"Building a computer now? But wouldn't it conflict with Apple? Apple hasn't even been launched yet?" Lei Shengli thought for a moment and said. In fact, he had known for a long time that his company would not be satisfied with developing alone in the gaming field. Chen Zhiwen also said that he would enter the personal computer market in the future, but he originally thought that he would wait until one year after Apple went public and the boss sold off stocks on a large scale.
Many of Midea's early games were developed by Woz. After Woz went to Apple, he still helped Midea with many technical problems. Lei Shengli also visited Apple many times. The relationship between Midea and Apple It has always been very good. Jobs even asked Midea to develop computer games specifically for Apple computers, but he never had any ideas.
"The personal computer market is too big. Maybe in the industrial field, even if cars are a little stronger, Apple can't monopolize this market no matter how strong it is. Besides, even if I am a shareholder of Apple, I can't make personal computers because of Apple. Just give up on this 100-billion-dollar market." Chen Zhiwen said.
The current semiconductor industry has just developed, and many regulations in the United States are not very complete. When high-tech companies such as semiconductors and personal computers show a trend of overwhelming development, the U.S. government will impose very strict restrictions on foreign investment in order to protect its own technology companies. Strict restrictions, such as non-U.S. capital or Americans, can only hold no more than 5% of U.S. technology company stocks, and the total foreign capital of the technology company must not exceed 25%, etc.
Although it can theoretically be bypassed, U.S. regulatory organizations are not fools. It is okay to have more shares in an appropriate amount, but it is difficult to control a lot.
Besides, no matter how many shares you have, it’s just a return on investment. Although the returns are amazing, the relevant rights belong to others. Companies in ordinary industries such as Costco and Home Depot still have management rights or voting rights on the board of directors. , but tech companies? There is no chance to intervene at all. The U.S. government will never allow outsiders to interfere in the management of high-tech giant companies in the United States, not to mention Chinese, even Europeans, and even immigrants to the United States. For example, the co-founder of Gu Ge later had a If you come from Russia, you can only participate in technical R&D management.
If you want to get huge returns in the computer market, you must personally participate in it. The reason why you didn't participate in Apple when it was first born a few years ago is that you don't have enough technical capabilities, and the personal computer can be successful. The strong driving ability of the market has a lot to do with it, especially after he was called an American entrepreneurial hero by the American media, he gained a halo and not only promoted Apple computers, but also promoted the popularity of personal computers as a whole, which is somewhat similar to the characteristics of later generations. What Tesla did to electric cars was to get the market to accept personal computers. The third thing is not to be the first, otherwise when the technology is not mature enough, if you add a halo, the US government can easily pinch itself to death.
No matter how powerful the time traveler is, there is no way to change the general trend. The United States cannot allow such high-tech industries to be controlled by outsiders, not even its allies in Europe, such as Alstom in France in later generations.
But now, with the rise of Apple and the halo of Jobs, IBM, HP, DEC, MITS, Texas Instruments and other companies have all participated, and the market has begun to compete. At this time, it is normal for overseas computer companies to appear, as long as they do not show any If Huawei can suppress the potential of most American brands like later generations, it will basically not be targeted. After all, when core industries are not seriously threatened, the U.S. government will not personally intervene in the "free market" logic it has been promoting. .
In addition, the development of chips is much better than a few years ago, and computer performance has improved greatly. Many of the ideas, software, games, etc. about computers in Chen Zhiwen’s memory can become reality. Now is naturally the best time for Midea to enter the personal computer time. Besides, in addition to the United States, the markets in other countries are not small, even in mainland China.
"The R&D capabilities in Hong Kong are insufficient, and we still need to set up a relevant team in the United States." Lei Shengli thought for a while and said. The United States is the frontline for the development of semiconductor technology, while Hong Kong is lagging behind. If you want to do research and development, For such complex products, we still have to rely on the United States for the time being.
"Okay, computer research and development is still in the United States. Hong Kong still sends people to learn, just like the red and white machines before. However, many software aspects can be developed by Hong Kong. For example, the game software we are best at competes with In terms of power, we can’t compare with Apple, which has a great reputation, nor can we compare with HP or Texas Instruments in terms of technology, and we can’t compare with IBM in terms of capital, so game software or some more office-friendly software is our breakthrough point.” Chen Zhiwen continued. .
He is definitely no match for the technology funding competition with so many giants in the United States, so it can only be creativity. But he doesn’t know what computers were like in the 1980s. After all, he is only familiar with Windows, and it is even more impossible for him to interfere with this system software. , it’s useless to intervene. Even if he makes it, no matter how easy it is to use, it will be impossible for so many technology companies in the United States to use it.
The most I can do is invest in Weisoft in the future and get financial returns, but various office software and games are a breakthrough. Even if it is impossible to make Midea's personal computers a big success, it is not difficult to win a part of the market. In addition, , he will also prepare huge sums of money to enter electronic product sales terminals in the United States. Like Costco before, he will use this capital to develop sales channels for his products.
