The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Lao Lei, the second phase of the park in Shekou covers an area of ​​5 square kilometers. Now Hong Kong's labor costs are getting higher and higher. Except for some core components of household appliances and color TVs, everything else needs to be transferred to the mainland, and the technical requirements are low. Those with higher technical requirements will be transferred to Shekou, and those with higher technical requirements will be transferred to the joint venture factory with Yanjing City in the future, so that they can also prepare to enter the domestic market." Chen Zhiwen continued.

Housing prices in Hong Kong have risen by three or four times on average since the recovery from 1975 to 1980. Although ordinary people have always complained that their wages have not risen as much as housing prices, the rise in housing prices has nothing to do with factories. It is related, and because of the increase in the cost of living in society, the cost of workers has also increased by two or three times, because if it does not increase, the service industry will rob people.

Regardless of whether it is a bubble or not, in the past few years, I don’t know how many people’s superficial worth has increased several times, and they will naturally not be stingy when spending, which naturally also drives the wages of waiters.

Many industries in Hong Kong are earning money for assembly. In a few years, the cost of workers has risen from three to four hundred yuan a month to close to one thousand yuan. Few low-end factories can afford it. This is why many factories will move to the mainland in the future. The reason is that the labor cost of a person in the mainland may be less than 100 Hong Kong dollars, and for Hong Kong factories, another big expenditure is rent. The house price has increased several times, and the rent has naturally followed.

Many of Midea’s products are profiteering, such as game-related hardware, but household appliances are not, and long-term subsidized production is unlikely. Moving to the mainland is also a trend. Besides, a handheld will make Midea’s production capacity insufficient. When the home game console is released again, the production capacity will definitely be tighter. Now it is also necessary to transfer the low-end manufacturing industry and prepare new production lines for games and other electronic products.

Shekou is the best place to take over fans, radios, etc., because it can be a sole proprietorship, the labor is low, and the product does not require high technical personnel. In addition, Hong Kong can also transfer people to go there, but air conditioners, color TVs For the time being, these can only be placed in places with relatively developed industries such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc. Even if it is a joint venture, the quality needs to be guaranteed. Anyway, in 1986, after the policy relaxed the joint venture requirements, the equity could be taken back.

"Okay, I also have this idea. The workers in Shekou are very hardworking, and the policy is very good. If all our fans are produced there, the global sales will definitely go up. But the joint venture factory in Yanjing City , the negotiating team that has already gone before probably contacted Yanjing, Yanjing obviously prefers that our products are mainly for export, and even if they can be sold domestically, they can only be sold domestically. Some products that cannot be produced domestically, among which fans They are also not very willing to let us sell it domestically," Lei Shengli said.

"The largest electrical appliance market in China is actually not air conditioners and refrigerators, but mainly fans. This piece can be produced in China itself. Naturally, they don't want us to sell it in China. Do you have any proposals in China?" Chen Zhiwen thought. want to ask.

Lei Shengli said: "They hope that we can take the route of selling at a high price, but the price has not been discussed yet, at least it should be much higher than the international price."

"Then let's continue the discussion. It's fine to go high-end. First, I want to give the brand to Lizhu in China." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In fact, there are quite a few wealthy people in China, and there are quite a few people who can afford air-conditioning and refrigerators. However, the first purpose of the reform in China is to earn foreign exchange, so no matter what policy must focus on this, even if Chen Zhiwen promised to balance foreign exchange, But the domestic side must also export more if they want to export more. This is also human nature. Foreign investors who invest in China also want to earn more domestic money.

Moreover, domestic high-level executives also need to consider the development of the local industrial chain. If foreign major appliance brands are really allowed to enter the market, the mature industrial chain and higher technology will definitely destroy the local industrial chain. Do the country unacceptable.

I dare not say anything about other electrical appliances, but Midea's electric fan technology is already at a high level in the world, especially Chen Zhiwen's long-term investment over the years. Midea Group has deep knowledge in motors, fan blade fluid dynamics, and electronic control. There are also many international patents in research, and it is also unique in the world in terms of cost control.

If Midea fans are produced domestically and dumped domestically at a low price, many domestic fan industries may suffer a devastating blow, and the domestic government’s solution to this situation is to require foreign parties to increase the price, which is very large, although A single fan may earn more from foreign capital, but if the price is too high, it is doomed not to sell too much, and it also gives the local industry a certain space for development.

In a few years, the first-generation Santana will have the highest price in the world, and there are actually reasons for this.

Chen Zhiwen actually doesn't care about saving foreign exchange and protecting his own industry in China. After all, although the domestic consumption power was not low in the 1980s, the internal protection was too serious, and the market was far worse than that of foreign countries. There is no shortage of domestic foreign exchange, and the economy is improving. I only need to publicize the entire brand to the whole country in the 1980s, and then there will naturally be rich returns.

