Chapter 275
Chapter 275
They needed to strike a powerful blow in the already heated public opinion war.
Reporter Oh Eun-bi was the one who would play that role.
Now, everything was ready.
Time passed and finally, it was the day of Apple’s announcement.
Jo Chan-young, the executive in charge of mobile sales and marketing, came to the Ulsan 4th factory in the morning.
Kim Young-gil, the manager who was in charge of the presentation today, was with him.
Inside the office of Go Jun-ho, the executive on the second floor of the 4th factory.
Jo Chan-young, Yoo-hyun, and Kim Young-gil sat side by side across from Go Jun-ho.
Go Jun-ho greeted Jo Chan-young.
“Jo, you look happy.”
“Of course I’m happy. I came to see you.”
“Haha. This guy, he’s still good at flattering.”
While the two were chatting and laughing, Yoo-hyun quietly asked Kim Young-gil, who was sitting next to him.
“Manager Kim, you don’t look so bright.”
“You try riding in our executive’s car for four hours.”
“You must have had a hard time.”
Kim Young-gil strongly agreed with Yoo-hyun’s words.
“Yeah. That’s why our team leader couldn’t come even if he wanted to.”
“I can imagine.”
“Hehe. Right?”
“Yes. It couldn’t be helped.”
Could Kim Hyun-min endure Jo Chan-young’s nagging for four hours?
It was impossible for his personality.
But it would have been fun to watch if they were together.
Yoo-hyun chuckled as he imagined it.
Jo Chan-young stretched his head toward Yoo-hyun.
“Yoo-hyun, if you have something funny to say, why don’t you share it?”
“We were just discussing how to proceed with the presentation today.”
Yoo-hyun answered promptly, and Go Jun-ho intervened with a chuckle.
“Haha. You’re always too diligent.”
“Yoo-hyun is doing well, isn’t he?”
Jo Chan-young asked Go Jun-ho subtly, surprised by his praise.
Go Jun-ho answered without hesitation.
“Of course. He’s doing well. He’s very impressive.”
“I see.”
“Not just impressive. In my opinion, this project wouldn’t have happened without Yoo-hyun.”
Maybe it was because of Lim Jun-pyo’s influence, but Go Jun-ho was too over-the-top.
It was so embarrassing that his face felt hot.
Yoo-hyun bowed his head with an awkward expression.
“No, sir. It’s thanks to the team members who did better than me.”
“No. You did really well.”
He said no, but Go Jun-ho singled out Yoo-hyun.
Jo Chan-young, who didn’t know the situation behind it, was quite surprised by Go Jun-ho’s compliment.
He glanced at Yoo-hyun and recalled the time when he proposed the project.
-I heard that the differentiation point that LCD can offer compared to OLED is resolution. I hope this project will proceed.
It was Yoo-hyun who brought up the idea that he opposed by insisting on OLED.
He went on a dispatch and saved the project from a crisis.
He heard countless times from Kim Hyun-min about how he changed the advance product team and persuaded the business director.
He was doubtful even when he saw and heard it.
But listening to Go Jun-ho’s words, it was all true.
He did what was hard to do even as an executive as an employee.
He had no Joice but to say that he was amazing.
Jo Chan-young patted Yoo-hyun’s shoulder and smiled.
“You’re lucky, Yoo-hyun? Go doesn’t usually praise anyone like that.”
“I’m grateful.”
It was not a place to say anything else, so Yoo-hyun expressed his gratitude appropriately.
Go Jun-ho laughed and said,
“Haha. Jo, you’re not someone who recommends anyone either.”
“I just told the truth.”
“So did I.”
Yoo-hyun finally understood why Go Jun-ho acted like that when he first came on dispatch.
At that time, Go Jun-ho took good care of him thanks to Jo Chan-young’s recommendation.
He thought there was another reason, but he didn’t know Jo Chan-young had stepped in personally.
It was only right to return what he received.
Yoo-hyun thanked Jo Chan-young with gratitude.
“Sir, thank you.”
“Thank you for what? You did well.”
Jo Chan-young smiled kindly at Yoo-hyun.
After a warm conversation for a while,
It was getting close to time, so Go Jun-ho brought up the most important agenda item.
“Manager Kim, how are you feeling?”
“Good.”
“That’s good. You must be under a lot of pressure, but a lot depends on you.”
“I know. I’ll make sure to get a good result.”
Kim Young-gil answered with a tense posture.
Go Jun-ho got up from his seat and reached out to Kim Young-gil.
“Today, I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Young-gil’s eyes were very serious as he shook hands.
Go Jun-ho’s hand moved to Yoo-hyun.
“Yoo-hyun, I’m counting on you too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can I expect more than that?”
He said that, aware of Yoo-hyun’s ambition to show more than expected results.
“Yes. Of course.”
Yoo-hyun answered confidently as always.
That afternoon, the scheduled demo time approached.
The multi-vision on the ceiling of the Ulsan 4th factory lobby displayed a large welcome message in English.
-We sincerely welcome Apple’s visit.
Lim Jun-pyo, the vice president, and Yeo Tae-sik, the executive director, waited for Apple’s visit in the lobby.
It was not a common sight for the two key executives of the LCD business division to stand in the lobby and wait for someone.
That’s how important today’s Apple demo was for Hansung LCD business division.
And the Apple executive who visited today was also a very important person.
Soon after.
Black sedans entered the Ulsan 4th factory.
They passed through the gate without going through the checkpoint.
