Chapter 860: The Complete Collapse of MPEG

[Chapter 860: The Complete Collapse of MPEG]

William White felt overwhelmed. As his status rose, the world around him began to clarify, but the more he saw, the less secure he felt. Increasing evidence suggested that the chaos in the world was far more complicated than it seemed at first glance.

What was the truth? It was all orchestrated by the CIA.

He coughed, acknowledging that this was merely the surface. Some events were undoubtedly engineered while others were purely coincidental. Phalanx institutions seemed riddled with vulnerabilities. An unassuming Scientology group hid countless pitfalls, not to mention those corporations and dynasties.

William White had no intention of changing anything; he just preferred not to be disturbed. The so-called cleanup operation was nothing more than a show of deterrence.

"Hey, don't try that with me. Isn't competition supposed to be cutthroat? I've never played nice," he quipped.

"Dad, I turned them down," he announced.

"What? You passed that message along? Those lunatics must think they've gone crazy!" Old Bush said, clearly irritated. Sure, William had a good relationship with his son, but there were limits to what could be discussed.

Was this even a matter that should be acknowledged? Not even a father-son bond was strong enough to warrant that.

"Hahaha, that guy's got quite the dark sense of humor. I heard he got a serious beating," someone said.

"See? You only see the surface of things. What William White communicated was control. Frankly, it unnerved me," young Bush said, shrugging it off. Many could do similar things, but William's real strength lay in his attention to detail.

He was both the author and the director of the game, so of course, he understood how to play the cat-and-mouse.

"What are you up to now? Why are you tearing apart the VCR?"

"Dad, you wouldn't believe it. The DVD is so much better than the old VCRs," he replied.

"Tsk, tsk. Is this another of William White's ideas?"

"Nope, it's Panasonic's using his patented format. I don't know what the guy is up to; he's paying such a heavy price for something that's essentially free."

Old Bush chuckled. His son had many strengths, but when it came to the tricks of making money, he and William White were not on the same level.

Panasonic was leading a group of competitors in the DVD production. This sudden turn of events sent MPEG into a frenzy.

If those lawsuits hadn't bogged them down, their video format might have already hit the market.

Sadly, it was too late for anything now. Their supposedly "MPEG2" was practically equivalent to "DVD1" at this point.

So the question remained: Where were the content providers? Even Fox and Paramount, who didn't maintain a good relationship with William, outright refused to join the MPEG alliance. Any unauthorized format shift would be deemed an infringement.

Without the backing of manufacturers or content providers, it didn't matter if MPEG was technically superior to DVDs; a product with no support would soon die out.

"Sir, the chipset shipments are very promising. Good heavens, does the market really have such a demand?"

William White scoffed, thinking that if everyone had to use the legitimate versions, they'd be lucky not to go bankrupt. He was painfully aware that he was now selling counterfeit products under the guise of being legitimate.

"Filson, these sales numbers aren't substantial at all. In truth, the profits on those DVDs are quite decent.

What? Don't believe me? Am I wrong to say my royalties have dipped?"

Filson chuckled, realizing the trouble of diminished royalties. This led to a vicious cycle where counterfeiters would soon find themselves out of business.

No matter how much one attempted to correct wrongs, the original was always superior to the knockoff, and manufactured goods simply couldn't compete.

Capital chased profits, and without high margins, why would anyone bother working on counterfeits? It was true that not paying royalties was one thing, but legality was another matter.

"Sir, the profits do seem a bit thin, but it's better than nothing," Filson remarked.

William swirled his wine glass, generally a sign of a good mood.

He liked red wine but found no need to sniff it. As long as his server had those skills, that was enough for him.

"Filson, for a blockbuster like a James Bond film, a million is just a starting point. How many big titles do we have in our library? Twenty isn't too many, right?

If we include Southeast Asia and others, come on, making fifty million a year shouldn't be too difficult. Five million in profit at twenty times PE could net us a billion dollars. Don't tell me that's not a major business."

"Cough, cough, cough. Is that even feasible?" Filson exclaimed, surprised. If they added North America and Europe, it would be an incredibly profitable venture.

"Sadly, it's heartbreaking to admit, but did you know that VCDs are selling for ten bucks each? Their sales numbers far exceed what I just shared with you."

Filson fell silent, puzzled by how many VCD players they had sold in such a short time.

"This is what I mean; doing business in this market demands volume. Selling a TV for five bucks still makes them very happy.

When you put it in this context, me earning eighty cents per DVD isn't small, it's actually a lot. Who buys TVs and DVDs all day? Two at home will do just fine. But DVDs? The so-called blockbusters, the Oscar winners? Those will always find an audience."

"Got it, boss. It looks like we need to strategize our sales channels. Speaking of which, Disney's animated films will also have a market."

"Of course! They can also help with learning English. Don't laugh; very few around here study Chinese, while kids in this market start learning English in elementary school. I boldly predict that in less than a decade, they might even need Chinese dubbing. The interest in original versions will surely grow."

To a native American, seeing so many people learning foreign languages was wildly surprising. If there was a need or a preference, that was one thing; however, widespread adoption was debatable. To learn a country's language, you must first feel a sense of belonging.

One could be fluent in English while calling for the downfall of America. That sounded pretentious, unless one had a specific agenda in mind, like the notable commentator Hu Shi, who was known to oppose foreign influence publicly.

Rest assured, using any nation's language, one could still find ample reasons to criticize life choices.

Now that DVDs had arrived, the need for MPEG had all but disappeared. William's thought was to establish a DVD coalition where everyone could participate on a membership basis.

Whenever disagreements arose that impacted his interests, a single vote against could shut it down.

It may seem unreasonable, but once in that position, anyone would do the same. If such power wasn't retained, it wasn't benevolence; it was just foolishness.

"Andy, this device doesn't look particularly special, especially since it can't record TV programs. Are people really going to buy it?"

"Sir, we're doing okay here, but the competition is fierce. We can't touch the sales of old VCRs; there's still a wide gap."

"Hmm, go ahead."

"Demand is exploding in the Southeast Asian and Asian regions. Based on Motorola's chipset shipping data, we might see at least ten million units next year."

"Really? Surely that can't be an exaggeration?"

"It's legit. The licensing for this chipset has already been granted to a well-known company. This could lead to significant price reductions."

The head of Morgan Stanley had to admit it was daunting. He noted that whatever industry William White entered, prices tended to drop. It was perplexing that he didn't take full advantage of the first-mover benefits to maximize profits.

*****

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