Chapter 119: Yuke Electric Appliances

August 2009 might appear unremarkable to many—life went on as usual, people continued their daily commutes, and the days seemed no different from any other year. However, for the former Anhu Electrical Appliance Factory, now renamed Yuke Electrical Appliance Factory, this mundane August was a pivotal month.

To outsiders, the name "Yuke" might sound incredibly rustic, but to Xie Han, it held profound significance. "Yuke" stands for "Universe Technology." This name not only embodied Xie Han's ambitions but also defined the responsibilities he was destined to fulfill.

Between the 1980s and the 1990s, the Anhu Electrical Appliance Factory was indeed a star enterprise in Zhaoyang City. Yet, after twenty years of weathering storms, it ultimately faced the fate of being acquired and restructured. But could this seemingly tragic fate not also be an opportunity for a rebirth through fire?

In this fast-paced era, no one pays attention to failing enterprises. The younger generation is always chasing fashion and trends; only the older generation, or those who once benefited from the Anhu Electrical Appliance Factory, would sigh over this declining business in such a rapidly changing time.

Against this backdrop, the change in ownership and the renaming of the factory went largely unnoticed. Only those in the immediate vicinity took note of the new "Yuke Electrical Appliance Factory" sign. Many were dismissive, viewing the entire factory—with its outdated equipment and remote location—as an elderly person on their deathbed; no matter how much effort was put into it, it would only prolong its final gasps.

Ordinarily, such a minor life detail would quickly fade from public view. Unfortunately for those skeptics, Yuke, which seemed like a dying old man, suddenly charged into the public eye like a dark horse, turning Zhaoyang City upside down that August.

The first to report it was, naturally, the local Zhaoyang Daily. As the local authority, they easily obtained first-hand information from the Patent Office.

In truth, even the staff at the Patent Office didn't believe that a struggling factory with a new name could have the capacity to develop a new patented product. When the official in charge realized it was a chip patent, their expression was one of profound bewilderment, as if something truly inconceivable had occurred.

"Is this a scam, or just a group of bored people with too much money for application fees?" That was everyone’s only thought at the time. Yet, as Patent Office employees, while they didn't need to know everything, their ability to verify authenticity was beyond doubt. The data submitted by Xie Han all pointed to a high-performance chip. Whether it qualified for a patent, however, required more specialized assessment.

The media, upon hearing the news, was highly intrigued. They dispatched personnel to investigate the data thoroughly. Regardless of the authenticity or the patentability, reporters from the Zhaoyang Daily were parked at the renamed Yuke Electrical Appliance Factory by the very next day.

There are many types of chips used in home appliances, and they are quite common, but true core chip technology remains in the hands of a few major conglomerates. Although China's home appliance giants possess significant chip technology, they often outsource the design to specialized firms. Currently, there are only three notable chip design companies in China. Despite being listed on NASDAQ, none of these companies have launched products that have made a global impact, which is evidence enough of China's weakness in chip design.

The quality of a chip often determines the performance of an electronic product. As some have put it, if the CPU is the brain of a computer, the chipset is its nervous system. Thus, for an electronic product, a chip can even be the key to bringing a dead project back to life.

Meng Nan had anticipated this day when he filed for the patent; he just hadn't expected it to arrive so quickly.

This opportunity was within his expectations. All Meng Nan had to do was answer the Zhaoyang Daily reporter's questions according to the plan he had already devised.

"Does your Yuke Electrical Appliance Factory truly have the ability to design its own chips? And I heard you mention just now that your core chipset has reached the world's most advanced level, utilizing technology that was previously only theoretical. We also know that while domestic design levels can handle basic tasks, they cannot compare to foreign chips in terms of performance."

The reporter sent by the Zhaoyang Daily was a tall, thin middle-aged man. His questions were not aggressive, but they pointed out many issues regarding chip design: Did Yuke really have the capacity? Why claim domestic giants could only design low-level chips while a small, obscure factory like theirs was shouting about "world-leading" technology? Was there an element of exaggeration?

To be honest, Meng Nan didn't know where Xie Han had obtained the chipset design drawings and data, but that didn't hinder his response: "Haha. As the saying goes, a ten-thousand-foot tower rises from the ground. Your doubt is quite reasonable. Who would believe that a small electrical appliance factory of this scale could possess the ability to design high-end chipsets? But I want to say that anything is possible. China is a land of hidden talents. Anything can happen."

