Because of the agreement with Aiwa, before the Learning Machine was introduced into the market, Aiwa's Hua Xia distribution channels were not open to Nintendo.
Hua Xia had allowed the import of video game consoles, and Nintendo wanted to enter the Hua Xia market earlier to prevent Sega from taking over the market first. So, they helped Aiwa to manufacture a batch of Learning Machines in advance. The cassettes for the Learning Machine were manufactured by Hua Xia factories. The cassettes were mainly for idioms, word explanation, English learning, etc.
At the end of May, Aiwa Learning Machine entered the Chinese market earlier than expected. Feng Yu set the retail price at 3,288 RMB per unit, and the wholesale price was 3,000 RMB per unit. Feng Yu's production cost was only about 1,500 RMB, and this was with Nintendo's help. There were also the import taxes and transportation fees. If it was produced by a factory in China, it might only cost 1,000 RMB.
Nintendo introduced a few different models of video game consoles. The prices ranged from 1,000 RMB to 3,000 RMB. They were hoping to dominate the Hua Xia market in China. Sega also introduced a few models of video game consoles at different prices to compete with Nintendo.
Both companies did not think much of Aiwa Learning Machine and The Little Tyrant. They felt that with their fun games, beautiful consoles, and better quality, they would be able to take over the Hua Xia market in a short time. It was just like how they had taken over the European and US markets.
Nintendo was still fine as they had Aiwa's distribution channels. Those distributors also wanted to see if Nintendo's video game consoles could sell well and make money. But if they really just tried, the products that entered the market were very few. Sega was even worse. No one was willing to buy their video game consoles. The reason was no one had heard of this brand, and the video game consoles were too expensive. It was not going to sell well!
The person in charge of Hua Xia from Sega almost cried when she heard these reasons. We were once the leader of the video game industry. Even now, we are still number two. What's wrong with our brand? Why are you making it sound like our brand is worthless? Our products are selling well in the US and Europe!
At this time, Sega and Nintendo realized that Hua Xia's market was filled with all sorts of low-cost video game consoles. They bought some of the video game consoles and discovered that many of the video game consoles were using their patented technologies. Even the exterior of the video game consoles were imitating them. But they did not receive any royalties!
These game console manufacturers had stolen their technology!
They began to appeal to Hua Xia's government, asking for a ban on the sale of those products and compensation for their losses. Of course, the government would side with their own people. Also, have you applied for this patent in Hua Xia? You applied in Asia? But our Hua Xia doesn't know.
Asia is different from Europe and the US. There are some economic agreements that all countries abide by, including patent applications. That's why the patent protection in Europe and the US is much better than Asia. In Asia, especially Southeast Asia, many countries have to apply for patents. For example, Japan's patents are not applicable in Hua Xia.
When Sega and Nintendo were arguing with Hua Xia, Aiwa Learning Machine's commercial was aired on CCTV.
Furthermore, it was Jin Wanjun, the advertising actress hired by the learning machine. At this time, there was no one more popular than Hua Xia's child star. Even so, her endorsement fee was not high.
Feng Yu was the one who came up with the idea for this commercial. Jin Wanjun was at home. There was a TV on the table, and it was connected to Aiwa Learning Machine.
On the TV, there were some birds with English words printed on them flying around. Jin Wanjun was typing on the keyboard, and those birds fell to the ground as if they were hit by bullets.
A middle-aged woman walked over and passed an apple to Jin Wanjun: "Baby, how do you say apple in English?"
“A-P-P-L-E，Apple！ So easy! "As she spoke, Jin Wanjun made an 'OK' gesture.
The woman hugged Jin Wanjun with one hand and pointed to Aiwa Learning Machine: "Ever since I bought this Aiwa Learning Machine for my child, I don't need to worry about his studies anymore."
The camera zoomed in on Aiwa Learning Machine, and Jin Wanjun shouted: "Aiwa Learning Machine, easy to learn!"
The screen changed to Aiwa Learning Machine, and below it was a sentence in Chinese: "Aiwa Home Appliances, I love Hua Xia!"
… …
"Hubby, let's buy this Aiwa Learning Machine for our child, ok? Look at our child's English results. He can't even be compared to Old Zhang's child next door! "
"Ok. Tomorrow, you can go to the shopping mall and have a look. This way, we will not have to worry too much. Every time I hold a parent-teacher meeting, I will be scolded by my teacher!"
… …
"Mum, I want that Aiwa Learning Machine."
"Why do you want that? You don't even learn English. "
"There are idioms on this machine, and I want to learn idioms. Furthermore, I can also learn to type on this machine. My teacher said that everyone must know how to type on a computer in the future! "
"Then you go and tell Dad. If he agrees, I will buy it for you."
… …
"Dad, I am going to Xiao Ming's house. He had bought an Aiwa Learning Machine, and I am going there to learn from him."
"If you use that machine, will your results improve?"
"Anyway, it is better than nothing."
"Then you go. Let's go to the shopping mall this weekend and buy one. In the future, you can learn by yourself at home."
… …
"Eh, your father bought an Aiwa Learning Machine for you? You are learning at home during the weekends? "
"Shhh ~ ~ ~ This Learning Machine can be plugged into a game cartridge. I am playing Contra at home!"
"Huh? This Learning Machine can be used as a game console? "
"That's right. My father had been refusing to buy me a game console. This time, they are the ones who bought it for me. Tonight, my father is on a business trip, and my mother is working the night shift. You want to come over to my house to play games? "
"Ok. I will tell my mother to come over to your house to learn!"
… …
CCTV's advertisements were very effective. Especially before the VCD player was launched, all the advertising slots that Feng Yu bought were playing this advertisement. Within 3 days, all the distributors were calling Tai Hua Trading to ask for more Learning Machines.
The first batch of Aiwa Learning Machine was only 10,000 units, and each distributor could only get 300 to 500 units. Based on the current sales, this amount would be sold out within a week!
Wu Chih-gang immediately contacted Fu Guangzheng. Aiwa Learning Machine was also imported into China through Hong Kong's Aiwa Company. This way, the taxes were lower. Hong Kong's Aiwa Company was also trying to introduce the Learning Machine to Taiwan, Malaysia, etc.
Luckily, Aiwa's factories had been expanding for the past 2 years. When Feng Yu said that he wanted to start the production of the Learning Machine, Aiwa immediately bought 2 existing production lines in Japan. Now, the production could start. Furthermore, they had Nintendo to help them manufacture the Learning Machine.
The second batch of 20,000 units of Learning Machine entered the Hua Xia market. The rest of the Southeast Asian markets also started to show interest.
This Learning Machine was using a 486 processor and could perform many tasks that could only be done on a PC. But it was only sold for 600 USD! Aiwa's technologies were really good. They could even produce such a product. No wonder Aiwa's Walkman was better than Sony's. It seemed like there was a reason why Aiwa's Walkman was better than Sony.
At first, Heitaro Nakajima was not optimistic about this Learning Machine, but Feng Yu insisted. He even asked Heitaro Nakajima to pay Nintendo to manufacture the Learning Machine. But from the current sales, General Manager Feng Nakajima was right. If this Learning Machine was produced by someone else, Heitaro Nakajima would miss out on a lot of profits.
Furthermore, Heitaro Nakajima had wanted to enter the PC market one day. This Learning Machine was a good opportunity to test his technicians' skills!
Especially with the popularity of Aiwa Learning Machine, Aiwa Walkman's sales in Southeast Asia had increased again. This was the benefit of a brand! As long as there was a successful product, the other products would also be chosen by the brand's fans!
Aiwa Learning Machine was a success!
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