After Henry Morgan left, Chen Zhiwen asked his assistant to notify Lei Shengli to come over.
"Henry Morgan has promised us to ask our connections. If his connections are stronger and we provide some sponsorship to US congressmen, it shouldn't be a problem." Chen Zhiwen said.
"That would be great. If we can produce chips for home appliances in Hong Kong, the cost will be much lower." Lei Shengli said with some joy.
They have tried to purchase the latest chip production line through normal channels before, and the manufacturer is very interested, because the price offered by Midea is not low, but as a high-tech controlled product, there are many restrictions on exports.
"There is still a little chance now, but it will become increasingly difficult in a few years." Chen Zhiwen said again.
Today's Hong Kong is not a place strictly controlled by the United States, but the entire semiconductor industry is a moat left by the American industry. Especially after the wave of globalization and the popularity of shipping containers, many American industries were forced to relocate due to cost.
Fortunately, it is only 1977. As for the export of chip production equipment, as long as it is not from those countries and regions named, it will not have to go to Congress. It only needs to get through some officials.
In a few years, especially after the rise of Japanese semiconductors, they began to beat the United States, and control in this area became very strict.
As for the chip industry in the future, it will definitely be controlled by the United States. Samsung is such a product, and the same is true for TSMC. Chen Zhiwen never thought that he would have the hope to compete with them. That is just a dream. Even if ZZ reasons are not considered, in the talent environment of Hong Kong , is also unlikely to succeed.
However, the home appliance industry does not have high requirements for chips. The purpose of building a factory in Hong Kong is mainly to cooperate with the home appliance industry in realizing the transformation to chip-based control, because it was difficult to succeed in the previous home appliance field.
The simplest example is that remote controls for color TVs and air conditioners are not available in this era because they require chips and integrated circuits. Midea can try to make them first, or in other words, make them in the first batch, which will always have an advantage.
But this premise is that R&D and production can coordinate smoothly. If you expect chips to be produced overseas, it is impossible. Mistakes may occur during R&D. There is basically no quantity. Who will do it for you?
Therefore, regardless of whether the chip industry will die in the future, it is still needed now. Otherwise, the home appliance field will be far behind other peers. This may be an opportunity for the home appliance field to gain more markets.
Besides, there is still a lot of room before Samsung and TSMC unify the chip market, and the most important thing is that these two giants will basically only produce high-end electronic chips in the future, and will not produce other products such as industrial chips or automotive chips. , later generations of automobile industry often lack core, which has a lot to do with these two companies.
If you enter the chip field and are squeezed in the mid-term, you can completely transform into producing chips for non-civilian products. Although you may continue to lose money here, as long as you survive for more than ten years and work hard in the field of industrial and automotive chips, by the 21st century, There will still be many opportunities.
Even at the beginning of the 21st century, in addition to TSMC and Samsung, there were a large number of non-high-end chip production factories in the world. However, these companies did not have strong capital behind them and relied entirely on themselves to survive. The industrial market was too small. As a result, many of these companies suffered long-term losses, and most of them were driven bankrupt. Only a few seized the opportunities in the automotive industry and slowly grew. After 2010, the era of automotive electrification came, and the importance of chips became more and more important. Going higher and finally getting through to spring is Chen Zhiwen’s current goal.
Thirdly, you can also produce the home appliance chips you need yourself. If you can really make a difference in the home appliance market, the market will not be small. Of course, it is still far from the big chip companies such as mobile phones and computers.
"There is nothing we can do, but the home appliance market does not have very high requirements for chip manufacturing processes, so there should be no problems in a short time." Lei Shengli said.
"Let's take one step at a time, and even if we can't make chips, we still have to participate. When can the patch machine production line in Midea Industrial Park start production?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
"Japanese engineers are debugging, and it is estimated that trial production will not start until next month." Lei Shengli said.
