Chapter 223
Chapter 223
Chairman Im Jin-yong said.
“In the meantime, Korean conglomerates have grown through the fast-follower strategy of quickly following new products and technologies. And since about 10 years ago, China has been rapidly chasing advanced countries in this way.”
The problem is that it goes too far and is notorious for copycats. Chinese automakers openly copied the designs and technologies of famous luxury cars, and IT companies also copied NPL and Seosung Electronics.
Patents exist to prevent that, but Chinese companies didn’t even care. Even when a company whose patent was infringed protested, the Chinese government took the side of its own company.
The reason China can emerge in this way is because it is supported by a huge domestic market.
By ignoring patents, it saves R&D expenses and dominates the domestic market with low prices as a weapon. Then, it is a pattern to grow in size and target the foreign market. (At this time, we have already secured enough patents based on our experience.)
“Hardware can be imitated to some extent, but quality cannot be imitated. Even if we copy the same, won’t we be able to match the unit price?”
The reason NPL orders parts from its competitor, Seosung Electronics, is that there is only Seosung Electronics that can produce a quality product at that price.
“It will be a different story if the Chinese government comes forward.”
The Chinese government has announced that it will become an automobile and is sparingly investing in electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles.
In order to grow domestic companies, they use various tricks such as forcing the establishment of joint ventures with local companies when entering foreign companies, subsidizing only batteries made by domestic companies, and excluding batteries from Korean companies from subsidy payments.
However, since China’s domestic market is so wide, companies have no choice but to follow the government’s policies with a cry and eating mustard.
I laughed bitterly.
“After all, the key is data.”
Billions of people around the world search on Google every day, and the data becomes the property of Google. This is also true of MS in the PC OS market, AMZ in the online shopping market, and Face Note in the SNS market.
Once you have a monopoly position, you can continue to widen the gap so competitors can’t keep up.
While other vendors collect data from hundreds of test vehicles, Karos can collect data from hundreds of thousands of cars on the market. And it acts as a kind of moat that other companies are hard to follow.
Although the seeming technology can be copied any number of times, the data must be acquired through experience.
Anyway, as the saying goes that imitation is the mother of creation, if we copy hard, one day we will come to where we are.
“I have to run hard not to catch up.”
Chairman Im Jin-yong nodded his head.
“My father said that in order for a company to survive, it must constantly innovate and grow, but now I think I understand what it means. In the past, it was said that if you sleep, you will fall behind, but now if you sleep, it is the end.”
As such, the industrial flow has accelerated to the extent that it is difficult to compare with the past.
I said with a smile.
“That’s what the Red Queen said.”
Again, he knew right away.
“From Alice in Wonderland.”
Lewis Carroll’s main occupation is a math professor and mathematician (who was also a famous photographer). Perhaps that’s why his books often talk about math and logic.
The most famous of these is the Red Queen’s Hypothesis.
The Red Queen must run with all her might to stay in place. This is because everything around you moves together.
So, in order to get ahead of others, you have to run like crazy.
In business administration, it is used to mean that if a company does not develop, it regresses, and innovation is necessary to stay ahead.
In fact, there are not one or two companies that have fallen behind and disappeared without realizing it.
“Are there any problems with parts production?”
“We are working hard at our Suwon plant to meet the quantity demanded by Karos.”
In business, timing is important. No matter how well it sells, if production does not support it, it’s a bummer. In the meantime, other competitors may come in.
Fortunately, Karos and Seoseong Electronics have invested at the right time. If it wasn’t, it would have been a rush to build factories and expand facilities right now.
“Are you enjoying the car you gave me as a gift?”
“of course. I like both of them very much.”
Ellie loves Ferrari so much that she even washes her own car.
Hyun-joo’s older sister mostly rides an S-Class Maybach driven by a secretary, but sometimes she enjoys driving the Aventador after work.
Looking at this, a good car seems to make people’s hearts happy. We should make a car like that.
After a while, a man came up to the president’s room.
Chairman Im Jin-yong introduced him to me.
“This is President Myung-Ho Myung, who will be in charge of the electronics division this time.”
Age is about early 50’s. His cool bald head is impressive for his small stature. On the other hand, his side hair was comparatively voluminous.
“It’s famous. I wish you all the best in the future, CEO Kang Jin-hoo.”
“I’m begging you.”
We shook hands.
As for the battlefield department, there are many things to see face to face in the future as we work directly with Karos.
“Let’s go eat. How about the cafeteria?”
“good.”
Still, I wanted to take a look.
The cafeteria of Seoseong Group is famous for being as good as any other specialty restaurant. It is also a trend these days for companies to pay attention to cafeterias. Employee welfare is also welfare, and it means to eat well and work hard.
In fact, there are studies that show that companies with good cafeterias are more productive.
We headed to the cafeteria together.
Seoseong Town consists of a total of four buildings, and the basement is connected as one. About 25,000 employees of affiliates, including electronics, work here. It was lunch time, so the restaurant was already full of staff.
When we arrived, the staff were astonished.
After all, how many times will ordinary employees see the president? Also in the cafeteria.
Of course he recognized my face. There were only employees, so I didn’t take out my phone and take pictures. Still, there are some sneaky people out there.
The menu was varied, including Korean, Japanese, Western, and Chinese food.
“What is the price?”
“Employees are free. 5,000 won for employees of subcontractors who visited for work. Outsiders are not accepted. It could cause damage to the surrounding area.”
“… … .”
So do I have to pay 5,000 won too?
Chairman Im Jin-yong took out his wallet and said.
“Since you’ve come all the way here, I’ll shoot the rice.”
We stood in line with plates. No matter how busy the president is, he must follow the order of eating.
