I am a master in India

Chapter 373 Special Methods
"Boss, VCDs have very low awareness in India. If we want people to accept them, we need a unique reason."

“What are you trying to say?” Ron glanced at him sideways.

“Mumbai has many private television stations, and one category in particular has extremely loyal subscribers!”

"Ok?"

"Adult movies shown every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday night!"

"Wow, you're always up to no good."

Ron looked at him as if he were seeing him for the first time, and the others in the conference room laughed.

"This idea wasn't mine," Ashish explained, his face flushed.

“I think it’s something you’re capable of,” Ron said, unconvinced.

“It’s Anand!” Ashish denied it outright.

Ron paused, then said, "You know what, that's possible."

"It's a good idea, but it's not suitable for Suer Electric to operate; it would be too beneath them."

"Boss, you also think this kind of film will be a hit, don't you? TV stations are too rigid and inflexible. With VCDs, people can watch it however they want."

Most importantly, the discs are cheap. I asked my colleagues at the University of Tokyo, and the cost of pressing one of these discs is only a few rupees.

Those videotapes, they cost hundreds of rupees at a time. Aside from office workers, nobody's going to spend that much money on something they've only watched once and then have no use for.

Ashish's analysis is correct; the biggest advantage of VCDs compared to videotapes is that discs are cheap enough.

The playback devices for both are actually about the same price, with the VCR even being more expensive.

The videotapes used for playback are also generally expensive because copying them is cumbersome.

In terms of mass production, VCDs far surpass the former; the comparison is not even in the same order of magnitude.

What's particularly remarkable is that disc burning doesn't require a proper factory; a single burner can handle it all.

In other words, even street vendors can burn CDs and become content producers, regardless of copyright.

This is the most powerful aspect of VCDs, and the reason why they were able to quickly replace videotapes.

“What you said makes a lot of sense, but Suer Electric only needs to be responsible for VCDs.” Ron still didn’t budge.

"Boss, how can VCDs be popular without movie discs?" Ashish asked anxiously.

“Sun TV has tens of thousands of movies in its copyright library, and we can also negotiate with Bollywood. We’ll get a batch of free DVDs to include with VCDs, and leave the rest to the market.”

"Huh?" Ashish asked, puzzled.

“The content needs the participation of the general public, so let’s not interfere.” Ron gave him a look.

Ashish gradually realized that they weren't copyright holders and didn't have enough content to support their claims.

Although SunTV can help to some extent, their copyright is limited and cannot meet the needs of a huge population.

What to do then? Piracy!
Those street vendors, videotape dealers, and gangsters who spend years on the streets have the keenest sense of smell.

They'll flock to any business that's profitable.

Just like Johnny's New Union, they're still selling adult film copies for 500 rupees each!
The extremely strong market demand has created a continuous stream of wealth for the new federation over the past two years.

With just a word from Ron, Johnny could get this business off the ground in no time.

In the past, they also sourced movie copies from other places, such as overseas.

It's unclear how many hands it changed hands in between, and the profits were naturally divided up layer by layer.

VCDs are much simpler; you just need to buy a few burners, and you can decide what movies you want to make.

The New Federation guarantees 100% willingness to take on this kind of business that controls the source of distribution channels.

Bollywood movies, foreign movies, adult movies—do whatever you want.

They are also well-suited to doing these shady businesses, without having to worry about copyright issues at all.

Suer Electric Appliances is not a suitable candidate for this; they are a legitimate high-tech company, and doing something like this would be beneath their dignity.

Wow, I have to say, the boss is really thoughtful.

"For pressing genuine CDs, we can ask the University of Tokyo for help. They have a mature supply chain and low costs. For CDs from unofficial channels, we can import CD burners from Japan."

“Understood, boss, I know what to do.” Ashish’s eyes darted around.

With the release of Suer Electric's two most important new products this year, Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

Pagers themselves don't generate much profit, but they are an important part of the strategy to expand into the telecommunications industry.

With its domestic brand name, it's likely to become mainstream, if not booming in the market.

Ron has this confidence, which is now the most dazzling label on Suer Electric.

Don't ask, the answer is simple: not buying it means you're not patriotic.

Populism in India is truly more prevalent than one could have imagined.

The brand Sull Electric has become a source of pride for many Indians.

When they travel abroad or introduce someone to their foreign friends, they will inevitably mention Sur.

In some states, during elections, voters can attack their opponents by claiming that the opponent's television set is an imported brand, not a Sullair brand.

Why do Indians like Tissul and regard it as a representative of their national product?
Simply put, it's cheap and easy to use.

Suer Electric's products inherit the excellent genes of Dongda University: they are sturdy, durable, and reasonably priced.

Many of the production lines were built by people from Dongda University, making them much more reliable than those from India.

But ordinary consumers don't know that after using Suer Electric's products, they are extremely satisfied with the quality and price.

Some people have even changed their opinion of "Made in India" because of this; the title of "shining example of Indian products" is recognized by the entire nation. Why don't other Indian brands receive this honor?
Ultimately, it's still a failure!
Many products are manufactured in small workshops; what quality can you expect from them?

A few of the larger brands have mediocre quality, but are too expensive.

Ultimately, only Suer Electric Appliances truly penetrated the mainstream consumer market.

