"Mr. Feng, you said we are going to start making set-top boxes now?" Zong Qingxian frowned and looked at Feng Yu.
"Yeah, why, can't it?" Feng Yu was a little confused. As early as 1998, the country had launched a cable TV project to connect every village. Although some remote areas still use their own antennas to watch TV, most of them Are you already watching cable TV
In cities, there are already satellite TVs and some set-top boxes. These set-top boxes are produced by subsidiaries of Optoelectronics, but their sales are average, mainly because many people think the charges are too expensive.
The previous cable TV looked pretty good to them. It was just for watching TV. Do they need so many channels? Of course, there is no denying that some cable TV channels can only receive a dozen TV stations, but they are cheap. You can receive so many programs on a set-top box, and the charges are too expensive!
Another advantage of cable TV is that you can use a splitter to connect multiple TVs for one price. But set-top boxes do not work. There is one TV and one set-top box. If you have three TVs in your home, you will need three set-top boxes and pay three times!
Many people think that one price is expensive, let alone three yuan.
This year, Huaxia Optoelectronics has just selected 49 cities as pilot cities for set-top boxes. From the beginning of the year to now, there have been more than 100,000 set-top box users.
But most of the current users of set-top boxes are government officials, corporate cadres, etc. Since their companies pay the money anyway, they don’t think it’s expensive. For their families, it would be great to have more channels to watch.
These people did not buy their set-top boxes, but were given them by local operators for free to cable TV users, and they are just waiting to earn back from the usage fees. Of course, these set-top boxes are trial users, and some of them will definitely not be renewed in the future.
But next year, set-top boxes will usher in a big explosion. Now there are plans to vigorously develop digital TV, and Europe and the United States started in 1998.
According to the memory of the previous life, next year set-top boxes will enter millions of households, from the southeastern coast to some pilot cities, and fully bloom. Feng Yu's previous life also installed a set-top box at this time. It is said that at that time, his family was already ranked after one million people in the country. This means that in 2004, there will be at least one million set-top box users.
As one of the major producers of set-top boxes in the world, many of China's set-top boxes are exported. Therefore, the set-top box market next year will have at least hundreds of millions of sales, and it is not too late to enter now. If you wait any longer, you will miss this good opportunity.
"Mr. Feng, do you plan to export this set-top box first?"
Zong Qingxian did not see the market for set-top boxes in China. Many people may not have heard of set-top boxes yet.
In the past, both Fengyu Electric and Aihua Electric were promoted domestically. After occupying the domestic market, they slowly expanded abroad.
Now it is obvious that this product only has a market abroad, and has just started domestically. In other words, this time it is necessary to open up sales from abroad first.
In the past, no matter what kind of electrical or electronic products were produced, the domestic market could absorb a large part of it. But now, the domestic market has not started at all, so we have to work abroad first, which is easy to fail.
And once a product fails abroad, the impact on the brand will be considerable. Fengyu Brand is already well-known abroad, and all its previously launched products have been successful.
If you have failed before, that's nothing. But if this set-top box becomes the first failure, it will be a huge blow to Fengyu Brand, which is in the rising period.
"Both domestic and foreign markets are considered. I know that not many people in China know this set-top box yet, but in the next three years, set-top boxes will definitely usher in an explosive period. Maybe by 2006, the number of domestic set-top boxes will exceed 1,000 There are 10,000 units. What’s more, it’s also the outbreak period of set-top boxes abroad, so we can’t miss this good opportunity.”
"Then do you plan to make a cable set-top box or a terrestrial set-top box? You don't want to make a satellite set-top box, right?" Zong Qingxian suddenly thought that Feng Yu had said that he wanted to buy a satellite.
"Why, can't it? There is no future for terrestrial set-top boxes now. Cable set-top boxes and satellite set-top boxes are easier to sell. Among them, satellite set-top boxes are mainly used for export, while cable set-top boxes are for the domestic market. Of course, we also need to make two-way set-top boxes and high-definition set-top boxes. , multifunctional set-top boxes, etc.”
In addition to the most basic functions of watching analog TV and digital TV, this set-top box should also have high-speed data broadcasting, Internet connection, online software upgrade, video phone, video on demand, music on demand, shopping, games and other functions.
Future set-top boxes will have many functions. Bill Gates has always wanted Microsoft to enter the set-top box market, and he also wanted to produce such multi-functional set-top boxes. The main purpose is to combine the modem with the set-top box so that the set-top box can directly access the Internet.
I believe many people have also used that one, a TV set-top box cable that can also be used as a network cable.
"This technology is not very simple, right? We are starting from scratch, can we make it in time?" Zong Qingxian was a little worried.
"Why is it too late? In fact, this basic circuit is not difficult. With our company's technology, we can easily develop our own technology by taking apart some others'. Combined with some of our new ideas, we can launch a multi-functional set-top box. Occupying the high-end market. It’s just that the chip and software are a little more difficult, which requires the cooperation of companies such as Lianxiang Yinshan.”
“So what about promotion?”
"In China, the promotion is left to Changhong. They sell TVs. They sell a set-top box along with it. It should be no problem, right? And don't forget that Changhong is also a company that is supported by the authorities. It shouldn't be difficult to sell this set-top box to Optoelectronics. And since it’s a brand-name product, it should sell better.”
"As for foreign countries, I think it shouldn't be too difficult with our Fengyu brand sales channels. If I encounter resistance, then I will go to Bill Gates. In this regard, we can partially cooperate with them. They We also have a lot of experience in software development for set-top boxes.”
It would be better not to seek cooperation with Bill Gates, of course. I went looking for it, and it seemed like Fengyupai couldn't handle the market on its own.
"Then I will convey this idea to the following and see which company is willing to take over this project. If no subsidiary is willing to take over, then we can only force it."
"By the way, if we want to separate the machine from the card, that is, the core smart card and software are separated from the basic receiving equipment. We can specialize in smart card and software development and outsource the basic receiving equipment to other small manufacturers. This way Reducing manufacturing costs can also reduce users’ access costs, which will increase our competitiveness.”
Zong Qingxian has a bright eye and can have an advantage in cost, so with the Fengyu brand, it will not be difficult for this product to succeed!
(End of chapter)