Chapter 290: Expanding to Overseas Markets and the Advantage of Foresight
On July 4th, Glory Electronics officially launched their new electric kettle.
Thanks to its automatic shut-off function, it immediately triggered a surge in popularity. Compared to the electric mosquito swatter, this was a far more practical product — virtually every urban household needed one.
The auto shut-off saved both electricity and worry.
At Carrefour Supermarket in Wan Chai District, Hong Kong Island:
A woman stood watching a steaming kettle. As it boiled, the noise gradually decreased, and with a crisp "click", the steam subsided — the kettle had shut off by itself.
"It really turned off on its own?" she asked excitedly. Then she turned to the salesperson, "How much is this kettle?"
The salesperson replied, "The original price is HKD 22.99. Right now, it's on sale for just HKD 19.99."
"That's expensive," the woman said, hesitating. "Most kettles only cost about ten dollars."
"Miss," the salesperson explained, "our kettle has a built-in control mechanism. It's not comparable to regular kettles. Frankly, if you're buying those, you might as well be boiling water in a pot. The only advantage is that they're easier to pour.
And take a look at our design — hold it here, and even when pouring, you won't get burned by steam. The plastic handle doesn't heat up. Try it yourself."
The woman followed the instructions, poured hot water into another container, and was surprised — her hand hadn't touched any steam, and the handle wasn't too warm either.
"How does that feel?" the salesperson asked.
"Alright, I'll take one," she said, glancing at others nearby who had also been watching. She had made up her mind.
This kettle really was different — and stylish too. The only downside was its smaller capacity compared to larger models.
The next day, Wang Zhiqun entered Yang Wendong's office, smiling as he reported: "Mr. Yang Wendong, we sold over 500 electric kettles on the first day."
"Not bad at all," Yang Wendong nodded. It was a fresh, practical product.
Given their media promotion and full control of Carrefour channels, a strong first-day performance was to be expected.
Wang Zhiqun continued, "Lin Youten called from the U.S. yesterday. He placed some of our mosquito swatters in several retail stores, and the response was great. He wants to place an order for 30,000 units."
"How much are we selling them for in the U.S.?" Yang Wendong asked.
"Our export price is HKD 12, around USD 2.2. In the U.S., they're retailing for USD 5 to 6," Wang Zhiqun replied.
"That price is very reasonable for Americans," Yang Wendong nodded.
American wages were, on average, about ten times higher than in Hong Kong. Five or six dollars was basically half a day's wage for them.
And the target market for the mosquito swatter was wealthier individuals — the same in both Hong Kong and the U.S.
"Exactly," Wang Zhiqun said. "That's one reason Hong Kong exports are doing so well — because of the wage gap."
"Right," Yang Wendong said. "Is our production capacity holding up?"
"No issues at all," Wang Zhiqun said confidently. "Wei Zetao has been a huge help. Our suppliers are very cooperative — their production capacity actually exceeds our assembly capability.
The Changxing factory provided ample space. Anything I didn't think of, Wei's team handled. Even quality control is being overseen by experienced staff."
"Good," Yang Wendong smiled. "Since everything's in place, go ahead and ship the order to the U.S. Tell Lin Youten to continue developing distribution channels over there.
Even if we can't control every outlet, the fewer middlemen we deal with, the better."
Nobody could completely eliminate intermediaries, but reducing layers meant higher margins and greater control.
Once their brand became well-known, they'd have more negotiating power with distributors. Channel building was complex, but essential.
"Understood," Wang Zhiqun said. "Once the kettle's sales stabilize in Hong Kong and Taiwan, I'll begin expanding into Japan.
Westerners don't boil water as much. The primary market for electric kettles is still in Asia."
"Alright. As long as production can keep up, go for it," Yang Wendong said.
Once Changxing Industrial became Hong Kong's largest manufacturer, it held enormous influence. Though not producing everything in-house, its monthly purchasing power in plastics, sheet metal, packaging, and logistics affected the livelihoods of tens of thousands and the wealth of hundreds of business owners.
In that environment, Glory Electronics was practically born with a silver spoon. If they needed something, every supplier would fall over themselves to provide it.
"Got it," Wang Zhiqun replied.
Yang Wendong asked, "How are the rice cooker and microwave oven projects coming along?"
The first two Glory Electronics products were more about creative ideas than technical complexity — meant to break open the market and generate initial cash flow.
But rice cookers and microwaves were serious technological products.
Wang Zhiqun reported, "We've bought more than 20 Japanese rice cookers and are running tests. We've recorded all their internal timing controls and even built our own prototype.
But we're still in testing. The heating isn't quite right — the rice often burns."
"Why is that?" Yang Wendong asked.
"We suspect it's the inner pot," Wang Zhiqun explained. "We've duplicated their timings and temperatures, and the deviation seems minimal.
But the Japanese rice cookers use an unknown material for their inner pots. Ours are also metal, but the results are significantly worse. When we use their pots, it works much better."
"So temperature and timing are easy to replicate — but the material of the pot is the real mystery?" Yang Wendong asked.
"Yes. We have two options," Wang Zhiqun said. "One, figure out exactly what material the Japanese use — but that might risk violating patents.
Two, develop our own inner pot, test its heat transfer properties, and find the right balance of time and temperature."
"So it comes down to matching multiple parameters," Yang Wendong nodded.
The inner pot's heat conductivity, timing controls, and heating curve all had to align perfectly to produce cooked rice without burning.
It sounded simple — but even the Japanese spent years fine-tuning it.
Wang Zhiqun nodded. "Exactly."
"Then let's go the second route," Yang Wendong decided. "Get more testers. This is basic experimental work — doesn't require top engineers."
Investing in R&D was always time-consuming and expensive. But that was normal. No pain, no gain.
Rice cookers weren't even high-tech, relatively speaking. They just required enough data collection and testing to find the right formula.
"Understood," Wang Zhiqun said. "About the microwave project — there's another issue. Sharp Corporation in Japan is also developing a consumer microwave oven."
Yang Wendong nodded knowingly. He had expected this.
Sharp would be the first to bring a civilian microwave oven to market in his original timeline. In this life, with Yang Wendong preparing his own version, he knew time was of the essence. And his foresight could still give him an edge.
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