Video Game Empire

The change of Computer Garden Company is not just as simple as nearly doubling the total number of branches, but more importantly, the change in internal quality. ￡∝Small, when Li Xuan just acquired the computer garden in 1980, the proportion of the company's self-operated stores was very small, and the main way of expansion was to adopt the means of franchise.

As a result, the size of each branch varies, and the quality of service varies, which is not conducive to the establishment of the company's brand and the unified management of the company for a long time. So after Li Xuan completed the acquisition, he began to actively change the original development strategy. Large-scale investment in the construction of large directly-operated stores, elimination of a number of small-scale and unreasonable franchise stores, and construction of a complete logistics and warehousing system.

In the early 1980s, Li Xuan spent only $33 million on the acquisition of Computer Park. In the past two years, the follow-up investment of the Oriental Group to the company has reached 200 million US dollars. In addition, after Aikang Computer Company went public last year, it took out 50 million pounds to inject capital into Computer Garden Company.

You must know that the total global retail scale of the personal computer industry this year is only 4 billion US dollars. The computer garden company has invested more than 300 million US dollars in two years, and it is impossible to break even by relying on sales revenue alone. It can be described as the largest cash funnel within the Oriental Group, continuously eating up the profits created by other companies.

Since the r-1 processor was launched last year, as the sales of personal computers using the r-1 processor such as ab-3 and ab-p4 began to explode, another big spender under Dongfang Electronics Co., Ltd. - Dongfang Research Institute, Finance The situation has begun to improve rapidly. The commercial processor s-100 of the new architecture ps is also listed with the -8203 workstation of Aikon. Start to create a steady stream of profits.

I believe that it will not be long before the Oriental Research Institute can achieve a balance of payments. And along with other computer companies. It has also begun to join the ranks of purchasing r-1 processors, and the Oriental Research Institute is likely to break out next year. Become the new cash cow of the Oriental Group.

In contrast, the two companies, Dongfang Semiconductor and Computer Garden, have been sucking blood from a steady stream of losses since their establishment. Fortunately, these losses are the necessary inputs to quickly occupy the market and explode production capacity in the early stage.

In addition to the construction of sales stores and logistics centers, a large part of the $300 million in financing obtained by Computer Garden is used for advertising. It is through the crushing of US dollars that the computer garden company's status as the world's largest computer distributor has been exchanged. In the United States, the main battlefield, 5 out of every 10 PCs sold come from Computer Garden Corporation.

"Boss. In addition to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Solomon Brothers, and First Boston have all sent us their cooperation intentions!" John Martin said to Li Xuan with a smile. Although it was not him who made the final decision, the wonderful feeling of being surrounded by the entire Wall Street still made him very proud.

"The nose of this group of people is really smart!" Li Xuan shook his head and smiled, he just had this intention.

"They are like a group of hyenas foraging for food. As soon as they smell the fragrance of food, they will immediately swarm up!" John Martin figuratively said.

According to the forecast of a professional market analysis agency at the beginning of the year, the sales of personal computers in the United States this year will double on the basis of last year. A few years ago. The entire PC market is too small, and even if the growth rate is relatively high, the total size is still small. But after several years of development, the sales of personal computers have grown significantly.

US retail sales of personal computers totaled $1 billion last year. And this year is only the total sales for the first half of the year. It has already reached 1.02 billion, and it is not a problem to exceed 2 billion in the whole year, which fully fulfills the predictions of relevant institutions.

With the rapid advancement of personal computer technology. The whole society has gradually recognized its status. Everyone no longer regards it as a toy for computer enthusiasts, but has become a new electronic device that can promote the efficiency of work and life. It can be said. After several years of brewing, the personal computer industry is finally entering a period of truly explosive growth.

And the computer garden company through large-scale investment. A perfect layout was carried out one step in advance, so as to seize an important opportunity. With the surge in personal computer sales, more and more capital will enter the terminal retail industry.

Business competition is like sailing against the current. If you do not advance, you will retreat. If the computer park company wants to continue to maintain its share in the expanded market, it is bound to continue to increase investment and extend its tentacles to those areas that it has not yet set foot in.

Now that the bright market prospects can be predicted, it is time for Computer Park to sell. Therefore, Li Xuan decided to start the listing plan and gradually absorb more capital to join in, so that the computer garden company can firmly control its position as the industry leader in this wave of personal computer sales.

"John, do you have any suggestions and plans for the company's next development?" Li Xuan asked. He called the other party from San Francisco to Hong Kong. In addition to discussing the listing, another important topic was to discuss the company's next development direction. After two years of crazy development, Computer Garden Company has reached a bottleneck period.

"Boss, our company has already planned the full coverage of self-operated stores in major densely populated areas and large and medium-sized cities in the United States. I think the next step should be to return to the original franchise store construction, after all, in the central and northwestern regions, etc. In rural areas, the marginal benefit of building large direct-sale stores is too low!" John Martin said confidently. Before he came to Hong Kong, he already had a detailed draft and was ready to accept the boss's inquiries.