Chairman Im Jin-yong naturally greeted the employees standing in the front and back of the line.
“Are there any difficulties in your company life?”
Then, the staff spoke with one voice.
“There is not.”
“So much fun.”
“All the bosses are nice.”
I suddenly remember that the division commander who visited my battalion while in the military asked me as a private soldier if there were any difficulties in military life.
At that time, I answered the same way. (Actually, I wanted to answer ‘Now is the most difficult time’)
As I have felt before, Chairman Im Jin-yong seems to like this kind of surprise unexpectedly.
According to Taek-gyu, he seems to have a bit of a scoundrel… … Is it true?
We packed the food we wanted to eat and moved to find an empty seat.
“Do you have a seat here?”
“Yes. sit down… … Ugh!”
The employee, who nodded without thinking while eating, saw Chairman Im Jin-yong and almost spit out the grain of rice in his mouth.
We sat down and ate.
All of the employees around them look like they can’t digest. It would be strange to wake up without eating though.
Still, the atmosphere wasn’t too bad.
Everyone glanced at us as if they were curious.
I watched the staff while eating. Most of them are young employees in their 20s and 40s, and I also saw new employees who looked my age.
Men will soon be knocking on the door of employment because of the military, but some of the female classmates are already employed.
“Why?”
“If it wasn’t for Taek-gyu, I think I would have gotten a job somewhere.”
Chairman Im Jin-yong smiled.
“But now you are the CEO of a large company.”
Looking at the staff filling the cafeteria, I think it’s clear how many jobs companies are creating.
The industry has a greater job-inducing effect than finance.
Although OTK Company has only a few dozen full-time employees, it employs tens of thousands of employees through subsidiaries that own shares.
Thinking that the livelihoods of people I’ve never seen before are in my hands, I feel like I can’t digest it.
* * *
We rented the Grand Dayton Hotel Royal Suite and had a small party.
The cost of a night’s stay alone is 15 million won. Still, I got it at Golden Gate, so I got a 30% discount.
When I picked up Armand de Brignac, people applauded. We filled our champagne glasses and then toasted.
On one side, light refreshments ordered from the hotel were prepared, and Taek-gyu ordered pizza and chicken separately.
Hyun-joo’s older sister asked while smoking.
“There were people looking forward to the listing. Don’t you think?”
Most startups dream of going public. Once small start-ups, NPL, Guble, and FaceNote were also listed and reborn as giant companies.
The reason for being listed is that the company’s value is properly evaluated and it is easier to raise funds than when it is unlisted.
There are not only advantages. When listed, financial statements, quarterly results, and investment plans must be transparently disclosed to protect investors.
“Do you really need to?”
With the success of the new car, the flow of funds is smooth and the development cost is sufficient. If you need more money, you can issue bonds, but there is no reason to go public.
“How much will I get if I list Karos on the NASDAQ?”
Hyunjoo noona answered my question.
“If you’re in the current mood, you can get 200 billion dollars.”
A company bought for $88 million has grown to $200 billion in just a few years. Of course, tens of billions of dollars have been poured out in the meantime.
I asked again.
“What if the OTK Research Institute succeeds in commercializing next-generation batteries?”
Hyun-joo’s older sister put her finger on her forehead.
“I’ll have to think about that. First of all, it will definitely exceed $300 billion.”
The reason Nikola, who can’t sell less than 100,000 units a year, surpassed GM’s market cap, which sells millions of units, is due to the expectation that it will dominate the electric vehicle market in the future.
The potential of the electric vehicle market is huge.
Currently, electric vehicle sales are less than one-tenth that of internal combustion engine vehicles.
However, the end of the internal combustion locomotive that led the last century is only a matter of time. And that time is approaching faster than everyone expected.
Competitors are not alone. You probably didn’t even care about Karos before, but from now on, the check will be in full swing.
I said while drinking champagne.
“The battle over who will win will begin now.”
* * *(Read more @ wuxiax.com)
In the midst of busy schedules, familiar faces came to the OTK Company headquarters.
Faceit CEO Toby Strong and COO Gerard Bacon.
“welcome.”
We met after a long time and greeted each other warmly.
Toby said smirk.
“I saw it while walking, there are many beautiful women in Korea. It’s amazing.”
It was the first time the two had visited the headquarters.
I stopped by on the way back from a business trip to Japan. The reason for the business trip is to meet with Japanese AV companies.
This time, they met with J1, SOB, ECC, and Modiz to discuss content supply.
Faceit has emerged as the strongest player in the porn market not only in the United States but also around the world. That’s why they held a grand party to welcome the two of them.
It wasn’t just a party, it was a pool party where they rented the entire pool and played various games with dozens of AV actors in bikinis.
They both look very happy for some reason, is that because of that?
As soon as this fact became known, the two became idols of the Yangdeoks (?) again.
It is said that virtue among virtues is virtue… … .
I asked both of them.
“How is Cainfotainment going?”
Autonomous driving frees people from driving. Drivers need something to enjoy while on the go, and that’s car infotainment.
Currently, Faceit is preparing to advance into car infotainment through the know-how it has accumulated in the porn industry.
Toby nodded his head.
“We are negotiating with content companies and proceeding step by step. Rather, I would like to receive funding.”
“What happened?”
Faceit’s sales and profits continue to grow. However, the money earned was reinvested in the production of its own pornography and VR pornography, so the reserve was not much.
“We are about to acquire Dancing Rabbit.”
“What is that company doing?”
Toby and Gerrard were bewildered at my question.
“Don’t you two know that famous company?”
“Have you ever used a product before? The product there is good.”
“So what are you doing?”
said Toby.
“It is the 2nd largest adult product company in the United States.”
“Ah… … .”
Are you going to buy an adult product company?
