Real Man

Chapter 278:

Chapter 278:

Chapter 278

Yoo-hyun spoke sincerely.

“I like you, Manager Kim, because you always do your best in everything.”

“No, you would have done better if you did it.”

“That wouldn’t have been possible.”

“Come on, I know that much.”

If it was just about the presentation, maybe that was true.

But if Yoo-hyun had focused on the presentation, he wouldn’t have had time to look around.

Thanks to Manager Kim’s excellent performance, Yoo-hyun was able to do something else.

“Manager Kim, you are doing really well.”

“…I did improve a lot thanks to you.”

“No, you spread your wings by yourself.”

“I still have a long way to go.”

Manager Kim emptied his glass and blamed himself.

It would be nice if he could just let it go like Deputy Manager Park, but he was not that kind of person.

He was the type who whipped himself until he was satisfied.

Yoo-hyun changed his approach and planted a goal in him.

“Do you think you are lacking, Manager Kim?”

“Yes, a lot.”

“Then show it in the November presentation.”

At Yoo-hyun’s words, he stopped drinking his glass.

“November, huh.”

“That’s in the U.S. It’s different from now.”

“Right. We’ll be competing with Sharp and Ilseong.”

“You might even have to present directly in front of Steve Jobs.”

Yoo-hyun raised the scale, and Manager Kim’s hand trembled.

He even gave a nervous laugh as he thought about it.

“That’s no joke, right?”

“After that presentation, you will be the first and the best in Hansung.”

“…”

“The opponent is Steve Jobs.”

Yoo-hyun told him the truth without exaggeration.

At some point, Manager Kim’s trembling stopped.

He blinked his eyes and asked.

“I have to pour everything out then, right?”

“Yes. You have to run with full power.”

“It’s not the time for this then.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Manager Kim was already preparing to run.

He had a good attitude, but it was time to rest for a while.

Yoo-hyun lifted his glass and said.

“Manager Kim, just enjoy today.”

“You’re something else.”

“We still have plenty of time left.”

Manager Kim gave a bitter smile and lifted his glass.

Clang.

The two glasses collided.

The second half of 2008.

The iPhone craze began to sweep the world.

<iPhone 2 with App Store, speeding up in the North American market.>

<iPhone growth soaring. Smartphone market potential exceeds experts’ expectations.>

<iPhone confirmed to land in Korea next year. The smartphone storm is coming.>

Even though it was not released in Korea yet, people’s interest increased day by day.

It was not because of the overseas reviews.

The reason could be found in the following article and its comments.

<iPod Touch, expected to cause a sensation as soon as it launches in Korea.>

-I tried iPod Touch, and it’s awesome. Multi-touch is a whole new world.

-iPod Touch and iPhone are the same, right? But why isn’t it released in Korea?

-iPhone supports Wi-Fi. You can use the internet for free with Wi-Fi.

-Tsk tsk. The telecom companies and phone sellers should be kicked out.

People belatedly realized what iPhone was like through iPod Touch.

That experience spread quickly.

People criticized the domestic phones that were different from iPhone.

The more they did, the more people waited for iPhone.

iPhone became a formula for success in people’s minds. That was also the point that Yoo-hyun predicted accurately.

At that time, news that caught people’s attention came up.

<Apple confirms to invest in Hansung Electronics’ iPhone panel production plant.>

The article was not very faithful to its content, but comments poured out like water.

-Awesome. Did Hansung beat Sharp?

-I knew it would happen. Hansung panel is super hit.

-Victory over Japan. Congratulations congratulations.

The news had more impact because they were waging a media war.

Sharp’s executives who were all-in on high-resolution panels were flustered.

Ilseong also tried to counter Hansung who suddenly came out strong.

There was a gap in time and another news came up.

It was an article that Yoo-hyun sent out through reporter Oh Eun Bi at the intended time.

<Apple’s Philip Schiller “Next-generation iPhone panel not decided yet. Suggests official evaluation meeting in November.”>

If it was any other time, the aftermath of this article might not have been so great.

But the series of events raised the attention level of the next iPhone panel as high as possible.

On top of that, Hansung released an article as a nail in the coffin.

<Hansung LCD “High-resolution panel, it has to be Hansung. You will find out at this evaluation meeting.”>

When that news spread quickly.

A conference room at Sharp’s headquarters in Japan.

The vice president in charge of mobile LCD pleaded with the executives in front of him.

“Damn it. Run away from here? Is that what you call a word?”

“But the risk is high.”

The vice president raised his voice toward the worried development center manager.

“Who told you to mass-produce? You just have to make it at a demo level.”

“But…”

“Why are you so scared? You said you could do it before.”

“…”

Not only the development center manager, but everyone who participated in the meeting was silent.

That was because it was a media play to shake Hansung.

The vice president knew it too, but he couldn’t just sit back and watch.

“The stakes are so high and you want to run away? Do you think the customers will stay still?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Just do it. You have to do it.”

The vice president stood up from his seat and yelled angrily.

“Yes, sir.”

The executives who were trembling with fear bowed their heads at the same time.

