Chen Qing and her two daughters left for China the next morning, while Simon continued to stay in New York.
I won't be in North America during the New Year, and a lot of matters have accumulated here, which are expected to take until next week to be completed.
The first thing is from Tinker Bayer’s IPO road show.
With the final details finalized, the road show was officially launched on the next day, Wednesday, January 24. The first road show event was held at Rockefeller Center in Midtown, New York.
It just so happened that Simon took the time to attend the event that afternoon.
Since its establishment in 1991 and the launch of the first iCam-10 digital camera that year, Tinker Bayer has grown like other miraculous companies in the Westeros system. In just five years, it has become an undoubted company. electronics industry giant.
Even though many people in the industry have found that the success of Tinco Bair is closely related to the layout of the Westeros system in the new technology field, or even as a supplement to the core Internet business, the dazzling achievements of this consumer electronics company in recent years are not at all Contains moisture.
Take the year 1995 that just passed as an example.
The latest digital camera product iCam-50 released this year is still popular, but the most dazzling one is the digital music player product iPlayer-10.
Throughout 1995, Tinco Bayer's iCam series shipped a total of 21.37 million units throughout the year. Due to the great success of the mechanical hard disk version of the digital camera, Tinco Bayer's digital camera product market share was not only lower than that of other established brands. The decline occurred as electronics manufacturers stepped up their efforts to compete, but rebounded from 53% in 1994 to 61% in 1995.
The success of iCam was still expected, and the iPlayer digital music player was completely out of the blue.
iPlayer-10 was released during Easter last year. From mid-April to the end of 1995, in eight and a half months, this digital music player still sold 20.03 million units despite limited initial production capacity.
It took five years for the iCam series to reach sales of over 20 million, but it only took one year for iPlayer-10.
Eyeballs dropped in shock.
Studying the success case of iPlayer digital music player, the result is also very simple.
It came into being.
First of all, the hardware, software and network environment surrounding this product are already quite complete in North America.
An important reason driving the popularity of iPlayer is actually piracy.
Before the release of iPlayer, pirated music websites had begun to appear due to the rapid popularity of the Internet in North America.
When iPlayer came on the market, it was discovered that this portable music player could not only easily accommodate hundreds of music pieces, but also, with a little hacking, could download almost any music imaginable from the Internet for free, whether it was a hot pop single. It’s still partial underground music.
This is simply an artifact!
Therefore, in 1995, iPlayer-10 can be said to be the most dazzling star electronic product of the year.
Of course it's also full of controversy.
In just one year, tens of thousands of pirated music sharing websites appeared on the Internet. According to preliminary statistics, due to the rapid proliferation of piracy, global record sales plummeted by 23% in 1995. Even without purchasing an iPlayer, many people are beginning to download more free music from the Internet instead of spending money to buy records.
This demand has also promoted the rapid development of Yigrit's Google search engine, and the effect is no less effective than the adult websites that have quietly become popular.
The major record giants felt the crisis and began to find ways to suppress piracy and tried to kill iPlayer, but they were doomed to be in vain.
One of the biggest victims of music piracy, Sony, which owns Columbia Records, has personally created a 'case law' in North America that makes it impossible to win a lawsuit for similar products.
When Sony's video recorder was released, it was sued by Disney and other Hollywood giants because they were worried that illegal recording would lead to widespread piracy. The lawsuit was entangled for many years. In the end, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Disney and other Hollywood giants could not stifle technological progress on the grounds of copyright protection, and declared that Disney and other Hollywood giants lost the lawsuit. Justifiably popular.
iPlayer is the same as a video recorder.
The videotape industry in the United States now brings as much output value to major blockbusters as the theatrical screening of movies. Therefore, in the past year, in the face of public pressure from many record giants, Tinker Bayer has repeatedly used video recorders as an example as a rebuttal, and criticized the major record giants for merely clinging to their own interests in the traditional recording field rather than following technology. Progress, constantly calling on major record companies to open their copyright resources to the Broadcast platform, so as to achieve a win-win situation.
In addition to these disputes, iPlayer has once again promoted the development of the American Internet cafe industry that Simon personally promoted.
Although the current Internet penetration rate in the United States has far exceeded that of other countries in the world, after all, there are still many people who cannot connect to the Internet. These people choose to purchase iPlayers. In addition to using the computers of relatives and friends, the other option is to go to Internet cafes and choose to download for themselves. Like music.
as well as.
iPlayer-10 was also the favorite target of robbers in 1995.
