Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 427 Taking the First Step

Gunpei Yokoi adapted to Xinghai Electronics quickly, and within a little over a month, he had figured out the PHS (Personal Handyphone System) mobile phone project.

"President, I'm planning to go to Thailand and then travel through China."

"Sure, but you need to report to the chairman before going to China. The chairman attaches great importance to the development of PHS in China and is currently personally in charge of it."

Despite Masato Takeshita's repeated warnings, Japanese people working in China still exhibit economic discrimination and arrogance.

The Xiaolingtong (a type of mobile phone service) is currently Xinghai Group's top project in China, and no accidents are allowed to happen to the young people.

Therefore, he personally took command, and his lover Lin Qingqian served as the deputy head of the command team.

We must take a two-pronged approach to nip these scoundrels who undermine the company's development in the bud.

"Yes, I'll call and ask right away."

"Okay, then you go ahead and get busy."

After leaving the president's office, Gunpei Yokoi immediately called the headquarters secretariat.

"Chairman, Vice President Yokoi of Xinghai Electronics wants to see you."

"Okay, then transfer the call to me."

"Yes, President!"

After the call was transferred to Masato Takeshita, Gunpei Yokoi explained the purpose of his visit.

"Sure, but remember to call me before you fly to China, and we'll go together."

"Understood, Chairman!"

……

Upon arriving in Bangkok, Thailand, Gunpei Yokoi immediately went shopping in the mall.

He wanted to delve into the real-world situation and understand the sales performance of his company's PHS (Personal Handyphone System) phones.

"That's really amazing. Sometimes, changing the product's location can produce amazing results."

Seeing that everyone on the street was using PHS (Personal Handyphone System) mobile phones, he thought of the FC (Famicom) game console from his former company.

Although Nintendo has long since ceased production and withdrawn from the market, these products are still very popular in developing countries such as China.

According to private statistics from the former company, sales on the other side of the sea alone reached over 100 million units, a figure that far surpasses that of genuine Nintendo products.

It's a pity that the company didn't receive a single penny despite such high sales volume.

Unfortunately, China at that time was like Japan in the 1950s and 60s.

In many places where people are struggling to meet their basic needs, they naturally won't pay for patents.

Japan used to be like that, with Nintendo even being a pioneer in imitation within the gaming industry.

It's not that Nintendo copied the most, but rather that Nintendo's boss, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was the most shameless, directly pointing out the plagiarists' thoughts at the time, which made him the most famous.

Other companies that offer pixel-perfect references mostly choose to remain silent or make empty promises about paying homage.

Only Hiroshi Yamauchi directly stated that plagiarism was absolutely correct.

As a result, he naturally became the target of everyone's attacks.

"Sigh, no, there's nothing to think about. I'm an employee of Xinghai Electronics now."

Gunpei Yokoi shook his head, breaking free from his reverie.

He then continued to wander around, checking on the company's sales of PHS phones.

"This is really a good business. Chairman Takeshita is overestimating me."

The sight of Thais using PHS phones to communicate on every street corner in Bangkok gradually made him realize the extraordinary potential of this game.

This is a huge gold mine; sales will far exceed those of the handheld consoles we developed ourselves.

What's even better is that currently, the only company that can get a share of this pie is Xinghai Group.

Gunpei Yokoi spent about two weeks researching in Thailand before sending an email to Masato Takeshita.

He is going to China to explore a larger market.

"Okay, then see you in Shanghai the day after tomorrow."

Masato Takeshita naturally didn't object and directly replied in the email to agree.

Coincidentally, he also wanted to know about the current development of PHS (Personal Handyphone System) in China.

Before the summer vacation ends, could we conduct a small-scale trial operation?

Although he could go directly to China, Gunpei Yokoi chose to return to Tokyo first and set off with his chairman.

It doesn't take much time and can improve your relationship with the association president.

Why not?
"So, what are your impressions of Thailand?"

"The whole country is positive and optimistic, much like Japan in the 1970s and 80s, full of confidence."

Gunpei Yokoi's biggest impression from this trip to Thailand was how confident the Thai people are.

People of all social classes believe that Thailand is getting better.

Unlike Japan, where the upper class feels great and the economy is recovering, the working class finds life increasingly difficult.

College graduates who cannot find jobs have no choice but to take odd jobs at the bottom of society or stay at home and live off their parents.

