1991 Starting from the core

Kutaragi Ken picked up the tea cup and drank it all in one gulp.

"Have fun, Susan!"

Su Yuanshan smiled and shook his head.

"How many global box office statistics are there?"

"It's approaching half a billion dollars, but the craze is still building. Even the best box office experts are now afraid to say how long it will last."

Kutaragi Ken was filled with emotions.

The paradoxical thing about this movie is that it completely breaks the existing common sense and rules, making those who are waiting to see its jokes become more than a joke, and it also makes people no longer dare to estimate its upper limit.

The simplest example is that in the past, North American box office has always accounted for the majority of global box office.

As a result, when discussing distribution rights, Sony Pictures gave 20th Century Fox a dilemma: either give up the North American box office, or package the global box office and DVD distribution rights.

After all, Sony did not help the poor in the past, but went there for the "possibility of making money." Since 20th Century Fox has captured the "guaranteed" market, it is only natural that it sells the DVD distribution rights to Sony, which ended up paying more than itself.

Of course, 20th Century Fox is not stupid and says that it can be given to you, but I will take 30% of the net profit share.

It is said that as soon as 20th Century Fox made this request, Sony Pictures almost fell out on the spot, but later had to persuade it to reduce it to 20%, and it would not continue if it could withdraw up to 50 million US dollars.

As a result, coupled with Netflix buying the digital rights and Sony bearing the publicity and distribution costs, 20th Century Fox finally breathed a sigh of relief.

——As long as the North American box office can reach 100 million, it can make back its money.

As for Sony...the first thing after getting the DVD distribution rights was to sell it to Netflix, allowing Dingxin Media to share the pressure.

After layer-by-layer apportionment, the current situation has become that the box office in the North American market belongs to 20th Century Fox, the global box office belongs to Sony Pictures, and the online and offline digital rights belong to Netflix.com.

And because Netflix is ​​jointly funded by Sony and Dingxin Media, this means that for this movie, which has the highest investment in history so far, all risks and profits ultimately fall on the three companies.

20th Century Fox, Sony, FarCore.

Now, the North American box office is just around the corner to exceed 100 million, which means that 20th Century Fox will be able to make back its money soon.

Excluding North America, the global box office has risen beyond the ordinary. Not only has it surpassed the North American box office for the first time, it has even exceeded it by a terrifying amount.

So much so that Sony Pictures has now recouped its investment!

…

"Experts can't predict, so I, an outsider, will give you a prediction." Su Yuanshan poured tea for Kutaragi Ken again, and said with a smile: "The global cumulative box office is more than 1.5 billion, and DVD is difficult to estimate, but it is definitely It will not be lower than the box office. You know, this is a movie destined to be recorded in film history and has great collection value."

Kutaragi Ken wiped his mouth, nodded and said, "Have you read it?"

"I've seen it." Su Yuanshan added in his heart, in the previous life.

Different from history, because Sony Pictures is responsible for global distribution, the domestic release time will be several months earlier, and the domestic release will be introduced after New Year's Day.

Now the domestic box office has reached 200 million yuan, and it is difficult to get a ticket in movie theaters to this day.

"There is no need to consider the box office. I guess 20th Century Fox is crying in the toilet right now." Su Yuanshan chuckled: "The two biggest profits are gone."

Kutaragi Ken shrugged: "Who made them timid? They deserve it!"

Su Yuanshan laughed.

After expressing gloating to 20th Century Fox, both parties quickly got down to business.

Kutaragi Ken came here this time, obviously not to express his admiration for Su Yuanshan's vision. .

The North American box office is certainly strong and remains the largest single box office market in the world.

But other markets also reveal possibilities that can be developed.

For example, mainland China.

"Susan, what is mainland China's policy towards cinemas now? Are they open to foreign investment?"

"As far as I know, the policy will be introduced next year at the latest and this year at the earliest." Su Yuanshan thought of the content of the call with Zhang Jianjun a few days ago and said with a smile: "The policy will probably be similar to other industries. Foreign investment must adopt a joint venture approach." It can’t exceed 49%, and then it will be dominated by domestic enterprises.”

//Note: The "Interim Regulations on Foreign Investment in Cinemas" promulgated in 2000 are the above regulations.

"These are all trivial matters." Ken Kutaragi waved his hand and did not consider this at all. For Sony, as long as it can enter the film market of a country with a population of 1.3 billion, it will have to pay high prices.