Because this music player can not only be used by oneself, but also due to insufficient production capacity in the early stages of product release, demand exceeds supply. Robbers can even sell iPlayers at a higher price than new ones in the second-hand market.
As a result, not only passers-by wearing iPlayers have become the most vulnerable targets, but even electronics stores that sell this product are not immune. In the past year, there have been many cases of iPlayer shelves being looted by large groups of thugs. The San Francisco police also Late last year, an attempted robbery at an iPlayer warehouse in Palo Alto was uncovered.
The production of iPlayer players is mainly in China.
However, after the player is assembled, it must be shipped back to San Francisco before further distribution. At this stage, the market is mainly in the United States.
When the robbers were about to start their operation, there were more than 1.2 million iPlayers stored in a warehouse in Palo Alto, San Francisco, worth nearly $600 million. The robbers even prepared a 10,000-ton ship in San Francisco Bay. The freighter is responsible for receiving it, and plans to transport it to Mexico first after it succeeds.
Of course it didn't work out.
After the incident was revealed, it caused a sensation. It felt like an unfinished Hollywood blockbuster. Afterwards, someone actually started planning a movie with related themes.
This is how people are, the harder it is to get something, the more curious and yearning it will be.
The year-long shortage was actually deliberate by Tinker Bayer. In fact, the production capacity was enough to meet market demand two months after the release of this player.
However, due to the popularity caused by various incidents, just like the case of selling a kidney for an Apple mobile phone in time and space, many American people, especially teenagers, are trying their best to obtain a device that everyone thinks is very cool, show off and very practical. iPlayer-10 player.
In the end, iPlayer-10 created a sales miracle of more than 20 million in the first year of its release.
In 1994, Tinker Bayer, which had only one flagship product, had a revenue of US$2.19 billion and a net profit of US$270 million, relying on the sales of 7.16 million iCam series digital cameras and some other trivial income.
In 1995, the total sales of two similarly priced iCam and iPlayer products reached 41.4 million units. Compared with 1994, the sales volume increased nearly 6 times. Coupled with the revenue from iDisk, Broadcast and other products or platforms, Tinker Bayer's Revenue surged to US$12.63 billion, and net profit also reached US$1.16 billion.
The continued popularity of the iCam series and the rapid popularity of iPlayer, two flagship products, coupled with the blowout growth of corporate revenue, have led to the valuation of Tinker Bayer rising.
The last prospectus submitted to the SEC before the road show valued the emerging electronics company at US$35 billion, which was higher than the combined US$17 billion valuation of the two companies when Tinker Bayer acquired Broadcast in June last year. It more than doubled. However, judging from the feedback from early market research, the 130 million shares that Tinco Bayer expected to issue during this IPO are still in short supply.
130 million shares, of which 51 million are cash-out shares from major shareholders and the other 79 million are new shares for financing. These shares accounted for 16% of the total share capital of 810 million shares after the IPO.
In addition, among the 51 million shares that were cashed out, Westeros Company accounted for 30 million shares. Calculated based on the issue price of US$43, the cash amount was US$1.29 billion. This is also the first time that Simon has directly cashed out among the many IPOs in recent years. . Because the shares of Tinco Bayer have been held for more than a year, Westeros Company only needs to pay a minimum capital gains tax of 15% for this cash out.
In addition to the cash-out from shareholders, the amount of new equity financing used for Tinco Bayer's next development is US$3.39 billion.
In fact, Tinco Bayer is not short of this capital. This IPO is still part of the established integration strategy of the Westeros system. On the other hand, it is also to facilitate Tinco Bayer to start the next merger and acquisition plan.
In addition, even though the market's expectations for Tinco Bayer's IPO have reached their highest level, the company actually still retains its aura for the new annual product launch during Easter this year.
This is the long-awaited iRec series of digital cameras.
Tinker Bayer's digital camera product has been quietly developed for two years, and the prototype was completed at the end of 1994. However, because all conditions were not yet complete, it was originally planned to be released in the autumn of 1995, but it still took the initiative to delay the release. In the end, it was determined that it would be released as normal. The product release rhythm is set to be launched together with the new generation of iCam and iPlayer products this Easter.
In two years, compared with the original prototype, the soon-to-be-released iRec-10 is not only more technically mature, but more importantly, the software and hardware ecology has also been improved.
For example, the capacity of micro hard drives is rapidly increasing.
For example, Yigrit has launched the YouTube video platform.
For example, the USB interface is becoming more and more popular.
