The Industrial Giant Reborn

An hour later, Henry Morgan reluctantly left an arcade in front of him, but his eyes seemed to become more excited, and he said: "Eric, this "Tank War" is so fun, I don't even want to stop , It’s much better than the previous "Space Invaders", I don’t think I need to test it, just ship it directly and send it to the United States?"

"Okay, Hong Kong has started to produce "Tank Wars" arcade machines two months ago, but considering that "Pac-Man" has not completely fallen, so I didn't contact you earlier." Chen Zhiwen smiled Said.

Several games developed before, even the most playable "Magic Cube", as a traveler who has been baptized by various entertainment methods of later generations, no matter how boring they are, they can't play for too long, and they will feel boring after a while.

But "Tank Battle" is different. The playability here is much greater. Different levels and different settings will make the game a little different every time. At least it will allow him to play for a longer time, and it will not bored.

"Well, I will arrange it on the west coast before Christmas." Henry Morgan said with a smile. Now his dividends from the normal sales of arcade machines are not much, but if the game is popular, the bar at the terminal may increase the price to buy it. In this area, his share is much higher, that is to say, the more popular Midea’s games are , the more he can earn.

"There is another setting." Chen Zhiwen said: "The game of "Tank Battle" is a promotion system. If someone keeps playing it repeatedly, it will be very boring, so this game has also developed a function, that is The game is bound according to different accounts. Suppose a person has played the tenth level, then he can apply for an account, and then his game records will be saved. Even if he comes back in a few months, as long as he votes again Coins, you can directly enter the tenth level to play."

"It's so powerful, but the effect is really good. In this way, those who buy the account will lose money if they don't continue to play in the future." Henry Morgan nodded and said.

"Not only that, but I'm also going to promote an event. Whoever can be the first in the United States to play 100 levels will get a reward of 100,000 US dollars." Chen Zhiwen said again.

"$100,000? Is it difficult to reach 100?" Henry Morgan asked with a smile. $100,000 is nothing to him, but it is not a small number to ordinary Americans.

"It's not particularly difficult, but it still takes a long time. Our team has tested it. If a person wants to play to the last level, he needs at least 1,000-2,000 dollars in investment." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"Then it's enough for 50 people to participate." Henry Morgan nodded and said.

"It's not just 50 people trying to break through the level. It's more than a hundred times and a thousand times. It's just giving them a goal." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "And even if someone really breaks through to 100, there will be 150, 200 levels, etc. with them."

"There are so many levels in this game?" Henry Morgan asked in surprise.

"It's like a blank sheet of paper, just add various settings." Chen Zhiwen said.

As a special product, arcade machines have two customers, so it is necessary to ensure that the direct customers who buy arcade machines can earn profits, and also ensure that the end players are happy to play, but the time for each level should not be long, so the game setting will be difficult More, with the current scale of Midea's R\u0026D team, the development of the game "Tank Battle" itself did not take long. It was completed as early as the beginning of this year, but it is more difficult to set hundreds of game interfaces that meet the requirements. It is time consuming and requires extensive testing. Because it is too easy, the bar owner loses money, and it is too difficult, and the bar players may give up and stop playing.

The previous few games, even the first "Snake", didn't take long to develop without enough teams, but the development time of "Tank War" was much longer, no The development of the game itself is difficult. The most time-consuming thing is to set up countless different interfaces, and then find a large number of people to test. If it is too difficult or too easy, it needs to be changed. Otherwise, there will be problems in the future. The method is remotely updated after the release.

If you wait until the era of home game consoles, it will be much simpler, you can set different interfaces casually, customers and players can also skip levels, and even freely set the game interface by themselves, which is much more playable. It can even be said that "Tank Cube" is the first to be released in arcades, which can not only make a fortune from it, but also advertise in advance for future home game console cassettes.

"Then this game is really endless, and it is estimated to be popular for a year or two." Henry Morgan said.

"It should be about the same." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, "However, Midea's game development will not stop. Maybe the next game will surpass "Tank Battle"."

"It seems that in the field of games, the only thing that can beat Midea's arcade game is the next Midea arcade game." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

"No one can monopolize the game market all the time, but I think that the coexistence of multiple games is coming. As far as I know, American bars are starting to have other games, right?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Henry Morgan nodded and said, "Yes, according to my research, the price of their arcade machines is much lower. Even if there are fewer people playing, the bar owner can still pay back."

