If Bosideng, like in its previous life, insisted on going further and further down the path of diversification, it would take many detours, or even perish.
This was also Wang Yi's best chance to take down Bosideng and capture the down jacket market!
In fact, many giants' failures are not due to being defeated, but to self-destruction.
Like HM, if it had just honestly sold clothes, its situation wouldn't be so tragic, and its stock wouldn't have plummeted.
But now, its stock price has evaporated by more than a third.
Even if Wang Yi wasn't targeting HM right now, a mysterious force has stepped in, reporting HM's scandals daily, relentlessly beating HM, causing HM's stock price to continuously plummet.
Without even investigating, Wang Yi knew that this was likely done by HM's arch-rival, Zara's parent company.
This is good; the harder it hammers HM, the more miserable HM's situation becomes, and the lower its stock price falls, the more Wang Yi will earn from shorting HM's three billion.
Similarly, Wang Yi's best way to defeat Bosideng is to make Bosideng diversify more aggressively, accelerating its self-destruction.
As for how to accelerate Bosideng's diversification, Wang Yi decided to dig pits!
Digging pits for Bosideng, and even for many competitors and friendly businesses.
With this thought, Wang Yi made a call to Song Sining:
"Sining, contact Xiao Anqing from the evening newspaper and arrange an exclusive interview for Meiyou."
"Okay, Boss. Just today, as soon as our investment in BYD was revealed, both the Jizhou Evening News and the Provincial Business Daily are vying for an interview. How do you want to arrange it?"
"Is that so?"
Wang Yi thought for a moment:
"That's easy to say, arrange both. Two exclusive interviews, one for each. First the evening newspaper, then the provincial business daily. After all, Xiao Anqing is an old contact, so we need to take care of her."
"Alright, so you'll appear on camera?"
Song Sining smiled.
"No need, you can appear on camera. Besides promoting our phones and games, you also need to share Meiyou's secret to success!"
"Ah? Say all that?"
Song Sining was startled.
Isn't that a trade secret?
Or is the Boss going to set a trap again?
Indeed, Wang Yi smiled slightly:
"Of course. When they ask about Meiyou's development strategy and secret to success, you tell them the core strategy is diversified development! This is Meiyou's winning secret and the consistent approach moving forward."
"Currently, Meiyou is not only producing seductive-style dresses and autumn wear, but also entering the down jacket market. In addition, there are film and television investments, gaming business, mobile phone business, and even future real estate business, all part of diversified development."
"Okay, Boss."
Song Sining was a bit surprised but didn't ask further.
She would say exactly what Wang Yi told her to say.
Wang Yi surely had his deeper intentions.
"Also, preview Meiyou's new product launch event. It will be on October 25th, at Xingyi Science Park, where we will unveil our autumn and winter 'godsend products'!"
"Alright."
Song Sining changed the subject:
"Boss, the Meiyou Science Park will break ground the day after tomorrow. You need to come back for the groundbreaking ceremony!"
"Right! This is a big event. Okay, I'll go back tomorrow night!"
"Mhm."
As Song Sining said this, her face flushed again, seemingly thinking of something not good...
After all, returning tomorrow night meant they would be living together again, and this time, there was no period to protect her...
Wang Yi, however, didn't think of this, and instead emphasized again:
"Sining, remember, in the interview, you must emphasize that diversified development is our winning secret!"
It's all a bluff!
To trick all friendly businesses and competitors into crippling themselves.
Trick them all into diversified development!
Then, diversified development will lead to diversified failure.
By then, not only will new businesses not succeed, but even core businesses will be snatched away.
Wang Yi, on the other hand, would take a steady approach, focusing on these few industries, but making each one an industry leader.
To put it plainly, diversified development is not impossible, but it is very difficult, and most companies will fail.
Insufficient understanding of a new industry, one mistake, can lead to eternal damnation.
Even Apple wouldn't dare to make phones, tablets, and computers while also venturing into cars, home appliances, clothing, and games...
Wang Yi could handle diversified development purely because he was a reborn person and sufficiently cautious!
But Bosideng doesn't have these conditions; blind diversified development will very likely lead to them being crippled by deception.
Moreover, the hot sales of Meiyou dresses made Bosideng envious, jealous, and hateful.
