The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Do computers now? But if this happens, won't it conflict with Apple? Apple hasn't been listed yet?" Lei Shengli thought for a while and said. In fact, he has known for a long time that he will definitely not be satisfied with developing alone in the game field. Chen Zhiwen also said that he will enter the personal computer market in the future, but he originally thought that it would be a year after Apple's listing, and the boss sold off the stock on a large scale.

Many of Midea’s early games were developed by Woz. After Woz went to Apple, he still helped Midea with many technical problems. Lei Shengli also visited Apple many times. The relationship between Midea and Apple It has been very good. Jobs even asked Midea to develop computer games for Apple Computer, but he has no idea.

"The personal computer market is too big. It may be stronger in the industrial field, that is, automobiles. No matter how strong Apple is, it is impossible to monopolize this market. Besides, even if I am a shareholder of Apple, it is impossible for Apple to make personal computers. Just give up this 100 billion dollar market." Chen Zhiwen said.

The current semiconductor industry has just developed, and many laws and regulations in the United States are not perfect. When high-tech companies such as semiconductors and personal computers show a development trend of swallowing mountains and rivers, the US government will protect its own technology companies. Strict restrictions, such as non-U.S. capital or Americans, can only hold no more than 5% of the stocks of U.S. technology companies, and the total foreign capital of the technology company cannot exceed 25%, etc.

Although it can be circumvented in theory, American regulatory organizations are not fools. It is no problem to have a moderate amount of more shares, but it is difficult to control a lot.

Besides, no matter how many shares there are, it is only a return on investment. Although the return is amazing, the relevant rights are owned by others. Companies in ordinary industries such as Costco and Home Depot still have management rights or voting rights on the board of directors. , but tech companies? There is no chance to intervene at all. The U.S. government will never allow outsiders to interfere in the management of American high-tech giants, not to mention Chinese, even Europeans, or even immigrants to the United States. If you are from Russia, you can only participate in technical research and development management.

If I want to get rich returns in the computer market, I must personally participate in it. The reason why I didn’t participate in Apple when it was first born a few years ago is that I lack technical ability, and the second is that personal computers can succeed. The strong driving ability of the market has a lot to do with it, especially after he was called the entrepreneurial hero of the United States by the American media, the aura added to him not only promoted Apple computers, but also promoted the popularity of the entire personal computer, which is somewhat similar to the characteristics of later generations. Tesla's role in electric vehicles has allowed the market to accept personal computers. The third is that it cannot be a leader. Otherwise, when the technology is not mature enough, the US government can easily kill itself if it has a halo.

No matter how powerful the traverser is, there is no way to change the general trend. The United States cannot allow this kind of high-tech industry to be controlled by outsiders, even its allies in Europe, such as the later French Alstom.

But now, with the rise of Apple, the aura of Jobs, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, DEC, MITS, Texas Instruments and other companies have all participated, and the market has begun to compete. At this time, it is normal for overseas computer companies to appear, as long as they do not show Like later generations of Huawei, which can suppress the potential of most American brands, they will basically not be targeted. After all, when the core industry is not seriously threatened, the US government will not personally end up interfering with the "free market" logic it has been promoting. .

In addition, the development of chips is much better than a few years ago, and the performance of computers has been greatly improved. Many ideas, software, games, etc. about computers in Chen Zhiwen's memory can become reality. Now is naturally the best time for Midea to enter personal computers. time. Besides, apart from the United States, the markets of other countries are not small, even the mainland.

"Hong Kong's research and development capabilities are insufficient, and we still need to set up a related team in the United States." Lei Shengli thought for a while and said that the United States is the current frontier for the development of semiconductor technology, while Hong Kong is lagging far behind. For such complex commodities, we still have to temporarily rely on the United States.

"Okay, the research and development of computers is still in the United States. Hong Kong is sending people to learn. It is the same as the red and white computers before. However, many software aspects can be developed by Hong Kong. For example, the game software we are best at competes with In terms of power, we can’t compare to Apple, which has a halo, and we can’t compare to Hewlett-Packard or Texas Instruments in terms of technology, and we can’t compare to IBM in terms of funds, so game software or some software that is more convenient for office work is our breakthrough.” Chen Zhiwen continued. .

Fighting with so many giants in the United States for technology funds is definitely not an opponent, so it can only be creative, but he doesn't know what kind of computer was in the 1980s. After all, he is only familiar with windows, and it is even more impossible for him to intervene in this system software It's useless to intervene. Even if he makes it, no matter how easy it is to use, it is impossible for so many technology companies in the United States to use it.

At most, I can invest in Weiruan in the future to obtain economic returns, but various office software and games are a breakthrough. Even if it is impossible to make Midea's personal computer a big success, it is not difficult to obtain a part of the market. , I will also prepare a huge amount of money to enter the sales terminal of electronic products in the United States. Like the previous Costco, I will use this capital to develop sales channels for my products.

