Episode 192. Future trend.
TM Display President Kim Chan-myung asked with a surprised face.
“..you want to start a game of chicken?”
“yes. If you wait until the Chinese companies are big, you can make a lot of money in the meantime, but it won’t be easy to win the chicken game that will happen after that, and even if you win, the damage will be huge. The Chinese government will provide almost limitless funding. So, from the second half of this year, drop the LCD panel price in line with the situation that Chinese companies are building lines.”
It was an attack method with the opponent’s stamina in mind, one of the two ways to win the chicken game.
At this point, the panels produced by Chinese companies, which are latecomers, will be inferior in quality to those of TM Display.
If we want to sell it in the market, we have no choice but to offer it at a lower price than our panel price.
Still, the production cost would be high because the process efficiency of the line was lower than that of this one.
“What do you mean by adapting to the current situation..?”
“For example, when the 5th generation line starts to be built, the price of the monitor panel, which is mainly from the 5th generation line, drops to the limit, and when the 8th generation line starts, the price of a 40-50 inch TV panel decreases. However, if they do not give up and start building up to the 10th generation line, drop the price of large panels over 70 inches.”
“All right. However, in the case of VOE, since RG Display was acquired, why not use that line for production? Up to the 7th generation line has been completed there, so to which panel line can the price be lowered?”
“You don’t have to worry about the RG line. After all, VOE ate there to take technology, not to produce and sell something. Full-scale production will start by building a new line in China. I am not used to doing business in Korea, and I have no choice but to receive subsidies from the Chinese government only when they are in line in their own country.”
“understand. But one concern is, if we start to drop panel prices, the LCD business will have little to no profit, is it okay?”
“If we can take down only the Chinese companies, we can make up for them later. If the panel is cheap, the market will expand significantly, so when this war is over, the market will be dozens of times bigger. You’ll see little profit during the game of chicken, but if you win, you can earn over 40 trillion won a year.”
I wonder if President Kim was greatly surprised, and asked with his mouth half open.
“..40 Articles..?”
“It was also kept to a minimum. As sweet fruit awaits, we must win this LCD war.”
“Oh, I see. So when will this war start?”
“It will start before the end of the year at the latest. So, before that, Mr. Kim, please raise the process efficiency of the LCD lines as much as possible, and prepare well so that the OLED line, which will serve as a source of funds during the chicken game, can be operated normally.”
“All right. President!”
#End of January 2005.
Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
The 3rd largest automobile manufacturer in the world, Ayota headquarters conference room.
President Yuto Tanaka opened his mouth with a heavy face.
“Baekwoo car, should we all call it a car now? With just a little bit more, he was able to defeat QM, the undisputed leader, but things took a big turn when the assembled car broke in and completely shook the market. In the end, we were pushed to third place without surpassing QM, let alone number one in the world, and our ten-year goal of achieving No.
Looking at the executives who quietly bowed their heads, Yuto continued.
“At this point, if you think about it calmly, it has become clear that the existing strategy of increasing market share by competing with driving performance is no longer useful. So I came to the conclusion that I had to discard the old strategy and implement a completely new one.”
Masato, an executive in charge of development, asked.
“Are you saying that discarding the existing strategy means that instead of driving performance, we will gather together and compete on the battlefield like a car?”
“Of course we have to pay attention to the battlefield as well. However, even if we focus our efforts on the development of battlefields from now on, it will probably be difficult to go beyond automobiles together. Because there is Chairman Kang Jae-woon, who is called the greatest genius in the electronics industry since history. In order to achieve our dream of being number one in the world, we have to change the rules of the game, as we did in the automobile industry before.”
“..how do you plan to change the rules..?”
Yuto replied in a powerful tone.
“In the future competition, we plan to compete with electric vehicles rather than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.”
As if his words were shocking, the executives began to murmur.
Masato opened his mouth to him.
“..don’t electric vehicles have as many disadvantages as their advantages? In particular, it is difficult to overcome the fact that it cannot go far when charged and that charging itself is not easy. In addition, considering that we have strengths in the internal combustion engine sector, but not much accumulated know-how in the electric vehicle sector, there are many risks.”
Yuto replied to that with a calm face.
“Of course, if we are going to compete with a pure electric vehicle, yes. But what about a hybrid electric vehicle that combines an electric vehicle and an internal combustion engine?”
At those words, Masato had an expression on his face that he realized.
“ah! Basically, it is powered by electricity, but when the amount of charge runs out, the engine can be used as a generator. When the engine is used like that, it can run on the most efficient cycle regardless of the speed of operation, and in particular, we have a lot of excellent technology in the internal combustion engine, so we will have more competitiveness in terms of fuel economy than other companies.”
At Masato’s words, most of the executives made a face that they understood.
Seeing this, Yuto smiled.
“That’s right. If it’s a hybrid, you’ll be able to fight hard enough with cars. So from now on, let’s focus all our energy on preparing a hybrid vehicle. The goal is to launch a new car in the second half of this year. Everyone knows, right?”