A single Meiyou seductive-style dress earned more than a Bosideng down jacket.
How could they not be envious?
Once they see Meiyou's news reports, it's likely that Bosideng, from top to bottom, will unswervingly accelerate diversified development!
Unswervingly diversify to self-destruct.
Then, Wang Yi would be able to quickly take over the down jacket market.
Wang Yi's only worry was that BYD would also be crippled by deception.
But it doesn't matter; BYD is already diversified and already crippled.
BYD has a market value of over 30 billion, debts of 30 billion, and current assets of 20 billion.
Boss Wang is worried every day about how to repay money and no longer has the surplus funds to continue self-destruction.
But Bosideng is different; it still has capital, still has money.
It can very well continue to self-destruct.
Song Sining was very efficient; she immediately contacted the Jizhou Evening News and the Provincial Business Daily, scheduling interviews for tomorrow.
Then she started writing furiously, preparing the speech.
Wang Yi returned to the Imperial Capital, it was already 8 PM.
"Boss, should we go straight back to the company?"
Wu Shuang asked.
Wang Yi had been too busy this day.
Shenzhen - Wuxi - Changshu - Jizhou!
He traveled through three provinces and four cities in one day.
Being a boss is really hard work!
Wu Shuang couldn't help but sigh.
Wang Yi waved his hand:
"No, go directly to the Marriott Hotel. I have an appointment with two general managers of distributors."
"Oh, and the legal team should work overtime too."
"Okay, Boss."
Then, the group headed straight to the Marriott Hotel.
Song Guangyao and Li Zongyang were already waiting in the private room and were overjoyed to see Wang Yi arrive.
"My apologies, I just got back from Changshu City and kept you both waiting."
"Director Wang, you're too kind. We just had a chat,"
Li Zongyang said with a smile.
"Yes, we chatted, and it went very well,"
Song Guangyao said, smiling without warmth.
Wang Yi chuckled inwardly; it seemed these two guys chatted so well they almost came to blows.
Indeed, one city, two general agents—it would be strange if they had a good chat.
But this had nothing to do with Wang Yi; he only cared about collecting money and dividing the market.
"Sit!"
Wang Yi gestured, and both parties sat down.
The legal team stepped forward and handed over a map of Xingzhou:
"The principle is that the Meiyou and Zhenyou agencies in Xingzhou will change from a single general agent to two regional dual-brand general agents. The North-South central axis of the central district will serve as the boundary. The area to the east will be one region, with an agency fee of 130 million. The area to the west will be another region, with an agency fee of 100 million. Any problems?"
"No problem."
Both responded, agreeing it was the best solution.
"Very good. As for the choice between the East and West districts."
Wang Yi paused, looking at both parties:
"Let CEO Li choose first, after all, he was the first to represent Meiyou."
Li Zongyang smiled slightly, knowing the thirty million was well spent.
Song Guangyao, however, sighed, thinking to himself:
'Li Zongyang, that old fox, really played a trick on me from behind. He'll definitely choose the East District; it's the wealthy area, much richer than the industrial and residential areas of the West District. Even if the agency fee is thirty million more, it's still worth it!'
As expected, Li Zongyang stated directly: "Director Wang, I choose the East District!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"Okay, the exclusive agency rights for Zhenyou and Meiyou in the East District go to you. The exclusive agency rights for Zhenyou and Meiyou in the West District go to CEO Song. CEO Li, you will transfer all Meiyou specialty stores in the West District to CEO Song. Additionally, the few stores in the shopping malls along the central axis will also be transferred to CEO Song!"
"This... good!"
Li Zongyang understood that securing the East District was a great advantage for him, and having the shopping malls and stores on the central axis go to the West District was a form of compensation for Song Guangyao.
Hearing this, Song Guangyao's gloomy expression brightened considerably:
"Thank you, Director Wang, thank you."
Wang Yi waved his hand:
"With this division, does anyone have any objections?"
"None!"
"None!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"Very good, then let's proceed. Legal team, draft the contract, and sign on site."
"Okay!"
Subsequently, the legal team drafted the contract.
Wang Yi and Li Zongyang first signed an agreement to terminate Li Zongyang's exclusive Meiyou agency.