"Okay, let our people work with translators and learn more from these Japanese engineers. In addition, give these Japanese some red envelopes and let them teach more. It is best to give our people separate classes after get off work in the evening. We must make sure to teach them I have learned the knowledge." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
The scale of the semiconductor industry is very large, the most important of which is naturally chips, and then there are various storage particles, electronic components, etc., and all these electronic components need to be placed on circuit boards, which are often referred to as PCBs. plate.
The technological content of the front-end of the chip industry is too high, and it basically requires national-level or top-level industry research and development to make progress. Chen Zhiwen naturally knew that he did not have the ability, so the first step he took was to make integrated circuit PCB boards.
This requirement is very simple. Just spend money to purchase relevant equipment and then build a dust-free workshop in Hong Kong. So in the middle of last year, Midea placed an order for a complete set of equipment from a Japanese company and also invited a Japanese industrial construction company. When I came to Hong Kong, I chose a place in Midea Industrial Park and built a dust-free workshop.
The efficiency of Japanese companies in this era is still good. Now, the equipment has been put into the dust-free workshop for relevant debugging.
"I have arranged for people to follow them, but they are still hiding their secrets. These idiots took the money and are still keeping it secret." Lei Shengli shook his head and said.
"The income of such engineers in Japan is probably not low. If you want to bribe them, you can't do it without working hard." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said: "Discuss it with them. It's best if you can keep one person here, or go here A company like this hires someone.”
"I also think that I sent people to discuss with these Japanese people before, and some of them were willing to pay high salaries, but they all thought that we would kick him away after learning his skills, so they didn't agree at all." Lei Sheng Li shook his head and said.
"Japanese companies are now seriously brainwashed, but they also have a lifetime employment system. This system is good for ordinary workers. It is indeed difficult to poach them." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
When South Korea's Samsung Electronics wanted to develop semiconductor technology in the 1980s, it was difficult to recruit people from Japan. It was not until the Japanese semiconductor industry was sanctioned by the United States that a large number of relevant technical personnel lost their jobs, and Samsung Electronics was given a chance. The technical content of production lines such as chip placement machines is definitely not as high as that of chips. However, the Japanese industry is now at its peak. It is really difficult to recruit Japanese people to come to Hong Kong, especially when the level of engineers is basically With a family, even Samsung had to rent a plane on weekends, send Japanese engineers back to China, and pick them up again on Monday. A lot of costs and expenses were spent on this, and finally Samsung was able to develop the chip and LCD industries.
Lei Shengli continued: "I still don't believe in this group of people in Japan, so I have asked a Japanese headhunting company to look for Chinese people in Japan with relevant experience. It is said that they have found three people who have no lifelong experience in Japan. The employment system makes it easier for us to recruit them and communicate with them, but they are from Wanwan."
"It doesn't matter. As long as you have the ability, we can provide you with anything you want, including a house and a car." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Compared with an industry, a house and a car are just child's play.
"We are already talking about it, and my idea is that 3 people are not enough. We still need more talents of this kind. Only when we have cultivated enough talents in Hong Kong can we feel completely at ease." Lei Shengli said again, doing In this kind of high-tech industry, talent is really important. Even if it is cutting-edge equipment, it needs people who know how to select it. Without people, the entire factory may stop working.
"Okay, a little more is better. Our goal is to supply all kinds of electronic products to the entire Hong Kong first. This person is nothing." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
Midea's investment in PCB patch production lines is not just to supply itself. Hong Kong is a big local market.
Although Hong Kong is not large in area and has not many people, the general consumer goods market is not large, but the electronics industry is another matter. Even without Midea, the export volume of Hong Kong electronic products in 1975 was HK$2.7 billion, including radios, TV sets, electronic watches, calculators, speaker equipment, etc. will double in the next three years.
In fact, these products also require integrated circuits. However, these integrated circuits have no manufacturing process at all. Many of them can still be hand-soldered. When imported chips are relatively expensive, this method is naturally possible, but as long as Midea can If ordinary chips and integrated circuit boards are produced in Hong Kong, the cost of labor will be overwhelming. Even if labor in Hong Kong is cheap, it cannot be compared to the fast placement machines.
