VCD is the only opportunity for China to take the lead in the field of consumer electronics at the end of the 20th century. Before that, no one in China had created and formed an industry in this field. But at that time, Mr. Jiang Wanmeng, the head of Wanyan Group and the developer of VCD machines, made a fatal mistake that he regretted all his life: he actually thought that it was meaningless to apply for a patent at that time, so that the first batch of 1000 VCD machines launched by Wanyan were almost bought as prototypes by domestic and foreign home appliance enterprises and became the object of dissection.
Subsequently, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and other foreign manufacturing giants have stepped up their research on VCD machines, introduced new patented technologies and refreshed the technical standards of VCD. As a result, domestic home appliance enterprises including Wanyan Group have to pay huge patent fees to these foreign giants to produce VCD. In the following seven or eight years, these patent fees accumulated to tens of billions in the domestic market.
In just three or four years, Wan Yan, with this leading technology, was finally submerged in the fierce competition in the same industry. In the VCD industry, with the increase of entrants, the profit of products is continuously diluted. Finally, this low-tech industry is dying in the low-price competition and is eaten away by DVD.
The world's first VCD DVD player was invented by Mr. Jiang Wanmeng, a native of China, and was born in Anhui Wanyan Company.
It happened on 1992. At the international radio and television technology exhibition held in the United States. C-CUBE (Gao Bai), an American company, once demonstrated an image decompression technology. Inspired by it, Mr. Jiang Wanmeng, then general manager of Anhui Crown Belt Group, keenly realized that MPEG technology can store images and sounds in a relatively small CD, which means that a cheap audio-visual product can be created for ordinary people to use at home. So in 1993, 570,000 yuan was invested to develop a VCD with good quality and low price (the price is very advantageous compared with the video recorder of the same period). In 65438+February of the same year, Wanyan Company was established with Chinese American Sun (then the chairman of Gao Bai Company) * * * with a capital contribution of170,000 USD, and one of the names of Jiang Wanmeng and Sun was chosen as the company name: Anhui Wanyan Electronic System Co., Ltd.
But strangely, the real core technology of VCD: the decoding chip technology entrusted by Wanyan Company to C-CUBE is firmly in the hands of C-CUBE C-cube Microsystems Company. This has planted the seeds of collapse for the domestic VCD chaos.
In the 1993 VCD feasibility report of Anhui Modern Television Technology Research Institute, there is such a description:
Therefore, Jiang Wanmeng conducted a series of market surveys, and got a series of figures: 1993 China, with the sales of 6,543.8+0.42 million sets of combined audio, 6,543.8+0.7 million sets of video recorders, 6,543.8+0.6 million sets of LD players and 6,543.8+0.6 million sets of CD players. At that time, the price of LD discs was four or five hundred yuan, while the price of VCD discs was only about 10%. Therefore, it can be predicted that the annual sales volume of VCD players will reach about 2 million units.
People in China didn't know about VCD until the end of 1994. This year, Wan Yan produced thousands of VCD players. Not only that, Jiang Wanmeng also wants to develop CDs, but he can't let ordinary people buy guns without bullets. To this end, he purchased the copyright from 1 1 audio-visual publishing house and distributed 97 kinds of karaoke discs. In less than a year after its initial establishment, "Wanyan" invested everything, created a market, established a famous brand, and formed a set of molding technology to dominate the VCD industry.
It can be said that Wan Yan's entrepreneurship is successful and brilliant. However, Wan Yan also brewed a cup of bitter wine for himself. What makes Jiang Wanmeng feel sad is that the first batch of 65,438+10,000 VCD players launched by Wan Yan were almost all bought by domestic and foreign home appliance enterprises as prototypes and became the objects of dissection.
From 65438 to 0994, Wan Yan began to produce VCD on a large scale, but in the initial stage, VCD was stagnant in the market development for a long time because of the unsuitable film sources.
The problem facing Wan Yan is that software and hardware should develop together. Wan Yan invested160,000 USD in research and development, and 20 million yuan in advertising expenses. People in China didn't know about VCD until the end of 654.38+0994. This year, Wan Yan produced tens of thousands of VCDs, but only sold 20,000. Due to excessive investment in the early stage, the cost of early products is as high as $360 per set, plus advertising expenses. In the market, each VCD sells for four or five thousand yuan, but it is basically unprofitable. Not only that, Wan Yan also wants to develop CDs. To this end, Wan Yan purchased the copyright from 1 1 Audio-Visual Publishing House and launched 97 kinds of karaoke CDs.
I invested hundreds of millions of R&D funds to develop products, but I didn't apply for patents in time to monopolize technology. Other manufacturers can obtain a set of mature production technologies at a small cost.
In the previous product cost, Wanyan Company suffered a big loss; The next failure was that 1994 spent 20 million on advertising.
Until 1995. The DVD market is still in the cultivation stage. Before a large number of pirated DVDs appeared, the market capacity of DVDs was very limited. No amount of advertising fees can achieve the expected results.
Advertising is a commercial activity that needs continuous investment. Once interrupted, with the passage of time, the advertisement will become invalid.
If the advertising budget of 20 million yuan is delayed to the second half of 1995, it may bring Wanyan Company back to life.
Wan Yan invested hundreds of millions of research funds and 20 million advertising fees in the early stage. So far, no more than 20,000 DVD players have been sold to Taiwan Province. Even if the price of each DVD player is as high as 4,000 yuan, it is difficult for Wan Yan to recover the cost, not to mention the profit.
Wan Yan's funds are out of touch!
Wanyan company spent all its money the night before the DVD market started and fell into a crisis of survival.
Wan Yan wants to make a comeback, only by continuing financing to expand production capacity. When the DVD market suddenly broke out in 1995 and 1996, she took the opportunity to seize the market on a large scale.
Will Wan Yan succeed in raising funds? Obviously not, otherwise Wanyan would not be a forgotten brand.
Before a large number of pirated DVDs appeared, the bleak market of DVD players and the poor management in Wan Yan had made investors lose confidence. The most important point is that the introduction of a complete set of production technology for DVD players doesn't even need one million yuan, while Wanyan's investment has to share the cost of hundreds of millions of yuan invested by Wanyan Company in early research and development. What investor would be stupid enough to do this business?
From 1996 to 1997, the VCD market in China grows several times every year. From 600,000 units of 1995 to more than 6 million units of 1996, the sales volume of 1997 reached100000 units. In just five years, the cumulative sales of VCD players reached 50 million units, which gave birth to domestic famous brands such as Aiduo, BBK and Xinke. However, Wan Yan changed from a pioneer to a martyr in this industry, and her market share dropped from 100% to 2%. This year, Wanyan was reorganized by Meiling Group in the same province and became Meiling Wanyan Company.
"Wan Yan" let China people know about VCD, but it is Cantonese who know the market secrets. At this time, Guangdong people who know the secrets of the market just seized this opportunity. Due to the low requirements of VCD assembly technology, unlimited production license, and the open market, Guangdong is also a gathering place for spare parts and parallel imports, several factors have come together, and VCD assembly plants have sprung up in the Pearl River Delta. "Bed board factories" began to spread all over the streets. One person can assemble 10 and 20 units a day, and a family can install dozens of units a day. The market is quite hot.
In China, no household appliances have swept the country like VCD. "Wanyan" has not fallen behind in the market, and VCD has entered an explosive growth period. According to relevant statistics, there are more than 65,438+0,000 VCD enterprises in China at most. The whole VCD industry is changing rapidly, and its overwhelming advertising campaign, high price trend and ups and downs of market destiny are unforgettable.
to be continued ...
Development of VCD in China
This paper synthesizes the following articles: