Rebirth of America, this is my time

When Ethan got angry because of Philips' sudden revolt on the optical disc project, the headquarters building of Philips in North America was also in a mess at the moment.

All industry partners who have interacted with Philips called to verify the authenticity of digital discs and optical disc players, and inquired about the launch time and the possibility of cooperation. Philips' die-hard allies even directly contacted the company's top management. Want to know more inside information.

And Philips CEO Cornelis van der Klucht...

From the moment he stepped into the office, his phone calls never stopped.

As if overnight, all his close friends and co-professors remembered him. Inquiry calls came one after another. After dealing with those guys, the five companions of the Avengers finally joined the call. line, expressing high praise for their sudden sneak attack by Philips.

Willard Rockwell Jr., chairman of Rockwell, said that Philips' press conference was definitely a Normandy in business! The behavior of developing quietly and then surprising everyone will definitely catch Ethan Jones off guard! More importantly, Philips' confidentiality work is very good!

Jack Trammell, the boss of Commodore, said that Philips' sudden release made them relieved because they had been so miserable in the past year!

Kirk Kerkorian, chairman of MGM, and Ron Miller, the actual controller of Walt Disney, also sent their own surprises to Cornelis, but because they were not too close to Philips, Because of their familiarity, they hung up the phone wisely after venting their joy.

And when Warner Communications Chairman Steve Ross called...

The captain of the Avengers, known as The Undertaker in the circle, immediately laughed and said: Cone - do you want to know the latest trends of Ethan Jones~~~

According to the news I got, he rushed to Los Angeles an hour ago~~~

That's right! He went to see Robert Hall~~~

He's reviewing his investments! Checking his projects!

You guys did a great job this time!

Hahahaha~~~

To be honest, although Cornelis is the CEO of Philips North America and a senior executive of Philips Netherlands, he only learned this morning that the group company suddenly attacked Ethan Jones yesterday. Even though he was dissatisfied with the headquarters' unilateral concealment, when people around him kept sending words of praise... that feeling of elation was still great!

After exchanging pleasantries with the callers and accepting their excited compliments, Cornelis hung up the phone comfortably and leaned on the soft boss chair for a while. He couldn't help but feel comfortable. The corner of his mouth curled up, Ethan...Win?

Ah--

Let me see what you are winning now!

To be honest, since he came to North America and took the position of CEO of Philips North America, the three days of small troubles and the five days of big troubles have been quite frustrating for him.

Even though he knew before taking up the new job that Philips North America was a mess, he never imagined that the work here would be so difficult.

He wanted to revive the video game business and finally managed to form an alliance.

As a result, Ethan tore it apart in three or two strokes.

He wanted to win over allies and expand the coalition.

As a result, every ally who came to attend the appointment was beaten to death by Ethan Hammer.

Many nights, he wondered, how did his ex persist for so long?

Because he heard that when Ethan launched Pac-Man, the commotion was even greater than now. The act of publicly slapping someone in the face can make people vomit.

But now—

Everything has cleared up after the rain!

Thinking of this, Cornelis immediately opened the drawer in front of him.

There was an unfinished cigar lying inside, but he ignored it.

He took out a new one, trimmed it quickly, pressed the metal lighter and lit it slowly. When the reddish sparks wrapped the cigar, wisps of green smoke slowly escaped from his mouth.

After waiting for the rich aroma of tobacco to fill his lungs, Cornelis's face also showed the joy of enjoyment, and just when he was about to taste the hard-won victory...

Jingle Bell.

The landline phone rang.

Cornelis frowned slightly, he didn't like this interruption.

But the problem is that what is ringing now is the internal landline phone that has to be answered.

He cursed irritably, picked it up, and answered it.

Hello?

Before the polite greetings could be finished, a hurried voice came from the other end of the phone.

Boss, the head office is calling, looking for trouble.

? This situation made him put aside his dissatisfaction.

In his opinion, it was the people from the group who came to explain the problem to him.

Come in. He replied lazily, and just as he was leaning on his seat, waiting for the people in the group to give him a reasonable explanation, an old voice suddenly woke him up.

That was the voice of the group's CEO, who also served as chairman of the board. After briefly saying hello to his boss on the other end of the phone, the news that came through the receiver made his face look surprised and his body tense.

because--

Cornelis, I'm sorry to call you at this time. The board of directors held an internal meeting the day before yesterday and made a heavy decision regarding the North American branch's losses last year.

The board of directors has decided to give you another year. If you can lead the North American branch to turn losses into profits in the next year, then the agreement you made before taking office in North America will remain as usual. But if you still ask us next year If you hand over a financial report with a loss, then I think you should know your fate.

??? Cornelis couldn't believe his ears.

Chairman...you, are you kidding?