Su Yuanshan nodded: "Well, it's really a detail. The main thing is to do it quickly. Cinemas are closely related to real estate. Currently, the cost of building houses and the cost of land are in a relatively stable period, which is suitable for building investments."

Su Yuanshan said with emotion. Judging from the comparison of the box office of Titanic in history, the domestic box office is obviously higher than that in history.

This means that the country is getting a little richer.

These subtle manifestations may seem natural to others, but in Su Yuanshan's view, they are a positive effect obtained because of Yuanxin's intervention.

"Why doesn't Yuan Xin get involved in real estate?" Ken Kutaragi is a person who has experienced the Tokyo real estate bubble. In his opinion, the current housing prices in mainland China are still at a very reasonable level, and there is absolutely much potential for it.

"I'm not interested." Su Yuanshan shook his head and said, "Domestic real estate is involved in very deep waters. Yuanxin is in the technology field, so we can straighten our backs at all times. But once we get involved in real estate, sometimes we really have no choice."

"That's right." Kutaragi Ken knew very well how deep the water in the real estate industry was and nodded with a smile. Then he said: "Susan, if nothing else happens, Netflix will earn hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue just by releasing DVD discs. This large amount of money... It seems that the existing business cannot spend it. It is using To invest? Or to develop new business?"

"Build new business."

Su Yuanshan said without thinking.

“Don’t tell me that I can push internet media play now.”

"Haha, of course not." Su Yuanshan stood up and walked to the filing cabinet. After searching for a while, he took out a folder.

This is a patent specification in Chinese and English.

Su Yuanshan handed the document to Kutaragi Ken: "Look at this."

Kutaragi Ken opened the file and was immediately attracted by the patent name.

"A New Type of Digital TV Playback Equipment"

The device supports digital/analog signal conversion, allowing you to watch high-definition digital TV programs on an analog TV. It also supports a variety of Internet protocols and supports the decoding of streaming media.

In short, it is one and the first two-way IP set-top box that supports both traditional digital TV playback and network playback.

Kutaragi Ken looked at the patent description, and Su Yuanshan introduced: "This was an idea that a classmate of mine had long ago. After several revisions, the patent was finally completed."

The patent description is very clear. Even if Kutaragi Ken cannot understand the specific technology and protocols, understanding the functions is a piece of cake. He immediately realized that this set-top box was an ideal product that could satisfy both existing digital electronics and Internet access.

"Your undergraduate classmate?"

"Yes, I won the special prize in programming, and he won the special prize in electronic circuit design... He is a genius." Su Yuanshan nodded: "He will graduate with a master's degree soon, and now he has received an offer from Yuanxin in advance."

A smile appeared on Su Yuanshan's lips, thinking of the time when Sun Guoqiao was drawing pictures with a pencil alone.

Xin said that I also played a part in this thing.

…

The two parties quickly determined the future development direction of Netflix - which also reflects the control of the two behind-the-scenes BOSSs over their affiliated companies.

Sony Pictures has been developing in an extensive manner before, resulting in losses for many years. Now that Sony headquarters has stepped up its interference, the situation has suddenly turned around. Sony Pictures has to endure it no matter how unconvinced it is.

Not to mention Dingxin Media. The two major shareholders are Yang Yingying and Zhang Jianjun. They obey Su Yuanshan's advice. If they were not afraid of the trouble of going to Su Yuanshan, these two would probably even ask Su Yuanshan to "tell his fortune" on the date of the record release. .

Of course, Su Yuanshan is also clearly aware of the difficulty of popularizing two-way IP set-top boxes at this time.

The first hurdle to pass is network speed - although various countries have already laid out their plans for optical fiber communications, the most aggressive thing currently promoted by various telecom operators is ADSL network access, and the standards and equipment introduced by various operators are also diverse.

Regarding this, not long ago, some well-known operators and equipment providers have established an ADSL standards group dedicated to unifying ADSL standards.

In addition, VDSL technology, which is faster but has a relatively short transmission distance, is also under intensive research and development. This technology claims to be able to reach a rate of 52Mbps within 100 meters, and is most suitable for optical fiber access from residential areas to home terminals.

All in all, the future is bright, but it’s worth the wait.

And at home...

Well, for set-top boxes, Su Yuanshan is not considering the domestic market for the time being.

Even Yuanxin cannot afford to offend that department - after all, this involves television content, an extremely sensitive traditional propaganda position, so how can it be easily allowed for the private sector to get involved.

