The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 189



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Episode 189 Brand value (3)

next day.

I woke up to the overwhelming smell of alcohol.

It was the smell of alcohol coming from David, who had been drinking with an Indian politician all night.

“How many drinks have you had?”

“You should ask how many bottles he had, not how many drinks. “Honestly, I don’t know how many bottles I drank, but I spent about $50,000 on alcohol.”

Did you drink any alcohol made of gold?

Well, in the case of high-end wine, a bottle can sometimes cost tens of millions of won.

“Did you get enough money for the drinks?”

“We pulled out more than that. “We promised to provide $100 million through the sponsoring chairman of the National Congress, and all politicians affiliated with the National Congress agreed to support us.”

“You only spent $100 million? You should have used more. “I’m going to be treated like a stingy person for no reason.”

100 million dollars was an amount of over 120 billion won.

In the case of Korea, where there is a lot of controversy over election funding issues, the fact that 10 billion won in election funds was exchanged was on the front page of newspapers for several months.

However, I poured over 10 times more campaign funds into Indian politics.

This was more like an investment than lobbying, and I was confident that I would extract more than 10 times the investment from India.

“I think $100 million would be enough. “Although Indian elections are famous for bribery, the amount of money thrown is not very large.”

“I heard there are cases of people throwing money in front of polling places?”

“They say they give away not only money, but also alcohol, precious metals, and even drugs.”

“That’s amazing. “It is a miracle that someone like Representative Mimoan Singh emerged from this political world.”

No matter how much you want to win the election, that’s true.

Not only money, but drugs too.

The Indian election was more intense and mean-spirited than I thought.

Well, even 10 years ago, Korea also openly conducted bribery elections.

“We have created a situation where the Taewo Group can benefit greatly as long as the Indian National Congress comes to power. But if you lose in the general election, you won’t be able to save a single penny.”

“We provided $100 million in support, but would you lose the general election?”

“After looking into the current situation, it seems that there is a strong desire for a change of government. “In particular, CEO Mimoan Singh, who has an image of integrity, is very popular.”

That is why I joined hands with the opposition party, the Indian National Congress, rather than the ruling party.

Mimoan Singh’s popularity was extremely hot, and it took about 10 years for it to die down.

“Please stay in India for the time being and clean up after yourself.”

“If you say clean up, what do you do?”

“Meet with Indian broadcasting stations and schedule Korean drama broadcasts, and meet with IIT officials and build relationships with them.”

“I need to find out what hangover food is eaten in India.”

“They said they drink coconut juice. “I will order 100 boxes of coconut juice to the hotel.”

“… … “I will drink all 100 boxes of coconut juice and return to the United States.”

David fell straight onto the bed.

I left him at the hotel and went to the airport.

***

A lot of things happened while I was in India.

As soon as I returned to work, the planning director was waiting for me with a huge report.

“The iPhone launch has begun. It was released simultaneously in major countries, and now, after four days, it has sold over 1 million units.”

“Sales are definitely increasing significantly with each new version.”

“At this rate, sales of more than 20 million units are possible.”

iPhone 1 and 2 also achieved tremendous sales.

However, it could not be compared to the initial sales of the iPhone 3, and it was gaining worldwide popularity due to its reputation as the first artificial intelligence smartphone.

“How are the sales figures in Korea?”

“There were over 100,000 units. “If this continues, we may achieve sales of over 1 million units in Korea alone.”

“Sales of Taewoo Electronics’ new products must have also increased.”

“Once you purchase your iPhone, going to the Taewoo Electronics store has become a routine. Thanks to this, sales volume is steadily increasing, and in the case of TVs with the highest sales, you have to wait 10 to 20 days to receive the product.”

As expected, inventory problems arose.

Although the factory was operating 24 hours a day, production was unable to meet demand.

“What about overseas markets?”

“Even in the U.S., there is a shortage of inventory. However, it is not that big of a problem as we can deliver the goods within a month.”

“We will continue to release home appliances that work with the iPhone, but it will be difficult for our current factories to handle them.”

“Thank goodness the construction of the Vietnam factory is in the final stages, so we will be able to produce some home appliances at the Vietnamese factory from the end of the year. This will help alleviate the inventory shortage problem to some extent.”

Should we consider this as our grandfather’s foresight?

Since you lived in Vietnam, it was a Vietnamese factory that was completed ahead of schedule.

“Are there any other problems?”

“Rather than being a problem, there is a positive knock-on effect happening. As home appliance sales increase, Taewoon Semiconductor’s sales are also increasing. “In particular, since it is a new product that uses more semiconductors than other home appliances, semiconductor sales have increased significantly.”

“Not long ago, Taewo Semiconductor was recording astronomical losses, but now it is doing its part.”

