“Manager Feng, how come you have the time to visit Shenzhen?” Duan Yongping saw Feng Yu appearing at Aiwa Little Tyrant and was curious.
A few days ago, Duan Yongping had called Feng Yu to tell him that the voice recorder is developed and wanted to invite him over to take a look. But Feng Yu said he didn’t have time and will be quite busy recently.
“Hahaha… not matter how busy I am, I got to take time off for a break. Furthermore, I am in Hong Kong. It is very convenient to take a ferry.”
Feng Yu was also interested to see the newly developed voice recorder.
When Feng Yu saw the voice recorder, he frowned. This 20 x 15 x 5 cm thing is a voice recorder?
Feng Yu held it in his hand, and it was too heavy. This device can only be used at home.
But Feng Yu thought for a while. No one will bring their voice recorder to school also. This device is designed as a learning tool for students at home.”
“Old Duan, this product is too big. Can you make it smaller?” Feng Yu asked.
“Yes. It’s not that we don’t have the technologies. But if we shrink the size by a third, maintain the clarity of the sound, and still include the LCD screen, our cost will double. The prototype you are holding now costs only around 100 RMB. If we start ma.s.s production, the cost will be lowered further. I had conducted market research. If there are no other compet.i.tors, we can set the retail price over 200 RMB. After deducting all the costs, we will have at least 50 RMB profits.” Duan Yongping replied.
Profits of over 50%?
This is good news, but Feng Yu shook his head. “Old Duan, the profits are too high, and there will be lots of companies copying us. This thing does not require any advanced technologies and does not have any patent protection. It can be easily imitated. Look at Aiwa Walkman. Even after lowering our retail prices, we are still affected by the low-end products produced by other domestic factories.”
If the profit is around 10%, there might not be compet.i.tors, and they might have the whole market for themselves. 50% of profits will attract a group of compet.i.tors. If the profit is more than 300%, then… they will be known as evil merchants!
Sometimes, people only want a Walkman and do not mind the sound quality. Parents will tell their children. You are using it to learn a foreign language, right? Can you hear it? If you can hear it, who cares about the sound quality? Even when I count 1, 2,3, in a hoa.r.s.e voice, you can also hear it.
The voice recorder is the same as Walkman. Aiwa Little Tyrant is using Aiwa’s technologies, and the sound quality is better. The lifespan of the product is longer, and the product quality is better.
But how long can this product last? After the novelty pa.s.s, no one will use it. Those that had learned a new language, they will also stop using it. They will either give it to someone else or use it as a normal recorder at home.
That means this product does not need to be lasting. Some components can use cheaper options.
“I understand. I plan to introduce this product first, and after making a sum of money, we will lower the retail price. This way, we will always have an advantage in terms of branding, quality, and pricing.
Duan Yongping had considered this problem. When he started producing video game consoles, he also chose the low pricing strategy and made his first pot of gold.
“Ok. Based on your estimation, how many units can be sold in a year?” Feng Yu asked.
“200,000 to 300,000 units should not be a problem in the first year. After that, the number will increase gradually, and after three years, it should stabilize at around 1 million.” Duan Yongping replied.
Feng Yu knew that Duan Yongping’s estimation is not wrong. But the reality will surely make Duan Yongping’s jaw drop. In another two years, the Ministry of Education will announce China schools will focus on listening and speaking.
This change in the syllabus will increase the popularity of voice recorders, and its sales will increase by folds. In Feng Yu’s previous life, the voice recorder had sold over 10 million units before year 2,000. That was the prized product developed by Old Duan.
Of course, many other brands of voice recorder appeared, and one of the more famous brands is Wen Qu Xing. But now, Wen Qu Xing is still manufacturing an electronic dictionary.
“Ok. Remember what I said. Try to make it lighter, more eye-pleasing, and save on the materials used.” In another two years, the Chinese income will increase, and people will not mind buying 100 to 200 RMB products.
“Ok. I will tell the engineers. Oh, we also developed a recording device. If we change it to normal audio quality, we can record up to 30 minutes.”
Duan Yongping took out another product about the size of a cigarette box. The box has an LCD screen and a few b.u.t.tons.
Feng Yu shook his head. “Old Duan, how much smaller is this device compared to Aiwa slim series Walkman? I said before that his product is called a recording pen. That means it should be the size of a pen. Have you seen the overseas product? Your product is so big who will want to buy it?”
Some of the people who buy recording pens are for recording audio secretly. Some of them are reporters, and some will buy it for other purposes. But no matter what the reason was, they will choose the smallest and lightest recording device. This thing is so big. Are you thinking of putting a plastic cover over it and make it look like a cigarette packet?
Even your ‘recording pen’ is so big, no wonder your voice recorder is so big.
“We had only a.s.sembled the parts based on how a recording pen works. Of course, we can also make it small, like those overseas recording pens. But the cost is too high. If we are going to make it to the size of a lighter, the cost will increase by ten times!”
d.a.m.n! This thing is so expensive? Does that mean that a small recording pen’s cost will be more than 1,000 RMB? Then the retail price will be more than 2,000 RMB?
No wonder only Hong Kong reporters use recording pens, and it’s very rare in China. China does not have any entertain tabloids, and the reporters do not need to do secret recordings. The newspaper agencies are all government units, and they will not spend money on such expensive devices. During interviews, a small recorder is enough. How much can a ca.s.sette tape cost? A small recorder only cost a few dozen RMB.
“Then that’s no point for us to continue developing this product, as there is no market for it in China. But you can work on this technology. If you all can lower the cost to 100 to 200 RMB, we can introduce it to the ma.s.ses in China.”
Feng Yu was about to say something to Duan Yongping when Mei Zhigang ran into the room to pa.s.s a mobile phone to Feng Yu.
“Boss, the Thai Government had adjusted its policy again. The overnight rates had increased to 1,000%!” He Zhaoji shouted over the phone.
Hahaha… the Thai government is using the same tactics. Soros is in trouble now!