The Birth of the World’s First VCD Machine
When talking about VCD in China, we cannot fail to mention the once glorious Anhui Wanyan Company, let alone its founder Jiang Wanmeng. . In the Anhui Modern Television Technology Research Institute, the reporter met this legendary figure, and also saw the VCD player that still attracts the attention of the world. It sits quietly and embodies the scientific and technological achievements of its owner's countless efforts. In the exhibition room, its name - the world's first VCD machine - was clearly written on a small cardboard made of printing paper.
In 1992, at the International Radio and Television Technology Exhibition held in the United States, an inconspicuous MPEG (image decompression) technology exhibited by the American C-CUBE company attracted the attention of the then president of Anhui Modern Group. Manager Jiang Wanmeng was interested, and he immediately intuitively thought that using this technology, images and sounds could be stored on a small disc at the same time. Since then, Jiang Wanmeng has invested US$570,000. In September 1993, he successfully applied MPEG technology to audio-visual products and developed a high-quality and low-price audio-visual product - VCD. In December of the same year, he and Chinese-American Sun Yansheng *** jointly invested US$17 million to establish Wanyan Company, and each took a word from Jiang Wanmeng's and Sun Yansheng's names as the company name.
In the interview with reporters, Jiang Wanmeng seemed unusually calm. He seemed unwilling to mention the past.
In the VCD feasibility report of Anhui Modern Television Technology Research Institute in 1993, there is a description: This is the only opportunity for China to take the lead in the field of consumer electronics at the end of this century. To this end, Jiang Wanmeng conducted a series of market surveys and obtained a series of figures: in 1993, the sales volume of combo speakers in the Chinese market was 1.42 million units, the sales volume of video recorders was more than 1.7 million units, and the sales volume of LD video disc players was 100 million units. million units, including more than 1.6 million CD laser record players. At that time, LD discs cost four to five hundred yuan each, while the price of VCD discs was only about 10% of that. Therefore, it can be predicted that the annual sales volume of VCD machines will reach about 2 million units.
It was not until the end of 1994 that Chinese people gradually became aware of VCD. In this year, Wanyan produced tens of thousands of VCD machines. Not only that, Jiang Wanmeng also wants to develop discs, so people can't be allowed to buy guns without bullets. To this end, he purchased copyrights from 11 audio-visual publishing houses and launched 97 kinds of karaoke discs. In less than a year after its initial establishment, "Wanyan" devoted all its efforts to create a market, establish a well-known brand, and form a set of established technologies to dominate the VCD world.
It can be said that Wanyan’s start-up was successful and brilliant. However, Wan Yan also brewed a cup of bitter wine for herself. What makes Jiang Wanmeng sad is that almost all of the first batch of 1,000 VCD machines launched by Wanyan were bought and made into prototypes by various home appliance companies at home and abroad, and became the objects of dissection.
Some people think that the biggest mistake Jiang Wanmeng made was not understanding patent protection. When a reporter asked him about this matter, his answer was quite frank: "Under the circumstances at that time, I It seems that there is little point in applying for a patent. The key is to let the product occupy the market as soon as possible."
Perhaps it was this mistake that caused Jiang Wanmeng to lose an excellent opportunity to dominate the market. As a result, China has lost half of the initiative it should have had in the development of this industry. Today, many years after the incident, when a reporter asked him if he regretted it, he just smiled faintly, with a hint of helplessness, a bit of guilt, and even more permanent regret.
Jiang Wanmeng founded Wanyan and set up the banner of China's VCD machine, and he should be praised by the Chinese people for this. But judging from Wan Yan's final outcome, Wan Yan's rise and fall are somewhat sad. If we say that when Jiang Wanmeng developed the first VCD machine, he immediately applied for a patent; if we say that the state invested 240 million yuan at that time to make Anhui a production and development base for VCD machines in China, it became a reality; if we say ...The history of the development of VCD machines in China, and even the world, may be written in another way - an epic with the Chinese singing the main melody! ?
As a result, some people compare Jiang Wanmeng to a "revolutionary martyr" on the road to the development of China's digital optical disc technology.
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