Chapter 508: The Rapid Development of KFC

Inside a meeting room at RCA headquarters:
Thomson told the several people around him about the entire conversation he had with his Hong Kong partner, and finally said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the situation. Eric Young has agreed to cooperate with us in building a factory in Hong Kong;

But he also wants to buy the patent and production line of LCD panels, what should you do? "

The white man at the head of the group asked curiously, "Why do the Japanese and Hong Kong people want to buy LCD technology? Could it be that LCD has commercial uses that we don't know about?"

Several other people also agreed with this issue. No one is a fool. It is impossible to buy something that has no commercial use.

Thomson said: "But no matter which company they are, they are unwilling to tell us what to do after purchasing the LCD, so our question is whether to sell it or not?"

The leading man thought for a moment and said, "What do you think?"

"I don't think I should sell it. Since they all want to buy it, it must have a use. It won't make much money anyway, so it's better to keep it."

"I think we should sell it. It's useless to us. If they have commercial uses, then even if they do it first, we can still participate later. And if it has commercial uses, it can promote the development of the LCD industry. Maybe one day, we can really make a TV that can be hung on the wall."

"I think"

Everyone expressed their opinions. The leading man listened for a while, and when the scene gradually quieted down, he said, "From the looks of everyone, you are still willing to sell. I feel the same way. As long as there is a market for LCD, it can promote global companies to jointly develop.
We can no longer compete with Japan in the field of cathode ray tubes, but if liquid crystal can be made into televisions, it will be a new technology route. In terms of liquid crystal research, the United States and even RCA are far stronger than Japan, so this will be our opportunity."

Seeing that the big boss has said so, others will naturally have no objection;
What they sell are just the production patents of liquid crystals, but many core research patents are still in their hands. Various discoveries and technologies of liquid crystals are also in American laboratories and universities. Japan has no research in this area at all, and this is its advantage.

Thomson said, "Then I will tell Eric the news right away. The price of the patent still needs to be discussed, and the result may not come out soon."

"That's okay. It may take ten years for LCD to be made into TVs. There's no rush." The leader said, "The most important thing right now is the factories in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We need to take advantage of the lower labor costs in these places than in Japan to produce products that are lower priced and higher quality than Japanese brands. This way we can better compete."

"Okay." Thomson agreed.

Waldorf Astoria, New York:
Wang Zhiqun and Lin Youcheng came to the swimming pool where Yang Wendong was. After the boss came up, he said, "Mr. Yang, Thomson has sent us a message that the patents and production lines for LCD panels can be sold."

"That's good." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "You Qi, you should arrange your team to follow up on these two matters now. One is the cooperation with RCA, and the other is the investment in Moore and Noyce. Reach an agreement with them as soon as possible."

No matter how fast the cooperation is discussed, it is impossible to complete it in a few days, and Yang Wendong cannot stay in the United States forever, so after he is responsible for confirming the intention, he will hand over the follow-up matters to his subordinates. He will stay in Hong Kong, just wait for news and then confirm it.

Except for the investment in Hong Kong which may be a little larger, the other two amounts will not be very high. No matter how powerful Intel will be in the future, it doesn't even have a garage now, and it doesn't need much money for investment. The same is true for LCDs now. They have no practical use, and the patent fees will not be much higher.

Lin Youcheng agreed and said, "Okay."

"That's it." Yang Wendong added, "Let's go to the KFC on Boston Avenue this afternoon. Sanders is waiting for us there."

Although there will be many cutting-edge technology companies in the United States in the future, most of them were born in the 70s. Some, such as HP and Texas Instruments, appeared very early and have now reached a certain scale, so they are not suitable for his investment.

Therefore, apart from Intel, he has no plans to invest too much in technology in the United States for the time being;
As for traditional industries, such as cola and even oil giants, investing in them is definitely worthwhile, but the cost-effectiveness is still not as good as that in Hong Kong and some parts of Asia, and they are relatively remote and difficult to control, so they are not considered.

KFC is one of his few industries in the United States. In recent years, KFC has developed well in the United States with his own investment. This time he has a rare visit to the United States, so naturally he needs to meet with Sanders.

Lin Youqi smiled and said, "Okay, KFC food is good to eat occasionally."

In the afternoon, Yang Wendong and his group arrived at the KFC store on Boston Avenue in New York. Sanders was waiting at the door early. "Hello, Sanders." Yang Wendong said with a smile and shook hands.

