The Industrial Giant Reborn

Chapter 348 An astonishing $330 million quarterly profit

Although he didn't get what he wanted, Chen Zhiwen's attitude towards computer hardware still made Jobs let go of his guard. After some pleasantries, the two left the plane and went to downtown Los Angeles together, and then separated.

After returning to Apple, Jobs informed Woz and current Apple CEO Mike Markkula of his conversation with Chen Zhiwen.

"Eric has a good vision. In the current personal computer market, there are too many players. If he joins in, no matter how capable he is, it will be difficult to grab a certain market. Besides, I have also learned about Midea. I’m still not very good at it, and it’s really smart to specialize in the software market.” Mike nodded.

"In this way, we don't need to worry. He sells his software and we sell our computers. It's a pity that he refuses to make his software our exclusive software. Otherwise, it would be better." Jobs said .

"Since relying on a piece of software, Midea can pose a little threat to us, which shows that software is also very important. It seems that we also need to invest in this area." Mike thought for a while and said, he is in Apple After the establishment of the company, he was recruited by a high salary. Before that, he had worked in IBM for more than ten years and was still relatively sensitive to the market.

"The idea is good, but what software do we make?" Jobs said: "In terms of games, Midea basically has a unique monopoly position. It used to be an arcade machine, and now it is a red and white machine and a handheld. We have all played it. Compared with other games on the market, the computer games he launched are also very successful and playable. In this field, no one can compete with them.

Now that Eric is preparing to launch a large number of floppy disks for Word and Excel, this path will not work, so there can only be other very practical software innovations, but, what direction, do we know? "

"There is no direction." Mike said with a frown. When the very practical functions in Word and Excel appear, anyone who sees them will say: It turns out that such a simple function.

But when it was his turn to innovate, after he wanted to create a useful function, he was blinded. He couldn't even think of a function, let alone another type of software with strong practicability. Sex, it seems that most companies' daily work can be satisfied.

Woz said: "This kind of innovation is not technology, but inspiration. I have always admired Eric for this."

"So, instead of thinking about taking the path that others are good at, it is better to go our own way. Hardware is what Apple is best at. Even people like Eric know not to start in the field that others are good at." Jobs said: " A piece of software is generally only tens of dollars, and it is a little expensive, but our computers cost several thousand dollars, and the net profit is hundreds or even thousands. If our computers can control half of the market, then in the future We can also take profits from software.”

"That's right, but the premise is to get half of the market. Recently, IBM's new computer has a great impact on us." Mike said.

Jobs nodded and said, "So, we have to redouble our efforts to develop the next generation of computers."

Mike didn't answer any more, and he had nothing to refute. When others launch successful new products, it is basically unrealistic to catch up. And what Jobs said, if they control the hardware market, the software will sooner or later It is theirs. After all, software also needs to rely on hardware computers.

"However, Eric's decision to withdraw from Apple always makes me feel bad." Woz said again.

"I feel the same way, but since he wants to quit, there's nothing he can do about it," Jobs said with a frown.

"Leave this matter to me. I'll contact some investment funds that are difficult and willing to take over. If they can be traded directly, the impact on Apple's stock will be reduced a lot." Mike thought for a while and said.

Major shareholders need to disclose in advance when cashing out in the stock market, which will definitely cause the stock price to drop, especially if this is a company veteran plus a global celebrity. This kind of trading, you like me, there is no restriction, and the impact on the stock market is much smaller.

Chen Zhiwen didn't know what happened to Apple. Now he was just preparing to cash out the Apple stock, so he basically had nothing to do with this company. However, Apple belonged to Apple, and Jobs, who was kicked out by Apple, might still There may be some cooperation.

A 26-story building in the suburbs of Los Angeles, on the top of the building, there are 5 scrawled English letters: Midea, and two Chinese: Midea.

