Episode 172. Eyes that can see all at once.
Director Hwang Jumin of TM Display OLED Research Center looked at me.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say you’re a genius… you’re really amazing. Was the reason you brought me in to make a flexible display, not simply to develop a display that emits light on its own?”
“It was humbling. OLEDs are competitive in their own right. First of all, it does not require a separate light source, so it can be made thinner than LCD, has a fast response speed, and has excellent contrast ratio. In addition, it is good for making flexible displays, so it was an item that had to be developed.”
Director Hwang sent me a look with great admiration.
“Hah… After all, business is not for everyone. Could it be that you have been thinking like that since you first came to our lab?”
“of course. Last year alone, 200 billion won was spent on OLED R&D. That’s too much money to spend just for fun. We made this decision because we clearly saw the great potential of OLED.”
“..okay. Now I can see why the CEO was able to grow his business to this point in just 5 years. Since you have eyes that can see right in front of you, and even after 1 year and 10 years at the same time, it can be said that it is natural for you to succeed in a way.”
“haha. Thank you for the compliment. Now that you know my intentions, please pay attention to the development of the PI film process from now on.”
“All right. We will create a separate team and start development right away.”
Damoye Center, Hongin Media Conference Room.
I was talking with CEO Ohchan Jung about Dflix, an OTT service that is scheduled to be launched next month.
“Chief Jung. Is the D Flix division manpower composition complete?”
Because Dflix itself was a combination of IT and cultural contents business.
Hongin Media and Damoye Entertainment decided to create a new D-flix division by recruiting personnel from both.
“yes. I talked to CEO Kim Soo-chan, and the business manager decided to leave it to Kwon Woo-myung, executive vice president of Enter. He is a former PD of a broadcasting station and has a knack for various video contents, so I decided that he would lead D Flix well. And to prepare for network quality problems when servicing Dflix, we decided to set up a network management team at Hongin Media to assist Kwon.”
President Jung held out the printed material to me and continued.
“This is a detailed organizational chart.”
I nodded after looking at the organization chart.
“It’s fine. Once the staffing structure goes like this, if there is a problem, we discuss it again. Are you ready for the platform to use Dflix and the set-top box to connect the TV to the Internet?”
“of course. All platform tests have been completed, and about 10,000 set-top boxes are already in stock.”
“good. Then, D Flix will be released on October 1 as scheduled.”
“Then let’s talk about something else, shall we? Have you finished executing your DDC (Daily Data Center) investment?”
“yes. Now, DDC has nearly 100,000 servers. In terms of scale alone, there are few data centers that can be compared with us, both in Korea and around the world. Based on this quantity, we are supplying high-quality hosting services at low prices, so more than 70% of domestic demand is already using our DDC, and our market share is still increasing.”
“haha. That’s good. Now, it seems that there is no other competitor to compete with in Korea, so it is time to advance overseas.”
“When you say overseas, where do you go..?”
“Of course, we have to start with the largest market, the United States.”
President Jung gave a worried expression.
“Although it is the biggest market, there are many companies that have strengths in hosting services. The competition will be very fierce, is that okay?”
Of course, the United States is where the best hosting companies in the world compete.
However, the potential of the hosting market is still underestimated.
Because the powerful hosting services that Yamazon, Goggles, and Microsoft are releasing had not yet appeared.
I had enough to try.
“Competition is essential to making money. And we have two advantages over other hosting companies. The one is.”
I continued speaking, making a circle with my thumb and index finger.
“Exactly this. That’s a lot of money.”
“How much is a huge amount of money..?”
“I plan to invest $2 billion in DDC in the United States.”
At my words, President Jung paused for a moment, exhaled, and opened his mouth.
“..2 trillion won.. that’s it.”
“That would be enough to build a data center four times larger than the DDC we built in Korea, and even in the United States, no other company can compete in terms of size. How many competitors can survive if we push 400,000 servers?”
“If you can put that much money into it, it seems like a good chance to win.”
“Yes? haha. And one of the other advantages is that we have a huge database that we have accumulated while conducting many online businesses such as DAJI search portal, online shopping mall, Nyworld, etc. We plan to provide DDC customers with the vast amount of information and system tools that can utilize it. After all, most of our customers will be running their businesses online, and the services we provide will be of great help to them.”
“Oh…if you provide such a service, you must be popular with customers.”
