Chen Qing and her two women set off for China the next morning, and Simon continued to stay in New York.

I am not in North America during the New Year. I have accumulated a lot of business here and it is expected that it will not be completed until next week.

First of all, IPO roadshow from Tinkobaier.

With the final details finalized, the roadshow was officially launched the next day, on Wednesday, January 24, and the first roadshow was held at the Rockefeller Center in Midtown, New York.

Just here, Simon took time to attend and support that afternoon.

Founded in 1991 and launched the first iCam-10 digital camera that year, Tincobaier has grown like other miraculous companies in the Westeros system. In just five years, it has become an unquestionable electronics industry giant.

Even though many industry insiders have found that Tinkobaier's success is closely related to the Westeros system's layout in the new technology field, and is even a supplement to the core Internet business, the dazzling achievements of this consumer electronics company in recent years are not in any way.

Take the past 1995 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, Tincobaier's iCam series shipped a total of 21.37 million units. Due to the successful success of the mechanical hard drive version of digital cameras, Tincobaier's digital camera products not only did not decline due to the competition among other veteran electronic manufacturers, but instead rebounded from 53% in 1994 to 61% in 1995.

The success of iCam is still expected, and the iPlayer digital music player is completely unveiled.

iPlayer-10 was released during Easter last year. It started shipping in mid-April to the end of 1995. In eight and a half months, when the early production capacity was restricted, this digital music player still sold 20.03 million units.

It took five years from launch to sales to exceed 20 million, but it only took one year for the iPlayer-10.

Shocked all over the ground.

The results are also very simple when studying the success stories of iPlayer digital music player.

Born in the future.

First of all, the hardware, software and network environment around this product have been quite complete in North America.

An important reason that drives iPlayer's hot sales is actually piracy.

Before the release of iPlayer, pirated music websites had already begun to appear due to the rapid popularity of the Internet in North America.

When iPlayer was launched, it was discovered that this portable music player not only could easily accommodate hundreds of music, but also, with a little crack, you can download almost any music that everyone can think of from the Internet for free, whether it is a popular pop single or a side-by-side underground music.

This is simply a magical tool!

Therefore, in 1995, iPlayer-10 can be said to be the most dazzling star electronic product of the year.

Of course it is also full of controversy.

In just one year, tens of thousands of pirated music sharing websites appeared on the Internet. Preliminary statistics show that due to the rapid spread of piracy, global record sales plummeted by 23% in 1995. Even without purchasing iPlayer players, many people began to download free music more on the Internet and no longer spend money to buy records.

This demand has also promoted the rapid development of the Google search engine under Igret, with the effect being no less than that of adult-type websites that have quietly become popular.

The major record giants felt the crisis and began to try every means to suppress piracy and try to kill iPlayer, which was doomed to be futile.

One of the biggest victims of pirated music, Sony, who owns Columbia records, has personally created a 'case bill' in North America where similar products cannot win a lawsuit.

Sony's video recorder was released at that time, but was sued by Hollywood giants such as Disney for fear of illegal recording and flooding of piracy. The lawsuit was entangled for many years. In the end, the US Supreme Court declared that Disney and other Hollywood giants would lose the case on the grounds that they could not stifle technological progress on the grounds of protecting copyright, and the video recorder became legitimate.

The iPlayer player is of the same nature as the video recorder.

The output value of the US video tape industry has brought to major filmmakers is no less than that of movie theater screenings. Therefore, in the past year, facing the public pressure of a number of record giants, Tinkobaier has repeatedly used video recorders as an example to refute, and criticized the major record giants for not being willing to follow technological progress just to stick to their interests in the traditional record field. He has constantly called on major record companies to open their copyright resources to the Broadcast platform, so that they can achieve a win-win situation.

In addition to these disputes, iPlayer once again promoted the development of the American Internet cafe industry that Simon personally promoted back then.

Although the Internet penetration rate in the United States is far higher than that in other countries around the world, many publics are unable to connect to the Internet. These people choose to purchase iPlayer players. In addition to using the computers of relatives and friends, another option is to go to the Internet cafe to choose to download their favorite music.

as well as.

iPlayer-10 is also the favorite target of robbers of 1995.

Because this music player is not only for self-use, but also due to insufficient production capacity at the beginning of the product release, the robbers robbed iPlayer and even sold at a higher price than new products in the second-hand market.

