Chapter 266: Electric Kettles and Electric Mosquito Swatters
Glory Electronics naturally couldn't just focus on upstream technical products — consumer-end household goods were where the real market was.
In any industry, there are both suppliers and end-user companies. Some particularly powerful suppliers may rival end-user brands in scale and influence to a certain extent, but those are rare cases. In most instances, the products from end-user brands, serving billions of customers, are where the largest profits and the broadest market scale lie.
Take the automobile industry for example. While global giants like Bosch, ZF Friedrichshafen, and Denso serve as world-class suppliers, they still fall short when compared to end-user giants like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, or Toyota. Of course, there are exceptions — such as certain puppet brands propped up by suppliers — but those are edge cases.
In the electronics industry, the most critical strategy is still developing consumer-end products. And as a transmigrator, Yang Wendong had a significant advantage in this area — his mind was full of ideas that could give a tremendous boost to consumer electronics.
"Go ahead, Mr. Yang," said Wang Zhiqun quickly. He knew very well that his boss had a knack for inventing things.
Back in the United States, he'd heard people praising inventions like Post-it notes and rolling suitcases. These two creations had genuinely made life easier for countless people.
If they could replicate that sort of innovation in the electronics field, it could not only change the world on a larger scale but also yield immense profits. After all, the rise of the electronics industry was fundamentally driven by the constant emergence of new products.
Yang Wendong started by asking, "How do you boil water at home?"
"With a kettle," Wang Zhiqun answered instantly, then quickly caught on. "You want to make an electric kettle?"
"Exactly." Yang Wendong nodded.
Electric kettles had actually been around for a long time — invented by an American company back in the late 19th century. So, it wasn't exactly something new.
However, the fundamental issue was that it relied on electricity, and in places where electricity was expensive, it was far less commonly used. Compared to firewood or even gas, it just wasn't cost-effective.
Wang Zhiqun thought for a moment and said, "The structure of an electric kettle is pretty simple — just a heating coil that continuously heats up when powered. Even in Hong Kong, there are already manufacturers making these."
"I know," Yang Wendong replied with a smile. "But here's the issue — how do you know when the water's boiled?"
"It whistles. Early electric kettles would keep boiling indefinitely, but nowadays, there's a special design at the spout. Once the water boils, steam passes through and makes a whistling sound. As long as someone is home, they'll know it's done."
"That's actually a pretty clever design," Yang Wendong nodded. "But the concept is flawed. Why stop at just making a sound? Why not have the kettle shut off on its own?"
Those born in the '80s might remember — early domestic electric kettles would whistle when the water was boiled. It wasn't until the 21st century that auto shut-off kettles began to appear.
"Auto shut-off?" Wang Zhiqun paused to think. "That would definitely be more convenient and energy-efficient."
"Exactly. That's my idea — a kettle that doesn't require the user to worry. It turns off automatically once the water is boiled and begins cooling down on its own.
Secondly, it's also safer — there's no risk of it boiling dry and potentially causing a fire."
Wang Zhiqun considered this. "So how do you propose we do it?"
"What do you think?" Yang Wendong countered.
Wang Zhiqun replied, "We could use temperature sensors. Once the water reaches a certain temperature, the kettle cuts off. Or maybe add a delay function — let it boil for a short while, then cut off."
"Your idea could work in theory, but the cost would be too high. Whether it's a temperature monitoring system or a delay mechanism, either would likely be several times more expensive than the kettle itself." Yang Wendong shook his head. "My idea is to use steam, just like how it makes the whistling sound — but this time, the steam would be used to trigger the shut-off."
"Steam-triggered?" Wang Zhiqun tried to imagine how that would work, but he couldn't quite picture the mechanics of it.
Yang Wendong continued, "The current kettle designs won't do. We need a different shape. Something like this."
He picked up a pen and began sketching on a piece of paper, drawing a rough outline of the kind of electric kettle commonly seen in his past life.
Although he lacked artistic talent and drawing wasn't his strength, he could at least put together a rough sketch to show the basic idea.
"The handle is on the side?" Wang Zhiqun studied the drawing and quickly understood the function of each component.
"Right," Yang Wendong said, putting the pen down. "Right now, when you pour water, the handle sits above the spout — meaning it's directly in the path of the steam. Even with a lid, there's still a risk of burns. But with this new design, pouring water becomes safer."
Wang Zhiqun studied it for a while longer. "So, this design uses the lid on top to trip the switch and shut it off?"
"Exactly." Yang Wendong nodded.
They were both intelligent men — they might not have seen this kind of thing before, but once they saw the concept, the purpose became clear.
"It's a great design — both convenient and automatic, and cheaper to produce too." Wang Zhiqun was honestly impressed. Such a simple solution, and yet no one had thought of it before.
Yang Wendong asked again, "Take a look at this design — do you see any potential flaws?"
"Well…" Wang Zhiqun thought hard for a moment before saying, "It seems a bit small. If this kettle were made bigger, it might be hard to pour."
Yang Wendong shook his head. "For city dwellers, they don't need huge kettles. A small one like this is actually very practical. Worst case, they just boil water a couple more times."
"In that case, I don't think there's any problem," Wang Zhiqun nodded. "I'll get the engineers working on this design right away."
Yang Wendong continued, "Great. I've got a second product I want you to help design."
