After watching the TV series "Hanzawa Naoki", you will definitely be impressed by the complex case and the shocking scandal of the airline restructuring incident. Although the airline has become the background board of the story, its realistic prototype can still be regarded as a classic example of modern business and aviation operations: the world's third largest airline at that time, , Japan Airlines, officially filed for bankruptcy in 2010, but successfully turned losses into profits two years later.
(Photo source: JAL)
On August 24, 2022, Kazuo Inamori died at the age of 90, and his thoughts and business success were mentioned again. A few years before saving Japan Airlines, he founded two Fortune 500 companies, technology company Kyocera , and Japan's second largest communications operator KDDI. is similar to the technology companies we know, and these two companies have had a deep impression of the mobile phone and communications industries in their country.
Kyocera from ceramics to smartphones
Kazuo Inamori founded Kyoto Ceramics Co., Ltd. in 1959, when he turned 27 years old, which is today Kyocera. Kyocera initially used ceramic products as its main business direction. After the ceramic insulator used for imaging tube TVs stood firm in the market, it gradually expanded its ceramic product line to more electronic components, industrial manufacturing and daily life, and began to have the temperament of a technology enterprise.
(Photo source: Kyocera)
Kyocera, which is well known to photography enthusiasts, is the Kyocera camera product line formed after merging with Yasica in the 1980s and acquiring the Contax brand from Zeiss . Kyocera cameras were not related to ceramic materials. At its peak, they mainly used point-and-shoot cameras and high-end products for film photography. Zhihu users believe that Kyocera's lag in the imaging technology level led to its launch of the camera market in 2005.
Like most top Japanese technology companies that have experienced the wave of technology and bubble economy era, there are many cases of Kyocera "not doing its job": it has launched a battery-powered portable laptop computer, and then sold audio equipment such as CD players and recorders, and was involved in more electronic components other than ceramics, and even sold photovoltaic products around the millennium.
Kyocera mobile phones that we came into contact with earlier were actually relatively "young". In 2000, Kyocera acquired Qualcomm 's mobile phone design and production department in the United States, and then established Kyocera Wireless Company to enter the mobile phone market. In 2008, Kyocera bought the Sanyo mobile phone department and merged and reorganized the two mobile phone business subsidiaries, Kyocera hoped to gain share in Latin America and other markets with the help of entry-level mobile phones.
inherited the CDMA network technology route from Qualcomm and is also a mobile phone company led by Japanese entrepreneurs. Kyocera's mobile phones are naturally basically customized machines by operators. There are few products that are completely independently put on the market. More designs such as three-defense and elderly machines are made according to the needs of operators. However, in the history of Kyocera mobile phones, there are not always highlights.
The Kyocera mobile phone with the most recognized users in China is the Kyocera KSP8000 launched through the telecommunications custom machine when Kyocera tried to enter the Chinese market again in 2012. As early as ten years ago, this phone had a very different color horizontal flip dual-screen design, and provided multi-task parallel display or single application dual-screen expansion experience at the software level, just like the old senior of a foldable screen phone.
(Photo source: Kyocera)
Unfortunately, the dual-screen concept did not allow KSP8000 to seize opportunities in the Chinese market for Kyocera, and it was only overheated among players who favor special experiences. Today, Kyocera still launches customized mobile phones overseas. North America mainly uses "muscle shape" products with three-defense and outdoor attributes. In Japan, it mainly uses sub-scene products such as elderly smart phones with flip cover shapes and large font interfaces.
Kyocera has the typical characteristics of a large number of large Japanese companies. It relies on making a fortune to firmly stand firm in the market and boldly try new product lines in the historical process. In the end, what is known to the world is still the main business and the founder's interesting news. Yes, when reviewing Kazuo Inamori's life, he often mentioned his humanistic business philosophy first, and then gave an example of such a company he founded.
promotes the beauty of mobile phone design KDDI
Japan's 3G network commercialization process was early. KDDI officially started operating the CDMA2000 network since 2002. The data communication bandwidth has been greatly improved and combined with the operator's promotion, and has a very rich application and service system . It is reported that KDDI, which appears in the communications market under the au brand, has launched free communication services with the same operators, so many companies use it as a choice for work communication.
(Photo source: KDDI)
Watch news, chat, mobile wallet, infrared remote control, mobile games, high-definition shooting... More than ten years ago, Japanese mobile phones had functions similar to those of today's smartphones. However, all this is limited to the name. Japanese communication operators are all catching up, so all functions are limited to relatively niche market space, and the experience level cannot be compared with openness and tolerance. The advancement of mobile communication in the
3G era has prompted the popular QR code (QR Code) in Japan to appear widely in Japan early. However, the application scenarios at that time were still a bit "free". Most of them only used the basic functions of QR codes to carry hyperlinks and other text information using graphics. They existed as shortcuts that existed in reality and did not require manual input of URLs, and rarely extended to experience more in-depth.
KDDI has a more profound impact on global technology enthusiasts, focusing on the Infobar series of mobile phone products, showing what kind of sparks can be collide between mobile phones and designs . Infobar, produced by Fukasawa Naoto , brings a strong contrast to the color block impression. It is unique in the Japanese market where flowers bloomed back then, and it also expands the influence of Fukasawa Naoto design in the technology circle.
(Photo source: KDDI)
In public perception, mobile phones carry more of their tool attributes as communication devices, so the appearance design is relatively not a point that should be highlighted. In the era of smartphone reshaping of iPhones, those mobile phone products with the highest level of creativity and manufacturing have also chosen unpretentious styles to help users focus on various content presented on the screen.
Infobar always goes the other way. After coming to the smartphone era, this product line first replicated the classic straight-board button shape, and then after transferring most of the front area to the screen, it brought the design style into the overall system interface and interactive experience. Unfortunately, as we know, Infobar still has a large number of fans, but daily use does not require the interface to scatter the main point.
Classics and beauty will last forever
Whenever there is a trend of far-reaching influential characters, we always say that an era will leave with him.As for whether the series of business philosophy that Kazuo Inamori advocated by him that focuses on humanistic care will disappear in the social environment where productivity changes and new labor relations are gradually growing, this question can only be left to future generations to answer. But in any era, the best working environment is often the warm .
After several years of operating precision ceramic electronic components, Kyocera has increasingly invested in photovoltaics, displays, etc., which is closely linked to the most advanced productivity of . However, the industry's focus has long shifted from Japan to the United States, China and other places, and the place where supply and demand relations are the most frequent. Whether a Japanese-led company can grasp the future direction needs to be explored by Kazuo Inamori's successors.
Since the "black ship arrived" on iPhone, the experience barriers established by Japanese communication operators in the 3G era have been broken and rebuilt. Users can begin to freely choose communication packages and mobile phone models, and the mobile Internet experience has also been dominated by Line and Google. Infobar has become a purer decoration, the latest product has been changed back to the key function key, KDDI has also jointly launched the classic product linkage pendant with BoDai .
Fortunately, Kazuo Inamori and his brilliant points of starting a business will always be remembered and then continued in a new way. People will seek iteration of the corporate structure management model to promote a new balance of production efficiency, labor relations, and personal value; people will yearn for a new round of explosion in technology and look forward to how it changes life and work; finally, people will always pursue those beautiful things.
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