It is impossible for ordinary computer companies, even Apple, to spend this money to do this, because their funds are limited. IBM has money, but it is impossible to invest in the retail market. The personal computer is treated as an auxiliary business, and it is too late to react.

"Computer games? Can Chen Sheng remind you what they are like?" Lei Shengli asked. Although Midea has released many games before and after, the most popular ones are Chen Zhiwen's ideas. Sometimes, many Everyone thinks that the games they make are not bad, but when they reach the market, there are no waves at all, and only a few games can pay back.

"There is a game called Minesweeper, but I don't have a plan yet. I will give it to you when I come back from the United States. As for other games, I can develop some chess and card games. For specific chess and card games, you can find them around the world. If you find a game that is highly playable, you can convert it into an electronic software game, pay attention to patents and copyrights, and as for office software, I will also give you a plan." Chen Zhiwen continued.

As far as computer games are concerned, he also knows some of the most common stand-alone games. Although he thinks they are mediocre, considering the entertainment of this era, a simple minesweeper may be able to explode, and card games are powerless for him. He can only rely on his own research at the company level. As for office software, he naturally knows that the most famous three-piece set of windows needs to be developed as soon as possible.

"Okay, I'll let the game development department set up a special team for computer games." Lei Shengli nodded and said.

"Large groups, small groups are not enough. Except for "Donkey Kong", arcade or home game console game development is not as important. You can properly adjust the personnel arrangement. From my understanding, computers are too powerful and will be crowded to a certain extent in the future. We must pay attention to the market of home game consoles.” Chen Zhiwen paused and said, he still has a lot of well-known games in the history of the game in his mind, relying on these at least 10 years of dividends, but the famous games in his mind Computer games do not include the computer games of the 1980s. This requires the game development team that I have spent a lot of time cultivating over the years to overcome.

"Okay, I understand." Lei Shengli nodded and said.

"In addition to the hardware development of the personal computer itself, there is another problem. There is a technology called local area network in the United States. We also need to obtain relevant authorization. If we develop games in the future, we can also consider using this technology to connect several computers together. , and then play games together, the game itself means that the more people play, the better, so that the attraction is stronger, our red and white machine can be played by two people, and the computer also has this requirement.” Chen Zhiwen said again.

"Local area network?" Lei Shengli said, "Okay, let me find out."

He has just developed the Famicom, and now he needs to develop the second-generation Famicom and the first-generation personal computer. He also knows the scale of technical personnel in Hong Kong. Although the main force may still rely on overseas engineers, he is still a bit Alexander. .

"Besides, in the mainland, I reached an agreement with Yanjing. I will provide funds, and they will provide talents to jointly develop tens of thousands of telephone program-controlled switches. If your talents are not enough, you can also find a way to entrust some of the tasks. For some universities in China, although many of them have lagged behind in the field of electronics, they still have a strong foundation and they can try to cooperate." Chen Zhiwen added.

Ever since the first arcade machine "Snake" got a lot of money, Chen Zhiwen has been trying to improve Midea's talent pool capabilities, including poaching Chinese from the United States, Japan, and the Bay Area, or a small number of foreign engineers, or going to The purpose of building R\u0026D centers overseas is for today.

Research on personal computers is actually not difficult, but it is super difficult to develop a low-cost product that is accepted by the market. This is the characteristic of large-scale industrial products. For example, the technical difficulty of automobiles and Rolls-Royce is far lower than that of For mass-produced products such as Magotan and Lavida, as long as the former has a certain patent in hand, it can be produced with a lot of money. Anyway, it is a loss, while the latter wants to find a balance between profit, price, market, quality and technology. , no matter how capable it is to sell well all over the world, it is simply impossible.

The previous arcade machines did not have this feature, because the game itself was a patent barrier, preventing others from making the same arcade machine. In this way, even if the cost was a little higher, the monopoly feature was doomed to huge profits.

Now that the research and development of personal computers has officially begun, although there is no shortage of research and development capital, it still requires a lot of technical research and development to create a computer that can be accepted by the market.

"Then can we directly recruit people from China? It will be much more convenient to bring capable people to Hong Kong." Lei Shengli asked.

"A small amount is fine, but not too much. If there is too much, there will be opinions from the domestic side. If you really need it, you can discuss it with these universities or the Ministry of Education, and let these people temporarily suspend their jobs and come to Hong Kong to assist us. This is considered a common cause." Let's win." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

Given the living conditions in Hong Kong, plus Midea's treatment for R\u0026D engineers, and most importantly, the ability to provide foreign exchange, I am afraid that many professors in China will come. If there are too many, it may affect the normal operation of domestic universities.

Of course, if Shenhai University can pass quickly, it will be more convenient for me.