“With the current momentum, I think we will record higher sales than most affiliates. And the operating profit is also not small.”

The era in which semiconductors make money has already arrived.

I forcibly brought about the smart era and caused a surge in semiconductor usage.

However, the true smart era has not yet arrived, and if electric vehicles are released, semiconductor usage will increase several times more than now.

“That’s good news. And once the Vietnam factory starts operating, we will have some free time so we can launch the next project.”

“When you say the next project, are you referring to the Pixie Project?”

“that’s right. Align the launch of the Fixie project with the completion of the Vietnam plant.”

Pixie Project.

Although the name is grandiose, it was actually not a very special project.

It was simply a matter of transferring the artificial intelligence built into the iPhone into an Internet TV septop box.

“We will discuss with Taewoo Electronics and Taewoo Communications to set a release schedule.”

“Even people who don’t have an iPhone need a fixie to use Taewoo Electronics’ new products.”

The iPhone’s artificial intelligence was Siri.

The name of the artificial intelligence to be applied to the set-top box was Pixie.

If home appliances such as TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners can be operated through Fixie, customers who do not own an iPhone will also be interested in purchasing Taewoo Electronics products.

“If home appliance sales increase again with the launch of Fixie, we will likely be able to take the top spot in market share not only domestically but also overseas.”

“There’s no point in taking first place for a while through a big event. It is meaningful to secure brand power that can maintain its position. To do that, we need to be at least one step ahead of other home appliance companies.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

I always had the confidence to stay ahead.

Taewoo Electronics was a company with the best employees in Korea, and its technology research center was continuously developing new technologies.

The only thing lacking was brand power and image.

Although Apple was filling that part, we couldn’t rely on Apple forever.

“Even though the new product is being sold at about 10% more expensive than the existing product, sales are actually increasing.”

“In the case of home appliances, people tend to prefer products with better performance even if they are more expensive since they can be used for several years once purchased.”

“Luxury goods and home appliances are very similar.”

“When you say luxury goods, do you mean luxury goods like watches or handbags?”

“that’s right. So, I would like to collaborate with a luxury goods company.”

Right now, it was difficult for Taewoo Group to create brand power on its own.

So we brought in Apple, and now we were planning to bring in luxury goods companies as well.

“Is there any need to collaborate with a company that makes handbags?”

“You are so dismissive of the luxury goods market. “If you look at sales alone, there are many luxury goods companies that have higher sales than Taewoo Electronics.”

There was a person whose name was always on the list of code names before regression.

Most of the wealth rankings were occupied by founders of American IT companies.

I remembered that the owner of a French luxury goods company was proudly occupying the top position.

“Try contacting the Anor family. “It is the place with the largest selection of luxury brands.”

“When Taewoo Group owned department stores, we often communicated with luxury goods companies, but now that line has disappeared. “I will take the initiative and reconnect the line.”

“Let me introduce you to someone who can help.”

This kind of work could be left to the experts.

David drinking hard in India.

I drank a lot of hard liquor in India, so now I have to try wine in France.

***

A few days later.

David called me very drunk.

[boss! We have succeeded in contacting the Arnor family. I strongly conveyed my desire to collaborate with Taewo Group.]

“Has the line already been reached? “It was a good thing we sent David to France.”

[It wasn’t that difficult because I had connections made in France. And Boss’s fame has spread to France as well. I was interested because the person who gave a joint speech with Steve at the Apple product briefing said he wanted to see it.]

I guess this is why people need to make a name for themselves.

Although there are many people who do not know Korea, there are quite a few foreigners who know the names of large companies in Korea.

And in the case of Taewo Group, it made a name for itself through collaboration with Apple.

“thank you for your effort. By the way, you finished all the work you were doing in India, right?”

[Neatly finished. The drama ‘Heo Jun’ will be aired on Indian broadcasters starting next month. We are also producing a documentary related to Empress Heo. The entire production cost was decided to be supported by SAVE Investment Company.]

“Don’t worry about money, just push hard.”

[It’s not that difficult because Indian politicians are actively helping. Still, I will visit India occasionally to check. ah! And it is said that someone sent by the Anor family will visit Korea within this week.]

David was very neat in his work.

The high salary was not worth it to him at all.

But the Anor family is also quite active in collaborating with us?

I never thought they would send a person in charge to Korea already.

“Then we’ll see you next time in America. “If you have time, you can come to Korea.”

[We will check the schedule and contact you. Then I guess I’ll just go to bed. Because the expensive wine keeps going down my throat.]

I hung up on David.

A few seconds later, the secretary knocked urgently.

“What happened?”

“Vice President, a guest from the Anor family has arrived.”

“already? “Please take me to the vice president’s office right away.”

Is this possible given the time?

David must have met someone from the Arnor family last night.

But how was it possible for France to already send a representative to Korea?