Snap.
The security guard at the gate saluted with a stiff posture.
It was a respectful behavior as if the core executives of the Ulsan factory had come.
Soon after, the cars stopped in front of the lobby.
Clank.
The door opened and Apple employees started to get off.
The first one to appear was a man in a suit with a wide forehead, short hair, and round eyes.
His name was Mark Horison.
He was Apple’s display chief and a big shot in the LCD industry.
He was also the one who had given Kim Young-gil a hard time in the past.
He ran quickly and opened the door of the car behind him.
A man in a gray shirt and jeans got out of that car.
He had white hair swept back and a big nose that stood out.
He was Philip Schiller, Apple’s marketing chief.
He was a person who received Steve Jobs’ favor and was expected to be Apple’s vice president in the future.
It was very rare for him to visit a Korean LCD company in person.
When Yoo-hyun was in charge of Apple business, he couldn’t even meet him.
He only got to know him after Yoo-hyun rose to a high position.
Yoo-hyun saw his face from the stairs of the lobby.
Then, Lim Jun-pyo approached Philip Schiller and greeted him.
“Hello. Thank you for coming all this way.”
“Ha ha. Thank you for the warm welcome.”
Philip Siller greeted Jun-pyo Lim, the vice president, with a hearty smile.
Mark Harrison was taken care of by Tae-sik Yeo, the executive director.
Then more Apple employees got off.
There were quite a lot of people attending, probably because it was an important demo.
Among them, two people caught Yoo-hyun’s attention.
They were John Norman and David Crew, whom he had met in San Francisco a while ago.
As expected of a designer and a hardware engineer, they were very lightly dressed.
They looked relaxed, as if they had just come out of a neighborhood bar.
Yoo-hyun and Young-gil Kim, the manager, greeted them as they came down the stairs.
“Long time no see, John, David.”
“Oh. Steve, nice to see you.”
John Norman, who wore a white T-shirt and spiked his blond hair up, smiled and shook Yoo-hyun’s hand.
And David Crew, who was short and wore glasses, greeted Young-gil Kim.
“Daniel, long time no see.”
“We only exchanged emails until now. Nice to meet you.”
“Ha ha ha. I thought you were only stiff in emails, but you’re like this here too.”
David Crew laughed when Young-gil Kim greeted him curtly.
John Norman pointed at Yoo-hyun with a playful expression.
“Look at Steve. He’s so relaxed.”
“It’s a good day.”
Yoo-hyun replied with a good-natured tone.
“Oh, I’m looking forward to it.”
“You won’t be disappointed.”
Yoo-hyun winked and John Norman laughed.
“Ha ha ha. I was already excited to come here.”
The atmosphere was too lively and the eyes of the people gathered in the lobby were drawn to Yoo-hyun.
In-wook Jung, the team leader, couldn’t close his mouth.
“What is that crazy guy doing?”
“They look very close. How can he do that?”
Gi-yong Maeng, the senior engineer, shook his head as if he couldn’t understand.
Everyone else felt the same way.
Philip Siller turned his head at the buzzing sound.
He chuckled when he saw John Norman chatting happily.
John Norman raised his hand slightly toward him.
They had a big age difference, but they seemed to have a close relationship.
Yoo-hyun smiled inwardly at the sight.
The Apple employees followed Jun-ho Go, the senior director, who led the front line to the conference room.
Philip Siller was accompanied by Jun-pyo Lim, the vice president, and Mark Harrison by Tae-sik Yeo, the executive director.
Chan-young Jo, the senior director, intervened from time to time to interpret when they had trouble with English.
Then John Norman and David Crew followed Yoo-hyun and Young-gil Kim.
John Norman looked around the lobby and said,
“This is my first time at an LCD factory.”
“It doesn’t look like much from the outside, does it?”
“But it’s quite large, isn’t it?”
“If you have a chance later, I’ll show you around the inside of the factory.”
“Oh. That sounds good.”
John Norman accepted Yoo-hyun’s offer with a smile.
Not only John Norman but also David Crew was their first time at an LCD company.
In fact, it was unprecedented for designers and engineers to come all the way here.
But why did they attend?
Of course, Young-gil Kim’s constant communication with them had an influence.
But more importantly, they were the key players who would lead the next Apple.
They might look like the most insignificant among the employees who attended today by their age, appearance, or behavior.
But not in Yoo-hyun’s eyes.
They were the key members who would decide today’s outcome.
On the table in the conference room were demo panels neatly arranged.
The basic was to compare and experience mockup panels and existing Apple panels.
They also separated those with mockups and those without mockups.
They also differentiated mockups by color and matched internal image themes for each color.
There were quite a lot of things to see with various combinations even though there was only one type of panel.
Jun-ho Go, the senior director, spoke to the Apple employees who entered the conference room.
“There are panels on the table. The details will be explained by the staff next to them.”
As he said that, some of the pre-product team members were standing by to explain.
They all looked nervous because they were weak in English.
Mark Harrison looked around the inside of the conference room and said to Tae-sik Yeo,
“You are well prepared.”
“Yes. We worked hard.”
Mark Harrison seemed more focused on the scenery inside the conference room than on the demo.
The wall of the conference room was full of prints.
They printed out how they were produced and what processes they went through and decorated them on the wall.
It reminded him of a poster presentation for a paper with many images and texts filling the inside of the conference room.
He paid attention to the numbers that were densely filled, as befitting an LCD expert.
But Apple’s young friends were not interested in that at all.