As a result, not only were passers-by wearing iPlayer players the most susceptible to attack, but even the electronic stores selling this product were not spared. In the past year, many cases of iPlayer shelves being robbed by large groups of thugs. San Francisco police also cracked an attempt to rob the iPlayer player warehouse in Palo Alto in the second half of last year.

The production of iPlayer players is mainly in China.

However, after the player is assembled, it must be shipped back to San Francisco before performing the next distribution. At this stage, the market is mainly in the United States.

When the robbers were almost going to start operations, more than 1.2 million iPlayer players were stored in the warehouse in Palo Alto, San Francisco, worth nearly $600 million. The robbers even prepared a 10,000-ton cargo ship in San Francisco Bay to handle the response, intending to transport it to Mexico first after success.

Of course it was not successful.

After the matter was disclosed, it caused a sensation, and it felt like a Hollywood blockbuster that had not been finished. Afterwards, someone really began to plan movies with related themes.

This is how people are. The more difficult it is to get it, the more curious and yearning they will develop.

The tightening that lasted for a year was actually Tinkobaier's deliberate behavior. In fact, the production capacity of this player will be enough to meet market demand two months after its release.

However, because of the popularity of various events, just like the case of selling kidneys for Apple phones in the original time and space, many Americans, especially teenagers, are trying to get an iPlayer-10 player that is very cool, very showy and very practical in everyone's eyes.

Finally, in the first year of its release, iPlayer-10 created a sales miracle of more than 20 million.

In 1994, Tincobaier, which had only one main product, had a revenue scale of US$2.19 billion and a net profit of US$270 million with the sales of 7.16 million iCam series digital cameras and some other trivial revenues.

In 1995, the total sales volume of two iCam and iPlayer products with similar prices reached 41.4 million units, which increased by nearly 6 times compared with 1994. In addition to the revenue of iDisk, Broadcast and other products, Tincobaier's revenue surged to US$12.63 billion and its net profit also reached US$1.16 billion.

The continued popularity of the iCam series and the rapid popularity of iPlayer, the two ace products, coupled with the booming growth of corporate revenue, Tinkobaier's valuation has also risen.

The last time the prospectus was submitted to the SEC before the roadshow, the valuation of the emerging electronics company has reached US$35 billion, more than double the valuation of the two companies totaling US$17 billion when Tincobaier acquired Broadcast in June last year. However, judging from the feedback from previous market research, the 130 million shares expected to be issued by Tincobaier in this IPO are still in short supply.

There are 130 million shares, of which 51 million cashed out stocks from major shareholders, and the other 79 million are new stocks. This batch of stocks accounts for 16% of the total share capital of 810 million shares after the IPO.

In addition, of the 51 million shares of cashed out, Westeros occupies 30 million shares. According to the issue price of US$43, the cashed out amount is US$1.29 billion. This is also the first time Simon cashed out directly in several IPOs in recent years. Because he has held Tinkobaier shares for more than one year, Westeros only needs to pay a minimum capital gains tax of 15% this time.

In addition to the shareholder cashing out part, the amount of new shares raised for Tinkobaier this time is US$3.39 billion.

In fact, Tincobaier is not short of this fund. On the one hand, this IPO is still an established integration strategy of the Westeros system, and on the other hand, it is also to facilitate Tincobaier to start the next merger and acquisition plan.

In addition, even though the market has reached its highest expectations for Tinkobaier's IPO, the company actually retains a kingly look at the new year product launch during Easter this year.

This is the iRec series of digital cameras that have been prepared for a long time.

Tinkobaier's digital camera product has been quietly developed for two years, and the prototype was completed at the end of 1994. However, because all the conditions were not yet complete, it was originally planned to be released in the fall of 1995, but it still chose to postpone the tickets. It was finally decided to launch it at Easter this year with the new generation of iCam and iPlayer and other products.

In two years, compared with the original prototype, the upcoming iRec-10 not only has a more mature technology, but more importantly, the software and hardware ecosystem has also been improved.

For example, the rapidly increasing capacity of micro hard drives.

For example, the YouTube video platform that Egret has launched.

For example, the USB interface with an increasingly popularization rate.