Then, they separately signed partitioned dual-brand agency agreements with the two agents.
It took more than an hour of busy work to conclude.
Thus, the entire Xingzhou matter was settled.
Both Meiyou and Zhenyou brands were completely divided.
With Li Zongyang in the East and Song Guangyao in the West, the entire physical store layout in Xingzhou was completely finalized.
Of the current thirty Meiyou specialty stores, those in the East District still belonged to Li Zongyang, while all those in the West District were transferred to Song Guangyao.
Of course, Song Guangyao needed to pay corresponding fees to Li Zongyang.
Subsequently, both Li Zongyang and Song Guangyao would each open 15 Zhenyou specialty stores in their respective regions.
And Wang Yi would also open five Zhenyou flagship stores.
This way, the total number of stores for the two brands, Meiyou and Zhenyou, in Xingzhou would reach 70.
Nike and Adidas each have sixty to seventy stores for a single brand.
Wang Yi having 70 stores for two brands is not considered many.
There's no other way; the more stores there are, the more convenient it is for consumers to shop, and the higher the revenue and profit.
Developed countries like Xingzhou not only have wealthy locals but also wealthy people who have moved there from all over the world!
Even if Australia is larger and has more people, the number of wealthy individuals might not match Xingzhou.
Xingzhou's location, official attributes, etc., all determine its uniqueness and irreplaceability.
After signing the agreement, Li Zongyang suddenly changed the subject:
"Director Wang, do you want to launch Xingyi phones in Xingzhou? I'm willing to be the agent!"
"Specialty stores?"
Wang Yi fell into contemplation:
Xingzhou is a developed country after all; if a specialty store were opened, there's a good chance it would be sued for patent infringement by other brands, and such a lawsuit would likely succeed.
It's likely that not many phones would be sold before sales had to be stopped, leading to a lot of trouble.
Moreover, phones are not like clothes; one person can buy many pieces of clothing and update their wardrobe every year.
But for phones, one is enough for a person, and currently, people only replace them every two years.
Especially since most people in Xingzhou use iPhones, they might only replace them every three or four years.
Even if a specialty store was opened, sales might not be high, and there's a risk of being sued, which isn't cost-effective.
Of course, bringing in some grey market goods would still be fine.
So, Wang Yi said meaningfully:
"In principle, Xingyi phones are not intended to open specialty stores in Xingzhou, nor are they intended for public sale."
"In principle..."
"Not intended for public sale... which means it can be smuggled and sold as grey market goods!"
Li Zongyang and Song Guangyao exchanged knowing smiles, fully understanding Wang Yi's meaning.
Like the iPhone 4S, the domestic version won't be released until January 13th next year, but the US version 4S has already arrived!
Grey market goods are not a domestic specialty; Xingzhou also has them.
Similarly, since Xingyi phones are not openly sold, they can use certain channels to smuggle some Xingyi phones, bring them back to Xingzhou, and sell them secretly.
If it gets found out, there's nothing that can be done.
They are just grey market goods, unrelated to Xingyi Technology.
Xingyi Technology has no official channels in Xingzhou at all.
Besides, if they really want to investigate grey market goods, they should start with iPhones!
Li Zongyang made up his mind:
"Okay, I'll find a first-tier distributor in Xia Nation then, directly import a batch of Xingyi phones, and bring them back to Xingzhou to sell."
Song Guangyao also muttered to himself:
"Damn it, this time I can't let that grandson Li Zongyang get ahead. I'm an expert at smuggling!"
People at their level all have their own connections.
They would handle Xingyi phones the same way they handled grey market iPhones.
The profit might even be greater.
Wang Yi didn't mind this.
If they can't sell openly in Xingzhou, selling through distributors as grey market goods is the same; Xingyi phones still make a good profit.
The Xingzhou market doesn't need much; 500,000 to 1,000,000 units would be enough!
Similarly, in Europe and America, as long as Xingyi phones are good enough and have a strong reputation, they can all be distributed as grey market goods.
As long as customers pay and Xingyi phone distributors receive the payment, they can ship the goods through shell companies.
What happens afterward, how they are smuggled out, has nothing to do with Xingyi Technology; the money has already been earned.