Today is not April Fools' Day.

Yes, yes, yes-- He choked and couldn't make a sound.

You can't accept this decision, can you?

The chairman of the group on the other end of the phone sounded calm and said: Cornelis, I know that the company's situation in North America has nothing to do with you. The acquisition of Milohua was not your original intention. It was a decision made by the group. The business policy of video games is also a specific plan made by your predecessor. The situation there was already out of control before you took office. But the problem is that you are now the leader of the North American branch, so the company is exposed in North America. You have to take responsibility for all kinds of problems.

I know this isn't fair to you, but -

There is no fairness in life.

... The sudden words made Cornelis look pale.

He didn't understand why things turned out like this!

But he knew that his future was gloomy!

But - isn't our current situation great? Cornelis wanted to save himself.

He said anxiously: The group company just released the CD yesterday! This new technology will definitely change the world! Because according to the information we have collected, Ethan Jones's Starry Sky will be a very huge game , they can’t cost less than twenty dollars to make a single copy!”

The storage chips on the market are too expensive, and Destiny Games' video games are getting bigger and bigger. As long as we successfully launch a large-capacity storage product, we can block Ethan Jones's success in the technical field. Neck! Thus achieving a real counterattack!

Isn't this what the group is doing now? So - isn't my current job to stabilize the situation in North America, win over more allies, and wait for the commercialization of optical discs?

The continuous questioning revealed Cornelis’s eagerness, and at the same time made the chairman of the head office lose his patience. “Cornelis—” a loud roar came from the receiver, “You know why we kept it secret? Do you want to release the CD? That’s because we want to solve your loss problem!”

Solve the loss problem of the North American branch!

In order to help you finish, we have to come up with immature technology! Do you think the CD can save your life? Haha - then do you know that it will not be commercialized in a short time?!!!

What?

This fact made Cornelis jump.

Why?

He wants to know the inside story.

As he asked, the chairman of Philips of the Netherlands also sighed.

Perhaps because there was no need to keep things related to optical discs secret from his own people, the chairman of the Philips Group told Cornelis everything on the other end of the phone.

When Cornelis learned that the technical staff of the group company had determined that they could not reduce the size of the huge player in a short period of time, his body began to tremble involuntarily, waiting for him to hear the chairman say, manufacturing compact discs After a lot of the player's technology is on the border of America...

An ominous premonition also arises spontaneously.

Chairman...can't we...get the authorization? he asked with a trembling voice.

This question made the old man on the other end of the phone ponder. After a moment, he replied: If you can get authorization for the company, then I will voluntarily resign from the position of CEO of the headquarters at next year's meeting. This position will be taken by You take over. We now need licenses for three patents, two of which are held by James Russell at the Hanford site in Washington and one by Robert Hall at GE's Los Angeles laboratory. , so... I wish you good luck...

Crack-

The chairman of Philips Group on the other end hung up the phone.

Crack-

Cornelis's body trembled, and the newly lit cigar fell to the ground due to the weakness of his fingers.

At this moment, his eyes lost their light.

Robert...Hall? Robert Hall...Robert Hall?

His lips trembled and he murmured.

After a moment, he suddenly raised his hands and hugged his head, Oh! My! God!

“Why is the patent with Ethan Jones???”

That's not fair!!!!

When Cornelis, the CEO of Philips North America, was shocked and roared wildly by the news sent from the headquarters, after more than an hour of communication, Robert Hall finally walked out of his workroom and looked at Looking at the two children with expectant faces, the old man shrugged.

Although Philips held a new product launch conference yesterday and introduced its optical disc technology to the world, they did not disclose their technical details and technology sources, so——

I haven't found out yet what technology they used.

This fact made Ethan look regretful.

While he sighed, Robert Hall said: However, there is no need to be too anxious about this kind of thing, because according to the normal process, Philips will publish a technical paper in the next three to six months. By then we will to find out if they are using our technology.”

Furthermore, I personally feel that since Philips has a grudge against you and they want to maintain their stock price through new technologies and new futures, they will definitely publish a paper as soon as possible if there is a breakthrough. Therefore, if they had not been so If they do, then there must be something wrong with them.”

My personal idea is to wait three to five days. If they have no news, then we can sleep peacefully. If they have news, it will be impossible to launch new products this year. So we only need to launch new products this year. If you perfect your product and bring it to market next year, you won’t be behind.”

Of course, this is my job, and yours...

What you should do now is go to James Russell and get the patent.

It's best to be able to buy out, but it doesn't matter if you can't. Getting a long-term contract is considered a success.

Ethan thinks what Robert Hall said is correct.

When their products are sure to be patented, does Philips use the technology of the big guys?

The question simply doesn't matter anymore.

