(Suddenly notified that it will be released in the early morning, one chapter will be published first, and it will be supplemented during the day. I hope everyone will support it. How many millions of words this book can write is up to you!)
How important is an excellent talent when making arcade machines? This may be difficult to describe, at least it is at the level of tens of millions of dollars. Woz is such a person.
In this era when the electronics industry has just developed and the simplest chips cost tens of dollars, the cost of chips is very expensive. This is why computers are all industrial or commercial products. Each of them has a very high profit and can afford the high price. The minimum price of an industrial computer from Wang An Company is more than 30,000 US dollars, while IBM's starts at 100,000 US dollars and normally costs more than 1 million US dollars. Only the national government and top companies can afford it. .
But arcade machines, as civilian products, are actually the same as personal computers that will appear in a few years. They rely on quantity to open the market. This requires reducing costs, that is, the number of chips, as Woz solved before The problem is, no matter how good Atari's games are, they require at least 120 chips. The ex-factory price of the arcade machine is four to five thousand US dollars. When it comes to the bar terminal, it will cost 5,000 to 6,000 US dollars. Not many bars can afford an arcade machine of this price. It is impossible to get back the investment even if you buy it back, which stifles the development of the entire industry.
But the design of Woz's 44 chips allows the ex-factory price to be controlled at around US$1,500. In this way, the bar terminal will only cost two to three thousand US dollars, which is more than half the price. In this way, the bar can make back its money. In other words, they are willing to purchase. When the purchase volume is sufficient, Atari can also rely on volume to reduce the purchase cost of chips, forming a closed loop of commercial success.
Since then, the arcade industry, like personal computers, has officially entered a stage of development.
It can be said that the emergence of arcade machines is inevitable, but high-end talents like Woz have the ability to advance the commercialization of arcade machines by one or two years.
If Chen Zhiwen plans to make an arcade machine, he must have such talents, and he must also place the R&D center in the United States, at least initially, because if it is placed in Hong Kong, it is estimated that it may not be possible to build it with 500 chips, but as long as Once Woz's team has designed it, it can be handed over to Hong Kong for production.
Midea only needs to wait up to one more month before Midea can start designing its first core product. Otherwise, the entire company will be in a state of serious losses because chip technology is updated every two years.
The chips two years ago were unable to meet the requirements of simple arcade machines. This year, the cost of chips has been reduced a lot, allowing this thing to be started. However, the games launched now are just testing the waters in the market. If you want to reach the peak, you have to Wait a few more years for the chip capabilities to improve to a higher level and make the game screen smoother. At least it must be able to run games like Space Invaders smoothly.
The arcade layout came to an end, and Chen Zhiwen once again went to Berkshire Hathaway in Nebraska because he received an invitation from Chaikens.
"Nice to see you again, Mr. Buffett." In a quiet coffee shop private room, Chen Zhiwen met Buffett and his assistant Chaikens again.
"Mr. Chen, I'm glad to see you again." Buffett said with a smile: "I heard that Mr. Chen's supermarket has opened in Los Angeles. Congratulations."
"It's a small effort, but it's still far behind Mr. Buffett's achievements." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. For those with some resources, it is not difficult to find out Chen Zhiwen's industries in the United States, such as his previous acquisitions in the stock market. Wal-Mart's stock was announced because it reached the critical point of 5%. Although no one cared at the time that a Chinese acquired the stock of an ordinary supermarket company, this was also public information and anyone could check it. The acquisition of Fedmart was also obtained from the stock market. After the acquisition, there will be delisting in the future. As for Costco, can the government find out who it belongs to?
"At Mr. Chen's age, I'm just a small investor, but I can't compare to Mr. Chen's current achievements." Buffett smiled and said, "Mr. Chen seems to be very optimistic about the U.S. retail industry?"
In a previous meeting, Buffett didn't pay much attention to the Asian in front of him. Later, after Chaikens came back from Hong Kong, he praised Chen Zhiwen's social and economic cognition. This aroused Buffett's interest. He then arranged for a thorough investigation and found out. , the young man in front of me has invested tens of millions of dollars in the US market, and has achieved quite a lot in Hong Kong. But if I want to find out where he earned so much money, I can't do it, because he has nothing at all before. industry.
Looking back at Chen Zhiwen's investments in the United States, he actually only invested in the retail industry, acquiring a business and running it himself. In addition, he acquired the shares of a family-owned retail company with a good development trend. Of course, there may be other investments as well. But either they don’t invest much, or they are very hidden.
"I am very optimistic. I think that in the near future, the retail industry in the United States will experience a blowout development." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
Buffett frowned and said, "Why? The U.S. economy is not doing well now?"
"When there is danger, there is opportunity. Times like this are actually opportunities to eliminate the weak. Those who are incompetent will be eliminated during this period. Those who survive will achieve higher results as long as they persevere and wait until the economy recovers." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said.
"So Mr. Chen is optimistic about this supermarket called Wal-Mart?" Buffett nodded and said: "I checked the recent annual report of this supermarket. The speed of development is indeed amazing, and the capital turnover efficiency is also very high. It is indeed a very promising company. company, Mr. Chen is far away in Hong Kong, how did he choose this company?"
"That's my secret." Chen Zhiwen said calmly: "Mr. Buffett also wants to invest in the retail industry?"
"I don't have this plan for the time being, but I don't rule it out. I still need to observe further." Buffett said with a smile.
"OK, how about the establishment of a factory in Hong Kong that I discussed with Mr. Chaikens before? How is Mr. Buffett's consideration?" Chen Zhiwen turned back to the topic. He was not worried that Buffett would come to grab stocks from him, because in history Buffett is very cautious. He was optimistic about Coca-Cola as early as the early 1980s, but he waited until 1988 to purchase large quantities of Coca-Cola. This also shows that he spent a long time on each investment and had a plan for every step. Because I suddenly learned about a good company from others, I rushed to enter the market. If there is no certainty like this, it is impossible to become a stock god in future generations.
Taking a step back, even if Buffett also invests in the retail industry, he may not choose Wal-Mart. Even if he chooses, Wal-Mart's equity structure will prevent him from investing more. This will actually have a positive impact on Chen Zhiwen, because more funds will enter the market. The stock price will only increase significantly.
And his most important layout in the United States is currently Costco. This is the fundamental influence on the future foundation. A sole proprietorship will not be affected in any way.
"One thing I don't quite understand is why Mr. Chen is interested in the textile industry?" Buffett asked: "It's not because you invested in a supermarket in the United States, right? With the supermarket's small orders, the cost impact of the textile industry is not significant at all."
(End of chapter)
