Real Man

Chapter 140:

Chapter 140

As he was thinking, Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s voice rang out again.

“Well then, let’s proceed. Ah, I don’t know if you feel uncomfortable with me here, but I hope you can speak frankly with each other.”

“Yes, sir. Next…”

At that moment, Yoo-hyun could predict it.

The atmosphere in the conference room had changed, starting from now.

It was Vice President Shin Myung-ho’s remark that triggered it.

Thud.

A domino at the starting point wobbled.

It toppled over and pushed another one, and another one pushed another one, completing the hidden picture on the floor.

Yoo-hyun knew what the final picture would be, but he couldn’t help but be curious.

The falling dominoes were not bricks, but people.

-[Urgent] Request for confirmation of mass production possibility of low-end full-touch panel due to change of mobile phone business strategy.

In the past, right after this meeting, a single email from the group leader was sent to the entire mobile group.

This email shook up the whole mobile group and the mobile phone business unit.

It was Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s order.

They had to rework their business plan from scratch, even at the cost of damage.

There was something he didn’t know back then.

Which way did the fallen dominoes flow to reach that conclusion?

And there was something he wanted to check now.

How would the end of this time differ from the past?

Yoo-hyun watched the picture drawn by the dominoes with a relaxed gaze.

It was a privilege that he could enjoy, as he had drawn the whole outline.

The dominoes started to fall one by one with the presentation.

“Starting with the Apple Phone, Nokia and BlackBerry are growing the smartphone market, and next year, they are expected to account for 15% of the total phone shipments. And…”

The people who were just listening raised their hands actively at Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s words.

“Excuse me. Doesn’t that mean we have to increase the proportion of smartphones? Our development department is preparing a technology that combines voice communication with PDA-based products.”

“That’s not it. The combination of touch pen and voice recognition technology proposed by the development center is too complicated.”

“Is there an alternative?”

“Our design center is reviewing a design that can also accommodate UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) by combining QWERTY keyboard and full touch screen.”

They put their PR in their questions and rebutted to stand out from their opponents.

“No, what are you talking about making a phone into a UMPC? Do you have an OS to run?”

“Didn’t they say that Windows for mobile is being developed? No, Nokia is also developing its own OS, why can’t we do that?”

“That’s not as easy as you think. Right now, we have unified the domestic release phones based on WIPI (Korean Wireless Internet Platform) according to the government’s recommendation, but we have to change all that.”

“Isn’t that the role of the development center? How can you keep up with the world trend if you are held back by mere technology?”

“Mere technology? That’s harsh. Apple’s design is possible because it is based on technology.”

The conflict between the organizations increased rapidly.

They were pushed into a corner by the fear of being branded as a losing organization by Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho if they backed down.

But did they know?

There was an answer to the future in the words they were spitting out now.

“I’ll continue the presentation. We think that the current high proportion of touch phones is just a temporary trend of the Apple Phone. The component price issue is the biggest factor, and feature phones will continue to dominate for a while…”

They drew a strange conclusion from the data that was clearly visible, because they didn’t know.

“McKinsey Consulting defined the smartphone market as a ‘storm in a teacup’. It means that customers don’t need to do computer work on a small phone. And…”

They borrowed the power of other experts, because they didn’t know.

The people who were at the forefront of the industry entrusted the future to the people who were rolling pens from afar, paying them billions of won.

“I agree with the presenter’s opinion. I tried to develop it myself, and I couldn’t use the other company’s products because they were frustrating. I think it’s a technology that is far from what customers want.”

“That’s right. We just wanted to tell you that we are ready without any technical shortcomings.”

The upper-level people needed a ‘reason’ to proceed,

And the field workers needed a ‘means’ to avoid responsibility.

They ignored the coming future, because they hated to hear bad things and were afraid to take responsibility.

The people who had experienced the rapidly changing market believed that the future would not be much different from reality.

As expected, the dominoes collapsed quickly.

Tick.

Then, the direction of the dominoes changed sharply.

Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.

“So, how do you compare with Ilseong?”

It was a question that always came up in any meeting.

The people who gathered here must have prepared an answer for that.

The development center and the design center poured out their ideas that they wanted to focus on.

“We are preparing a phone with upgraded features than the DMB phone that Ilseong is pushing.”

“We are proposing a phone with a full stainless steel material to counter Ilseong’s premium strategy of making phone materials out of wood.”

“We are aiming to maximize the multimedia performance with a phone that has a 21:9 innovative screen ratio to counter Ilseong’s horizontal instinct phone.”

Higher specs than Ilseong.

More luxurious than Ilseong.

More unique than Ilseong.

They were products that would be released in the market next year, and they had all made prototypes.

The proposers checked the LCD panel supply schedule, camera yield, and phone material supply schedule through the video system.

It was to show that they were thoroughly prepared.

But Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s expression grew darker.

“Is this the end?”

“…”

He even spat out a voice filled with anger.

“That’s all you can say when you gather together?”

“…”

The heated atmosphere died down in an instant.

The ice-cold atmosphere continued.

There were still things that hadn’t been said, but no one opened their mouth.

They instinctively knew that they could go to hell if they made a mistake.

‘This was the point.’