"The future of games lies in home game consoles and handhelds. Midea has recently released the handheld "Magic Cube" in Japan. The results are very good. Once home game consoles appear, it should be the same." Chen Zhiwen paused Said: "Henry, you should be ready."

"Eric, what do you mean, let me be the American agent of Midea's home consoles and handhelds?" Henry Morgan asked with bright eyes.

"Not in the whole of the United States." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said: "These two are not arcade machines, and the sales volume will be a very huge number, so the whole of the United States will use one agent per state, but considering our relationship, I can let you Pick 3 states."

"Three states?" Henry Morgan thought for a while and asked, "I'm the one to choose now?"

"Yes, you have the priority, but the dealers of home game consoles and handheld consoles will not be as easy as arcade machines." Chen Zhiwen said: "These two kinds of video game products, the priority channels are the major American distributors. Supermarkets, such as Costco, Wal-Mart or Celtic, but this kind of goods are not enough to be placed in the supermarket, and corresponding people need to be recruited to introduce them to all potential customers.

Midea will specifically sign corresponding contracts with these supermarkets, but according to the rules of the supermarket industry, this kind of electronic products need to be specially introduced, especially my products are still new gadgets, and no one will know them without introducing them.

And the countless small supermarkets other than major supermarkets are also in charge of dealers. You need to get through these dealers and sell my games through them. It will be based on the state's economic situation, and each dealer needs to have a certain sales performance.

Just for one state, it takes a lot of energy to do this. If you want to do it well, it is not easy. "

A company, especially when the product has some technical content and is a civilian terminal product, will involve many channels. Even a city may have dozens or even hundreds of sales points, a state and a country, even more As many as hairs on a cow.

In the Hong Kong market, due to the concentration of population, ParknShop Supermarket, which already has 200 stores, is in charge. In the Japanese market, the products are delivered directly to Sony. Midea doesn’t care how to sell to more Japanese people, because they don’t have the ability.

The same is true in the United States, just choose a suitable dealer. Henry Morgan, as a partner who has cooperated for several years, has also helped Chen Zhiwen in many ways. Now that the arcade is about to be replaced, Chen Zhiwen can naturally Give him a little favor, for example, the agency of several states in the United States.

Moreover, due to the gradual expansion of production capacity, developed countries with a population of 300 million must enter step by step. For example, select a few states first. If the sales volume is good, Midea will negotiate with potential distributors in other states. , will have a bigger hole card, and can also obtain higher benefits.

"In this case, it really takes a lot of investment to complete the entire distribution." Henry Morgan nodded and said. With his ability, it is true that he can't cover the entire United States. It would be good to have three states. The era of laying down and making money is over.

"It's true that this distribution channel is not easy to build, but as long as it is established, other Midea products can also go through this channel in the future. In the long run, the benefits you can get may far exceed the arcade machines in the past few years." Chen Zhiwen added Said.

Even in the 2020s, when Internet monopoly capital and offline supermarket capital have developed to the extreme, many electronic products still need to have many branches in the city, such as Apple, OV, Xiaomi, etc., any consumer electronics giant. The rise requires a large number of dealers.

"That's true. It's really not good. I can sell your electric fans." Henry Morgan joked.

"Determine which three states we want as soon as possible, and then set up channels, so that a batch of game boys can enter the US market by Christmas." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Okay." Henry Morgan nodded and agreed.

Two months later, New York, USA:

"Eric, Haifeng Bank's request to us is to sell us 51% of the stock at a price of 130 million U.S. dollars, especially the senior management of the bank, and no layoffs will be allowed within 2 years." Henry Morgan received another reception at the World Trade Center Chen Zhiwen.

"The request is not too much, but I am curious. As far as I know, HSBC should have contacted them a long time ago? In terms of funds, HSBC will not be reluctant. Why did they negotiate with us in such a short period of time? It's almost there?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

For a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars, when it comes to mergers and acquisitions, it can be negotiated within half a year, which is already very fast, not to mention that this is the sixth largest commercial bank in New York State.