Meng Nan paused slightly before continuing: "We are not exaggerating our chip's capabilities, because at the time of our patent application, we already had a functional product. As for whether we are exaggerating, once the patent is granted, I believe all doubts will crumble on their own."

The tall, thin reporter grew interested, as if he had caught a lead: "Manager Meng, you mentioned that you already had a product when you applied for the patent. What is that product?" When he arrived, he only knew about the chipset, not what it would be applied to. Digging up this story was an unexpected bonus.

Meng Nan took a manual for a rice cooker out of his desk drawer and handed it over. "Actually, when we were developing the chip, the target was a rice cooker. Haha, don't laugh at our narrow vision. You should have learned about my background when you arrived. As someone in this industry, the first thing I thought of was electrical appliances. Other applications for now have not been fully considered."

The performance of the rice cooker didn't need much introduction; the manual made everything clear. The reporter was shocked by the performance—how could it cook a meal in just four minutes? It was also incredibly energy-efficient. The powerful, intuitive intelligence integrated into the chipset was another astonishing feature.

Meng Nan's strategy was to let the facts speak for themselves, so he readily gifted a rice cooker to the bewildered reporter. He believed that once they used it, they would be even more shocked than they were reading the manual.

In the following days, the constant stream of reporters kept Meng Nan so busy he could barely catch his breath. In his words, it was "painful but happy."

Although the patent hadn't been granted yet, for Meng Nan, the patent was merely a protective layer. After contacting several chip manufacturers and negotiating prices, he arranged for several factories to produce them simultaneously. Meng Nan's demand was high—far more than a single manufacturer could handle. The orders he handed out were enough to keep them busy for a year.

After the media interviews, things became simple. The Zhaoyang Daily ran a headline, "Technology Drives Life." The article not only detailed the chipset designed by Yuke but also introduced the performance of the new rice cooker point by point. Although it wasn't on the front page, it occupied the entire third page, proving how much the reporter had come to love the rice cooker after using it.

Following the Zhaoyang Daily's report, other newspapers, media outlets, and news portals reported on this chipset—which could be called a revolution for rice cookers—and the small Yuke Electrical Appliance Factory.

What does a rice cooker that cooks in four minutes represent? It represents time. For successful people, time is money and life. Their meals are often eaten at restaurants. Their busy work schedules make it hard for them to enjoy the warmth of home-cooked food. But the appearance of this rice cooker allowed them to enjoy home cooking even when time was tight.

As for the exterior design, Xie Han used the prototypes from the wasteland era, so even the images of the samples were enough to entice many people. It can be said that the power of the media made this rice cooker a hit in just a few days.

For Meng Nan, the rice cooker was just the beginning. The large amount of appliance design data Xie Han had brought back was enough for Yuke to launch over a dozen world-leading appliances in the next few years. Meng Nan didn't know how Xie Han obtained these designs and manufacturing data, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that he knew every product launched would lead the trend in its category.

The funds continuously obtained from the futures market allowed Xie Han to begin construction according to his design plans even before Yuke officially entered full-scale production. The original twenty acres weren't enough to contain the factory Xie Han envisioned, so with money in hand, he waved his hand and acquired over 500 acres around the factory.

The media frenzy would only last for a few days, so for the next month, with a twenty-million-yuan advertising budget, Meng Nan felt confident. He launched massive advertising campaigns in well-known media, hyping up the yet-to-be-released rice cookers until nearly one-tenth of the Chinese population had the product in mind.

With the arrival of the first batch of chips, Yuke’s production lines, which had been silent for months, went into full operation. Rice cooker after rice cooker rolled off the lines, were packaged, and were quickly snatched up by long-waiting distributors. These cookers would soon reach the shelves of major supermarkets and retail stores.

As September approached, the 16,000 rice cookers produced in August were taken away as soon as they came off the assembly line. For people of status, owning a high-tech rice cooker was a necessity. Facing a market as vast as China's, a monthly output of less than 20,000 was a drop in the bucket. The factory, not even a month old, already faced the need to expand again and again.