"I have already discussed with the largest electronic watch manufacturers in Hong Kong. When our integrated circuit boards come out, they will buy some and then put them on the market for testing. If there is no problem, they will purchase our goods on a large scale. ." Lei Shengli smiled.
"Okay, electronic watches are indeed a huge market." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, "By winning this market, our production technology can also be improved."
The semiconductor industry has a professional term called "yield", which is related to equipment quality, as well as production management capabilities and experience. For example, in the 21st century, basically only TSMC and Samsung in the world can make high-end chips. Other manufacturers, In fact, you can also buy related equipment, but if you produce it yourself, it is impossible to compete with Samsung and TSMC in terms of cost, because many years of production experience with large orders have allowed them to control the production error rate to the extreme. In addition, the market has already Being controlled by them, there is basically no chance.
For equipment such as radios and TVs, it is a bit difficult for manufacturers here in Hong Kong to replace integrated circuit boards, because it means a major change in the entire structure. In addition, these manufacturers themselves are low-end brands. It is enough for the TV to be turned on, but not necessarily Will only seek high quality.
But an electronic watch must require a chip and an integrated circuit board. In such a small space, only a PCB board can control the time accurately. The control circuit boards inside Hong Kong electronic watches are all imported from overseas, mainly from Japan, as is the LCD chip. These two main components are the largest cost of electronic watches. There are so many electronic watch companies in Hong Kong, but they are actually just Just working for a Japanese brand.
"Sheng Chen, we have an internal debate. Some people think that we can also make this electronic watch. Last year alone, the export of electronic watches in Hong Kong was as high as 3 million. If we do it, one million shouldn't be a problem. This can also Increase the visibility of our brand," Lei Shengli said.
"Make an electronic watch?" Chen Zhiwen smiled and shook his head and said, "No, the core of this thing is actually liquid crystal, chip, and battery. There are many factories in Hong Kong, but they just make an assembly fee. Our end is that we can make it, but The price-performance ratio is too low, it is better to just make chips with peace of mind. In the future, it will also involve liquid crystals."
If electronic watches could always exist, then even assembling and investing in them would make sense, but it is obviously impossible. Electronic products are being updated too fast.
And the most important thing is that electronic watches are small in size, and both freight costs and shopping mall stall costs are very low. This also makes the terminal retail advantage created by Chen Zhiwen basically useless. This is completely different from electric fans. Electric fans are also low value, but the cost of terminal retail is very high, because a large location is needed to place the fan. As long as the terminal is controlled and the cost and quality are good, it is basically stable.
Nowadays, the price of electronic watches is quite high, usually between 10 and 30 US dollars. But in a few years, when the production of integrated circuit boards, chips and liquid crystals goes through several iterations, the price will immediately drop to 1-30 US dollars. Between 3 US dollars is a very small profit. Even the Japanese electronic watch brands in the past two years have been forced to let go, because the brands have no role in electronic watch products. They are all new brands and are purely used to tell time. , consumers basically only look at price.
Facing the market that will collapse in a few years, Chen Zhiwen is certainly not interested. Now it is important to use this market to develop his own chips, integrated circuit boards and future liquid crystal technology. By the 1980s, the growth of household appliances The market has caught up.
"LCD? We also want to make LCD?" Lei Shengli asked quickly.
"Yes, LCD can also be made. There are no restrictions on this thing from the European and American governments. Just buy equipment. You can arrange for someone to go to the United States to buy a set of equipment, plus some technology patents." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
Chips and LCDs will be one of the most important pieces of hardware in the entire electronics industry in the next few decades. They are now in the initial stages, and the cost of participating is very low. Moreover, the restrictions in the United States are not high. At least before the 1990s, they should all be There won't be any big problem.
After arcade machines gain enough profits, they naturally need to enter these two fields. In fact, even the most expensive production line only costs a few million US dollars today. For Midea, it is just a drop in the bucket.
