The news that broke from the next day decorated the main pages of several portal sites, including Jungle.
『Jungle USA, Overwhelmed with Traffic Right After Launch!』
『Yaho, Shares Fall Back Due to Jungle USA’s Fierce Momentum』
『Content Shows Clear Difference Between Yaho and Jungle USA』
『Is Yaho Also Trying Search Word Advertising Like Jungle USA?』
『Yaho, Not Wanting to Lose More of the Asian Market, Rushing into Hong Kong and Taiwan!』
『Jamie Yang, Inquiring About Additional Investment in Son Jung-yi?』
As titles blending fact and speculation captivated people’s attention, Lee Hyun-woo received a call from Son Jung-yi.
(Have you entered the U.S. several times but haven’t come to Japan?)
“It was only twice, but you’re exaggerating. I couldn’t even enjoy my second visit.”
It was true.
He had only focused on work to mediate disagreements between Tim Connor, former CEO of Al Ta Vista and current CTO of Jungle USA, and Joe Murphy, and concluded a joint venture.
He felt regretful that he couldn’t even enjoy himself overseas.
(That’s unfortunate. If you come, you’ll see a lot has changed.)
“Yes, I’ll visit soon. I want to check it out myself.”
(That’s good to hear. But I think I might go to Korea before that.)
Lee Hyun-woo could guess why Son Jung-yi was coming.
‘He probably wants to hasten the introduction of online shopping and music services.’
It wasn’t something that could be delayed any longer.
Otherwise, it could give this person an excuse to develop on his own or partner with other companies.
That was why Woo Sang-won had been continuously contacting him over the past few days.
They were coordinating the timing, and considering that ADSL would be fairly widespread in Tokyo by the second half of the year, they discussed the timing with Lee Hyun-woo.
Was Son Jung-yi perhaps feeling quite impatient?
(I want to bring good news and see you in person.)
Since he was coming with the excuse of good news, Lee Hyun-woo also couldn’t delay any further.
“Sure. I’m really curious about the good news.”
(You can look forward to it. Hahaha.)
Hearing his confident tone, it seemed like the sales were no joke.
When reviewing the contract last time, Jungle Japan had agreed to settle profits based on quarterly sales.
However, since they had entered in the middle of the first quarter, the profits were not very large, and at that time, Software Bank had incurred losses in their consolidated financial statements due to Jungle Japan’s marketing, so they couldn’t share any profits.
Although June was approaching, by now, halfway through the second quarter, they should have a rough idea, so he might be coming with the news of having made a lot of money.
After hanging up, Lee Hyun-woo called in Woo Sang-won.
“Son Jung-yi is coming.”
“He mentioned that he might drop by if he had time, but I guess he’s really coming.”
“Ah, so you talked it over with him.”
“I just mentioned it in passing. I didn’t think he’d actually come.”
“He said he’s bringing good news. Could it be due to increased sales?”
“Probably. We can’t see their accounting, but I’m sure it’s quite significant. They likely attracted corporate advertisements in Japan more quickly than in Korea, and additional revenue would have come from search word advertising.”
Marketing is more advanced in Japan.
The ad rates there are likely several times higher than in Korea.
“Looking at it this way, Son Jung-yi really hit the jackpot. If it were Yaho, they probably wouldn’t have made as much money from ads.”
“It’s not something we can say for sure, but it would likely be less than now.”
“By the way, the good news is probably sales-related, but he’ll likely bring up what he wants as well.”
“Online shopping? Music services?”
“Yes, he seems particularly interested in online shopping. He’s already concerned about logistics.”
He was like that in his past life too.
He invested generously in online commerce in Korea and China.
He must have gotten greedy after seeing our success with music services.
“He is indeed a very ambitious person.”
“Yes, he is. But isn’t the capital to back that ambition the issue? Whether it’s online shopping or music services, both would require adequate compensation to bring to Japan.”
At this point, Woo Sang-won glanced at Lee Hyun-woo.
He didn’t expect Lee Hyun-woo to demand a small amount.
‘We already resolved the portal site issue by sharing equity, but will he do the same this time?’
If it were a small matter, they could just absorb it into the portal site.
However, online shopping and music services were independent content with as much potential as the portal site.
But.
“If they don’t have the money right now, we can receive it post-payment.”
“Pardon?”
“Japan is structurally a place where the first-mover advantage is crucial. Strangely enough, in any industry, it’s a country where latecomers have never easily defeated the first movers. So, while we are assured in dominating the portal site, if the infrastructure formed through it allows online shopping and music businesses to gain a foothold…”
“……”
“It would be best for us to enter first.”
“Ah, yes…”
Honestly, Woo Sang-won didn’t know much about Japan.
No, he did know, but he always found himself nodding along when Lee Hyun-woo talked about Japan.
Because when he thought it over, Lee Hyun-woo’s words often made sense.
Even now, he was digesting the idea that it would be difficult for latecomers to win.
‘Yeah, it seems right. Generally, the brands that first appeared did well in Japan.’
On the other hand, Lee Hyun-woo completely understood the characteristics of Japan, including its shortcomings.
That was the Galápagos syndrome!
