Episode 0274

That's right, as you well know, we started this series. It's a ten-part series and today we're going to talk about um, sales and charts and graphs and more or less explaining uh, maybe a PowerPoint presentation.

That's right. So you're going to learn some wonderful ways of talking about changes in markets and marketing.

So, let's take a listen to today's dialogue and we'll be back in a moment to talk about what you've heard.

[Music/Jingle]

As all of you are well aware, competition in the laptop computer sector is intense. We continue to fight with our competitors for market share and this is the case both in the developed markets in the West, as well as more developing markets in Asia and Africa.

You may ask yourself, why is this market so cutthroat? Well, the answer is simple. There is a huge untapped potential market out there, with a huge untapped potential for profit.

If I bring up the first graph here, it shows the increase in terms of number of computer owners across the globe.

As you can see, in the 1980s, computer ownership amounted to around 0.5% of the total world population.

Since the 1990s, computer ownership has risen dramatically. In the new millennium, we saw an even larger explosion in computer owners, with figures rising to around 4 to 5%. An increase of 1,000% compared with the 1980s.

If we move on to discuss the figures for China specifically, we can see in chart B that the overall figure for computer ownership stands at around 60 million, which represents a huge increase in a very short time period.

Now, of course, 60 million is just a drop in the ocean if you compare the total population of China. And this is a key reason why the personal computer market is such a hot market.

For us at Alpha, and of course, for all of our competitors as well, we have millions of potential customers, who are looking to join the internet generation. If we do this right, we really can reap huge rewards in a very short time frame.

I now like to move on to discuss the X420 brand itself and compare and contrast with some of our key competitors.

[Jingle with "Language Takeaway"]

Okay, so in the first part of what Mr. Ford is saying, he mentioned something called market share. Now, Marco, what is market share?

That's right. Everyone is competing for market share and this is basically a small portion of your available market.

So, for example, if you sell perfumes, women's perfume, then uh, you, your market share is maybe women who are 18 to 35 years old in your city or in your town or in your country.

I see. Right, so, when we're talking about market share because we're sharing a piece of this big pie, we're going to talk about that in terms of a percentage, so 30% or 15%.

I think uh, maybe one of the clearest examples is Coca-Cola has uh, I think maybe a 60% market share of the carbonated beverages market.

Interesting. So you could say that Apple has a 50% market share of the personal computing industry.

Very good. So, this is when what we refer to as market share.

Now, now as we continue to talk about markets, we have uh two very interesting words when we refer to a developed market and a developing market.

Okay, so a developed market is something that has been polished and grown over time, perhaps. We talk about the developed world being Western Europe and America.

Um, but then we have developing markets, and those are markets that are still trying to figure out kind of um, what, what's going on. They're, they're growing. They're usually growing much faster than a developed market.

That's right. So, again, when we're talking about maybe computers, uh, we consider, for example, the United States a developed market. Many people already have a computer or express the desire to buy one.

And so maybe a developing market are some of the African countries where they're still growing and so now they're, they're beginning to to purchase more and more computers.

Okay, so developed and developing, two different ways to describe markets.

Now, after that, we hear this phrase, um, cutthroat. So someone asks, why is this market so cutthroat? What does this mean?

A cutthroat business or a cutthroat industry, it means that it's very, very competitive.

Okay, so cutthroat, we're actually talking about maybe having a knife and cutting someone else's throat, but it's just a metaphor. It's a way of saying, yes, this is very competitive. So you're not actually cutting someone's throat.

Right. Everyone is fighting for that market share, so it's very cutthroat. Everyone is, is uh, is fighting very, very hard.

But you're not literally killing someone or cutting their throats.

And you could even use this to talk about a sporting event. Uh, you could say, you know, it was a cutthroat game.

That's right. That's right. So, uh, anything that's very competitive or very close.

So to finish off language takeaway when Mr. Ford was uh, towards the end of his presentation, he said that the rewards could be very, very big in a very short time frame.

So, when we say the word time frame, we mean period of time. It's not like, you know, 2:00 PM. It's like from um, from May to June. We have this short time frame. It's only two months long.

So time frame is a window or a period.

That's right. So this is what he is referring to is that in a very short period or in this period of time, they could make a lot of money, a time frame.

Right, but how long would a long time frame be?

Maybe a couple of years.

All right. So you can have a short time frame and a long time frame.

That's right. Okay, why don't we take a look at our dialogue again and we'll be back shortly with fluency builder.

[Music/Jingle]

As all of you are well aware, competition in the laptop computer sector is intense. We continue to fight with our competitors for market share and this is the case both in the developed markets in the West, as well as more developing markets in Asia and Africa. You may ask yourself, why is this market so cutthroat? Well, the answer is simple. There is a huge untapped potential market out there, with a huge untapped potential for profit. If I bring up the first graph here, it shows the increase in terms of number of computer owners across the globe. As you can see, in the 1980s, computer ownership amounted to around 0.5% of the total world population. Since the 1990s, computer ownership has risen dramatically. In the new millennium, we saw an even larger explosion in computer owners, with figures rising to around 4 to 5%. An increase of 1,000% compared with the 1980s. If we move on to discuss the figures for China specifically, we can see in chart B that the overall figure for computer ownership stands at around 60 million, which represents a huge increase in a very short time period. Now, of course, 60 million is just a drop in the ocean if you compare the total population of China. And this is a key reason why the personal computer market is such a hot market. For us at Alpha, and of course, for all of our competitors as well, we have millions of potential customers, who are looking to join the internet generation. If we do this right, we really can reap huge rewards in a very short time frame. I now like to move on to discuss the X420 brand itself and compare and contrast with some of our key competitors.