In the current 1980s, we mainly used cheap domestic labor and some high-quality talents to serve Midea.

"Okay, then I will report this news to people in China." Lei Shengli nodded and said.

"Handhelds have already gained a foothold in the US market, and their sales are good. How is the research and development of Famicoms?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

The red and white machine is the shell color that Chen Zhiwen set for his home game console. It is the same as the version that was popular all over the world in later generations. The appearance is very impressive and it is easy to call.

Compared with handheld consoles and arcade machines, home game consoles are much more difficult. It took three years for Atari to develop them. Midea has already learned some mistakes from the people Atari hired, but It still takes a long time, which is also related to the lack of relevant talents in Hong Kong. The main research and development still relies on the US R\u0026D and release side.

"It has basically been completed, and it is still in the final testing stage. It is estimated that it will be launched in June." Lei Shengli said.

"Okay, since the R\u0026D is almost done, many R\u0026D personnel have already started to be free?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, the test no longer requires so many R\u0026D personnel. A small number of people in the previous project just followed the test." Lei Shengli said.

"Then prepare to develop the second-generation red and white machine, continue to optimize on the basis of the first generation, and integrate games such as "Tank War" and "Donkey Kong" into it, and wait until the current "Tank War" arcade and "Donkey Kong" will be launched when the arcade market is about the same." Chen Zhiwen continued.

The Atari of the later generations, on the surface, died of their own "ET Alien", but in fact it was a long-term, crudely produced third-party game. "ET Alien" was just the last straw that broke the camel's back Forget it, after all, the cost of millions of game cassettes is estimated to be tens of millions of dollars, and it is impossible to drag down Atari, which had a turnover of more than 1 billion dollars at the time.

Therefore, the first and second generations of their own red and white machines will never be open to third parties. They only make a few popular games of their own, such as "Snake", "Magic Cube", "Space Invaders" , "Pac-Man" is the four games that can only be recognized by the first generation of home game consoles. Each game card will carry an identification chip, and other game cards cannot be recognized by the red and white machine at all.

The arcade machines of "Tank Wars" are currently sweeping the arcade market in the United States. Even though Atari's home game consoles have begun to appear in many American families, the games carried by Atari game consoles are not the same as "Tank Wars". "is too far behind. In countless bars, "Tank War" is even more popular than "Space Invaders" back then.

And "Donkey Kong" is the next-generation game that Midea is currently developing. Although it may not be as good as "Tank War" in terms of playability, it is the first scrolling game that can be scrolled up and down. It is very difficult to develop, but If it works, it will enter the next era of both arcade and home consoles.

These two games can still earn profits in the arcade market for at least a year, and this period of time also happens to allow the R\u0026D team to develop the second-generation Famicom.

As for the third and fourth generations in the future, whether they will continue to only recognize their own games or introduce three parties, we will have to look at it in detail at that time. After all, when the computing power of the chip is strong, and history has changed a lot, no one will Knowing whether there will be batches of high-quality games, if you refuse to introduce them, it will be tantamount to ceding the market to others. Even if Atari falls, the game companies in Japan will probably be greedy.

"No problem, but this time, I want to develop it in Hong Kong." Lei Shengli said.

"Are you sure?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"The last time I developed the red and white machine, I sent hundreds of engineers from Hong Kong to the United States to study, and they all participated in the development process. This time, if it is just optimizing and integrating into the new game, the difficulty will be easier than starting from scratch. I think we You can try it, otherwise the efficiency of the United States is too low." Lei Shengli said.

"Okay, sooner or later, let Hong Kong try it. The United States should also recruit a lot of Chinese engineers. Find a way to get them to come to Hong Kong. In addition, you can also recruit people from Wanwan. Chinese engineers in the United States and Japan also It can be dug, in short, I need to raise the team's ability in Hong Kong to another level." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

Regardless of whether Hong Kong will become a technological desert in the future, at least it is not yet. I have some outsiders and poach people from outside, which should be enough to meet the needs of my family. As for the future, I still have to rely on a large number of domestic talents. , Select high-quality talents from tens of millions of young people across the country, and then concentrate resources for training. Excellent ones can be sent overseas or practiced here in Hong Kong, or go to Shenhai City to build a research and development base, etc.

"Okay." Lei Shengli nodded and said, Midea's popularity in the global electronics market now requires technology research and development.

"One more thing. I'm going to make Midea a personal computer. Do you think Hong Kong can develop it if there are enough talents here?" Chen Zhiwen suddenly asked again.