“Now that our strengths are clear, all that is left is execution. Mr. Chung, please find out the site of the DDC building in the United States, and if it is decided, obtain a business license from the relevant state. When we get to that point, we will immediately execute our capital investment.”
“All right. We will look into it and report on the progress.”
The application for changing the use of the 2.1Ghz band for #4G communication has already been approved.
The application for additional allocation of the 2.6Ghz band was also successfully passed.
The actual test of 4G communication equipment was completed without any special problems,
World Telecom’s nationwide base station equipment was being upgraded for 4G.
Executive Vice President Shin Hyun, head of the network division, was briefing me on the status of 4G infrastructure construction.
“In the metropolitan area and metropolitan cities, infrastructure construction is almost complete, but there are a lot of shaded areas due to the use of higher frequencies compared to 2G, so there are some areas that need to be supplemented, such as installing indoor repeaters. It will probably take a full week or so to finish.”
The shaded area refers to an area where communication signals do not reach.
Although higher frequency is advantageous for high-speed communication.
When it encounters an obstacle, it is easy to reflect, so the overall distance through which the signal is transmitted is shortened.
As a result, there was a disadvantage in that the shaded area was widened.
So, it was necessary to remove the shadow area by installing a repeater in the middle.
“Full moon? That’s fine, but how long do you think it will take to finish installing the national network?”
“We are in a hurry, but it will not be finished until February of next year.”
“February is too late. It should be finished by the end of the year.”
“..by the end of the year?”
After hesitating for a while, Executive Director Shin said to me.
“Um… that would require doubling the number of workers, which would increase the cost significantly.”
“it’s okay. I have a new product to announce around that time, and 4G communication is essential.”
“Ah… somehow. You paid a lot of attention to the 4G communication infrastructure, but you didn’t say anything about the terminal, so I thought it was a little strange. Usually, when a telecommunication company decides on a next-generation mobile communication technology, it asks the device manufacturer to develop it, but the CEO himself was preparing the device.”
“Absolutely. The reason I developed this 4G communication is to use the terminal.”
Director Shin made a surprised expression.
“..what kind of terminal do you need 4G communication basically?”
“haha. It’s still confidential, so I can’t give you the details. However, since we plan to announce it by the end of this year, Executive Director Shin, please hurry to build the infrastructure.”
At my words, I sent a strong look on the expectations of Executive Director Shin.
“It must be a great product since it was secretly prepared by someone like you. Starting tomorrow, we will increase the number of people and expedite the construction of a nationwide 4G infrastructure network.”
#Damoye Center, Dowoon Electronic Conference Room.
I was talking with President Chae Ki-hwan about entering the US telecommunication equipment market.
“Chief Chae. Now that the actual test of 4G communication equipment has been completed in Korea, it is time to enter the US market. Please forward the delivery proposal for our products to the four major US carriers.”
In the U.S., four telecommunication companies, Viewizon, Ae&T, Sprinter, and I-Mobile, accounted for more than 90% of the market share.
It could be said that it was the main customer and the only customer in the US telecommunications equipment market.
Chae asked with a surprised face.
“We are not yet supplying to Korean telecommunication companies except for World Telecom. Are you planning to target the US first?”
“haha. The Korean side is deliberately not delivering. The other telecommunication companies are my competitors, so I plan to deliver after reducing their market share a lot. But until then, it’s too late to play around with this good technology, so I’m thinking of breaking through the US side first.”
When the D phone was released, there was also a reason to create an environment in advance so that the US could sell it quickly.
“Hmm… 4G is definitely a breakthrough technology, but there are no devices that support it yet, so will they be willing to introduce it?”
“I’m preparing the terminal, so don’t worry, just put in your proposal.”
“Oh!…well, CEO Kang isn’t the kind of person to do things without thinking.”
“If they reject our technology, it will be something other than the handset.”
“Something else?”
“The initiative.”
“Initiative? What are you talking about initiative?”
“It is the initiative for new technologies. Telecommunication companies, handset manufacturers, and telecommunication equipment manufacturers need each other, but if they are drawn to the technology led by the other party, the degree of freedom will be greatly reduced and profits will inevitably decrease. So, whenever a new technology is launched, the battle for initiative to create a favorable situation for them and take over the other companies is quite fierce. U.S. carriers may reject 4G technology to seize this initiative.”
“Oh, I see. So what if they refuse?”
“How are you doing? We have to create a situation that cannot be denied.”