This is the headquarters of Midea Group's branch in the United States. In recent years, Midea Group has also earned huge wealth from the United States on the surface. Some of these funds remain in the United States. In addition to being used for various technology research and development, they also buy I bought several small office buildings in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago to use as operations and R\u0026D headquarters, so as to avoid taxes.

Because it is not real estate speculation, it is only aimed at enough.

On the 26th floor of the top floor, there is an independent one-room office specially prepared for Chen Zhiwen by Midea's American branch, not only in Los Angeles, but also in other cities.

"Chen Sheng, this is the data of Midea's business in the United States last quarter. Please take a look." Lin Dexiang, the person in charge of the United States, has already prepared relevant information.

"Sales of red and white machines were 2.1 million units, game cartridges were 5.6 million, handheld game boys were sold 7.2 million, the total turnover was 930 million US dollars, and the net profit was 330 million US dollars." Chen Zhiwen didn't read too much content in the middle, and directly flipped to the end One page, after seeing this number, although I already knew the approximate number in advance, I was still a little shocked.

This is only a quarterly profit. After a year, it will exceed 1 billion. I am afraid it will be easy, but it is normal after thinking about it. In the past, Atari only relied on an Altari2600 home game console and some of its own cards. In 1981, the net profit reached 1 billion US dollars.

Today's Midea not only has better red and white machines, but also has several more exciting games, plus handhelds. It is normal for Midea to surpass Atari in terms of profits.

The game industry itself is a huge profit industry. Even in the future, even if it is a world-class super technology giant, everyone wants to enter the market to get a piece of the action, such as Weiruan, Fuji Xun, Ali (unsuccessful), and Apple (unsuccessful). , now I am in a semi-monopoly position, and the handheld is even more of a monopoly. At the same time, because of the current technology, the hardware of the game console is also controlled by myself. With so many factors added up, it is normal for the profit to be high.

"Yes, and this is just the beginning. The "Tank Battle" card has just been launched, and its price is much higher than other cards, and because of its strong playability, it will also drive the sales of a handful of red and white machines. " Lin Dexiang said happily.

"Okay, then continue to promote the expansion of this market. Our goal is to let every American family have our Famicom and handheld. After success, it will be the European market." Chen Zhiwen said confidently.

In the original history of Atari, one of the three households owned the Altari 2600, which allowed Atari to obtain an astonishing profit of 2 billion US dollars, but the life span was a little short, because there were no exciting game cards and arrogance Feelings, thinking that it is enough to perfunctory consumers casually, so it finally caused the most famous Atari crash in 1983.

But now Midea is no longer there. The emphasis on games has never stopped with many R\u0026D teams in Hong Kong and the United States. Nowadays, in addition to the games provided by Chen Zhiwen, several teams are also constantly selling their own games to the market. Games to avoid the emergence of absolute dependencies.

In the future, as long as you control this market in the past few years, the profit will be far higher than that of Atari, but the only factor to consider is the ZZ factor, but considering that this is just a new game market, there will be no National security issues, coupled with President Reagan's relatively loose policy on the economy, at the same time, many of Midea's chips are also purchased from the United States, and some of the cheaper Japanese chips are given up. In fact, there are also considerations in this regard.

"Another point is that our arcade market is sluggish." Lin Dexiang added.

"Normal, as expected, we should be eliminated if we should be eliminated. The market for arcade machines is far inferior to that of red and white machines." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Nowadays, because of the appearance of red and white machines and various wonderful game cards, arcade machines will inevitably shrink faster than the original history. Moreover, the profits and turnover of arcade machines are far less than that of red and white machines, and even Even cheaper handhelds can’t compare. An arcade machine can be considered a success if you can buy 50,000 units in the United States, but a handheld machine with only 1% of the arcade price can sell tens of millions of units within its lifetime. Question, as long as the game is fun enough.

Commodities that can be sold to all ordinary people will always be the most profitable market. For example, the most coveted arms sales market, its output value is far inferior to that of civilian cars, mobile phones, computers, and so on.