"What kind of product?" Wang Zhiqun asked, intrigued.
Yang Wendong smiled. "How do you deal with mosquitoes in the summer?"
"Mosquitoes?" Wang Zhiqun looked puzzled. "Usually we burn mosquito coils, or seal up the room and spray insecticide."
"That works," Yang Wendong said. "But what about outdoors? Or what if you see a mosquito flying around — what then?"
Mosquito coils and insecticides had long existed in this era, but they weren't cheap. There were also a few homemade methods, though these tended to pose a fire hazard.
Back when Yang Wendong had first crossed over and was still living in a shantytown, he'd had no choice but to endure mosquito bites. Life was tough then, so he didn't mind donating a bit of blood to the pests.
Later, once his business took off, he naturally adopted more conventional ways of dealing with mosquitoes. But even as the richest man in the world, he wasn't immune to the torment of mosquitoes. Occasionally, he still got bitten.
"For outdoors," Wang Zhiqun said, "you can only swat them by hand."
"Exactly. I do the same." Yang Wendong nodded. "But don't you think swatting by hand is way too inefficient? It relies on hand-eye coordination, and most of the time, you miss."
"Yeah, I miss most of the time too." Wang Zhiqun paused, then asked, "So this second product you're talking about — it's for killing mosquitoes?"
"That's right," Yang Wendong said. "Let's look at mosquito swatting from two angles.
First, the surface area of the hand is limited. So I want to create something like a badminton racket — a larger surface area. That way, when someone sees a mosquito, they can swat it more easily and more effectively.
The second issue… you've probably guessed it?"
"I have." Wang Zhiqun frowned. "A racket-sized object would make it easier to hit mosquitoes, sure, but how do you actually kill them? You can't just rely on the force of the impact, can you? Or use two panels to crush them? That doesn't seem very practical either."
"Exactly." Yang Wendong prompted again, "Don't forget — I'm developing an electronic product. Swatting mosquitoes doesn't require electricity, but what part of this does?"
"To use electricity to kill mosquitoes?" Wang Zhiqun's eyes lit up as everything clicked into place.
A badminton racket that's electrified at the front — with such a large surface area and a high chance of contact, mosquitoes could be eliminated with ease.
"More precisely, high-voltage electricity," Yang Wendong added. "I plan to call it the Electric Mosquito Swatter. But there's one technical issue I'm not quite clear on. The power source will obviously be regular batteries. So the question is — can we convert low-voltage battery power into high-voltage electricity?"
The idea for an electric mosquito swatter had actually occurred to him way back in 1958. After he made his first fortune with glue traps for rats, he had begun brainstorming a bunch of small practical inventions, and the electric swatter had been one of them.
But considering the challenges involved — and not just the electrical side — he had shelved the idea. The control unit, the grid on the front, the plastic handle, the casing… every component required molds, design, testing, and would have to meet safety standards. With only tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars at the time, he didn't have the resources to pursue it.
Later, he invented the Post-it Note. Production couldn't keep up with demand, so the electric mosquito swatter was temporarily frozen. But now, with Hong Kong's electronics industry gradually taking shape, it was time to dust off the idea.
The electric mosquito swatter probably wouldn't become a global super-hit, but it would be enough to give Glory Electronics a powerful debut — and that was all he needed.
"This shouldn't be too difficult," Wang Zhiqun analyzed. "There are already plenty of ignition devices that convert low-voltage to high-voltage current.
But most of the tech out there right now is for brief, instantaneous high-voltage discharge. What we want is more like a high-voltage electric grid — constant current across the mesh. That will drain the battery a lot faster."
"Let's just make a prototype first," Yang Wendong nodded. "Battery life will definitely be an issue, but we can use rechargeable batteries. They're more expensive, sure — but they're reusable. And since it's a new product, we'll have pricing power. We can set a higher price, especially with no competitors yet."
Batteries in this era were expensive and far less capable than the ones in his original timeline. If users had to replace the battery daily, there wouldn't be a market for the product at all.
Fortunately, rechargeable batteries already existed — so at least there was a backup plan. Sure, they were pricier, but with long-term use, they were more cost-effective.
Unlike the electric kettle, which was more of an optimization, this swatter was a creative product. It would definitely attract knock-offs in the future, but at least for now, only they could manufacture it officially.
"Alright," Wang Zhiqun said, "both of these products have simple electronic structures. We can develop them right here in Hong Kong — though some of the exterior molds might take time to make."
Yang Wendong said, "I'll have the procurement department at Changxing Industrial assist you. They have plenty of supplier contacts, whether it's for plastic components or metal parts."
"That's perfect." Wang Zhiqun grinned. "That'll make everything go twice as fast with half the effort."
Yang Wendong added, "Then let's get both of these simple products out as soon as possible."
In his mind, he still had plenty of other innovative ideas for small appliances.
However, most of those required some technical know-how. Maybe back in the mainland of his previous life, he could've set up a small factory and built them easily. But here in Hong Kong — at this time — that was impossible.
For one, the technology simply wasn't there. Two, Hong Kong was sorely lacking in electronics talent. And three, there was no complete industrial supply chain in the region.
That's why, for the first step into the electronics industry, the strategy had to be simple products with just a bit of creative flair. Open the market first, generate some cash flow, and then gradually start nurturing or recruiting talent for the next stage of R&D.
This was the foundation for the future.
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