The officers nodded their heads in response.
“All right! president.”
Early February 2005.
The meeting room of the car headquarters.
I was browsing through ideas raised through an in-house project contest, a new system I created earlier this year.
There were about 40 on the list that were considered marketable or original ideas.
There was one thing that particularly caught my attention.
“Wireless charging electric car?”
When I showed interest, President Woo Gwan-ho, who was next to me, gave further explanations.
“This idea came from a senior researcher who joined the electronics division last year. It seems unlikely, but I added it to the list because I think the president might be interested.”
“haha. Boss Woo is also quite quick-witted. In the meantime, did you understand all of my tastes?”
“I was just guessing, but I’m glad you like it.”
It’s an electric car.
Come to think of it, it was time to start over on this side.
I pondered for a moment and then opened my mouth.
“Oh, boss. From now on, let’s prepare electric vehicles in earnest.”
President Woo asked with a surprised face.
“..Electric cars? Even if the battery is fully loaded, it can’t travel 100km on a single charge. Will it compete with an internal combustion engine car? In fact, I put it on the list because of the original wireless charging technology, not because of the electric car…”
“haha. That’s because the battery’s performance isn’t supported. If an electric vehicle that can go more than 300km at a time comes out with improved performance, it will become a formidable competitor to internal combustion engine vehicles.”
“..300Km…Will such a battery be developed easily? Besides, even if there is such a thing, I am a little worried about whether electric vehicles, which are inconvenient to charge and are expected to be very expensive, will sell well…”
Osla.
It is an electric car company acquired by Alan York, who made a lot of money by starting a famous payment system called Payal.
Afterwards, despite a loss of 1 trillion won every year, the market cap exceeded 100 trillion won, ranking second among automakers in the world.
The trend of future automobiles is undoubtedly an electric vehicle.
“It will be sold. In the future, eco-friendliness will become the mainstream. The policy will also move toward encouraging the purchase of electric vehicles that do not emit pollutants, and above all, there are many advantages of electric vehicles. The fuel cost is low, and there is no engine, so the noise is low. The structure is simple, so it is not prone to breakdown. So it’s easy to maintain and everything is electric, so it’s easy to control, so as long as the battery performance improves, it will definitely be popular.”
After listening to my words and pondering for a moment, President Woo nodded.
“I heard the president’s words, and it makes sense. We will create an electric vehicle division organization and start development in the near future. But, as I said before, the core of an electric vehicle is a high-performance battery, but the battery maker will not try to develop it because there is not enough money yet. We need to solve this part, but realistically it is a bit difficult right now…”
“I will take care of that part. Mr. Woo can prepare the rest of the parts besides the battery.”
“The president himself… I know.”
“Who is the chief researcher who proposed the wireless charging electric vehicle?”
“In a word, he is a very good person. He graduated from the Graduate School of Cambridge in England with excellent grades and has written more than 15 SCI-level thesis papers.”
Science Citation Index (SCI).
A well-known journal selected by the American Institute of Science and Information Technology based on strict criteria.
In the case of graduate schools in Korea, it was not easy to publish a thesis so that if you can publish 2-3 papers in this SCI-level journal, you will be awarded a doctorate.
There was no doubt that he was quite smart enough to write 15 such papers.
“okay. Could you please call the researcher one more time? I want to talk to you in person.”
“yes. Please wait a moment.”
After a while, a woman in her 30s with short hair, who looked less than 160 cm, entered the conference room.
She nodded her head with a very nervous look on her face.
“hello? President. This is Mijeong Ahn.”
“Come on, please sit down. I was impressed with the project proposal that Director Ahn made. It was a fun idea.”
“What is your field of study? Seeing that you joined as a senior researcher, it looks like you got your doctorate.”
“I got my degree with a thesis on wireless power transmission chipsets.”
“Aha. Also. You know a lot about wireless charging, so you made such a suggestion.”
“To tell you a little more about Ahn’s proposal, it was a good idea, but it was a bit unrealistic. In the original wireless charging, the charging efficiency decreases sharply even if the distance increases, right? In that sense, it is still a difficult technology to apply to automobiles.”
I shook my head, not responsible for my words.
“It is too early to be disappointed. I’m not saying it’s going to be hard to apply right now, I’m not saying it won’t work forever. Besides, it is not an electric vehicle, but there are areas where it can be applied immediately.”
“..what field are you talking about..?”
“It’s a smartphone. Since this is a product I use often, I need to charge it often, but it would be very convenient if wireless charging was possible. Besides, it can be attached to the charging pad, so the charging efficiency will be good.”
Ahn made a face that he realized responsibility.
“okay! It’s a smartphone… I didn’t think of that.”
“In that sense, Ahn’s responsibility is gathered here rather than the electric field division, so I think the IT side would be more suitable, how about it?”