"Because the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Federal Reserve are not optimistic about HSBC, and through detailed investigations, Haifeng Bank has invested in low-interest government bonds in the past two years, resulting in losses of tens of millions of dollars. Now the bank's operations are considered difficult. stage, but it is not yet closed down or caused a run, so HSBC was transferred, and I came forward to buy it, whether outsiders know it or not, they will think it is the Morgan family." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

Treasury bonds should be a very stable investment, but the premise is that the benchmark interest rate is stable. In the current environment, inflation is serious, and the Fed has raised interest rates many times, resulting in high interest rates on newly issued government bonds, while the low-interest government bonds purchased before have begun to change. As a result, many banks or large funds in the United States have suffered serious losses, because many low-risk hedging projects are bought treasury bonds.

And some aggressive investment projects, although they also bought treasury bonds, used leverage. Once the value of treasury bonds fell, they would immediately suffer collapse losses. Many small banks in the United States suffered heavy losses, and Haifeng Bank was a bit better among them. of.

"Does your family have any objections?" Chen Zhiwen asked curiously.

"What's your opinion? I'm originally from the Morgan family, and this is considered the most basic benefit." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

"Then what price do you think we should offer?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"100 million US dollars is about the same? With this amount of funds, you can basically buy other banks of similar size. Now the Fed is still on the trend of raising interest rates. If I wait a little longer, I am sure that Haifeng Bank will lower it a bit. said Henry Morgan.

"Okay, let's wait, but it won't take too long. If HSBC convinces the Federal Reserve or the U.S. Department of Commerce, it will be troublesome." Chen Zhiwen said. In his memory, HSBC began to internationalize in the 1980s. Because the mainland has good relations with western countries, HSBC has to go international. If we want to be more stable, it is better to win Haifeng as soon as possible.

"Okay." Henry nodded and said, "In addition, 100,000 Game Boys have been sent to many supermarkets in New York State. At present, there are only samples for customers to experience. They will not be officially released until 7 days before Christmas."

"OK, then I'll wait for your good news." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In the next few days, Chen Zhiwen arranged for people to meet with more than a dozen investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bear Stearns, because the gold futures were about to be cashed out.

Although January 1981 was the highest stage of gold prices, Chen Zhiwen had a large number of gold futures, and it was impossible to sell them all at the last moment. The gold trading market is very large, but they also need to be cashed out separately.

For such an important matter, Chen Zhiwen naturally sat in New York in person. In late December, several major investment banks began to sell a small part at the price of 650 US dollars as required. In January 1980, the price of gold hit 700. sell off.

Because he knew that the high price of US$810 per ounce only lasted for a short time, and then immediately collapsed in an avalanche after US President Carter issued an executive order restricting gold trading.

In mid-January, all the gold futures in Chen Zhiwen's hands were cashed out.

More than a year ago, his entry price was around $250 and his exit price was $750, which is almost 3 times.

At the beginning, it borrowed US$5 billion for US$1 billion, and now it has become US$15 billion. After deducting the principal of US$5 billion to be repaid, there is still US$10 billion left.

However, investment banks do not do charity. Borrowing such a large sum of money still has certain risks, and the interest is naturally high.

In order to suppress inflation, the current benchmark interest rate in the United States is as high as 13.5%, that is, the interest rate for deposits such as banks is as high as 14%, and normal commercial loans are about 18%-20%.

Although there is no interest in name in futures trading, the wool comes from the sheep, and the funds used for investment also have a cost, but it becomes a handling fee, and this handling fee is actually related to the benchmark interest.

Plus various transaction fees, calculated back and forth, what Chen Zhiwen got was almost 7.9 billion US dollars.

Fortunately, they sold through more than a dozen investment banks. Although the average price of each bank is not low, it is not enough to tear the face of these investment banks. Besides, each of these investment banks has earned more than 100 million US dollars in an aboveboard transaction.

Fortunately, in a capitalist society, after futures trading, there is no need to pay personal income tax, and there is no need to report this income specifically.

However, such a large amount of funds cannot be transferred out of the United States in a short period of time. Even if it is a legal income, if you play like this, you will be hit. It is better to invest in the United States first, wait for these investments to make profits every year, and then transfer some of them out. In this way, it is legal and reasonable, and after many years, not many people care about it.

End of January 1980:

Chen Zhiwen came to Morgan Stanley's mysterious VIP customer reception building, and once again met Jim who had invested gold for him before.

Seeing Chen Zhiwen, Jim smiled happily and said, "Eric, I am very happy to see you again."

"It's the same with each other, and me too." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"Please sit down." Jim smiled and said, "I don't know if Eric came to me, is there any big investment?"

"Of course, it's a very big investment." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "I want to buy a car company in the United States."