Chapter 478 White Appliance Business

Chapter 478 White Appliance Business

Chapter 478 White Appliance Business
March soon came, and the decline of Hong Kong real estate and the stock market continued. Changxing Real Estate and Changxing Finance worked together to collect information from all sides, but they had not invested much money yet. Only some properties with particularly excellent positions could be considered.

With the current scale of Changxing Group, once it goes out of business, it may cause fluctuations. This is what Yang Wendong needs to avoid now. After mid-67, many people will panic sell their assets. At that time, it will not have much impact no matter who goes out of business.

On the 15th, Yang Wendong arrived at a large factory in North Point, Hong Kong Island.

At the door, as soon as Yang Wendong got off the car, he saw a truck loading goods in front. A large number of packaged televisions were being loaded onto the truck one by one.

"Mr. Yang." Wang Zhiqun from Honor Electronics came forward.

Yang Wendong nodded, then asked, "Are those TVs for export?"

Wang Zhiqun said: "Yes, these are exported to the Philippines. They will soon be sent to the warehouse of Changxing Shipping and then directly to the Philippine port."

"Do we have after-sales service there?" Yang Wendong asked.

It is easy to sell electrical appliances, but it is difficult to build after-sales channels. This is a problem that many industries have. The more complex the product, the more difficult it is to expand the channel.

Wang Zhiqun said: "After-sales service is entrusted to local companies in several cities. The current sales in many Southeast Asian countries seem to be okay, but they are too scattered and we cannot do after-sales service ourselves."

"Well, that's normal. Without scale, neither the supply chain nor the sales chain can be established." Yang Wendong also said.

Just like some small car brands in the past, only provincial capital cities had 4S stores, so how many cars could be sold? The same is true for after-sales service, so the sales of Volkswagen and Toyota are getting better and better, while those with monthly sales of tens of thousands are getting worse and worse. If it weren't for the rise of domestic electric cars and the huge changes in demand, otherwise, this situation would be almost impossible to break.

Wang Zhiqun said: "Yes, the production capacity of televisions is still expanding. If we can capture a part of the Southeast Asian black-and-white TV market, we can gradually increase after-sales and sales points."

"How is the cost control going? What other problems are there in localization?" Yang Wendong asked again.

Wang Zhiqun said: "Basically, I have requested that everything that can be made in Hong Kong be produced in Hong Kong. For some things that cannot be produced, I have also found suitable companies in Taiwan, invested in them and let them supply the products, or we invested ourselves and bought equipment from Japan.

We are still optimizing costs, but I think there is not much room left. We are not able to produce many metals and glass ourselves at the moment, and it is not cost-effective at our scale. "

"Metal and glass?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Industrial steel and special glass, right? Hong Kong does not have the industrial production capacity in this area."

There are steel mills in Hong Kong, but they do not produce steel. Instead, they dismantle ships and melt the steel on them to make steel for construction or to continue using them on ships. However, the technology is not very strong, so they can basically only make steel scraps.

We do have glass factories, and Hong Kong produces its own beverage glass bottles and building glass, which can also be exported, but these glasses are different from the glass used in televisions.

Wang Zhiqun said: "Yes, it is not cost-effective to invest in these two heavy industries for our own production capacity. It requires too much capital. Moreover, the price of our TV sets is already very cost-effective in Southeast Asia. It's just that brand building and channels will take a long time."

"Okay, let's do this for now. We can invest more money in advertising and marketing this year. As long as the TV brand is established, our refrigerators, washing machines and even air conditioners will benefit from it in the future." Yang Wendong followed.

If a brand's product is successful, it can drive other products. Although the ultimate success of electrical appliances depends on cost-effectiveness, technology, etc., high brand recognition can also be of great help.

"Yes." Wang Zhiqun added: "Mr. Yang, the washing machine and refrigerator we developed have also passed the test and are currently in the laboratory. Let's go and take a look together."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded.

The purpose of coming here this time is to take a look at the washing machines and refrigerators that Honor Electronics is about to launch.

Everyone soon arrived at a large laboratory, which contained many devices that Yang Wendong did not recognize. Fortunately, there were nameplates on the equipment, allowing them to directly see the name, function, expiration date, etc.

"Mr. Yang, this is our washing machine." Wang Zhiqun pointed to a washing machine that was just over one meter tall and said, "Its maximum load is 7kg. It uses about 50L of water each time and takes about 30 minutes to finish washing. Then put the washed clothes directly into this small bucket for dehydration. It takes about 8 minutes for each dehydration. However, the small bucket is relatively small, so if there are a lot of clothes, it may take several times."

"Can't these be put together? Washed in a big bucket and then dehydrated?" Yang Wendong asked.

The washing machine in front of him was just like the one he had seen as a child in his previous life, with a large barrel for washing clothes and a small barrel for dehydration. However, after the 21st century, washing machines in mainland China began to combine the two into one. It is estimated that people born after the 90s have never seen this double-barrel washing machine.

Wang Zhiqun explained, "Mr. Yang, the kind of washing machine you mentioned does exist in Japan, but it is very expensive because the design has extremely high requirements for the torque and materials of the control motor below.

Although this double-barrel type looks larger and heavier, its cost is much lower. The most important thing is that we can produce the motor inside it ourselves.