If it's truly investigated, it will all be attributed to shell companies!
After another round of pleasantries, both parties departed.
Wang Yi looked at Wu Shuang and the legal team and said with a smile:
"Everyone has worked hard and is very tired from today's journey, so I won't treat you to dinner. Tomorrow, go to finance, and each of you will receive five hundred for overtime!"
"Thank you, Boss!"
The few people beamed with joy; business trips already had travel expenses.
Now, with just over an hour of overtime, they get an additional five hundred for overtime!
One can only say the Boss is generous!
"You're welcome, go back now."
"Goodbye, Boss!"
The two legal staff left with smiles on their faces, feeling as if a day's fatigue had vanished.
What bothers people is not overtime itself, but overtime without overtime pay.
On the contrary, if overtime pay is sufficient—five hundred yuan for less than two hours—they'd probably want to work overtime every day!
Finally, only Wu Shuang and Wang Yi remained in the room.
Wu Shuang opened her mouth:
"Boss, do I get any?"
"What do you get?"
Wang Yi teased.
"Overtime pay!"
Wang Yi laughed:
"You protect me 24 hours a day, so there's no such thing as overtime for you."
Wu Shuang was silent: "..."
It seemed that was the case!
"However, you can get a raise!"
Wang Yi changed the subject.
"A raise?"
Wu Shuang's eyes lit up:
"Such good news?"
"Of course. There's a kitchen in the apartment. From now on, you'll be responsible for my meals."
"..."
Wu Shuang was utterly speechless:
"So I'm both a bodyguard and your private chef!"
"Monthly salary increase by ten thousand!"
"Ten thousand? Current monthly salary is thirty thousand, plus another ten thousand, that's forty thousand! And I get to eat the food I cook!"
Wu Shuang's eyes curved into smiles:
"Boss, my cooking is very good; I guarantee you'll be satisfied. What do you want to eat tonight? I'll go buy groceries right away! If there's something I don't know how to make, I can learn!"
Wang Yi: "..."
The power of money, it's really damn effective.
On the way, Wu Shuang bought some green vegetables.
Back at the apartment in the science park, Wu Shuang put on an apron and started cooking on the first floor.
Wang Yi, meanwhile, went upstairs to the second floor, returned to his bedroom, and checked BYD's stock price again.
BYD's stock price rose from HKD 11.6 at market opening in the morning to HKD 13 at afternoon opening, reaching HKD 17.7 at market close.
Wang Yi's 3.5 billion strategic investment directly pushed BYD's stock price up by HKD 6.1.
It might not seem like a large increase, but proportionally, the increase has exceeded 50% compared to the opening price in the morning!
Such an increase can only be described as terrifying.
And the 350 million shares Wang Yi held also increased in value by HKD 2.135 billion.
It can be said to be terrifying.
Of course, this is just the beginning.
Later, BYD will have positive news regarding anti-freeze batteries and a large order of 15 million units, which could lead to another surge.
But once the fourth-quarter financial report is released, it's likely to drop again.
However, there will still be good news at the beginning of next year, at which point a partial reduction in holdings can be considered.
BYD's financial report showed a 90% year-on-year decline in profit, which was due to diversification.
It can only be said that diversification is a double-edged sword; if diversification seizes the right opportunities, it can lead to immense profits.
If it's blind diversification that fails to identify opportunities, it will inevitably incur heavy losses, harming oneself even more than the enemy.
Xiaomi Home Appliances rapidly grew by seizing the smart home trend, becoming the number one smart home brand.
It challenged Hisense and TCL in the TV sector, and Gree and Midea in the air conditioning sector, making huge profits.
Simply put, most people buying homes and renovating currently are young people, who enjoy experiencing new things like smart homes, leaving them with few alternatives.
In the next decade or so, Xiaomi will still have the most complete smart home ecosystem, offering low cost and high playability.
A Xiao Ai speaker can directly control Xiaomi TV, Xiaomi air conditioner, Xiaomi fingerprint lock, video doorbell, Mijia robot vacuum, Mijia curtains, Mijia washing machine...
And it's not just under Xiaomi; there are many Mijia ecosystem chain products, such as Roborock and Dreame robot vacuums, Lock fingerprint locks, Mr. Bond clothes drying racks...
