"Middle East?" Lei Shengli thought for a moment and said, "The Middle East is indeed a good market. It's hot enough there, and people have just become rich."
"Yes, as long as you understand what I mean." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
Midea's previous acquisition of Paige mainly produces air conditioners and refrigerators. Although it does not have any technical content, the assembly speed is fast enough, and it still has a good understanding of the structure and working principles of air conditioners and refrigerators.
During the month that Chen Zhiwen went to the United States, Midea easily made its own brand of air conditioners and refrigerators through the original OEM supplier channels. Because the technical components are purchased finished products, patents are not an issue. The patent can be bypassed with slight changes.
However, the disadvantage is that the cost is too high. After all, all parts need to be purchased, and we do not have our own technology, but there is nothing we can do about it. The beginning of the manufacturing industry has this problem. One is that there is no technology for generalization, and the other is that there is no way. Large-scale production leads to higher costs.
The most important thing is that there is no market, because the market has long been occupied by giants. The higher the technical content of the product, the more stable the position of the old brand. For example, in the automobile industry, from the post-World War II period to the 21st century, basically all players are Companies with a long history, such as Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Honda, General Motors, and Ford, were basically all companies before the 1930s. The only exception is South Korea's Hyundai, and that is because there is help from the state behind it.
If you want to rush in and get a piece of the cake, you can only wait for two situations to occur. The first is the technological revolution, such as the rise of domestic trams in later generations, which led to domestically produced cars led by BYD. The second is the emergence of new markets, and the same is true. Later in the Mainland, in the 1990s, although the level of domestically produced fuel vehicles was far behind, many local brands were still successfully cultivated. This was because the rising blank market in the country gave the local automobile industry room to grow slowly, although the majority of them were still joint ventures. However, the low-end market is a breakthrough suitable for domestic brand cars. Without this market, no domestic car will be able to take off.
It is still early for domestic reform to open up, and foreign capital cannot enter the domestic market in the early stage of reform. But now Saudi Arabia is a booming market, because after the oil crisis, the Middle East made huge profits.
Take Saudi Arabia as an example. In 1971, the entire country's fiscal revenue was US$1.7 billion. By 1974, the national fiscal revenue exceeded US$100 billion. Although most of such a huge wealth was obtained by the state, a small number of it was distributed to the people. It will also have a qualitative change in people's lives.
In the 1970s, the Middle East became an important export market for the international automobile industry, especially luxury cars and off-road vehicles. Many large car brands also developed car tires suitable for sand-traveling, supporting technologies and even specialized models specifically for the wealthy people in the Middle East. .
In addition to cars, the demand for electrical appliances is higher, and almost every family needs it. Especially in the geographical location of the Middle East, it is basically summer all year round, and the camels suffer from the heat.
The huge demand is naturally the best opportunity for Midea to seize the opportunity to develop itself. However, it has this idea, and so do those big companies. However, the new market is in a period of rapid expansion, and few brands can quickly occupy the market. This gives other brands a certain Given the opportunity, Chen Zhiwen does not expect to capture a large market. He can only allow the company to operate normally and develop in a self-cyclical manner, and then develop its own technology and stabilize the first step. This first step is actually the hardest.
"Okay, then I'll send people to the Middle East to visit the market." Lei Shengli nodded and said, but he was a little worried. Places like the Middle East are too hot, so sending people there would be a bit troublesome.
"Just give us the money, find a few smart people, and then find a translator in the Middle East. There should be a shortage of goods there right now. Let's fly our samples there with them." Chen Zhiwen saw what Lei Shengli was thinking. , said with a smile.
It can be said that the consumption power of the local tycoons after becoming rich is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. In later generations, when some villages in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were demolished, 4S stores of luxury brands such as BBA immediately took their cars to set up stalls in other villages, and the transaction volume was very large. high.
The wealth that was demolished in later generations is a hundred times worse than the current Middle East. From being reluctant to drink more water every day, to suddenly having huge wealth in hand, material needs from poor countries to top developed countries, the market The demand is much greater than it was in the 1990s in mainland China. As long as you have goods to send, you don't have to worry about not being able to sell them. It will not be until a few years later that a balance is gradually formed.
"Okay." Lei Shengli agreed.
"That's it for now. In addition, we will send over a few of our own refrigerators and put them here to store snacks for other employees." Chen Zhiwen added. He also wants to try the quality of his own brand's products.
"No problem, I'll arrange for someone to deliver it in the afternoon." Lei Shengli nodded and agreed.
Later, Chen Zhiwen talked with Qin Zhihao, the person in charge of Red Bull. At present, under Red Bull, the business of the United Soda Drink Factory was developing normally and was still losing money, while Red Bull itself began to vigorously produce because the feedback from the RB market was not bad.
During this period, Red Bull was sold through normal channels in Hong Kong, Bay Area, RB, South Korea and other Southeast Asian regions. The main promotion method was the same as in the United States in the past few months, sending free Red Bull to truck drivers who often drive and night shift factories. , let them understand the characteristics of Red Bull.
The feedback from all parties is very good, but the market sales are very average because the price is too expensive. The working-class people in developing countries have this demand but cannot afford it. The rich people in these countries and regions can’t afford it. No, but Chen Zhiwen still asks to continue half-selling and half-giving. These markets still need to be cultivated slowly.
The RB market is a bit different. It is a developed country with considerable national income. For example, the radio business of Midea Electronics has recently been cooperating with Toyota's purchasing department and wants to become a supplier of the next generation Corolla. It just so happens that Red Bull needs to develop the RB factory market. So Midea's sales department sent tens of thousands of bottles of Red Bull to Toyota factories, telling them that this was a drink that could refresh night shift workers.
You know, Asians generally don’t like to drink coffee, and the same goes for RB. After the Red Bull drink was launched, the feedback was very good, so Red Bull got RB’s first big customer. Of course, there are other unspeakable reasons for this.
With Toyota as a customer, Red Bull's sales went to Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and other large companies to promote, and they all successfully entered the market through the name of Toyota. However, RB's automotive industry all purchased Red Bull, and they wanted to enter the market again. In supermarkets, it is not difficult, but the performance in supermarkets is very poor.
"In other words, to be like the United States, we need to carry out large-scale publicity in RB?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a smile.