In other words, products that gained popularity and reputation in Japan rarely attempted changes, eventually becoming products used only by Japanese people.
This was true for electronics, computers, and MP3 players alike.
That’s why he advised CEO Jeong Sung-woo last time to launch quickly in Japan, regardless of other countries,
‘I wonder if he can secure the quantity.’
He couldn’t interfere beyond that.
Now that Alpha Cast had taken off, it was solely up to the management to run it independently, and that was the right direction.
‘If they can’t, they’ll lose the Japanese market, that’s all.’
A few days later.
When Son Jung-yi visited Jungle again, he brought up the astonishing achievements he had mentioned earlier.
“Last month, we recorded sales of 6 billion yen.”
“6 billion yen?”
It was an even more excessive amount than he had imagined.
That would be 600 billion won in Korean currency.
“The initial surge continued, and the effect of search word advertising was no joke. Though large banner ads bring in big money, small search word ads, when accumulated, exceeded that big money.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded at Son Jung-yi’s explanation.
In fact, Korean Jungle was following a similar trend.
Although it was as expected, the sales exceeded his expectations, making Lee Hyun-woo feel quite good.
Then, unexpected news came from Son Jung-yi’s mouth,
“By the way, have you heard about Windows 97 coming out?”
“Pardon? 97?”
Lee Hyun-woo had to ask back, slightly widening his eyes.
As far as he knew, there was no Windows 97.
It should be 98 if anything.
“Yes, it’s scheduled to be released at the end of this year. Internally, it’s already confirmed, and they’ll announce it next week.”
“I see.”
There was certainty in Son Jung-yi’s words, and Lee Hyun-woo couldn’t help but believe the information he brought.
‘This man has an exclusive sales agreement for all Macro Soft software in Japan, so it’s hard not to believe him.’
Son Jung-yi’s Software Bank striking an exclusive deal with Macro Soft was indeed a masterstroke.
No one would have expected Windows 95 to sell so massively, and whether it was 97 or 98, people would have no choice but to use it as soon as it came out.
The difference between Korea and Japan lay in copyright issues,
‘In our country, the concept is still vague, leading to many illegal copies going around.’
But Japan was different.
Due to mature copyright awareness and laws, the sales of genuine products were enormous.
All that counted as profit, making Software Bank akin to raising a goose that lays golden eggs for the time being.
Additionally, with the exclusive portal site system established through Jungle Japan,
‘Come to think of it, this person’s business acumen is indeed impressive.’
In his past life, he solidified his image as the top player in Japan’s IT business sector with Macro Soft’s Windows and Yaho Japan, but in this life, he utilized Jungle Japan.
Indeed, one might say he has an exceptional ability to integrate trends into business.
“The demand for computers must be no joke either.”
“Indeed. Like all products, there’s a period of oversupply where they don’t sell, but the demand rises again, leading to a flood of sales.”
Thinking of his conversation with Son Jung-yi, Lee Hyun-woo thought of Kim Yoon-soo.
‘As the era of oversupply is ending, I should tell him to prepare for mass production by readjusting the lines.’
Of course, this was something for later.
Because Son Jung-yi was finally bringing up what he wanted,
“In that sense, I feel the need to hasten the online shopping and music site launches. With more computers and a new Windows that makes web surfing convenient…”
“Indeed. I understand.”
“By saying you understand…?”
“Send your development team over. Then, our team will prepare jointly, aiming to launch the online shopping and music sites by fall.”
Son Jung-yi’s face brightened up.
However, there was something not to be forgotten.
That was the issue of equity and subsequent distribution.
In fact, they were the same problem.
Distribution would be based on equity.
However, Lee Hyun-woo didn’t feel like stepping in to handle that.
“How about this? Let’s leave the equity issue to the working-level staff. We just need to let the world know that we’re joining hands on a grand scale.”
“Yes, yes. I understand. Hahaha.”
Jungle also had someone skilled in these matters now.
That person was Team Leader Shin Dong-woon.
‘I just need to check the final result and sign.’
When a company grows, the workload increases.
But Lee Hyun-woo was efficiently reducing his workload.
This was a completely different direction from his past life.
Back then, he drew the outline and organized even the details before delegating.
So, what he told Woo Sang-won last time was essentially advice to his past self.
Draw the big picture and leave the details to the subordinates.
The problem was that Woo Sang-won had drawn too big a picture.
The next morning.
“MS is releasing Windows 97?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Woo Sang-won looked surprised, but upon closer inspection, there seemed to be quite a bit of regret.
“I thought you would be happy, Director Woo. With a new operating system, more computers will be distributed, increasing the internet population, ultimately boosting our business.”
“Of course, that’s true. But we were preparing something else.”
“Preparing?”
“An operating system.”
“……”
For a moment, Lee Hyun-woo remained silent.
‘I’d usually want to say give it a try, but it’s not easy to surpass the current MS with an operating system.’
So should I be glad?
He seemed disappointed knowing Windows 97 was coming out first, regardless of how much preparation they had done.
‘I should guide them to stop progressing further.’
Or?
“Don’t be too disappointed. There’s no rule that says it has to be a computer operating system.”
Thinking it over, there was something else.
A mobile operating system, should I prepare for it already?
