The Industrial Giant Reborn

"According to the regulations of the Hong Kong government, the Hong Kong Telephone Company can only undertake telephone services in the city. All overseas communications are handled by the Dadong Telegraph Bureau. So what if we use wireless phones instead of wired phones? Yes. Isn’t it possible to bypass the Hong Kong government’s control?” Chen Zhiwen asked again.

Telephone communications, the most basic industry for people's livelihood in Hong Kong, have two companies.

One is the Hong Kong Telephone Company, which was acquired by Land and Land, and the other is the Tai Tung Cable and Telegraph Bureau. In the late 1980s, the Hong Kong Telephone Company and the Tai Tung Telegraph Bureau merged to form the Hong Kong Telecommunications Company, which eventually became the Hong Kong Telecommunications Company. In the hands of his son Li Zekai, therefore, future generations are not very clear about the situation of Hong Kong's telephone communications industry.

Like the electric power and public transportation industries, the two communication companies are not really competing. Instead, the Hong Kong Telephone Company is responsible for internal calls, that is, calls between Hong Kong locals, while the Taitung Cable and Telegraph Bureau is responsible for internal and external contacts. Telephone.

The two parties cannot involve each other's field within the legal restrictions. However, the previous law was aimed at wired telephones. This is different now. Although it is not a mobile phone yet, wireless communication is completely a new industry, so there is a bypass. Possibility of over-restriction.

Previously, Chen Zhiwen asked the Hong Kong Telephone Company to adopt wireless signal equipment to cover parts of Hong Kong Island. In addition to testing the waters first, he also wanted to test the attitude of the Taitung Cable and Telegraph Bureau.

And the other party didn't give any feedback. Maybe it's because the current mobile phone is too expensive. One phone can be worth several ordinary cars. Who wouldn't be willing to do it if you're not super rich? If you really can't hire a secretary, you can just keep an eye on the phone.

Spending tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars just for a little time outside, and often without signal, is not cost-effective for many wealthy people. Therefore, this investment is completely loss-making for the Hong Kong Telephone Company, and the Cable and Telegraph The Bureau may not care that much.

"Theoretically, this is indeed a new product, and the Hong Kong government has no restrictions. However, there are too few people who can use this thing. Even if we build signal towers, we will probably suffer huge losses." Dong Youwei analyzed.

"It's a loss now, but if the signal tower doesn't cover it well, then who will buy it?" Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "This thing actually belongs to infrastructure. Only when the roads are built will there be cars."

Lei Shengli on the side also smiled and said: "Sheng Dong, we are very optimistic about this wireless communication model internally, but the current cost is a bit high. In the future, it will definitely be the same as home phones, and a person will only need one phone at home. , but maybe everyone wants this kind of portable mobile phone, and the market potential is much greater.

The current problems are that they are expensive and too large, but these are all possible solutions. Just like computers a few decades ago, they were larger than a house and worth more than a million dollars. But now computers are becoming more and more expensive. The smaller they get, the more affordable they become, and the price gradually decreases. "

"Yes, so we need to take advantage of the fact that the Hong Kong government has not paid attention to this area and control the Hong Kong market first." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

Not to mention Hong Kong, even in Europe and the United States, many countries do not pay attention to this aspect. They all regard mobile phones and wireless communications as toys for the rich. They never imagined that they would be popularized to the extent that almost everyone has one in more than ten years.

This is actually normal. The personalization movement of computers has only been around for a few years, but even though Steve Jobs has been around for a few years, only a very small number of people can afford computers.

But the development of the electronics industry will have a qualitative improvement since 1985. Moore's Law is like a snowball. In the early days, no one paid much attention to it even if it doubled in size. But when it reaches a large scale, it will continue to grow. The exponential growth rate brought about a great revolution in the technology industry, including the subsequent birth of the Internet.

The same is true for the mobile phone industry. Before 1985, the wealthy people did not bother to keep their old eldest brothers by their side and left them to assistants. In their minds, the role of a eldest brother was just to add that when they were not in a fixed position, It's just a gap for a period of time when we live in the residence. Besides, even if there is no big brother, under normal circumstances, there won't be anything urgent.

Therefore, even in Western countries, wireless signals are only installed in the core areas of a few cities, and because there are so few people using them, call charges are very high.

There may be some people with good eyesight who can see that once the cost of mobile phones is reduced and the number of users increases, the cost of communication will also be reduced, and a virtuous cycle will be formed, but no one can imagine that this day will come soon.

The same is naturally true for the people in the Hong Kong government. They don't have this vision, let alone the current situation in Hong Kong. How can they think about these things? The only thing they need to care about is the Dadong Cable and Telegraph Bureau. Behind them is the British Telecom Consortium. We may also try to deploy wireless communications in Hong Kong.

Dong Youwei said: "According to the historical style of the Hong Kong government, even if we monopolize the market first, our license may still be restricted later."

"It is possible." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, "But the Hong Kong government in the future will be different from before. Maybe there will be a turn for the better. This matter cannot be predicted. Let's wait until it happens in the future!"