For example, just like iCam's free image browsing and processing software, Tinker Bayer will also launch a fairly complete and free video editing software that has been developed for two years.
For example, the Broadcast platform will also simultaneously open free or paid audio copyright services, providing video editing enthusiasts with various genuine BGM resources for making more beautiful videos.
All kinds of things.
This is actually the application ecosystem.
If it is just a digital camera, no matter how good the hardware is, it will not have a large market if it lacks peripheral software and hardware support and sufficient usability and playability.
Now, due to the improvement of the application ecosystem, just as iCam users can publish pictures on the Internet, future iRec users will also be able to display their images on the Internet.
You can even become famous and make money.
With the official release of iRec-10, YouTube will open a video upload service for individual users. Although user upload capacity will be limited in the early stage, the platform will directly open advertising sharing. YouTube bloggers can earn income as long as they post videos and get clicks.
When the time comes, if Tinker Bayer and Igret officially take the initiative to create a group of popular YouTube bloggers, they will definitely create a trend.
While the Tinker Bayer IPO road show was in full swing, Simon attended a road show in New York and did not show up again. Instead, he concentrated on handling other matters accumulated in New York.
A big part of it is about Daenerys Entertainment's TV business.
After the completion of the merger and acquisition of Metropolitan ABC Group, the integration of the two companies has been ongoing. A very important big move during this period is the relocation of the headquarters of the original ESPN TV station under Metropolitan ABC Group from Bristol, Connecticut. to New York.
Connecticut borders New York in the north, and the city of Greenwich, where the rich are gathered, belongs to Connecticut. Therefore, ESPN, which was originally headquartered in Bristol, is not too far away from New York.
However, this relocation has great symbolic significance.
Prior to this, due to the conservatism of the old-school shareholders and executives of Metropolitan ABC Group such as Warren Buffett and Tom Murphy, ESPN, even though it was developing rapidly, had never been considered the core business of Metropolitan ABC Group. Simon, who is well aware of the future development potential of this professional sports television station, will certainly not make this mistake again, so he personally made the decision to relocate the entire ESPN team from Connecticut to New York.
At the same time, negotiations to buy out American Football have officially begun.
The eight-year US$9 billion huge buyout contract in my memory is no less than a large-scale merger and acquisition, so risks and opportunities coexist. As long as it successfully monopolizes the live broadcast rights of American football events and operates it properly, ESPN will be like the original time and space. The 'ESPN tax' can be charged from operators that is much higher than the sharing ratio of other basic cable stations.
In addition, although TV stations usually finalize their broadcast plans for the new year during the TV promotion season in May each year, starting from the beginning of the year, major production companies and TV stations will begin to identify TV programs and produce pilot episodes for promotion during the promotion season.
Simon also needs to keep an eye on this aspect personally.
Before Daenerys acquired Metropolis ABC, Simon knew that the merged Daenerys Entertainment Group would fall into something similar to a 'Catch-22' in the television production business.
The main reason is that external TV stations’ purchases of Daenerys Entertainment’s TV department will inevitably be significantly reduced, because other TV stations will inevitably think that Daenerys Entertainment will leave the best TV programs to their own TV stations, Daenerys Entertainment The TV production department can't prove that it doesn't do this.
So, since you have kept the best for yourself, how can other TV stations, especially direct competitors like NBC and CBS, still purchase the remaining programs that have been picked up by ABC by Daenerys Entertainment’s TV production department
It was not that Simon had not initially imagined a solution to this vicious circle. Re-signing long-term contracts with several other TV stations for projects such as "Friends" was one of the measures. Because Simon really doesn’t want Daenerys’ TV business to be completely transformed into a self-produced and self-sold model. Of course, the internal digestion system can save costs, but it also makes it easier for the team to become slack and stop striving for excellence.
It is difficult to produce high-quality products by integrating production and broadcasting. This has been proven since the emergence of the television industry. Therefore, the separation of production and broadcasting will become the mainstream of commercial TV stations.
However, Simon finally gave up on some ideas.
Because the 'Catch-22' cycle is indeed impossible to break. Rather than working in vain, it is better to focus on how to avoid systemic internal rigidity after the integration of production and broadcasting.
This matter is not difficult.
Just introduce external competition.
However, the proportion of self-produced programs and external procurement needs to be carefully considered. After all, Daenerys Entertainment’s current TV production department is still very strong. What Simon has to do is to continue to maintain his own production department by appropriately introducing ‘Catfish’ activity, and avoid introducing too many catfish and destroying the fish in your own pond.