At present, our electrical appliances are mainly positioned as cost-effective, so the market for low-cost washing machines will be even larger." "Have you considered the drum washing machines like those in Europe and the United States?" Yang Wendong asked again.

The washing machine with the opening facing upward is called a pulsator washing machine, which was invented by the Japanese in the 50s. Before that, washing machines were all drum-type, which was also the main type in Europe and the United States.

Wang Zhiqun replied: “Mr. Yang, the washing machine market in Europe and America is too competitive and relatively far away, so our initial target is still in Asia, and we may even have the opportunity to expand into Japan;
In Asia, pulsator washing machines are more suitable and cheaper. Although they are more damaging to clothes than drum washing machines, they are still acceptable.”

"So that's how it is." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "We produced the motor of this washing machine ourselves. What about the other parts?"

Wang Zhiqun said: "Most of them are produced by ourselves. The barrel, machine shell and pipes are made of plastic produced by Changxing Industry, the motors are produced by ourselves, and some metal structural parts are produced by Hong Kong hardware factories;
There are also a few wires, hoses and the like that we don’t need to make ourselves. We can just buy standard parts. These are imported and cannot be made in Hong Kong. The most valuable outsourced parts are the control switch relays inside. That is, our buttons or knobs control the circuits through these relays.”

"Relays? I know that too. We really can't make them." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Hong Kong can't make electric wires either?"

Wang Zhiqun replied: "There are wire factories in Hong Kong, but there were problems with the TVs before, so we dared not use them. Now we can only buy foreign ones. I will give some local companies in Hong Kong some opportunities in the future, or I will invest on my own."

"Quality issues?" Yang Wendong shook his head. "That's fine. Our requirement is to support local enterprises as much as possible, but if the quality is not good, then it won't work. You can invest on your own, too. It's up to you."

He basically doesn't care about these small matters. For example, he requires a type of subsidiary under his control to control the entire industrial chain, which may involve hundreds of companies. As for whether to invest in these supply chain companies, how much to invest, to acquire them, or to simply enter the market themselves, these are all decided by the subordinate departments. They only need to report some progress every month, and if the numbers are not large, he will not care too much.

"Okay." Wang Zhiqun agreed and then said, "Mr. Yang, do you want to test the effect?"

"Okay, you can find a dirty work suit and try it on." Yang Wendong agreed.

Soon, someone prepared everything, poured the ingredients into the washing machine and turned it on, and the machine started working.

Wang Zhiqun said again: "Mr. Yang, this will take a long time. Let's go check the refrigerator."

"Yeah," Yang Wendong nodded, and quickly came to a refrigerator next to him. The machine was already turned on. When he opened the door, Yang Wendong felt a cold temperature.

"How much electricity does this consume in a day?" Yang Wendong asked.

Wang Zhiqun said: "If it is summer, we need about 3 kWh of electricity a day, and it will be much less in winter."

"3 degrees is not a small amount." Yang Wendong said.

The further back in time, the more expensive the electricity bill becomes. One reason is the technology, and the other is that fewer people use electricity, making it impossible to spread the cost. European and American countries may be better off, but Asia is not so good. Even Japan itself lacks energy, and electricity bills are not cheap.

Wang Zhiqun said: "This is the general technology now. I heard that there are some top-level compressors with better insulation materials that can reduce power consumption, but these refrigerators are too expensive."

"Well, what about our compressor and insulation materials?" Yang Wendong also asked.
The technological problems of the times cannot be solved in the short term, especially those involving basic materials science. Even if you are a time traveler, you can only follow the social foundation.

Wang Zhiqun replied: "These are all imported. We can't make the compressor, and the same goes for the insulation materials. These two things account for more than half of the cost of the refrigerator."

"Can they compete with Japanese brands in other countries?" Yang Wendong asked again.

In the Southeast Asian market, Honor Electronics' biggest competitor is Japanese products. At this era, European and American electrical appliance brands are also sold in Asia, but in very small quantities. On the contrary, Japan almost assumes that Asia is their private domain for various products, which is true to a certain extent. It is estimated that many high-tech industrial products in Asia can only be produced by Japan.

Wang Zhiqun said: "There is a certain chance, because Japanese brands are high-priced, including televisions, which are ridiculously expensive. Only rich people in the local area can afford them;
We are competing in a different market, and our main potential buyers are the middle class with a little money.”

"Okay, then we'll sell it in Hong Kong first." Yang Wendong said, "Once we've achieved success in the Hong Kong market, we'll move into other Asian markets."

Looking back at the period after the reform and opening up in China, the prices of various Japanese electrical appliances were indeed ridiculously expensive. A radio could be equivalent to a year's salary for an average worker, and a better TV could even buy half a house in some major cities.
Of course, the same is true for industrial products in other countries. On the one hand, tariffs are heavy, and on the other hand, it is the tragedy of agricultural countries that although they are poor, prices are higher, and even agricultural products are expensive.

The high welfare in developed countries is actually essentially to take advantage of the industrial scissors gap to earn huge wealth from developing countries.

Wang Zhiqun agreed and said, "Okay, our products have long been used by people within Changxing Group, and there are no problems at the moment. They will be sold in Carrefour in about a week."

"Okay, then I'll wait for your good news." Yang Wendong nodded.

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(End of this chapter)