Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon

The competition on the big stage has entered a white-hot stage. After all, children are children, and the operations in their hands are not as skilled as adults. In order to squeeze orange juice, they have already got orange juice all over their bodies.

Under the stage, the atmosphere of the audience has been driven, and many people are cheering for the children.

This kind of parent-child activity is more popular in Europe. If it is replaced by adults, it is estimated that the audience will not be so enthusiastic.

Among the audience were Cai Qianjin's lemon vinaigrette, as well as real merchants. The exhibition held in Cologne was like a golden signboard. In addition to attracting local European merchants, there were also American merchants from across the ocean.

In the front row of the auditorium, Thomas, an American businessman, looked at the children who were playing with a thoughtful expression.

Of course, orange juice is indispensable in American life. The United States is the second largest producer of orange juice in the world and the second largest consumer of orange juice in the world. Americans produce 400,000 tons of orange juice a year, but drink 600,000 tons.

However, the sales of finished orange juice in the United States have been decreasing year by year. More and more Americans no longer buy the kind of orange juice in barrels, but choose to buy fresh oranges to go home and squeeze the juice.

Oranges from California and Florida are of very good quality, especially California's Sunkist oranges, which are large in size, fragrant in temperature, and juicy in flesh. Freshly squeezed orange juice from Sunkist oranges tastes better than the barrels of finished orange juice in the supermarket. too much.

Juicers at that time were more traditional. The pulp was chopped and put into the juicer. The blade inside would crush the pulp and then filter the juice out. This kind of traditional juicer is definitely not for children to operate.

So when Thomas saw this new orange juice machine, which even children could operate, he immediately realized that if he sold it to the United States, there would definitely be a market.

"Since this kind of juicer is a prize, it must be provided by the exhibitor, which means that this kind of juicer is at the exhibition!"

Thinking of this, Thomas stood up, and he left the big stage to find this juicer.

It didn't take long for Thomas to stroll to Li Weidong's exhibition area.

After looking at the advertisement on the TV and the exhibits on the table, Trust sighed in relief: "I found it, this is it!"

Thomas watched the advertisement quietly, and then stepped forward.

Inside the booth, Li Weidong immediately greeted him: "Hello, is there anything I can do for you?"

"I saw a juicer like this at the event on the big stage just now," Thomas said.

"What you see is my product. The juicer used at the event was sponsored by me." Li Weidong replied immediately.

Thomas looked at the English logo of "PUPPY" and then said, "Is this a new brand? I know Panasonic, Sony, and Sanyo, but I haven't heard of this Japanese brand."

Thomas regarded Li Weidong as a Japanese again. After all, it is serious in the West, with yellow skin and black hair.

Only the Japanese can develop new household appliances.

Li Weidong smiled and shook his head: "Sir, we are a Chinese company, and PUPPY is also a Chinese brand!"

Thomas suddenly showed a surprised expression. He never imagined that this easy-to-use and safe orange juice maker was actually a Chinese product.

Li Weidong began to introduce the juicer to Thomas.

After some sales, Thomas asked, "This juicer should be patented, right?"

"Of course." Li Weidong nodded, and continued, "Not only did he apply for a patent in China, but he also filed a PCT filing. Patents in Europe and the United States are also being applied for."

Thomas nodded, then asked, "Are you willing to sell the patent license for this juicer?"

"This foreigner, instead of buying things, is interested in my patent! Listening to the accent, this guy should be an American. The United States is the largest market in the world, and he can't easily hand it over to others!"

Thinking of this, Li Weidong nodded with a smile on his face: "Of course we are willing to sell the patent license of the juicer. Sir, listen to your accent, are you American? Are you planning to buy the patent license in the United States?"

"No!" Thomas shook his head: "I want a worldwide patent license. Of course, I'm willing to share this product with other manufacturers and distributors, so there's no need for an exclusive license."

"What a big tone! I'll give you the worldwide license, what am I going to earn!" Li Weidong looked at the trust with some curiosity, and then said, "The global patent license is not cheap!"

"It's okay, the price is easy to negotiate!" Thomas said, took out a business card from his arms, handed it to Li Weidong, and then said, "This is my business card!"

Li Weidong took the business card, took a closer look, and instantly understood why this trust had such a big tone!

This Thomas turned out to be from Whirlpool.

Founded in 1911, Whirlpool is the world's largest home appliance manufacturer. Before Haier, the world's first brand of white goods has always been Whirlpool. Until 2017, Haier's sales of white goods surpassed Whirlpool and climbed to the world's first. .