Yoo-hyun looked at Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s hardened expression and knew that this was the moment when he had exploded in the past.

But the past was just the past.

The fallen dominoes were the same, but the picture drawn at the end was different.

It was because of the card that Yoo-hyun had inserted in the middle.

And now that card was about to move.

At the moment when everyone was holding their breath, Senior Jang Hye-min, who had been quietly listening to the story, raised her hand.

“I have one suggestion to make.”

The design center director and the development center director both sighed and rubbed their heads.

Strictly speaking, it was not Senior Jang Hye-min’s turn.

There were other new products that had not been mentioned yet.

But Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho nodded his head, and she was given the right to speak.

She uttered the words that everyone was worried about without hesitation.

“What we want to propose is a low-end full-touch phone, also known as a color phone.”

She based her speech on the contest content that Assistant Park Seung-woo had prepared.

“As shown by the example of Channel Phone, people are becoming familiar with full-touch phones. The price barrier was high until now, but according to the LCD business unit’s idea, we can supply full-touch panels at half the price of the existing panels.”

“…”

Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s expression did not change.

He looked so unhappy that it seemed like he was not satisfied.

Most of them thought so, except for Yoo-hyun who noticed a subtle change in his expression.

As expected, there was a backlash.

“According to the customer survey, 80% of the existing customers prefer phones with buttons over full-touch phones. Full-touch phones without QWERTY keyboards are still premature.”

That was why the development center director could voice his opposition in this atmosphere.

But Senior Jang Hye-min was not going to back down.

“Why would the masses refuse a full-touch phone that is cheaper than the existing ones? It has enough merit in terms of design, don’t you think?”

“That’s just an idea, not a reality. LCD panel supply is not easy as you said. Isn’t that right, Director Ahn?”

“Yes. That’s right. It’s not impossible theoretically, but it’s risky. We don’t have a schedule that can push out other products.”

That was also why the mobile group director could say no.

At that moment, Yoo-hyun smiled triumphantly.

‘Gotcha.’

They didn’t even know that they were being crushed by the dominoes that were falling right now.

Yoo-hyun thought briefly.

What if Director Lee Kyung-hoon was here? How would he react?

Could he change his choice and survive?

Unfortunately, he didn’t have that chance.

He didn’t have much to do.

He could only guess the atmosphere here through a small camera and a speaker that was not very good.

Finally, Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s voice was heard again.

“Really?”

“Yes, sir. We’ll hear the opinions of the field workers.”

The mobile business director, who flinched at Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s chin gesture, passed the buck.

The video system channel 5 was enlarged on the TV.

Soon, Director Lee Kyung-hoon’s voice came through the speaker.

-I’m Lee Kyung-hoon, director of the mobile group of the LCD business unit. As you said, there are many difficulties with the current technology. I think this idea should be reviewed again in two years.

“Is that it?”

He didn’t just say no, he also suggested an alternative.

-No, sir. Instead, we will pull up the schedule for the 4-inch panel with a 21:9 ratio, which is under review as the main product for next year, by two months and secure additional supplies.

“Hmm…”

As soon as he finished speaking, Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho crossed his arms.

‘Done.’

Director Lee Kyung-hoon cheered inwardly.

Mobile group director Ahn Joon-hong gave him the right to speak, not Senior Director Cho Chan-young.

It meant that he would officially support him.

Thanks to that, he made his name known to Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho and many other executives.

Not only that, he also completely killed the spirit of Senior Director Cho Chan-young in front of the mobile sales and marketing people here.

‘It’s over.’

Who was Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho?

He was a person who treated the lives of executives like flies.

He said such an unprepared opinion in front of such a person.

If it ends like this, the arrow will surely go to Senior Director Cho Chan-young, who made him spit out such a useless opinion.

Contest pass?

That was as good as gone.

A product that was once branded would never do well.

Director Lee Kyung-hoon smiled as he thought of his bright future.

That was when.

A voice came through the speaker.

At the same time, Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho’s voice spread throughout the conference room.

“You said it here that it can’t be done… Is that really true?”

“We have summarized the opinions of the departments, and that’s what they said.”

Vice President Hyun Ki-joong wiped his cold sweat and answered.

He didn’t expect them to say such an unprepared thing.

“What do you think, Director Yeo?”

“…Although it’s still in the initial stage and there are many things to check, I think it’s a product with potential.”

“You said it here based on potential.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”

The design center director had no choice but to support Senior Jang Hye-min.

It was a gamble that could be either life or death.

He was annoyed by the development center director’s face that was nagging him in front of him, but he had no choice.

‘Damn, I should have known.’

The design center director bit his lower lip hard and regretted it.

Vice Chairman Shin Myung-ho still looked grim as he looked at Senior Jang Hye-min.

“Senior Jang, do you have anything else to say?”

“I disagree with the opinions of the other departments. We already have a mock-up that is close to a prototype, and we have a related schedule. I can’t agree that we can’t meet the deadline because of the priority.”

But Senior Jang Hye-min was not going to stop there.

“I would like to hear the opinion of Assistant Park Seung-woo, who came up with this idea.”

At her continued words, everyone’s eyes turned to the corner seat.