This leads users who want to experience smart homes to inevitably choose Mijia home appliances and Mijia ecosystem chain appliances.
It was precisely by relying on the smart home ecosystem and extremely high cost-effectiveness that Xiaomi Home Appliances rapidly rose, snatching market share from established giants.
In his previous life, Xiaomi phones didn't actually make much money, but by leveraging the Mijia smart home ecosystem chain, Xiaomi Home Appliances made immense profits.
BYD failed in traditional home appliances, but Xiaomi succeeded.
The difference lies in whether they grasped the opportunity of smart homes.
Lei Bus put low-end chips into traditional home appliances and connected them to the Mijia smart home ecosystem chain, turning them into high-end smart appliances that could sell better.
Traditional home appliances, having reached their current state, have few overwhelming breakthroughs left, and intelligentization is the only way out.
Since Xiaomi ignited the smart home trend, even white goods giants like Haier, Midea, and Gree were forced to follow suit.
But unfortunately, their response was too slow.
By the time they were ready for full intelligentization, the Xiaomi smart home ecosystem chain had already been established, thanks to hundreds of millions of Xiaomi phone users and Xiao Ai Assistant users.
In any industry, the first to grow large makes immense profits, while those who follow can't even get a sip of the soup.
Even home appliance giants like Hisense, Haier, Gree, and Midea could only watch as Xiaomi snatched away a significant portion of their market share.
Of course, they then turned around and snatched the market from international home appliance giants like Samsung and and Sony!
But this time, Wang Yi was going to intercept the smart home ecosystem.
Smartphones are the current trend, and so are smart homes!
However, unlike Xiaomi, Wang Yi intends to focus on high-end and quality!
In his previous life, Huawei also intended to develop smart homes and aim for the high-end market.
But unfortunately, they started too late and positioned themselves too high, making it difficult to progress.
Wang Yi plans to start laying out his smart home strategy next year, after the launch of Xingyi phones.
In the future, the clothing sector won't generate money like a tide every year as it has this year, and the seductive style will also lead to aesthetic fatigue.
The collective decline in sales of brands like Bosideng, HM, and Zara in his previous life is the best proof.
Wang Yi must find new growth points in advance to compensate for the challenges the apparel industry will face.
Mobile phones, smart homes, and smart appliances are excellent choices.
Compared to Xiaomi, Wang Yi also has his own advantages: high-end brand positioning and self-developed chips.
Smart home appliances all require chips; even a small smart plug has a chip!
Although they are all low-end chips, their unit price is much cheaper than mobile phone chips, but their sheer volume is enormous, making the total cost an astronomical figure.
Moreover, smart homes are just starting, and smart chips are probably much more expensive now than they would be in the future.
Wang Yi can very well have Xingyi Semiconductor research and design a smart home chip. Such a low-end chip presents no difficulty.
Then, by finding SMIC for OEM mass production, the chip cost for smart homes can be completely minimized!
This chip can also be mass-produced and sold to other traditional home appliance brands, providing a complete set of intelligentization services to help traditional home appliances achieve smart functionality.
This way, traditional home appliance brands would uniformly adopt Xingyi smart home chips and integrate into the Xingyi Technology smart ecosystem chain!
Then Xingyi Technology would be No.1 in the smart home field, the big brother, holding absolute say.
Wang Yi had already thought of the plan: buy Xingyi Technology smart chips, get intelligentization solutions for free!
This way, traditional home appliances wouldn't need to develop their own solutions; they could directly integrate into the Xingyi smart home ecosystem and achieve intelligentization, so they naturally wouldn't refuse.
And the Xingyi smart home ecosystem could quickly grow large through this.
Of course, if they encounter some stubborn giants who want to build their own smart home ecosystem, they will unfortunately realize how difficult it is after hitting a wall.
In his previous life, Midea, Haier, and Gree all had their own smart home ecosystems, but they started too late and failed to make a mark, ultimately having to humble themselves and connect to Mijia, Tmall, and JD.com.
As for whether the intelligentization of traditional home appliances would impact Xingyi Home Appliances?
No need to worry about this.