"As far as I know, the LCD production line has a very large demand for fresh water. If we open an LCD factory in Hong Kong, will there be any problems in this regard?" Lei Shengli said worriedly.
"No, our current production capacity is not very large. We can just buy water directly. However, we may need to invest some money in sewage." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong's freshwater resources were so tight that it could only guarantee water for residents, and even bathing was difficult. This crisis also dealt a major blow to Hong Kong's industry and economy. Subsequently, the Hong Kong government built large-scale reservoirs and negotiated with the mainland government to purchase water. , and then he calmed down.
With the support from the mainland, as long as there is no drought in eastern Guangdong Province, there will basically not be any big problems. You know, the Swire Group specializes in producing beverage factories for Coca-Cola to be sold in the South Asian market. It is also in Hong Kong, and Chen Zhiwen's Very Coca-Cola is also Similarly, unless the scale of the LCD factory is very large, there may be a water shortage problem.
But the demand for liquid crystals in the 1970s could not meet the high demand for fresh water. Let's talk about it in the 1980s.
"That's good." Lei Shengli said.
"LCDs and chips are not just for low-end products. Once we are familiar with them and have enough engineers and technicians, we will still have to hit the mid-range chips. Not to mention supplying to foreign countries, it is our internal products. If we can Using all our own chips and liquid crystals will be a huge advantage," Chen Zhiwen added.
Arcade machines, future home game consoles, computers, handheld game consoles, home appliances, etc. all require chips, integrated circuit boards, and some require liquid crystals. With your own chips and liquid crystals, you can develop step by step with stable customers. Of course , the process must be very cautious, especially for arcade machines that make a lot of money. If you are not completely sure, you don't dare to change the chip at will.
"Understood, then I will arrange for someone to go to the United States to purchase an LCD production line. Regarding patents, I will check again before making a decision." Lei Shengli nodded and said. A long time ago, Chen Zhiwen said that Midea's future will not depend solely on Capital opening terminal retail and various creative ideas are just short-term efforts to open up the market. If you want long-term development, you must develop core technologies.
After all, no matter how strong your financial resources are, you can only open up two supermarkets, Wal-Mart and Costco. If you want to enter hundreds of other large supermarkets around the world, you can only rely on technology, quality, and cost. No capital can control so many. It is impossible for large supermarket chains, even the ancient European and American super families.
Liquid crystals, chips and integrated circuits are the core technologies. Once developed, they can not only be useful for their own products, but can also be sold to others to obtain other profits while reducing their own costs.
"It's best to go to RCA and take a look. They are the founding company of LCD. They still have the underlying patents and they should also have LCD production lines. They may be the latest ones, but they can't compete with Japan." Chen Zhiwen said that the United States is very strong in many technologies. But factory management is much worse than in Asia. As a result, the technologies developed by American laboratories over the years have become cheaper than Japanese industries.
It is said that the chip industry developed very well in the United States in its early days. Giant companies such as Intel, Texas Instruments, and IBM monopolized the global market. The yield rate was not high, but it was not a problem. However, when Japanese companies began to produce memory particles, within one year In time, the yield rate has been controlled to an extremely high level. After normal competition in the market, it will naturally beat its European and American counterparts.
"Okay, I understand." Lei Shengli agreed.
PS: Regarding the chip issue, I know you will definitely have questions in the previous chapter, but in fact, the chip market is definitely not limited to mobile phones and computers. These two are the most profitable chip products. Samsung and TSMC have a monopoly on this area, but among high-end chips Today, there are also a large number of products that require chips, including automobiles, industry, home appliances, military industry, etc., especially automobiles. After the rise of electric cars, the demand is greater than the demand for mobile phones at its peak. I am engaged in automobile related work.
Therefore, to make chips, you do not necessarily need to be the most high-end, and the mid- to low-end basically has no restrictions and no control. However, before the rise of automotive chips, ordinary chip companies were indeed difficult and suffered long-term losses, but for the protagonist Say it's not a problem.
The updates these days are pretty good. They are all big chapters. Please give me a monthly vote.
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