai Electronics.

If Xinghai Electronics cannot launch groundbreaking products, it will sooner or later find itself in Nokia's shadow.

(End of this chapter)