When giants like Midea, Gree, and Haier all integrate into the Xingyi Technology smart ecosystem chain, Xingyi Technology will become the big brother, and there will be no worries about selling its own home appliances.
Just like Qualcomm in his previous life, even if it didn't make phones, it was still the big brother in the mobile phone sector, still making immense profits!
As long as Xingyi Technology holds absolute authority in smart homes and controls the most users, in the coming 5G era, with car-machine interconnection, interconnected devices, and the Internet of Things, Xingyi Technology will be at the forefront!
Intelligentization and the Internet of Everything are the future's destination.
Whether it was Xiaomi's smart ecosystem chain or Huawei's IoT in his previous life, both were about laying out ecosystems and competing for the future!
Wang Yi won't miss out either!
Strictly speaking, phones and cars are just small, crucial links in the smart ecosystem and the Internet of Everything.
Ecosystem development is the most correct path.
Like Boss Jia in his previous life, he put forward the concept of an ecosystem very early, but unfortunately, he moved too fast, his capabilities couldn't keep up with his ambition, and ultimately he could only end up returning to China next week.
Wang Yi is different; he will use ten parts of energy to do nine parts of work, taking a steady approach, making solid progress step by step.
He won't use three parts of ability to do ten parts of work, ultimately suffering a crushing defeat with regret.
The layout of smart homes and ecosystems are matters for next year.
But preparations must begin now, starting with the simplest things.
Such as smart speakers and headphones!
Phones in 2011 all came with earphones and chargers.
Even Apple only started not including earphones and charging bricks with the iPhone 12 in 2020.
But in 2011, they all had to be included.
Therefore, Xingyi phones also need to come with earphones.
Either find an earphone OEM factory to ODM produce a pair of earphones, or directly acquire a factory with R&D capabilities to self-develop and self-produce.
In reality, current earphones are not very difficult to make, and many earphone factories have R&D capabilities.
Although not as professional as international giants, it is sufficient.
Considering the need to also lay out the smart home ecosystem, it's better to directly acquire an accessories factory!
It could not only produce earphones for Xingyi phones but also Xingyi Bluetooth earphones and future smart speakers!
Even smart wearable devices like wristbands, gateways, and smart plugs could be developed.
This way, Xingyi Technology could get ahead of Xiaomi, launching its smart home ecosystem chain early, becoming the first in China and even globally.
By the time other manufacturers react and try to follow suit, it might be too late.
This was the case with Huawei in his previous life, only launching Smart Home 1.0 in 2021 and announcing its entry into the smart track.
Xiaomi started making smart homes in 2013, eight years ahead of Huawei.
The result was predictable: several years passed, and Huawei's smart home efforts barely made a splash.
To put it plainly, only the first to try something new makes huge profits.
Wang Yi decided to start the layout this year!
With this thought, Wang Yi made a call to Song Sining:
"Sining, acquire an electronics factory that can research and produce wired earphones, Bluetooth earphones, speakers, phone charging heads, charging cables, wristbands, sockets, and gateways. It's best if it has smart hardware R&D capabilities. If one factory can't meet the requirements, two will do!"
"Okay, Boss. Are you planning to make smart wearable devices and lay out a smart home system?"
Song Sining immediately understood Wang Yi's intentions.
As the president of Meiyou Technology, Song Sining constantly learned and improved herself, keeping abreast of the latest industry trends.
She had also been involved with smart homes and similar concepts.
Wang Yi nodded:
"Yes, in the future, with the Internet of Everything, phones, TVs, cars, home appliances, etc., will all be part of the smart ecosystem. In the smartphone race, we are behind Apple. In the smart home race, we must be far ahead!"
"Mhm, smart homes are indeed a major trend for the future. I've currently surveyed several earphone factories, as Xingyi phones need to come with earphones. There's one with good quality and strong R&D capabilities that can also make Bluetooth earphones and Bluetooth gateways. For other businesses, we'll probably need to continue hiring and expanding operations."
"Okay, you can discuss it first. If there isn't a more suitable target, just take over this factory directly. First, make earphones, chargers, charging cables, and power banks. Make them a bit higher quality, with better sound quality, and release them alongside Xingyi phones as accessories. If Bluetooth earphones can be made, they can also be released simultaneously!"
(End of Chapter)