That promise soon exploded as a counterattack article against Hansung.

<Japan’s Sharp “We are already prepared. We will show a result that can’t be compared with Hansung LCD.”>

Yoo-hyun, who was reading the article on the internet in his office, chuckled.

“They must be on fire.”

There are some things that you can know without experiencing them.

Sharp’s situation right now was like that.

Yoo-hyun read Sharp’s fear from the article that was written long-windedly.

They said they were confident, but the details were all about possibilities.

It was obvious that they were responding out of necessity.

Ilseong’s situation was even more hilarious.

<Ilseong “OLED panel’s quality is supreme than high-resolution. We will prove it.”>

As if Ilseong was the only one who pushed OLED instead of high-resolution.

They tried to make high-resolution panels, but they couldn’t say it because the Crown Prince project was in progress.

But they couldn’t miss the Apple evaluation meeting either.

That would be admitting that they were behind Hansung and Sharp.

So they came up with OLED as a last resort.

They might have a chance in the future, but at the current level, Apple wouldn’t bite it.

Of course, the engineers all knew that fact.

Yoo-hyun felt sorry for Ilseong’s employees for no reason.

That was when.

Senior Maeng Gi Yong, who stuck his head next to Yoo-hyun, asked.

“Why do you look so pitiful?”

“Just because.”

When Yoo-hyun dodged the question, Senior Maeng pointed at the monitor screen and said.

“They’re really having an evaluation meeting.”

“That’s right.”

“But aren’t we too advantageous?”

“Why?”

At Yoo-hyun’s question, Senior Maeng gave a realistic answer.

“We already made it. The other companies haven’t even come out yet.”

“Do you think they won’t do it?”

“Is it easy? The schedule is too tight…”

Senior Maeng was not the only one who thought so.

Everyone here was an engineer.

They knew what technology could and couldn’t do from experience.

That confidence showed on their faces.

That’s why they didn’t look nervous even though they faced such an important evaluation meeting.

It was a very desirable sight.

That afternoon, in the middle conference room.

Senior Kim Ho Gul said to the team members who gathered.

“First of all, I want us to focus on what we have to do. To commercialize this panel, we need to…”

He set the tone well in case they became complacent.

He listed the problems from a product perspective and derived improvement items.

Senior Kim Ho Gul clearly had a long-term vision.

He could do that because he had technical expertise and diverse experience as a foundation.

Yoo-hyun felt Senior Kim Ho Gul’s strength again.

“Let’s share the ideas we prepared today.”

Following Senior Kim Ho Gul’s words, the team members shared their ideas.

Senior Go Seong Cheol, the leader of Preceding Product Team 2, presented first.

“As a way to improve the panel yield, we can…”

Senior Maeng also came up with an improvement plan.

“To reduce the IC size, we can remove unnecessary parts and…”

The other team members also gave their ideas one by one.

“The improvement point in my part is…”

“My idea is…”

There was a clear direction, so no one deviated from it.

They all pedaled by themselves and moved forward.

They did well by themselves even without Yoo-hyun now.

Senior Min Su Jin looked at Yoo-hyun blankly and said.

“Yoo-hyun, you don’t flip over meetings these days.”

“Did I do that?”

“Oh, look at him pretending not to know. Don’t you see people still care about you?”

“They must like me too much.”

When Yoo-hyun said that with a good-natured tone, Senior Min burst into laughter.

“Hohohoho.”

She bowed her head low at the sudden attention of people around her.

“I’m sorry.”

Her face turned red as she always looked cold.

It was an unexpected sight for Yoo-hyun, who chuckled softly.

That was when.

The speaker in the office announced something.

-According to the business director’s order, pizza is being distributed to each team. Please come down to the cafeteria on the first floor if you are in charge of your team.

Everyone looked startled at that moment.

It was not time to be dazed like this.

The early bird catches the worm.

Vroom.

“I’ll get it.”

Yoo-hyun got up, and Deputy Lee Jin Mok, who followed him, said.

“Let’s go together.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Yoo-hyun moved first as he answered.

Soon, a few more people joined them.

A little later.

Pizza and cola were piled up on the team table.

It was the best brand pizza in the neighborhood, and there was a lot of it.

Deputy Lee Jin Mok smiled and said.

“The business director must be in a good mood. He sent this to all the factories in Ulsan.”

“That’s right. He also gave us a bonus for the team.”

Deputy Jung In Wook said that, and Senior Maeng blinked his eyes and jumped in.

“Really?”

“Ask the team leader.”

Senior Kim Ho Gul, who was listening, shook his head helplessly.

“Jung Deputy ruined it.”

“Well, what can I say. I think the group leader also took care of us.”

“Oh.”

The people who heard Deputy Jung’s words exclaimed.

Everyone’s faces were full of pride.

Yoo-hyun saw that and thought of Vice President Lim Jun Pyo’s bright expression a while ago.

He had a reason to be happy.

All the shackles that held him were gone.

What would he be doing now?

Maybe he was shouting loudly in front of the finance director.