If you use it, it will naturally be the best result, because you can use patent cards.

But if they are not used, it doesn't matter, because their products are at least unique. In this case, being yourself and winning the war is the most critical thing.

As for popping the champagne?

Opening champagne at halftime is something only a villain can do!

Now that the follow-up work ideas were clear, Ethan did not hesitate anymore. After saying goodbye to Professor Robert Hall, he flew to Washington State with his sister. Because they had made an appointment in advance, they met James Russell, who held a patent for reading digital optical discs, in Fresno, next to Hanford.

After simple greetings, both parties went straight to the topic.

Like Robert Hall, Ethan also wanted to buy out the other party's patent directly, but James Russell had no intention of selling, or in other words——

Evelin, Fred returned to Stanford to start classes last year, right? And he only accepted you? Since you are Fred's people, let's tell the truth. I am no longer young.

“When I entered General Electric, my goal was to become an excellent scientist, which I accomplished. Later, I gave up my high salary at General Electric and came to Hanford because I wanted to research some of the most cutting-edge technologies. Technology, I’ve done that too.”

“After I realized my two big dreams in life, what I wanted to do was to accumulate some wealth that I could spend for the rest of my life. At the same time, I also wanted to give my children something that would make them happy. I have enough money to live well, so I’m not going to sell my patent.”

To tell you the truth, the news that digital optical discs are better than laser discs was actually released by me. I just wanted to use this method to attract the attention of some companies and let them study this thing. When they discovered the value of digital optical discs Then I can make money from my patent.

To be honest, I'm very happy to see you, because it proves that what I did is correct, and since you have demand for my patent, let's just be happy, three percent, how about it?

I license the patent to you and take 3% of the product sales.

This patent does not refer to the digital optical disc reading patents I currently hold, but also the patents I am researching and will register in the future. This is a long-term authorization. As long as I still have the patent, you still need the patent. Then the contract will be established, and the price will always be inconvenient.”

To be honest, the price is not expensive.

When sales were one million, James Russell would only get thirty thousand.

Even if it breaks 100 million, he can only get 3 million.

Judging from the pricing of their laser disc players by Philips and American Music, the launch price of a digital disc player will cost a thousand dollars no matter what.

After deducting the cost, the profit is almost 200.

Even including James Russell's commission, a single unit can earn more than a hundred.

But many times, the accounts are not calculated that way.

Because this is not a buyout.

When other players can also enter through authorization, the continuous 3% commission will cause a series of problems. For example, after the manufacturing cost of electronic products drops, merchants who want to gain market will naturally Lowering their selling prices, when merchants seize the market by compressing selling prices in exchange for sales, the fixed three-point commission will make them miserable.

Not only that, in the future, when they want to launch music players and add optical drives to computers and consoles, the 30% and 33% commission will make them even more painful.

It’s not that the commission is hard to calculate, just set up a separate company to make CDs, but the cost is hard to keep down.

so--

Professor Russell... Ethan wanted to bargain.

However, before he could speak, James Russell raised his left hand, made a stop motion, and then said with a smile: This is an offer for Bob's sake.

For the sake of Fred, I will report five points to the outside world.

The minimum will not be lower than three points and seven points.

I can put it in the contract.

If the price I give to others is lower than what you get, then you don't have to pay me.

Deal— Ethan swallowed all the bargaining words.

Now that both parties have happily reached a consensus, the next step is to sign a contract, and this aspect will be handled by a law firm that has been cooperating with Destiny Games.

The problem with the disc was solved quickly. The feeling that everything went smoothly made Ethan feel comfortable when he returned home. What made him even happier was that after waiting for a week, Philips still did not announce its technology. paper, this fact is enough to prove that there is something wrong with Philips.

In this way, Ethan felt more at ease.

And just when Ethan was thinking that the current situation was to fight for speed and research and development, and to come up with mature products before Philips, because only in this way can we occupy the market in advance, on March 21, a transoceanic phone call broke the news His peace. More importantly, it was Julis Noble.

When Ethan heard the news, his instinctive reaction was to make a big deal out of Nintendo's special code, but when he answered the phone, Julis said: Boss! It's not good! Something happened to Sony!

... Even though he was mentally prepared, Ethan still choked on his breath at this moment.

‘Sony did it too? ’

‘Special code! This might as well let Nintendo live a whole life! ’

[Correction]: The place where Philips is located is Eindhoven in the Netherlands. I typed it as Eindhoven. Because it is a VIP chapter and I do not have the permission to modify it, I will make a note here. From now on, it will all be Eindhoven.

Note: ① The actual digital disc thing was indeed promoted by James Russell himself. Like Edgar Corder who wrote about it before, he also felt that his project was very promising, so he took the initiative to show it to the outside world. .