The phrase "good quality at a low price" is most appropriate to describe it.

In particular, Suer Electric has been promoting itself for the past two years as being entirely self-developed, 100% controllable, and locally produced.
All these accolades combined make it a shining example of Chinese-made products.

Ron was confident that his pagers would open up a market, and that by bundling them with other products, he could also build a customer base for the newly established Indian mobile communications company.

A few years later, these pager users will be able to seamlessly switch to mobile phones.

Yes, it's still manufactured by Suer Electric and serviced by India Mobile.

This was his ultimate goal: to cultivate the mobile communications market starting from the pager era.

VCDs represent an exploration of the home audio-visual market, and home entertainment will become an emerging market trend in the future.

Suer Electronics will also launch new products such as audio equipment and microphones this year, all in preparation for the release of VCDs.

Suer Electric is also trying to develop other small items such as cameras and memory cards.

However, Ron didn't pay attention to these matters one by one; he left them entirely to his subordinates.

If things go well in the next few years, he plans to reorganize Suer Electric into different business units based on product categories.

White Goods Division: Water-cooled air conditioners, electric fans, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners.
Small Appliances Division: Rice cookers, juicers, microwave ovens, ovens.
Home Audio-Visual Division: Televisions, VCD players, stereos, microphones, laptops
Mobile Communications Division: Pagers, mobile phones, walkie-talkies, radios
That's roughly it; the product segmentation will gradually improve. Ron plans to start making adjustments from next year and complete the establishment of each business unit by the turn of the millennium.

After the meeting, Ron intended to go back and comfort little Nia.

But Ashish shamelessly claimed that his sister Raju missed Ron terribly lately and was even bedridden.

What could Ron say? He could only give Lazhu a few injections to inject some energy.

Since Kavia and Isa became pregnant, he has completely let himself go.

He didn't want umbrellas or anything like that; he wanted to shed his outer garments and be his true self.

Well, to get back to the point, after taking the boss to his sister's place, Ashish hurriedly headed home.

He still lives in the apartment on Mira Road, the house he bought for over 100,000 rupees.

The seemingly luxurious appearance of the buildings in the residential complex gives residents the illusion of living in luxury and being abroad.

The exoticism envisioned by the developers must be "luxurious," so the style is entirely imitation of Western designs.

Ordinary people in Mumbai may not need working appliances, running water around the clock, or wide, smooth roads, but they cannot lack grandeur or lose face.

Ashish bought the apartment here hoping to become a true member of the middle class, but the apartment doesn't hold up to close scrutiny.

The newly built walls are already leaking, and the low-rise buildings have elevator shafts but no elevators. People moving out of the slums for the first time can only afford the outward appearance of grandeur, and don't care about the actual practicality.

So be it if it's flashy but impractical. After all, building a good house takes much more time, effort, and money than actually building a house.

The community's Mumbai-style gate best reflects Mumbai's grandeur; just looking at the exterior, one would think the interior is incredibly spacious.

Even the tenement buildings in the city center have imposing, tall archways, but who would have thought that the rooms inside are actually as small as matchboxes?

The neighborhood has only one main road, and the young couple strolled along it, enjoying the gentle evening breeze.

As people emerge from the train station, their spirits are lifted. Looking westward, they see no buildings, only green grass, salt fields, and marshes.

Mumbai's western part is by the sea and is a popular destination, but the city's planning insists on expanding the suburbs eastward.

Despite the swarms of mosquitoes, the nights here are quiet because most of the residents—formerly slum dwellers—can no longer afford cars after buying houses, and the roads are in such bad condition that driving is impossible.

With Ashish's income, he could have bought a more upscale apartment in South Mumbai.

However, his extended family members live here, and he can't sever many ties with them.

Indians value family ties, and like Anand, they still live in slums and refuse to move out.

He passed by a large, long-silted-up pond, where countless mosquitoes swarmed, resembling a dense black cloud attacking pedestrians.

The vendor banged on a street lamp with all his might, and sure enough, the lamp lit up in response to the force.

The massive multi-building complexes are all named after their builder or their deceased close relatives.

The complex where Ashish's family lived began with "Chandresh": Chandresh Dashen Building, Chandresh Mandir Building, and Chandresh Chau Building where Ashish and his family lived.

Yes, Chandresh is the name of the developer.

Ashish knew this man; he was a BJP senator, and the two had even drunk together with Ron in Malabar.

A slogan is posted on the door of Ashish's new house: "If you don't love your country, you're not worthy of being human. If you don't use Sur appliances, you're not worthy of being Indian."

The first half of the slogan was written by his father, and the second half was naturally added by Ashish.

His father was a fervent patriot, and whenever he heard the national anthem played on television, he would order his family to stand up and pay their respects.

Even when the children are asleep, he will shake them awake. Only when they are sick can they be allowed to sit in bed without getting up.

Ashish and his friends are now adults, but this habit remains unchanged.

Before even entering the house, Ashish heard a commotion inside.

He knew that his cousin's family was visiting again; they lived in the same neighborhood.

That's perfect, Ashish was just looking for him.

The boss said the CD business is very promising.

He can choose not to do it, but he can do it for his family.

Ashish is a true Indian who doesn't let his own resources go unrewarded.

(End of this chapter)