Chapter 17. Who said that greed begets poverty ?!

Once from Tokyo, my partner Alex called me. “Volodya,” the partner said, “this week I have managed to talk with key players in the Japanese mobile communications market.” “These are very serious companies,” he said, “because they own about 90% of Japan’s mobile market. All mobile subscribers in Japan are their customers. In general, in Japan it is customary to buy mobile phones and smartphones through these key operators, having previously signed a subscription contract with them. After all, this is not Russia, where you can buy a mobile phone in any supermarket, store or in the clothing market from under the floor. ” I did not object.


“This is a monopoly,” thought to himself, after the partner’s first phrases. My question must have seemed naive to Alex. And where is free competition ?! Where are small businesses selling mobile phones, smartphones, SIM cards and other useful utensils !? To this, my experienced partner answered that the free market was to blame for everything, that most competitors had gained. Only three mobile operators survived, over the long years of an uncompromising battle over the tight wallet of the Japanese consumer.

Then I carefully asked Alex: "But what about all sorts of yakuza and samurai !?" His answer was: “Samurai were already at the end of the 19th century, since smartphones were not traded. Well, the Yakuza are increasingly real estate, forex trading, but shares are traded. In general, wherever you throw, a wedge is only three main communication operators. So we should bow to them, ”my Tokyo partner made a definite conclusion!

“And how did your study of monopolists on the gadget DO-RA (dosimeter-radiometer) come to an end?”, I specified. The weekly outcome of the negotiations was mathematically simple. In his opinion, each of the operators is capable of realizing at the start, through its extensive networks during the consumer research period, a batch of 10,000 DO-RA units. If all goes well, the next batch of the network can be ordered and 100,000 pcs. And if such a volume, retail swallows without hiccups, then in Japan the market capacity is such that each operator can digest about 1-2 million DO-RA units per year !!!

“Yes, interesting arithmetic,” suddenly burst out of my mouth. “And at what price our DO-RA product for smartphones and local mobile phones could be sold in a chain store,” I asked !? The assessment of specialists for the Japanese market was such. “If the DO-RA device really has the declared characteristics and options ...”, the partner pulled the rubber, “at the same time, your device is much smaller in size and much more convenient than a conventional dosimeter-radiometer ... then its estimated price can be, within 12.000- 13,000 yen apiece. That is about $ 150! ”

I reacted instantly and enthusiastically. It’s not so difficult to multiply $ 150 by 1 million potential buyers, even if you have forgotten the multiplication table! From my lips broke: "Well this is as much as 150 lemons bucks for each operator !?" To which my partner reasonably remarked with a saying: "The riddle is never rich!" And he informed me at the end of the conversation the following news. According to him, if the operators will buy DO-RA in large quantities, then it is in no way more expensive than 1500-2000 yen ($ 20-25) apiece.


“These are the 7 ends and the uniform weaning of profit, but where is the fat?” - indignantly escaped from me. “What is not fair, predatory pricing?” - the businessman did not let up in me. The partner was silent for a while, and then calmly said: “Perhaps it is necessary to achieve a reduction in the cost of the DO-RA device. For example, the same Chinese. It’s even better to automate the process, so that around the clock, soulless robots stamped inexpensive DO-RA at 10 bucks apiece. Then the margin of $ 10-15 from the DO-RA device will seem fantastic to you! And in his predatory, but already in relation to your robbers setivik ", - he pricked me at last.

Thinking for a while, solely out of economy, or perhaps out of greed, I gave birth to a long-known and simple way to sell. “So, sales of future gadgets,” I thought, “can be done through ordinary vending machines, like cigarette ones. Packing DO-RA in practical and beautiful boxed packages, like SLIM cigarettes. And it’s convenient for the client to purchase pre-packaged goods, and extortion fees from setivists can be avoided. And the most important thing is that they cannot turn out a sit-in, nor trade unions, or demands to raise salaries! You can install machines both in the metro and in supermarkets, and even in communication salons. They can be installed in other public places where there is electricity to connect the machine. It’s good that electricity is everywhere in Japan. ”

And you say that greed begets poverty !? Sometimes it happens and vice versa!