And arcade machines will not be completely eliminated. When semiconductors continue to develop in the future and the cost is further reduced, the price of arcade machines will become suitable for game halls. In this way, the potential of the Asian market will explode again.

"The personal computer was only released in March. In the past two months, we have sold a total of 15,000 units through the platforms of Costco and Best Buy. Judging from the feedback from users, high-end products are selling very well. Well, most people are also very satisfied, and now, according to our survey, 20% of new customers are introduced by old customers, and this proportion is also increasing.” Lin Dexiang continued.

"It's very good. Keep working hard. It doesn't matter if you lose money now. Use the game money to subsidize it first, and continue to put in advertisements. Personal computers will be a blue ocean market that is bigger than the game console market." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

"Understood." Lin Dexiang said.

"However, there is one thing I want to tell you." Chen Zhiwen added: "Word and Excel will release floppy disks compatible with other computers, which will be sold separately. In this way, our computer will lose a big advantage, and you have to prepare early. "

"Is this to monopolize the software market?" Lin Dexiang asked.

"Yes, in the long run, this is the most cost-effective way, and it will break the determination of other companies to develop this kind of software." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

The real ban is actually to launch such products on a large scale, take advantage of the first-mover advantage, and gain the market, so that even if the latecomers have research and development capabilities, it is useless, because the market is gone. In this case, unless there is a revolutionary breakthrough with abnormal advantages , otherwise there would be no chance.

Later generations of Weiruan used this model to occupy the domestic market. Even if they give you free pirated copies, it’s okay, because if you don’t give it, then the country will definitely develop its own system. If it goes on for a long time, maybe one day it will go abroad. Threat to Weiruan's monopoly position.

"As for the game, can you give it to us alone?" Lin Dexiang asked.

"I can give you a certain amount of time, but it's impossible to keep it on our own computers all the time. Computers all over the world will be customers of all my software." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.

The game is indeed exclusive and patentable, and it is difficult for others to copy it, but in terms of profit, it is definitely more cost-effective to sell it in large quantities, especially if it can be sold together with the future window, then it will sit firmly on the Diaoyutai.

"Okay, I understand." Lin Dexiang suddenly felt a little stressed again. The computer sold well before, to a certain extent, he relied on his own wonderful games and two high-quality office software.

"Actually, if we really want to gain a firm foothold in the personal computer market, we can't rely on these software. At most, we can only improve the sales in the short term. If we want to grow in the long run, we still have to rely on technology." Chen Zhiwen said: "We have gained a lot in the game market Although many methods have been used to make profits, there will still be a lot of funds remaining in the United States. This fund will be invested in our laboratories in the United States first, and we will concentrate on research and development. The higher the better, the better.”

Although like arcade machines, Midea has adopted the model of using companies in tax havens to trade between the United States and Hong Kong, leaving a lot of profits in the accounts of tax havens, but no matter what, it has made money from the United States. This is the final market Well, the U.S. government is not a fool. Many restrictions will inevitably lead to a lot of funds staying in the United States.

If these funds are to be slipped out legally, and an additional tax has to be paid, it is better to put them in the United States and engage in research and development. In the current world, the United States is still the holy land for the birth of global science and technology. Chen Zhiwen also needs a large number of talents here to realize his own. Target.

"Okay, but, Mr. Chen, if we develop some new software that is easier to use, can we have the right to use it independently and only put it on our computer." Lin Dexiang said suddenly.

"Okay, I will give you this right, but you will still find that this trick is difficult to work, unless you also engage in games. But games, although others cannot copy them, can still be developed Another kind." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

This right is actually not important. Before Windows dominated the world, some computer companies did the same, making their own software packages, which caused headaches for many consumers.

And after Windows unified the world, it began to let the software develop benignly. What I need to wait is for Windows to dominate the world, and even push forward a little bit, so that this day will come as soon as possible. In this way, the unified global market is more in line with his launch. software or games.

"Thank you Mr. Chen, we have to try anyway." Lin Dexiang said with a smile.