(Do you know why Shanda Box failed?)

…

The next day, Su Yuanshan took some time to return to the Electrical Engineering Department after a long absence.

Sun Guoqiao took the postgraduate entrance examination with Zhou Xingwen, another professor of electronic information engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering. His major was in signal and information processing, and he was a perfect match for set-top boxes.

"Professor Zhou." Su Yuanshan found Zhou Xingwen's office with ease.

"Hey, Professor Su is here?" Zhou Xingwen was also a "comrade" who worked on microcontrollers with his father. Now Professor Su Xinghe has been promoted all the way and is about to take over as the principal. Zhou Xingwen is also rising with the tide. It is estimated that the head of the department will not have to leave.

"Hey, you'd better call me Xiaoshan." Su Yuanshan held the door frame and saw Sun Guoqiao inside at a glance: "I'm here to see Guoqiao."

"Well, let's talk." Zhou Xingwen nodded, holding the documents and leaving the office to Su Yuanshan and his students.

Sun Guoqiao raised his head and saw Su Yuanshan. He was startled for a moment and then laughed. He stood up and said, "Professor Xiao Su..."

"Damn it, don't call him that." Su Yuanshan stopped him immediately: "I just want to ask, can we just talk about being friends as equals?"

"..." Sun Guoqiao was speechless for a while.

Frankly speaking, because he and Su Yuanshan each won the special prize at the beginning, he didn't think Su Yuanshan was so awesome... But with the rise of Yuanxin, and as Su Yuanshan's various deeds spread, especially with Su Yuanshan. After Su Yuanshan discussed circuit design face to face in the study room, he finally had a thorough understanding of his former "comrade-in-arms."

After struggling for a period of time, he began to correct his mentality and no longer deliberately resisted Yuanxin. He then received Yuanxin's scholarship very early and signed a work agreement.

"Then I'll call you Mr. Shan to the senior brothers. Besides, I always feel like I'm taking advantage of you when I call you Xiaoshan." Sun Guoqiao approached Su Yuanshan, shook his hand, and said with a smile, "Why are you here free today?"

"I found a good job for you." Su Yuanshan said with a smile.

"What's the good life?"

"You still remember the playback device you designed when you were an undergraduate, right?"

Sun Guoqiao nodded: "Remember, we have been studying it for a long time, and you pointed out the bug to me."

"That's it, it's useful now."

Sun Guoqiao was slightly startled: "Didn't you say that this requires the Internet to develop to a certain extent before it will be useful? Oh, yes... In fact, I also considered an application scenario later, such as setting up a home theater within a community."

As he spoke, Sun Guoqiao grabbed a piece of white paper and drew a schematic diagram for Su Yuanshan. The general idea was to use the intranet as a carrier to build a film and television database, and then rely on the high bandwidth of the intranet protocol to complete home audition playback.

Su Yuanshan was following his train of thought, but unexpectedly, Sun Guoqiao put down his pen and said sheepishly: "Then I thought about it, I was just so whimsical... If I have the time, I might as well set up a shop that rents plates in the community."

"Pfft...hahahaha!" Su Yuanshan was stunned and couldn't help laughing.

Indeed, if you really want to build a community server, not to mention the trouble and trouble, the cost is still ridiculously high, and you are also facing being eliminated by the high-bandwidth Internet - it is really better to set up a store that rents discs.

"But it's useful now." After laughing, Su Yuanshan briefly talked about the current status of the Internet and communications industries in Europe and the United States, as well as his prediction of Internet access bandwidth.

Sun Guoqiao asked hesitantly: "You mean, can it be promoted from developed countries?"

"Yes!"

Su Yuanshan nodded with a smile: "You must believe that the access speed of the Internet is the basis of all applications. Except for blind countries, this is almost a consensus. Just look at the optical fiber communication laboratory of our school - no matter how tight the funds are, , this laboratory is never short of money."

"Taking it to our country, provinces with a little bit of ideas are helping to cooperate with Telecom to carry out fiber optic projects. The current domestic slogan is to achieve the full popularization of ADSL within three years, fiber to households within five years, and universal fiber optics within ten years... "

"Therefore, set-top boxes must be an indispensable device in the future of home entertainment."

Su Yuanshan looked at Sun Guoqiao with burning eyes: "How about it? I'll find a group of people for you right away?"

Sun Guoqiao licked his lips and smiled slowly.

"good!"