[Jingle with "Fluency Builder"]

So, in today's dialogue we heard Mr. Ford talk about some numbers. He's talking about growth and change in the market. And he says with figures to around 4 to 5%, we've got an overall increase of 1,000%.

That's right. So this phrase, an increase of, um very, very common when you're talking about growth of maybe revenue or when you're talking about the growth of a company or sales, for example.

So it's important to remember here that this is a fixed phrase. We say an increase of 10% or an increase of 30%.

Um, but you can use the same phrase with uh, with drops in in percentages or money.

So you can say a decrease of 10%, that means that you go down 10% or a decrease of 100%.

That's right. So uh a very useful phrase when talking about incrementing someone or as you said, decreasing it, a decrease of 5%.

Now, Mr. Ford used a very interesting phrase when referring to the Chinese market. Obviously, it's a very big market. And uh he says that computer ownership stands at around 60 million. Um, but of course, 60 million is just a drop in the ocean if you compare it to the population of China.

That's right. So, uh, what does this mean? It's a big percentage or a small percentage?

Very, very small.

All right, so what, what he's saying here is it's like a a drop of water in an ocean. So, a drop of water is so small, you don't even notice it. You don't even see it because the ocean is so big.

And so you can use this in many different ways. You can say, hey, um, you know, $5 is just a drop in the ocean.

Right. It's not really important because it's very little money.

That's right. So it's, it's sort of like a metaphor saying, you know what, it's very insignificant. It's just a drop of, it's just a drop of water in an ocean. It's not really something you can notice.

That's right. Just a drop in the ocean.

And now at the very end of today's speech, we heard the phrase to compare and contrast.

So, we're talking about uh the X420 computer brand itself. Now what is, what does Mr. Ford mean when he says to compare and contrast?

So, when we mentioned the word compare, we are basically trying to determine how they are similar in many ways, the characteristics of how they are similar.

And and to contrast is how they are different, right?

That's right. So let's, let's use an example, perhaps we could say Pepsi and Coca-Cola, let's compare and contrast.

So, they're both uh carbonated beverages.

They are both sweet.

Mhm and they're both, they're the same, pretty much the same color.

That's right. And they're also fairly cheap. They have about the same price.

But I would say that Coca-Cola is tastes more like prune.

So that would be a contrasting characteristic of Coca-Cola is that maybe it tastes a little bit sweeter.

It does. And you could also say, it's easier to find Coca-Cola. Pepsi is less, less easy to find sometimes. So another way that they're different.

So basically to compare and contrast is to point out how two things are similar and how they're different.

That's right. So, we've had a lot of interesting phrases there. I think very useful if you're talking about business and marketing and sales.

So, why don't we listen to our dialogue one last time.

[Music/Jingle]

As all of you are well aware, competition in the laptop computer sector is intense. We continue to fight with our competitors for market share and this is the case both in the developed markets in the West, as well as more developing markets in Asia and Africa. You may ask yourself, why is this market so cutthroat? Well, the answer is simple. There is a huge untapped potential market out there, with a huge untapped potential for profit. If I bring up the first graph here, it shows the increase in terms of number of computer owners across the globe. As you can see, in the 1980s, computer ownership amounted to around 0.5% of the total world population. Since the 1990s, computer ownership has risen dramatically. In the new millennium, we saw an even larger explosion in computer owners, with figures rising to around 4 to 5%. An increase of 1,000% compared with the 1980s. If we move on to discuss the figures for China specifically, we can see in chart B that the overall figure for computer ownership stands at around 60 million, which represents a huge increase in a very short time period. Now, of course, 60 million is just a drop in the ocean if you compare the total population of China. And this is a key reason why the personal computer market is such a hot market. For us at Alpha, and of course, for all of our competitors as well, we have millions of potential customers, who are looking to join the internet generation. If we do this right, we really can reap huge rewards in a very short time frame. I now like to move on to discuss the X420 brand itself and compare and contrast with some of our key competitors.

All right, we're back. So, as we mentioned, this is just a part of our presentation series. We're going to keep on talking with Mr. Ford as he discusses business and and uh a lot of other very interesting and useful skills for talking in public.

That's right. So, the goal of this series is to help you feel better when you're giving a presentation in English. We all know it's very, very hard to talk in English when you're when you're still learning, but it's even harder to talk alone, to give a speech or a presentation. And so the point of this series is to really give you those skills and to help teach you some of the key phrases and words that you'll be using in your presentations in the future.

The English audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

To turn out to be.

Amount to.

In a sudden and extreme way.

Dramatically.

Represent.

Stand.

To get something as a result of something.

Reap.

Situation in which people compete in an unpleasant way.

Cutthroat.

Let's try that faster.

To turn out to be.

Amount to.

Situation in which people compete in an unpleasant way.

Cutthroat.

Represent.

Stand.

In a sudden and extreme way.

Dramatically.

To get something as a result of something.

Reap.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Amount to.

When we add in the figures from Q4, our annual sales revenue amounts to 1,757,000 RMB.

Amount to.

The grand total amounts to 345,000.

Amount to.

My father always said if I didn't study hard enough, I'd never amount to anything.

Dramatically.

The number of employees rose dramatically last spring.

Dramatically.

Dramatically.

Stand.

The current unemployment rate stands at about 4.5%.

Stand.

We can see that in July, membership rates stood at about 6,200.

Stand.

The price of oil is expected to stand at $93 per barrel in November.

Cutthroat.

I had no idea the music industry was so cutthroat.

Cutthroat.

This is a highly competitive, cutthroat market.

Cutthroat.

Reap.

It just goes to show you, you reap what you sow.

Reap.

Reap.