It is indeed impossible to have a complete monopoly. The profits of this thing are too high, and there will always be others who want to enter the market. Historically, after Li Jiacheng controlled the Hong Kong telecommunications market, the Hong Kong government released several more licenses, which immediately attracted other giant companies. The involvement of the Wharf Group in particular also led to huge conflicts between the Li family and the Wu family (one of Pao Yugang's sons-in-law) among several major families in Hong Kong.

Although his influence is definitely greater than that of the Li family, he will not let others make money without making money. Besides, it is one thing to take advantage of the opportunity to make money first. Chen Zhiwen is happy to do this, but he will not say that others in his field If you enter the market, you will offend yourself. It is too overbearing to act like this in the shopping mall, and no government will allow this kind of thing. But if it relies on scale, better services and prices to gain market share, then no government can say anything.

"Okay, then I will arrange for people to contact the international communication giants to find suitable suppliers." Dong Youwei agreed.

"Well, your people don't know much about the communications business. Don't be fooled by the idiots from the Hong Kong Telephone Company. Midea will also send some people over to help." Chen Zhiwen added.

"Okay." Dong Youwei agreed, and then asked: "Lei Sheng, I heard that Midea also produces telephone switches in the mainland. Could it be that Midea is also preparing to enter the wireless communications field?"

"I have this idea, but Hong Kong is a technology desert in this field. This time, our people participated in the construction of wireless communication base stations of the Hong Kong Telephone Company in Hong Kong, which means we want to take advantage of the opportunity to learn more." Lei Shengli Said with a smile.

"This industry is relatively difficult, and we need to overcome it slowly. This time is equivalent to a start." Chen Zhiwen said: "We will take this opportunity to let Midea colleagues learn more."

Although technology companies can rely on some creativity to occupy the market in a short period of time and gain huge profits, the essence of the company is still technology. If the technical capabilities are strong enough, they will not be afraid of being replaced. Previously, the development of Midea's computer hardware was not very good. Okay, let Chen Zhiwen understand that without technology, he can only rely on creativity in games or service software to develop. Although this market is not small, the upper limit is too low.

It is not difficult for Midea to make something like an operating system in the current environment, but without the background, it cannot be promoted globally, because this kind of thing is actually based on many basic technologies. Without the support of these basic technologies, it would No matter how well you do it, it's useless. For example, if someone else's chip doesn't recognize your software, then it's completely useless.

The same goes for communication technology, but fortunately, this thing is different from the operating system. It is not a technology, but thousands of technology combinations. From 1G at the beginning to 4G and 5G later, it is actually tens of thousands of dollars in many companies. A combination of patented technologies.

The most important thing is that any communication technology company that wants to make mobile phones well needs to cross-license different patents with other companies. The same goes for future generations of powerful companies such as Huawei and Qualcomm. And if you don’t have any reserves of your own, then don’t get into this business. You will definitely lose money by buying patents, and you can’t even buy them. Just like HTC, they will only be a mirror image in the mobile phone industry.

Chen Zhiwen’s pursuit is also very simple. He does not need to become a top giant in the communications industry. He just needs to have some market. This industry is too difficult, so just stop at it. The reason why he insists on doing it is because in the future, he will definitely make a mobile phone, and mobile phones If you want to do well, you must have good technical reserves in communications.

In the early days when the mobile phone industry just broke out, unlike Xiaomi a few decades later, as long as they had money, they could let Foxconn manufacture mobile phones.

The mobile phone giants of the 1990s: Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Sony, and even the rising star BlackBerry all had a strong foundation in technology to succeed.

Midea must also develop in this direction. Without technology, it is absolutely difficult to make mobile phones. Midea's strength is creativity. Perhaps Chen Zhiwen can provide advice on appearance, games, and interfaces, but no matter how good these are, if the signal is poor, then Will there still be consumers who like it?

Especially in the 1990s, when the signal coverage strength in various parts of the world, including Europe and the United States, was far inferior to what it would be a few decades later, whether the signal was good or not was an important factor in the success of a mobile phone. Well, it’s not easy.

Although he was not very successful in the field of computer hardware, Chen Zhiwen realized that the core of technology companies is technology reserves and patents. Various ideas are indeed useful, and at least they can make a lot of profits, but this road cannot go on forever. Special The number of ideas is always limited, and history has changed so much that the future of the electronics industry may be completely different.

"Understood, we will fully cooperate with Midea." Dong Youwei said.

Although the land value is very high, if the real estate market in Hong Kong resumes its bull market as the boss said, the value will definitely rise several times more, but it is far behind compared to Midea. He is the real direct son. The core of the group.

"Okay, you two will discuss this matter later on how to cooperate later. This matter is very important, but there is no rush in terms of time." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Then I'll trouble Dong Sheng." Lei Sheng said with a smile.

"You're welcome, Lei Sheng. We are all brother companies, so we should cooperate." Dong Youwei also said.

"Well, by the way, one more thing. I remember we discussed the Cultural Oriental Hotel before." Chen Zhiwen added: "In the mainland, although there are no relevant laws yet, those cities that are open to the outside world are basically Now that it can be a sole proprietorship, you can talk to them and build a hotel in each of these cities."

PS: Please vote for me, there will be another chapter tonight (this chapter is over)