"Hi, boss." Sanders also smiled and said, "Welcome to the largest KFC store in the United States."

Yang Wendong looked ahead and nodded, "It is indeed very large. How big is this area?"

Sanders said: "It's a total of 4500 feet (about 500 square meters). This KFC store is owned by us."

"Self-owned? I remember you didn't own a store in a busy area before?" Yang Wendong asked as he walked in.

Sanders explained: “That was because we didn’t have enough funds before, so we had no choice but to hold on to some properties that had no repeat customers. In fact, we were closing them one by one at that time;
Now that we have enough funds, we mainly open stores in urban areas of various cities. We will not consider opening stores in rural areas for the time being. As for urban areas, we mostly adopt the franchise strategy. Only some brand stores in big cities are completely self-sustaining as they serve as a symbol of the brand. ”

"I see." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "The amount of funds is different, so the operating model is naturally different."

In the history, KFC had always been living a hard life before it was acquired by Yum! Brands (a brand under PepsiCo) in the 80s. After finally making some money, the money was taken away by the head office to support other industries, resulting in the waste of more than ten years of golden time for expansion. It was then surpassed by McDonald's and other brands. Having missed the opportunity, it was difficult to catch up. Later, it relied on the mainland market to make a comeback.

Now that Yang Wendong has invested, he is naturally willing to pay. Anyway, a lot of the profits that Changxing Industrial earns in the United States are in US dollars. A lot of taxes will have to be paid if this money is withdrawn. It is better to invest in KFC. More importantly, if he only makes money in the United States without spending money or investing, then in the long run, nothing good will come of it.

Changxing Group’s investments in several European countries are actually based on this consideration.

After several people entered the KFC store, Sanders took them around the store, ordered some food, and sat at a window seat.

Soon, the food came up. Yang Wendong took a bite and praised, "It tastes good. This fried chicken is really delicious no matter where you eat it."

There are now KFCs in Hong Kong and even some Asian countries. A lot of the food there has been localized and tested, which is very different from the United States; but the similarity is that fried chicken is popular everywhere, and at most the taste may be different.

Sanders laughed and said, “I chose roasted chicken as my business direction because of this reason: no one would refuse chicken, and frying is very fast;

For fast-paced working countries like Europe and the United States, making food is fast; and for some poor countries, this kind of food is very nutritious. "

"Yes, so I am also very optimistic about KFC's expansion in Asia." Yang Wendong smiled and asked: "Sanders, how is KFC developing in the United States now?"

Sanders was naturally prepared and replied: “KFC now has 1100 stores in the United States. The expansion has been very fast in recent years. Last year, a total of 238 stores were added, and this year it is estimated that there will be about 270 more stores;
In terms of personnel, I am also training a large number of employees for new stores, which will facilitate franchisees to operate quickly. As long as there is sufficient capital, the speed of expansion will get faster and faster every year. "

"There are no quality issues, right?" Yang Wendong asked again.

With the profits of several products of Changxing Industrial in the US market, it is possible to come up with several million dollars a year, which is enough to support KFC. KFC itself is also a high-quality asset and may be able to make a profit after one or two years of operation. With Yang Wendong's guarantee, American banks will certainly be willing to lend, especially Citibank, which has cooperated with Yang Wendong in Asia.

However, in the chain food industry, the risk of expanding too quickly is quality issues. This is something that people have to eat. If a large number of people are poisoned, the entire brand may be ruined. This is a risk that must be taken seriously.

Sanders replied: “Don’t worry about this, Eric. We have invested more in quality. Now, my eight chicken processing bases in the United States have strict various bacteria tests;
Each store will also specifically check the hygiene of the meat, and will select some and fry it to eat to see if there are any problems. Because there is sufficient funding, it is easier to invest in quality. "

"That's good. Continue to expand in the United States according to your ideas." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Sanders, KFC is now available in Asia and the United States. Do you think Europe needs it? They should like it too, right? There are also many fried chicken restaurants in Europe, but there are no large chain brands."

"Europe will definitely like it," Sanders said, "but I don't have the energy to manage Europe. If I want to invest in Europe, I have to set up a special team, preferably Europeans, so that they can learn and operate according to the situation in Europe."

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(End of this chapter)

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