The 3th Generation of the Chaebol Wants to Live Quietly - Chapter 1157



Only Noblemtl

1157.

Manager Cheon Seon-gu knew better than anyone that the game console landscape was changing these days.

Nintendo’s market dominance was not good because it had competitors in Sony’s PlayStation and Sega’s Saturn.

He thought that SLT-MP3 was just as competitive as these.

It’s because of none other than the KM App Store.

Even in the early days, there were a number of free apps available.

Although defense games are the main focus, it is difficult to ignore them as well.

It wasn’t the crude firmware level of other MP3 devices.

It was like a completely new OS.

It was quite different from the OS that came with the product I purchased privately.

There were quite a few changes, including the icon design.

“What is this? Is this an upgrade?”

At first, I didn’t know what this was used for.

Because it was the world’s first app-based OS.

But then I got really into defense games for a while and after looking around here and there, I realized, “Oh no.”

First of all, I’m talking about apps that can be used in real life, including notes and calculators.

Moreover, new apps were uploaded even while I was using it.

Some of the staff at KM Electronics’ training center uploaded a small program as a test.

It was downloaded automatically via wireless LAN.

“Oh, there’s wireless LAN. Wait, where’s the antenna?”

I looked it up because it was strange.

Fortunately, there was some relevant information.

“… You really did use a patch antenna.”

I stuck out my tongue as I looked at the patch antenna.

Manager Cheon Seon-gu became very nervous from then on. At first, he took it lightly because it was something that was outsourced to Sehan Information.

But that wasn’t the case.

If Sehan Information did it, other companies will do it too.

He called the KM Electronics headquarters team to confirm.

I was on a call.

I called again 10 minutes later.

The call was still ongoing.

Twenty minutes, thirty minutes, an hour later, the call was still ongoing.

The sight of him just holding the phone and digging.

Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo saw the sight.

“Manager Chun, what are you doing? Are you playing a game instead of doing what you’re told to do?!”

Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo was very angry and was on edge, thinking that Director Choi Min-hyeok was plotting something sinister.

Manager Cheon Seon-gu sighed.

“… I went to Yongsan and looked at the SLT-MP3 product. I bought one to see how customers would react.”

“Really? How’s the reaction?”

He personally checked even the smallest details because it was Director Choi Min-hyeok’s job. He didn’t want to repeat the mistakes he had made so far.

“This is a jackpot!”

Senior Vice President Kim Hyun-woo was furious. No, he got angry.

“What the hell are you talking about?! What if Manager Chun says something like that?!!”

Chief Cheon Seon-gu felt sorry. But he spoke honestly. He even explained to me directly why the antenna was not visible.

Emphasized.

He explained that it was not something to be taken lightly, spitting out saliva.

“… … .”

Senior Vice President Kim Hyun-woo just listened silently. He didn’t think much of the fact that Director Choi Min-hyeok had used Sehan Information.

If it was really important, Director Choi Min-hyeok himself would have done it.

But when I heard the story, it wasn’t like that.

‘Then it’s true… … .’

Manager Cheon Seon-gu was different.

“It’s a bit harsh to say this, but the game console market has become more competitive these days as trends have changed. In fact, these times are a good time to delve into the game market.”

“… Are you saying that this is competitive with Nintendo or Sony products?!”

“Yes. That’s why it’s even worse. It’s a platform that high school kids really like. Word of mouth is bound to spread. If a certain number of fans are created… … .”

“Tsk, just write a fantasy novel. Stop talking nonsense!!!”

Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo denied Manager Cheon Seon-gu’s inference in one word.

***

Manager Cheon Seon-gu continued to call KM Electronics’ sales team while writing the SLT-MP3 report, ignoring the attitude of Senior Manager Kim Hyeon-woo. Fortunately, he was able to contact them after three days and asked if technical cooperation was possible.

But the other person said that he had to wait a bit.

This was because all the major electronics companies in Korea contacted me.

In other words, it means that you have to get a waiting ticket. It went as planned, as Director Choi Min-hyeok predicted, that if he did not develop the product himself, another company would dig in.

No, it was that bad.

Manager Cheon Seon-gu also thought that KM Electronics’ sales staff was a bit exaggerated.

But that wasn’t it.

The initial stock of 50,000 units sold out in just three days.

Even the additional 50,000 units produced were sold out in just five days.

It was originally produced for export to Japan, but it has all been sold out domestically.

Up to this point, it was possible because it was pre-assembled.

The next order had to start with ordering new parts.

Sehan Information was more self-reproachful than pleased with the situation.

Originally, this quantity itself was intended for export.

I didn’t know it would sell this well in Korea.

It was too expensive to begin with.

The 600,000 won quantity is the cheapest version. The price of the product with the maximum RAM and flash capacity was a whopping 1 million won.

Sehan Information had to rush to Oseong Electronics and LC Electronics to negotiate prices.

Manager Cheon Seon-gu used his connections to eventually find out this fact and reported it to Senior Manager Kim Hyeon-woo.

Senior Vice President Kim Hyun-woo was not sure. He thought it was impossible to conclude that 100,000 units would be sold in total.

But there was another problem.

Once the 100,000-unit market opened, the reactions of KM Electronics’ training center staff changed.

Even though it was hasty, I uploaded it to the KM app and looked at it.

There are some parts that lack completion.

But the PC communication response was different.

The rumor continued to spread through word of mouth.

“… Ha, how can this be?”

Manager Cheon Seon-gu stuck out his tongue.

“They wanted to use the game console market to create a fan base. They even created an education center to produce the necessary apps. That was the purpose of establishing the KM Education Center. If this is marketing, it’s really great.”

“… Are you saying that the KM Training Center wasn’t just created for in-house training?”