Those who have found jobs have to work like dogs every day, desperately working overtime just to earn their salary.

Yes, although the Seikai Group has become one of the largest business groups in Japan, it is not enough to change the overall social atmosphere in Japan.

Unfortunately, there's no way around it; the job market in Japan is currently extremely competitive, with far more applicants than available positions.

Even if I work 12 or even 14 hours a day, there are always people coming over.

To paraphrase a common Chinese internet slang, "If you're not willing to do it, there are plenty of people who are."

It can only be said that Japan, as the vanguard of the war effort, is leading East Asia in various fields.

"Thais are indeed very confident now, after all, the economy is growing very fast."

While praising Thailand, Masato Takeshita added a thought to himself.

Unfortunately, it was all just a castle in the air.

Thailand's strategy of relying on finance and real estate for growth is doomed to failure.

However, Thailand's economy is still very weak, and it can still make some progress by relying on the transfer of global capital.

Unlike Japan, whose economy is too developed.

Without Xinghai Group, the future would be bleak.

With these thoughts in mind, Masato Takeshita did not continue speaking.

He then got down to business, inquiring about the development of PHS (Personal Handyphone System) phones in Thailand.

"It's very good; many Thai small vendors will buy one."

"Just as the chairman thought, our mobile phones are replacing pagers."

Mobile phones represent high technology and are the domain of the wealthy.

Pagers were more affordable, but they didn't have a significant price advantage compared to PHS phones and lacked voice calling functionality.

Given a choice, people would naturally prefer to use a PHS phone.

Just as China was like this in its past life, so too is Thailand in this life.

"I wonder if Ma Ying-jeou will be even more anxious when PHS phones appear in China?"

For some reason, Masato Takeshita suddenly had memories of Chow Yun-fat flash through his mind.

Speaking of which, when Pony Ma first graduated from university, he was full of ambition and immediately wanted to start his own business.

After investigating Huaqiangbei, I discovered that the computer assembly business I wanted to pursue was being done by people with only elementary school educations.

The key is that these people are quick and sharp, and do a much better job than him.

So, Brother Ma obediently found a class to attend.

This company is called Runxun, and it's in the pager industry.

"How about we just recruit Brother Ma into Xinghai Software's special district branch?"

As a multinational giant, Xinghai Software naturally cannot limit its offices to Shanghai and Beijing. Xinghai Software has a presence in many of China's well-known cities.

If we can recruit Little Ma, it will be very beneficial to the company's future development.

"Hmm, no, let's recruit them from Xinghai Network's China branch instead."

After considering the main business of Xinghai Software's China branch, Masato Takeshita still thinks more highly of Pony Ma's development at Xinghai Network.

However, Xinghai Network will be very weak in the short term, and it's uncertain whether it can retain Pony Ma.

"Hmm, it should be fine. Little Ma noticed the rise of the internet a long time ago, and he's the kind of person who doesn't want to leave once he joins a company."

Starting a business was not an inevitable choice for Pony Ma.

When Pony Ma felt that ICQ had potential, he immediately suggested to the company that the project be developed, instead of doing it secretly on his own.

He believed that the pager industry had no future, and that the internet was the future.

Unfortunately, Runxun's leadership is too old to grasp the power of the internet. They remain complacent, believing the pager industry has at least several decades of future growth ahead.

Little Ma, a tech expert who foresaw the imminent decline of the pager industry, naturally didn't want to be dragged down with Runxun, which is why he chose to start his own business.

Even after starting his business, Pony Ma was still being pushed along by the tides of the times step by step.

They wanted to sell QICQ, the predecessor of QQ, but couldn't find a buyer.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to persevere, and as a result, he became the president of China's largest internet company.

"Okay, we'll signal Xinghai Network to poach them tomorrow."

Masato Takeshita doesn't plan to target Pony Ma directly, but instead tries to poach talent from Runxun.

In this way, no one will discover his specific target.

Then, after recruiting them and conducting a brief observation, they were directly promoted to the position of head of the QQ project in China.

Regarding QQ, Masato Takeshita still trusts Pony Ma's management skills more.

Once he becomes familiar with QQ, we could even promote him to the position of president of Xinghai Communications.

Just as Takeshita Masato was lost in thought, Yokoi Gunpei immediately kept quiet.

He doesn't like to be disturbed when he's thinking, and he thinks the chairman probably feels the same way.