Most of the U.S. population is concentrated in the eastern and western coastal regions. In the central part of the interior, and a large area in the northwest adjacent to Canada, there are a large number of farms for planting and animal husbandry. The population density of these areas is relatively low, and the economy is relatively backward.

After the computer garden company was acquired by Li Xuan, the franchise policy initially implemented has almost completely stagnated. In the past two years, not only did not add new franchise stores, but they kept eliminating them. In these less developed regions, the demand for high-tech products such as computers will be much smaller. It is not cost-effective for a computer garden company to open a store on its own, so it is better to find a suitable partner locally.

Martin paused and continued: "I think the company's next store layout should be mainly concentrated in Europe. There is a relatively weak area for us. Especially in Western Europe, whether it is the level of economic development. Or the level of education, compared to California, New York and other places are not inferior and belong to the best-selling areas of computers.

Moreover, the computer industry in Europe is not as developed as the United States, and the personal computer market has just started, and it is the best time for us to enter. Once the local sales companies start to staking a lot of horses, we will encounter huge resistance to enter! "

Li Xuan nodded his head. The reason why he planned to let Computer Park Company seek external financing was to seize the global market as soon as possible. Because it is impossible for the Oriental Group to concentrate all its funds on it. There are many other projects that require investment.

"In addition to the expansion of stores, I personally think that the company has also encountered a bottleneck in the sales of personal computers! Now that we have a market share of 50% in the United States, continuing to pursue a larger market share may not be able to bring profits. growth, after all we can't swallow the whole market!

Where is the company's new profit growth? I think it's time to start diversifying. The retail industry in the United States is now at a critical time to transform from a grocery store model to a hypermarket! Our company can quickly transform into a large chain store selling all kinds of electronic appliances with the help of the brands accumulated in the previous marketing and publicity! "

Li Xuan frowned. He remembered Best Buy, the world's largest home appliance retailer. It's really getting into the fast lane since the 1980s. Another American retail giant, Wal-Mart, also began to make rapid progress in the 1980s. The founder, Walton, has been the richest man in the United States since 1985 by virtue of the rapid expansion of Wal-Mart. The United States in the 1980s was indeed in a period of change in the commercial sales model.

"I need more market research and feasibility analysis. To support your view!" Li Xuan did not directly agree, nor did he refuse. Transformation is by no means an easy task, and requires more adequate arguments.

John Martin looked happy. He also knew it wasn't something that happened overnight. If the computer garden company transforms from a single sales of computers to a full range of electronic products. Then most of the existing stores need to be expanded, and the location elements of new stores will also need to be redesigned in the future. This is definitely a huge challenge for the company.

In fact, this diversified sales plan. As early as last year, it began to germinate in Martin's heart. He has also carried out some feasibility studies within his own right. Now that he is recognized by the big boss Li Xuan, he can mobilize the power of the company in an upright manner and start a comprehensive research and analysis. Before the advent of e-commerce, this one-stop shopping mall was still very competitive.

"Don't worry about the sales transformation, first find a consulting agency to conduct a detailed market analysis. I have a suggestion for the next development strategy of Computer Garden Company!" said Li Xuan.

John Martin immediately withdrew the smile on his face, and with a very professional attitude, was ready to listen to Li Xuan's next suggestion.

"I have always believed that the end of sales should not only be until the product is sold to customers, but should continue until the end of the product's life! The competition in the retail industry is not only a one-sided price competition, but also a competition in after-sales service! "

Li Xuan said loudly, with a hint of confidence in his tone, "Most of the personal computer products sold by Computer Garden Company are provided with warranty services by the manufacturers. However, most of the warranty methods require customers to send them to the after-sales service for maintenance and repair. Door-to-door service is not provided.

Although the United States is a country on wheels, most people have their own cars and travel is very convenient. However, in the same US, the land is sparsely populated, and the population is scattered, and many users are not close to the maintenance.

And as personal computers enter thousands of households, many new users do not have much computer knowledge. Sometimes it might just be a small software compatibility issue, or a command typo, and to them it's like a broken computer. The computer must be moved and sent to a professional computer engineer for repair.

The reason why most computer companies, including Aikang, do not provide door-to-door repair services, is because of the expensive labor costs in the United States! In order to reduce after-sales costs, Aikang even entrusted most of the after-sales services to the computer garden, relying on the widely distributed self-operated stores in the computer garden, eliminating the need for a lot of investment in building an after-sales network.

So can the computer garden launch some paid door-to-door service options on this basis? For example, to customize a $19.9 annual package, customers of ab computer only need to call the service hotline when they encounter problems, and a dedicated engineer will provide door-to-door service!

Of course, the specific pricing also requires special cost analysis, and in order to prevent customers from randomly applying for on-site after-sales service, customers can be required to pay a certain on-site service fee for those after-sales applications that are not covered by the warranty! "

ps: Ask for a recommendation ticket! I haven't asked for a ticket for a long time, I hope to give myself some motivation! (To be continued..)