"Okay, no problem." Zeng Zixing nodded and agreed.
"Come on, boss, let's get two more bottles of cold beer and Sprite." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
Zeng Zixing suddenly mentioned the Canton Fair, which reminded him that since countries like Indonesia can make paper, there is no reason why it can’t be done domestically. As long as there is this industry, there is no reason for his own orders to be cheaper than those of outsiders. You know, the order volume is not small, Europe and the United States The demand for toilet paper has reached a level that many people in Asia cannot understand. In a few years, Costco will have more branches, and with the possible cooperation of Walmart, it will not be a problem for orders in this field to exceed tens of millions of dollars.
After finishing the spicy meal, Chen Zhiwen was sweating profusely. After saying goodbye to Zeng Zixin, he went to his nearby villa to wash down a mandarin duck meal.
A few days later, the sage's time came, and Chen Zhiwen once again went to work, but instead of running the operations of the head office, he followed Midea's R&D team to gain a certain understanding of the research and development of inverter air conditioners.
Core components such as compressors, temperature control sensors, and controllers are all purchased from imported brands. The only thing that needs Midea’s R&D team to do is to perfectly match these components together, which also requires the preparation of a control software and the ability to carry this software. Operating hardware motherboard.
"In other words, is it still a problem of not being able to control the number of chips?" After listening to the technician's explanation in the simplest language, Chen Zhiwen probably understood the meaning.
"Yes, our team's design requires 7 chips to control the system. However, the cost is too high. The price of each chip is 20 US dollars." Lei Shengli said with some embarrassment. An ordinary air conditioner in Europe and the United States is also expensive. However, at less than three to four hundred dollars, their chip price accounts for almost half of the cost, which means there is no market at all.
"As for the chip and software, after Woz has designed the arcade machine, ask him to take care of it. In addition, your people should learn more. This is a rare opportunity." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.
Woz's ability in designing motherboards for chips is extraordinary. After helping Jobs to design the bricks, Jobs brought the motherboards back to Atari. Atari's engineers first designed the 44 chips directly. It was said that it was impossible. After Jobs started the game, these engineers faced the reality and began to study Woz's design. However, after studying it for a week or two, they still could not figure out the principles. Later, Atari executives could not wait any longer and decided to Arrangements were made for the factory to follow the same pattern of production. Rumor has it that it took more than three months for Atari's team to fully understand Woz's design, but they were unable to imitate his design and use it in other games.
At that time, Jobs had been hiding the person behind the design of this motherboard. Atari executives wanted to learn about and hire this expert through Jobs, but Jobs refused to disclose any information, and finally the matter was dropped.
Only Jobs discovered the huge value of Woz. Even Woz himself didn't know how valuable his design ability to reduce the number of chips is in this era where performance can be improved by stacking chips.
"Okay, I'll make arrangements then." Lei Shengli nodded and said.
Looking at a group of designers who seemed embarrassed, Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "Lao Lei, don't think too much. The design capabilities in Hong Kong are indeed far inferior to those of American professionals. The road has to be walked step by step. In the future, a more professional R&D team will be established in the United States, and Hong Kong can also communicate frequently and learn more."
"Yes, Hong Kong is so lacking in electronic products!" Lei Shengli nodded and said.
"In terms of technology, you formulate a talent training plan, invite various engineers from European, American or Japanese electrical appliance companies to come to Hong Kong to teach, and then make long-term phone calls and ask them to be consultants. If you have any questions, you can ask them at any time. In terms of funding, things will be much better next year." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and then said.
Unlike those domestic companies in later generations, Midea currently does not have any potential market in Hong Kong. It is basically impossible to find a way in the mature European and American markets. However, fortunately, Chen Zhiwen's layout in the US retail industry has Let yourself have sales channels that you can absolutely control, and even after-sales costs can be greatly reduced. Even if you don't do well in the future and can't grab the status of the mainstream market, you can survive successfully until the mainland opens. You can use the low-priced labor in the mainland to further reduce costs and gain more opportunities, but this requires having relevant products.
No matter how high-tech it is, Midea's future products must at least have a little bit of its own technology, so it must invest in R&D and technology. This is an investment that may not be directly rewarded for several years or even longer, but it must be done. In order to poach people directly from Japanese semiconductor companies in the field of semiconductors and liquid crystals, Samsung in later generations would stay in South Korea from Monday to Friday and return to Japan on weekends. All expenses would be reimbursed by Samsung. A huge amount of money was invested to create the future Samsung Electronics Empire. .
Today's Midea naturally does not have this ability. Japan's industrial and electronic industries are still at their peak. It is impossible to poach too many people at the moment, so they can only take other routes. It is no problem to invite them to work part-time, but now The efficiency is too low. For many things, we may only be able to communicate via telegram and then phone.
"Understood, Chen Sheng." Lei Shengli said.
"Okay, you can continue, I'm leaving." After Chen Zhiwen learned about the current progress, it was OK. The development cycle of this new product is based on months, and it may take several years. Fortunately, every year the arcade It can be profitable, and the increase in capital investment can speed up the process a lot.
Investment in technology research and development has just begun, but the determination is definitely long-lasting.
After leaving Midea, Chen Zhiwen returned home. Chen Tianfu was tinkering with some couplets to be used during the New Year. His calligraphy was good and he wrote all the words in the couplets.
"Come on, Awen, give me a hand." Chen Tianfu shouted immediately when he saw his son.
"Okay." Chen Zhiwen stepped forward, held down the couplets, and looked at the other small couplets on the table. The word "福" in them had all been written. It was really similar to the fonts bought in the market.
With the help of his son, Chen Tianfu wrote like a god and finished the couplet in a short time. He said with a smile: "Okay, just stick it on the door during the Chinese New Year."
"You can buy something for just a few dollars from a hawker, but you have to spend half a day looking for something to do." Her mother, Wu Xiuling, said with some confusion.
"This is called fun. Only the handwriting you write has the flavor of the year, isn't it, Awen." Chen Tianfu said with a smile: "You should also practice calligraphy, and you will write next year."
"Then forget it." Chen Zhiwen quickly shook his head. Coming from the era of the Internet and smartphones, he couldn't even calligraphy with a pen, let alone calligraphy with a brush.
"The culture of our ancestors is almost gone." Chen Tianfu shook his head helplessly, and then the two of them put away their things together.
"Awen, your company's affairs are almost done?" Wu Xiuling asked.
"That's almost it. I shouldn't need to go before the Chinese New Year." Chen Zhiwen paused and said, "I'm going to buy a mountainside villa. What do you two think is good?"
(End of chapter)
