The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Middle East?" Lei Shengli thought for a while and said, "The Middle East is indeed a good market. It's hot enough there, and it just got rich."

"That's right, as long as you understand what I mean." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

Paige, which Midea acquired before, mainly manufactures air conditioners and refrigerators as an OEM. Although it does not have any technical content, the assembly speed is fast enough, and it still has a good understanding of the structure and working principle of air conditioners and refrigerators.

During Chen Zhiwen’s one-month visit to the United States, Midea easily made its own brand air conditioners and refrigerators through the original OEM supplier channel. Because the parts with technical content are all purchased finished products, patents are not a problem. The patent was bypassed with a slight modification.

But the disadvantage is that the cost is too high. After all, all parts need to be purchased, and we don’t have our own technology, but this is something we can’t help. There are such problems in the beginning of the manufacturing industry. One is that there is no technology for generalization, and the other is that there is no way Large-scale production leads to higher costs.

The most important thing is that there is no market, because the market has long been occupied by giants. Products with higher technological content will have a more stable position for old brands. For example, in the automotive industry, from after World War II to the 21st century, basically all players are Companies with a long history, such as Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Honda, GM, and Ford, are basically companies before the 1930s. The only exception is Hyundai in South Korea, which is also because of the help of the state behind it.

If you want to rush in and share a cup of cake, you can only wait for two things to happen. The first is the technological revolution. For example, the rise of domestic trams in later generations has driven domestically-produced cars led by BYD. The second is the emergence of new markets. In the later generations of the mainland, although the level of domestic fuel vehicles was too far behind in the 1990s, many local brands were successfully cultivated, because the domestically improved blank market gave the local auto industry room to grow slowly, although the majority were still joint venture cars However, the low-end market is a breakthrough suitable for domestic brand cars. Without this market, no domestic cars will be able to get off the ground.

It is still early to open domestically, and foreign capital cannot enter the domestic market in the early stage of reform, but now Saudi Arabia is a market that is exploding, because after the oil crisis, the Middle East has made a lot of money.

Take Saudi Arabia as an example. In 1971, the fiscal revenue of the entire country was 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, but in 1974, the fiscal revenue of the country exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars. Although most of such huge wealth is obtained by the state, a small amount of it is distributed to the people. In addition, it will also have a qualitative change in the lives of the people.

In the 1970s, the Middle East became an important market for the export of the international auto industry, especially luxury cars and off-road vehicles. Many large car brands also developed car tires and supporting technologies and even special models suitable for the local tyrants in the Middle East. .

In addition to cars, the demand for electrical appliances is higher, and almost every family needs them. Especially in the Middle East, it is basically summer all year round, and camels suffer from the heat.

The huge demand is naturally the best time for Midea to take the opportunity to develop itself, but I have this idea, and those big companies are the same, but the new market is in a period of rapid expansion, and no brand can quickly occupy the market, which gives other brands certainty. Given the opportunity, Chen Zhiwen doesn't want to get a big market. He can let the company operate normally and develop in a self-circulating manner, and then develop his own technology by the way. Just stabilize the first step. This first step is actually the hardest.

"Okay, then I'll send people to the Middle East to go to the market." Lei Shengli nodded and said, but he was a little worried. It's too hot in the Middle East, so it might be troublesome to send people there.

"It's enough that the money is in place. Find a few smart people, and then find an interpreter in the Middle East. There should be a shortage of goods there. Let us airlift our samples with them." Chen Zhiwen saw Lei Shengli's thoughts , said with a smile.

The spending power of local tyrants after getting rich can be said to be unimaginable by ordinary people. In later generations, when some villages in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were demolished, 4S stores of luxury brands such as BBA immediately took their cars to set up stalls in other villages, and the transaction volume was very high. high.

Compared with the current Middle East, the wealth of demolition in later generations is not only a hundred times worse. From being reluctant to drink too much hot water every day, to holding huge wealth at once, the material needs range from poor countries to top developed countries. Markets The demand is much greater than in the 1990s in the later generations of the mainland. As long as you have goods to deliver, you will not worry about selling them. It will not be until a few years later that the balance will be gradually formed.

"Okay." Lei Shengli agreed.

"Then let's do this first. In addition, send a few of our own refrigerators and put them here to store snacks for other employees." Chen Zhiwen said again. He also wants to try the quality of his own brand's products.

"No problem, I'll arrange someone to deliver it in the afternoon." Lei Shengli nodded in agreement.

Afterwards, Chen Zhiwen talked with Qin Zhihao, the person in charge of Red Bull. At present, the business of the former United Soda Factory under Red Bull is developing normally, but it is still losing money, while Red Bull itself has started to vigorously produce, because the feedback from the RB market is not bad.

During this period of time, Red Bull is selling through normal channels in Hong Kong, Bay Bay, RB, South Korea and other Southeast Asian regions. The main method is the same as the promotion method in the United States in the past few months, sending free Red Bull to truck drivers who often drive and night shift factories. , let them understand the characteristics of Red Bull.

The feedback from all parties is very good, but the market sales are very mediocre, because the price is too expensive. The working class in developing countries have this demand, but they can’t afford it. The rich people in these countries and regions No, but Chen Zhiwen still asks to continue selling half and giving away. These markets still need to be cultivated slowly.

The RB market is a bit different. It is a developed country with considerable national income. For example, the radio business of Midea Electronics has been cooperating with Toyota’s procurement department recently. It wants to become a supplier of the next-generation Corolla. Red Bull needs to develop the factory market for RB. So Midea's sales team sent tens of thousands of bottles of Red Bull to Toyota's factory, telling them that it was a refreshing drink for night shift workers.

You know, Asians generally don’t like to drink coffee, and RB is the same. After getting the Red Bull drink, the feedback was very good, so Red Bull won RB’s first big customer. Of course, there are other reasons that cannot be said.

With Toyota as a customer, Red Bull's sales went to big companies such as Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, etc., and in the name of Toyota, they all successfully entered into it, and RB's auto industry purchased Red Bull, and if they wanted to enter Supermarkets are not too difficult, but their performance in supermarkets is very poor.

"That is to say, to be like the United States, we need to carry out large-scale publicity in RB?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile.