In fact, Lee Hyun-woo was contemplating who to give two of the four vacuum cleaners to.
However, the contemplation didn’t last long.
It was because Kim Tae-hyun’s wife, who visited on the weekend, was surprised to see Kim Ah-young using it and asked.
“I thought it was big for a cordless vacuum cleaner, but it has quite strong suction power?”
“Yes, it does. And it’s light, so it’s not burdensome to carry around.”
“Where do they sell it? Our housemaid always complains that the vacuum cleaner is inconvenient.”
Although she didn’t clean herself, she seemed to want to alleviate the inconvenience of the housemaid.
Naturally, Kim Ah-young asked Lee Hyun-woo, who happened to be in the garden with Kim Tae-hyun, and Lee Hyun-woo replied.
“We don’t sell it right now, but it seems it will be launched in Japan in the first half of next year.”
“In Japan, that vacuum cleaner?”
The next question was from Kim Tae-hyun.
His curiosity was piqued when his wife praised the vacuum cleaner.
“Yes, it’s an expensive product priced at 2 million won.”
“2 million? For a cordless vacuum cleaner? Wow, that’s too expensive.”
“Yes, we priced it a bit high.”
“Is it better than a corded vacuum cleaner in terms of suction power?”
“No, it’s slightly inferior.”
“Then you’re selling it several times more expensive just because it’s cordless?”
“That’s one reason, and also because it looks pretty. It will probably sell quite well.”
“Really?”
Although he trusted Lee Hyun-woo’s words, Kim Tae-hyun couldn’t understand this time.
2 million won for a cordless vacuum cleaner? Just because it looks pretty?
‘If it were me, I wouldn’t buy it.’
Lee Hyun-woo, who seemed to see through his thoughts, smiled meaningfully.
‘Well, the world doesn’t sell things based solely on functionality.’
In his past life, it was more evident with the smartphones from 【Pineapple】.
Were they better than the smartphones from 【Guseong Electronics】?
Not really. Sometimes, the smartphones from 【Guseong Electronics】 came out with better functions and more innovative specifications.
But the smartphones from 【Guseong Electronics】 couldn’t sell relatively more expensively than the smartphones from 【Pineapple】.
Even when it was later evaluated that they caught up in design, it was already after the smartphone platform was established, and people stuck with the smartphones they were using.
‘That’s why the first step is important. Once you start enjoying the benefits of being a pioneer, it’s hard for latecomers to catch up.’
I hope the cordless vacuum cleaner from 【Ilhan Electric】, which has already been made, is made very well.
During dinner, Lee Hyun-woo helped Kim Ah-young with the cooking.
Neither of them was particularly skilled in cooking, but they tried their best to meet the average level.
What they needed at this time was a computer.
Because, when visiting various SNS or blogs, the cooking methods were detailed.
The two realized that if they followed these steps, they wouldn’t completely mess up.
Today, Kim Ah-young stayed in the kitchen while Lee Hyun-woo shuttled back and forth from the computer room.
“My sister really makes her brother-in-law exercise. Haha.”
“Indeed.”
“Why don’t you just move the computer to the kitchen?”
“Well, I recently came up with a good idea.”
“What is it? A laptop?”
“No. You know the refrigerator door here? Attach a screen to it.”
“A screen?”
“Yes, a touch screen. A screen slightly bigger than a PDA. So, you can click and see the recipes. How about it?”
“The idea is good, but how will you realize it technically? It’s not some SF movie.”
“Oh, it can be realized within 20 years. Or, if we hurry, within 10 years…”
Kim Tae-hyun once again showed a look of disbelief.
The technical limitations already ran through his mind.
In fact, Lee Hyun-woo knew it wasn’t an easy stage.
After the popularization of computers and laptops, when smartphones and tablet PCs are distributed, then the IoT era will open.
‘Just as matches were invented after lighters, sometimes over-technology leads to innovation.’
People don’t know, but lighters were invented three years before matches.
But due to the expensive price of lighters, affordable matches came out and sold even more.
‘Who knows? While designing IoT, it might bring forward the era of smartphones.’
I don’t know, but when Kim Tae-hyun and his wife went up to Seoul, they were given a vacuum cleaner as a gift.
The last one was, of course, given to Lee Hyun-woo’s mother.
She was the one who did all the cooking and cleaning without hiring a housemaid.
It was a gift given to alleviate her inconvenience, and a few days after receiving it, she called to say it was convenient.
‘I made a good decision.’
As he continued to solve inconveniences in life, it seemed the way to realize ideas kept opening up.
In fact, before the vacuum cleaner, another product that came out to solve inconvenience in another area was causing a sensation.
That was the e-book reader.
Although it sold quite well in the U.S., it wasn’t to that extent in Korea, which disappointed Chairman Park Jin-yong. But as the content gradually increased, the sales volume among the younger generation was rapidly increasing.
“I’m really glad to hear good news before the second product launch. Otherwise, I would have felt ashamed. Hahaha.”
Park Jin-yong came to Jeju Island and mentioned the good sales of the e-book reader.
In fact, 【Samjin Computer】 also decided to build a research lab in Jeju Island’s Silicon Beach, so he visited for that as well.
“How about… we raise the price a bit for the second version to be released at the end of this year?”
“No. We’ll keep it cheap.”
“Really? Will that be okay? You’ll incur a loss.”
The reason why he mentioned feeling ashamed a moment ago was because of this.
The e-book reader was given to 【Samjin Computer】 as an ODM from 【Jungle】.
However, the actual profit was being taken by the latter.
Because the e-book reader was priced too cheaply.
It was 190,000 won in Korean currency, and even if it was a few thousand won, each sale incurred a loss.
The specifications of the second version device are higher.
Therefore, the loss could be greater, but Lee Hyun-woo didn’t mind.
“Don’t worry. Our goal is not to sell the device. It’s to sell the content inside.”
“Hmm…”
“Just keep increasing the storage space. So someday, we can listen to music and watch movies.”
“Well, okay. If that’s what Chairman Lee wants…”
Although he looked at Lee Hyun-woo with eyes that showed he didn’t quite understand, it wasn’t the first time explaining, so Lee Hyun-woo just smiled.
‘It may seem like a loss now, but in the end, we’re gathering customers to use the platform.’
This group will sequentially use the platform created by 【Jungle】 in the future.
‘In the past, I would have worried about immediate profit.’
Now, the situation was completely different.
Why? Because there was a lot of money on hand.
So, if the day comes when we gather more customer groups and convert their loyalty into purchasing power, wouldn’t the current investment be recovered in hundreds of times the amount?
Just like how customers who used to use 【Pineapple】’s smartphones continued to buy them out of habit, even when they weren’t ‘innovative’ anymore.
The e-book reader was causing a bigger sensation in the U.S. and Japan than in Korea.
Therefore, the more it sold, the more loss it incurred, but the situation was changing in those two countries compared to Korea.
“The losses from the devices are gradually being offset by the e-books.”
As various works contracted with individual authors or publishers were released as e-books, the commission business was becoming quite profitable.
The reason it hadn’t turned a profit in Korea yet was simple.
Because they hadn’t sold as many devices as in the U.S. or Japan.
“Shall we hold an event?”
“What kind of event…”
“An event to distribute the devices somehow. The more people who have them, the more e-books they will download, right?”
“That’s true, but… I wonder if too many losses will accumulate.”
When Woo Sang-won voiced a bit of concern, Lee Hyun-woo shook his head.
“Think of the e-book reader as just a portal site. We don’t charge money when people create accounts, right? We just gather more people. Business can only be done when there are lots of people. The same goes for the e-book reader. The more people have it, the more other content besides e-books we can sell in the future.”
“Then, shall we try it with the new product to be released soon? If we give a 10% discount to those who pre-order, it will be a good excuse.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded with a smile.
And then he said.
“And from the third version, let’s make it so that you can listen to music.”
“Then it will be almost at a PDA level? But will you still price it at 190,000 won?”
“Of course. The loss will be offset by the revenue from music.”
Trusting Lee Hyun-woo’s words implicitly, Woo Sang-won immediately started the pre-order event in line with the release date of the e-book reader.
190,000 and 171,000 felt like a significant difference, so the pre-order was a big success.
However, the more successful it was, the more losses accumulated.
This made Park Jin-yong express his apologies again, but Lee Hyun-woo calmly said.
This time, there was a sign that the product would turn a profit.
That turned out to be true not long after the product was distributed.
As e-book downloads surged, they were able to collect substantial commissions, and although it wasn’t making a lot of money, it provided the momentum to make the third version.
And as planned, the third e-book reader was requested to have enough storage space to play music, and then Park Jin-yong contacted him again.
“Hello?”
(Hey, it’s me, Chairman Lee.)
“Yes, yes, what brings you?”
(I was just worried that as the specifications increase, the losses on the e-book reader might get bigger.)
He didn’t know how many times this was already.
So, Lee Hyun-woo had to tell him again not to worry.
“It’s to sell music. Simply put, it’s like an MP3 player is installed.”
(What? Then we need to upgrade the audio components as well?)
“Yes, please do.”
(Huh…)
It was a repeated conversation, and repeated amazement. And when he realized why Lee Hyun-woo made such decisions, he would receive the next version order and go through the process again.
But today, it seemed he was just asking out of courtesy while already understanding.
(By the way, 【Pineapple】 contacted me.)
“What? Why?”
As soon as he asked, a thought crossed his mind, and he asked without waiting for Park Jin-yong’s answer.
“Are they asking you to make an e-book reader?”
As expected, his prediction was correct.
(Yes. They said they completed their operating system and asked us to make it. Honestly, I’m torn about whether to accept 【Pineapple】’s order while doing business with 【Jungle】.)
“Why hesitate? You should definitely accept it. Isn’t it good for us too? If we can produce much more, the unit cost will drop.”
(Hahaha… Right, indeed. Then, to feel less guilty to 【Jungle】, I should accept the order. So we can produce more and lower the price.)
After hanging up the phone, Lee Hyun-woo smiled.
‘Steven Jobs, you’re faster than I expected.’
Of course, during their last meeting in the U.S., he declared that he would release an e-book reader, but he didn’t expect it to be this fast.
So, it seemed like it would be fun in the future.
‘Now I won’t have to do over-technology alone.’