However, ordinary people in China do not know much about the brand of Whirlpool, mainly because Whirlpool has always had bad luck in the Chinese market, or that Whirlpool has always adopted the wrong strategy regardless of its understanding of the Chinese market.

American brands didn't look down on the Chinese market at first. Japanese brands began to enter the Chinese market in the 1980s, but the American response was half a beat. Whirlpool did not enter the Chinese market until the mid-1990s.

In 1994, Whirlpool and Snowflake Refrigerator established a joint venture to produce compressors for refrigerators, and then encountered Haier, which was in the expansion period. As a result, Whirlpool's joint venture lost a huge amount of more than 90 million yuan in one year.

In 1995, Whirlpool bought the brand of Narcissus washing machine, and invested a huge investment of 75 million US dollars in product upgrades and market development. However, it encountered the most severe price war in China's home appliance industry for several years, which led to this project. Year after year losses.

In 1998, Whirlpool cooperated with Jianhua Electric Factory to produce microwave ovens. However, at that time, domestic microwave ovens had just experienced a very tragic price war, and only Galanz survived.

At that time, Japanese brands such as Panasonic were directly driven out of the Chinese market, and Xizhi Electric could not bear it, so it simply sold the microwave oven business to Midea. Whirlpool came to China to make microwave ovens at this time, and there was no slag left in seconds.

At the same time, Whirlpool also acquired Lanbo Air Conditioning, intending to vigorously develop air conditioning business in China. However, in the same era, Ms. Dong became Gree's manager of operations. Even the old brand Chunlan was beaten down by Gree. Whirlpool's air-conditioning project ended in failure again.

It can be said that Whirlpool's China strategy is really a mess. It always makes the most wrong decisions at the wrong time, and it also specially picks the most difficult opponents.

Although Whirlpool has repeatedly failed in the Chinese market, it is still the top brand in the international market and a giant that no one dares to ignore.

...

Li Weidong was overjoyed when he saw this Whirlpool business card.

"It's really hard to find a place to walk through the iron shoes. It takes no effort to get it. I was thinking about going to the United States to find you, but I didn't expect you to come to your door!"

Then Li Weidong deliberately put on a shocked expression and said respectfully: "Mr. Thomas originally came from Whirlpool! It's a great honor for me to be valued by Whirlpool!"

This flattery was very useful to Thomas, he said: "Mr. Li, now you should believe that we have the strength to buy the global patent license for this juicer!"

"Of course!" Li Weidong nodded, and then asked, "Mr. Thomas, are you planning to produce this kind of juicer in a factory in the United States when you purchased the patent license?"

"Not just in the U.S., we have dozens of factories around the world that make this juicer!" Thomas said.

Li Weidong said: "Mr. Thomas, with all due respect, this juicer is a small household appliance, which is not suitable for production in the United States. First of all, small household appliances have a simple structure and low technical content, and do not require advanced production. skilled worker.

In the home appliance factories in the United States, most of them are skilled workers. It is a waste of resources to let them produce such simple juicers. Instead of letting them produce low-tech juicers, it is better to let them produce high-tech juicers. Appliances with higher content.

Secondly, the price of this kind of small appliance is relatively low. I estimate that the market retail price of this juicer is about fifty dollars. Cheaper prices mean lower profits.

At the cost of labor in the United States, it is obviously not cost-effective to produce such a low-margin product. The labor force in the United States should produce the kind of high-profit and high-value-added products! "

Thomas nodded. Li Weidong's remarks are indeed very reasonable. It is indeed very uneconomical for American skilled workers to produce low-value-added products.

Whirlpool can make a profit of only a few dollars by making a juicer for fifty dollars, while a dishwasher can be sold for fifteen hundred dollars, and Whirlpool can make a profit of several hundred dollars.

With that capacity, isn't it better to produce dishwashers than to produce cheap juicers!

Li Weidong continued: "Mr. Thomas, I think Whirlpool should not produce its own juicers, but should directly purchase juicers and sell them in the American market, so as to save costs and maximize profits!"

"Mr. Li, do you realize that Whirlpool should buy juicers directly from you?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, this is definitely a win-win decision." Li Weidong nodded.

Thomas shook his head: "Mr. Li, you probably don't know us Whirlpool. We are the world's No. 1 home appliance brand. How can we sell other brands of home appliances!"

Li Weidong said immediately; "Mr. Thomas, we can use other cooperation methods, such as OEM or ODM!"