Half of the 500 newly acquired acres were allocated for the construction of ten large factory buildings, totaling 80 production lines. Once completed, Yuke’s monthly production capacity would reach a staggering 300,000 units.

Xie Han did not expect everyone to be able to afford a rice cooker costing nearly 3,000 yuan, but even if only a small percentage used it, that "small percentage" in such a massive market was enough to keep Yuke running at full capacity.

To Meng Nan, such rapid expansion was undoubtedly risky. With 80 production lines, based on current output, the market for such high-end rice cookers would be saturated in three or four years. At that point, the excess production lines would become a burden. If managed poorly, it could easily lead to a surplus of resources.

Facing Meng Nan's concerns, Xie Han, who had returned to the modern world, smiled and said, "Mai Zai, your worry isn't without reason. But Yuke is different from other enterprises; our development will be described as a miracle. The terrifying speed of expansion is exactly what we are pursuing. Perhaps you don't understand my ambition yet, but when you truly do, you will feel that our development is actually too slow."

Without waiting for Meng Nan to speak, Xie Han continued: "Regarding the production line issue, have you noticed that many appliance production lines share commonalities? By utilizing this, we can simply modify the excess lines to produce new products. Furthermore, we can set our sights on foreign markets; that is the fertile ground for high-end products. Also, you have looked at the data I gave you, right?"

Reminded by Xie Han, Meng Nan recalled the dozen or so manufacturing technologies Yuke currently possessed. If they were all deployed, not only would these 80 lines be insufficient, even ten times that amount would not meet the demand. "But we have poured all our recovered funds into this construction. Won't that cause financial difficulties?"

The profit from the first month alone reached a staggering 20 million yuan. And that was just from 16,000 rice cookers. What would happen after full-scale production? 300,000 units per month—at the current rate, they would surely sell out. This might be the power of high technology, but thinking of those numbers, Meng Nan still couldn't quite believe it was real.

As for the funding, the money Xie Han used to acquire the 500 acres came from his futures trading, while the plant construction and production lines were funded by the first month's profits. Investing all capital into construction certainly carries risks for a company that relies heavily on outsourcing.

"Mai Zai, you don't need to worry about that. Yuke's biggest expenses are, first, the outsourcing costs; second, employee salaries; and third, utilities. Regarding the first, with Yuke's current momentum, delaying payments to contractors shouldn't be an issue. As for salaries and utilities, those are negligible—just small change."

Hearing this from Xie Han, Meng Nan felt his mental shackles loosen. "That is also a good way."

Xie Han said, "This is mainly because your thinking hasn't opened up yet. It might be that your previous positions constrained your way of thinking. Which factory nowadays doesn't fight to delay payments to suppliers? What we are doing is just standard practice." He thought of some unscrupulous factories that had held onto supplier payments for two or three years; in the Guangdong region, that wasn't strange at all.

"Han Zai, when do you think it's appropriate to launch our other products?" Meng Nan wasn't sure about this and threw it back to Xie Han. However, thinking about the performance and appearance of those products, even Meng Nan was excited, dreaming several times of owning them himself.

Xie Han pondered for a moment and said, "I think we can launch a new product every two months. After the rice cooker, a foldable large-display LCD TV would be appropriate. But that also requires a powerful chipset to support it. Never mind, we'll just follow the same routine as the rice cooker; after all, adding one more chipset type or one less makes no difference in the end."

Xie Han's words excited Meng Nan. Even if the rice cooker gathered many high-end technologies, in many people's eyes, it was just a minor novelty. But a foldable large-display LCD TV was different. Meng Nan believed this would be a new revolution in televisions, enough to propel Yuke into the manufacturing elite and build deep influence. These were two completely different concepts.

"With the launch of the foldable large-display LCD TV, Yuke will soon surpass other TV manufacturers and become the industry leader," Meng Nan thought, filled with infinite confidence in Yuke.

(PS: The author's zone has been malfunctioning, preventing uploads, which caused a delay. Also, notification: today and tomorrow, there will be extensive power grid maintenance from 3 PM to 9 PM, so I can only update one chapter on these two days. My apologies. For brothers who want to vote for updates, please cast your 3,000-word tickets these two days, thank you!)