About five minutes later, Masato Takeshita, who had thought everything through, finally came to his senses.

"Sorry, I just had a sudden inspiration and remembered something."

"No, I often do that too. When inspiration strikes, I naturally have to seize it."

Even knowing that his chairman was very approachable, Yokoi Gunpei was still surprised by the chairman's polite apology.

Because at Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi never apologizes to his employees.

He's like a monarch; his subordinates are always the ones who are wrong.

As for the other Japanese companies, they all had a similarly strict hierarchy.

Superiors are never wrong; subordinates are always the ones who are wrong.

Sometimes he wondered if his chairman was actually Japanese.

But if he's not Japanese, where else could he be from?

As for whether they were Chinese or not, he hadn't even considered it.

Because China is currently too weak compared to Japan.

If it weren't for US restrictions, even China's most relied-upon space and nuclear weapons sectors wouldn't be a match for Japan.

There's no way around it; the economic gap is just too big.

The economy is the foundation of everything; without a strong economy, other projects can only barely be sustained.

China itself is the most typical example.

After China's economy improved in its previous life, various advanced fighter jets and sophisticated warships emerged one after another.

The country that was once bullied in the South China Sea can now stand up to the world's number one power, the United States, and even gain the upper hand in some areas.

After arriving in China, Masato Takeshita quickly wrote down his ideas on his computer and then had his employees recruit people through the Huiduo website.

Yes, Masato Takeshita quickly abandoned the idea of ​​poaching Jun-shun and instead chose to poach talent through the internet.

Although Masato Takeshita's internet cafes in China boosted the growth of Chinese internet users, the price of over 5 yuan per hour still kept the vast majority of Chinese people out of the country.

Therefore, those who can access the internet are basically China's elite.

Xinghai Communications, and even Xinghai Networks, are recruiting here.

Not only can it conceal the true purpose, but it can also attract more talent.

For example, Ding Sanshi was an active figure on the internet at that time.

For example, Lei Jun and Pony Ma even personally established Huiduo.com.

However, Ding Sanshi already has the idea of ​​resigning to start his own business, so it is basically impossible for him to be successfully poached.

Perhaps we should wait until he takes the initiative to start his own business and then invest in him.

After completing the document, Masato Takeshita immediately sent it to Lei Jun.

He is currently the head of Xinghai Software in China and also manages Xinghai Network.

Yes, at that time, Xinghai Network was very weak in Japan, so it would not set up a separate company in China.

Not only is Lei Jun the top person in charge, but his office is also located with Xinghai Software.

As for their status, nominally they are equal.

In reality, Xinghai Network is just a small branch of Xinghai Software.

That's why he was able to place Little Ma in the position of head of Xinghai Communications without causing controversy.

Of course, everything at this point is just his plan. If Little Ma's feelings for Runxun are too strong and he doesn't come, then all his plans will have to be temporarily shelved.

When Pony Ma feels the pager industry is in trouble, he'll have Xinghai Network poach talent.

"Poaching elites from China's internet industry, with a focus on Huiduo.com?"

Upon receiving the email from Masato Takeshita, Lei Jun immediately sat up straight.

He quickly realized the enormous benefits of doing so.

These are all elites in China's internet industry. If we can acquire them all, our company can definitely develop much faster.

"As expected of the president, he is always ahead of us."

"They even have a very good understanding of the trends in the Chinese internet."

At this moment, Lei Jun's admiration for Takeshita Masato was even stronger, somewhat similar to the status that Steve Jobs held in his heart in his previous life.

After carefully reading the email several times and finding no problems, Lei Jun replied to Takeshita Masato.

The content was simple: besides preparing to execute the order, it was also an expression of admiration for him.

Afterwards, he immediately convened a high-level leadership meeting to inform everyone of his chairman's instructions.

"That's right, everyone should use their connections to recruit as many people as possible."

"The chairman said that the group can accommodate any number of people."

The winds of the American internet will soon blow across the world, and then a global war for programmers will erupt.

Only by taking the lead can Xinghai Group expand its first-mover advantage worldwide.

Yes, the whole world.

Masato Takeshita is not only planning to recruit people in China, but also in other parts of the world.

Recruiting one more elite talent means one more opportunity for development.

As for whether other companies will poach our employees, that's not the point.

Because Masato Takeshita was confident that he could retain most of the talent.

It's just about giving away shares; Xinghai Group will have similar plans.

(End of this chapter)