For example, Tinkobaier, like cooperating with iCam's free image browsing and processing software, 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 launch audio copyright services that are free or paid, providing video editing enthusiasts with various authentic BGM resources to produce more exquisite videos.

All these.

This is actually the application ecosystem.

If it is just a digital camera, even if the hardware is done well, the hardware and software support in these surrounding areas and the lack of sufficient usability and playability, it will not be too big.

Now, because of the improvement of the application ecosystem, just as iCam users can post pictures on the Internet, future iRec users can also display their images on the Internet.

You can even become famous and make money.

With the official release of iRec-10, YouTube will launch a service for uploading videos by individual users. Although the upload capacity of users in the early stage will be limited, the platform will directly activate advertising sharing. As long as YouTube bloggers publish videos and click on them, they can earn income.

At that time, Tinkobaier and Igret officially take the initiative to create a group of popular YouTube bloggers, which will definitely bring about a trend.

Tinkobaier's IPO roadshow was in full swing, and while attending a roadshow in New York, Simon did not show up again, but focused on handling other matters accumulated in New York.

A large part of it is about Daenerys Entertainment’s TV business.

After completing the merger and acquisition of Metropolitan ABC Group, the integration of the two companies has been underway. A very important move during this period was that the headquarters of the former Metropolitan ABC Group, ESPN TV station, was relocated from Bristol, Connecticut to New York.

Connecticut borders northern New York, and Greenwich City, where wealthy people gather, belongs to Connecticut. Therefore, ESPN, originally headquartered in Bristol, is not too far from New York.

However, this relocation has great symbolic significance.

Before this, because of the conservative conservativeness of old-school shareholders and executives of the Metropolitan ABC Group such as Warren Buffett and Tom Murphy, ESPN has never been the core business of the Metropolitan ABC Group even though it has developed rapidly. Simon, who knows the future development potential of this professional sports TV station, will certainly not make such mistakes again, so he personally made a decision to relocate the ESPN team from Connecticut to New York as a whole.

At the same time, negotiations to buy out the US football match have officially begun.

The eight-year, $9 billion buyout contract in memory is no less than a large-scale merger and acquisition. Therefore, risks and opportunities coexist. As long as the live broadcast rights of the US football game are successfully monopolized and operated properly, ESPN will be able to collect the "ESPN tax" from the operators, which is much higher than the share of other basic cable platforms, just like in the original time and space.

In addition, although TV stations usually finalize the playback plan for the new year in May's TV promotion season every year, major production companies and TV stations will start looking for TV programs and producing pilot episodes for promotion of the promotion season from the beginning of the year.

Simon also needs to stare at this aspect.

Before Daenerys acquired Metropolitan ABC, Simon understood that the merger of Daenerys Entertainment Group will fall into a vicious circle similar to the "Catch-22" in the TV production business.

The main reason is that external TV stations will inevitably reduce the procurement of Daenerys Entertainment's TV department, because other TV stations will inevitably think that Daenerys Entertainment will inevitably leave the best TV programs to their own TV stations, and Daenerys Entertainment's TV production department cannot prove that it will not do so.

So, since you have left the best for yourself, other direct competitors such as NBC and CBS, how could you still purchase the programs that Daenerys Entertainment TV Production Department has been selected by ABC?

It was not that Simon had originally imagined a solution to this vicious circle, but re-signing long-term contracts with several other TV stations for projects such as Friends. Because Simon didn't want Daenerys's TV business to completely transfer to the self-production and self-sales model. The internal digestion system can certainly save costs, but it is easier for the team to become slack and no longer strive for excellence.

It is difficult to produce high-quality products in one production and broadcasting, which has been proven since the emergence of the TV industry. Therefore, the separation of production and broadcasting has become the mainstream of commercial TV stations.

However, Simon finally gave up some thoughts.

Because the vicious circle of "Catch-22" is indeed impossible to break, instead of working in vain, it is better to focus on how to avoid systematic internal rigidity after the production and broadcasting integration.

This is not difficult.

Just introduce external competition.

However, the ratio of self-produced programs and external procurement needs to be carefully grasped. After all, Daenerys Entertainment's current TV production department is still very strong. What Simon needs to do is to continue to maintain the activity of its own production department by appropriately introducing "catfish" and avoid introducing too many catfish to harm the fish in his own pond.
Chapter completed!