It is impossible for ordinary computer companies, even Apple, to spend this money to do this, because their funds are also limited. IBM does have money, but it is impossible to invest in the retail market. For a long time, IBM will only Personal computers are treated as an auxiliary business, and by the time they react, it is already too late.
"Computer games? Can Mr. Chen remind you what they are like?" Lei Shengli asked. Although Midea has released many games, the most popular ones are Chen Zhiwen's creativity. Sometimes, many Everyone thinks that the games they make are not bad, but when it comes to the market, there is no wave at all. Only a few games can make back their money.
"There is a game called Minesweeper, but I don't have a plan yet. I'll give it to you when I get back from the United States. As for other games, we can develop some chess and card games. You can look for specific chess and card games around the world. If you find something that is playable, you can convert it into an electronic software game. Pay attention to patent copyrights. As for office software, I will also give you a plan." Chen Zhiwen continued.
As for computer games, he also knows some of the most common stand-alone games. Although he thinks they are average, considering the entertainment of this era, a simple minesweeper may be able to become popular. As for card games, there is nothing he can do. He can only rely on his own research at the company level. As for office software, he naturally knows that the most famous three-piece window set in later generations also needs to be developed as soon as possible. Even if it is a relatively rudimentary version, at least many patents must be obtained first.
"Okay, I will ask the game development department to set up a team responsible for computer games." Lei Shengli nodded and said.
"A large team is not enough. Small groups are not enough. Except for "Donkey Kong", game development for arcades or home game consoles is not as important. You need to adjust the personnel arrangement appropriately. From my understanding, the computer function is too powerful and will be crowded to a certain extent in the future. To suppress the home game console market, we must pay attention to this area." Chen Zhiwen paused and said. He still has many famous games in the history of gaming in his mind. With these, he can still earn dividends for at least 10 years, but the famous games in his mind Computer games do not include computer games in the 1980s, which requires the game development team that I have spent a lot of efforts to cultivate over the years to overcome this.
"Okay, I understand." Lei Shengli nodded and said.
"In addition to the hardware development of the personal computer itself, there is another problem. There is a technology in the United States called local area network. We also need to obtain relevant authorization. If we develop games in the future, we can also consider using this technology to connect several computers together. , and then play games together. Games itself means that the more people play, the better, so the attraction will be stronger. Our red and white machines can allow two people to play together, and computers also have this requirement." Chen Zhiwen Said again.
"LAN?" Lei Shengli said, "Okay, I'll go find out."
He had just developed the Famicom, and now he immediately needed to develop the second-generation Famicom and the first-generation personal computer of his own. He also knew the scale of Hong Kong's technical talent. Although the main force may still rely on overseas engineers, it was still a bit Alexander. .
"In addition, I have reached an agreement with Yanjing in the mainland. I will provide funds and they will provide talents to jointly develop tens of thousands of telephone program-controlled switches. If you do not have enough talents here, you can also find a way to delegate some tasks to others. For some domestic universities, although many domestic universities have lagged far behind in the field of electronics, they still have a strong foundation and can try to cooperate." Chen Zhiwen added.
Ever since the first arcade game "Snake" received a large amount of funding, Chen Zhiwen has been trying to improve Midea's talent reserve capabilities, including poaching Chinese from the United States, Japan and Taiwan, or a small number of foreign engineers, or going to The purpose of building R&D centers overseas is for today.
Research on personal computers is actually not difficult, but it is super difficult to develop one that is accepted by the market and has low cost. This is the characteristic of large-scale industrial products. For example, the technical difficulty of cars and Rolls-Royce is far lower than that of For mass-produced products like Magotan and Lavida, the former can be produced by spending money as long as they have certain patents, but they will lose money anyway, while the latter wants to find a balance between profit, price, market, quality and technology. , no matter how capable it is to sell well all over the world, it is simply impossible to reach the sky.
Previous arcade machines did not have this feature, because the game itself was a patent barrier that prevented others from making the same arcade machine. In this way, even if the cost was higher, the monopoly characteristics were destined to make huge profits.
And now the research and development of personal computers has officially begun. Although there is no shortage of research and development capital, if you want to create a computer that can be accepted by the market, you still have to rely on a lot of technical research and development.
"Can we directly recruit people from China? It will be much more convenient to bring capable people to Hong Kong." Lei Shengli asked.
"A small amount is fine, but not too much. If it is too much, there will be objections from the domestic side. If you really need it, you can discuss it with these universities or the Ministry of Education and let these people temporarily suspend their work and come to Hong Kong to assist us. This is considered a common cause. Win." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.
Considering the living conditions in Hong Kong, plus the treatment Midea can provide to R&D engineers, and most importantly, the ability to provide foreign exchange, I am afraid that many domestic professors will come. If too many come, I am afraid it will affect the normal operation of domestic universities.
Of course, it would be more convenient for me if Shenhai University could pass quickly.
(End of chapter)