“Yes. If that’s the case, then it explains the strange things Director Choi Min-hyeok has been doing up until now. To be honest, if we hadn’t been tracking Director Choi Min-hyeok from the beginning, we wouldn’t have known about it.”

That’s right.

If I hadn’t been subjected to Director Choi Min-hyeok, I wouldn’t have looked into this.

In fact, most companies did that.

Senior Vice President Kim Hyun-woo himself was looking into this information because he had been pressured by Director Choi Min-hyeok a lot. However, he was not sure about it either.

“… Will that really happen?”

However, Manager Cheon Seon-gu was different. He had first-hand experience and feelings about Director Choi Min-hyeok since his days at KM Electronics, then Oseong Electronics, and then Salomon Brothers.

“You don’t know that you’ve been treated like that? Plimsda, whatever, it’s all nonsense. This is a more serious problem now. It may seem funny because it’s just the beginning of the build-up, but it’s not. Chief Kim, you must feel it too, so you’re not saying anything?!”

“…yes.”

Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo also couldn’t get angry at Manager Cheon Seon-gu.

This is because Manager Cheon Seon-gu’s guess was quite accurate.

‘Let’s start with the report.’

***

When Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo confirmed that exports to Japan were also positive, he immediately informed Director Derek Morgan.

In fact, in the past, Director Derek Morgan would not have received such a report.

But he also had a lot of experience with Director Choi Min-hyeok.

He also habitually tried to ignore Senior Vice President Kim Hyun-woo, but came to his senses belatedly. He is not the type of person who would do something like this as he is handling a business case worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but he did receive a report because Director Choi Min-hyeok was involved.

“…the game console market.”

Unlike the first time, it was not a problem to be thought of simply.

The only question was whether it could compete with Nintendo and Sony.

However, Senior Manager Kim Hyeon-woo quietly mentioned the advice that Manager Cheon Seon-gu had given.

“Nintendo and Sony games are expensive. And the game features are limited. But this SLT-MP3 game is completely different. In other words, anyone can make a game and upload it.”

The basis he gave for this was the free distribution of KOS development tools.

However, the qualification was limited to universities.

But for now, it was distributed to high schools in the form of donations.

It was the work of KM Electronics’ planning team.

Director Derek Morgan glanced at Director Dennis Salomon.

Director Dennis Salomon looked unusually embarrassed.

He swallowed hard as he read the detailed report submitted by Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo.

His perspective was different from that of ordinary people.

It was then that I realized that this was just the beginning.

Director Derek Morgan waited patiently for Director Dennis Salomon’s answer.

Director Dennis Salomon first recalled what had happened to Director Choi Min-hyeok in the past.

It’s something that was ignored and glossed over.

In the end, they all hit the jackpot.

If you look at this work from that perspective, its future value changes.

This is something that most companies cannot do, but Director Choi Min-hyeok is different.

Moreover, Director Choi Min-hyeok’s influence now is different from that time.

If Director Choi Min-hyeok does something, other companies will rush in.

In fact, patents are good evidence of that.

When Director Choi Min-hyeok came forward, the patent owner did not sell the patent.

He glanced at Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo and sighed.

“… I think that Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo’s opinion makes sense.”

“Are you really saying that it can compete with Japanese games?”

“It’s not just Japanese games, to be exact. There are many different programs that can be uploaded to this app.”

Moreover, the CPU performance itself used in SLT-MP3 has increased.

What that meant was that this wasn’t the end.

“There is frequent talk of high-performance CPU products using ARN. There is talk that not only ARN but also companies like Intel are developing them.”

If that happens, it means that mobile games will become bigger.

“Director Choi Min-hyeok has already taken action on that matter. In fact, I didn’t know the reason until now, but this explains it to some extent.”

Director Derek Morgan then began to seriously contemplate how to handle this matter. But he soon sighed. He judged that Director Choi Min-hyeok had done something strange to cover up this matter.

“…Is the establishment of the Plims Corporation a show?”

Director Dennis Salomon wasn’t so sure about that either.

“Actually, I don’t know about that. It’s such a big deal. However, it’s probably not unrelated. I think Director Choi Min-hyeok’s intention to do this right now is related to that.”

It was difficult to catch up with Director Choi Min-hyeok’s plims now.

Even if you convince others, there is a technological gap of several years.

“… Should I buy KM Electronics stock instead?”

No one said anything.

Because that’s much better.

Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo noticed and then intervened.

“It is impossible to catch up with Director Choi Min-hyeok’s technology now. There is a patent barrier right now. Even if you invest in another company. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to have another alternative?”

“What alternative?”

“We’re using Apple’s Steven.”

Director Derek Morgan chuckled.

“You call that a lie? The fact that Director Choi Min-hyeok is Apple’s largest shareholder… … .”

“No. Although Director Choi Min-hyeok is the largest shareholder of Apple, he only owns 20% of the shares. The remaining 80% is owned by someone else. Our Salomon Brothers is one of them.”

“That’s… … .”

Director Derek Morgan couldn’t say that he had acquired Apple shares because of the Apple short sale.

Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo pointed out exactly that point.

“Steven must have trusted Director Choi Min-hyeok until now. What about now? Director Choi Min-hyeok sold off his 12% stake in Apple. Furthermore, the Apple board of directors must have different thoughts. There must be quite a few people who support Director Choi Min-hyeok but have different thoughts.”

Just like Salomon Brothers.

Senior Vice President Kim Hyeon-woo passed over that point.

“Even the KMP-02 model was developed jointly by Apple and KM Electronics. I doubt Steven would like it. I think he had no choice but to follow suit.”

“so?”

“But then the SLT-MP3 showed up. Moreover, this model was not aimed at hardware profits. Surprisingly, it created a software market. Do you think Steven would be happy if he found out about this?”

“Hmm.”