The Industrial Giant Reborn

(Suddenly notice that it will be put on the shelves in the early morning, and a chapter will be published first, and will be supplemented during the day. I hope everyone will support it. How many million words can be written in this book is up to you!)

How important is it to have an excellent talent in an arcade game? This may be difficult to describe, at least 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, which is why computers are all industrial or commercial products, and each of them has a very high profit and can bear the high price A chip from Wang An Company’s industrial computer costs more than 30,000 U.S. dollars, while IBM’s starts at 100,000 U.S. dollars. Normally, it costs more than a million U.S. dollars. Only the national government and top companies can afford it. .

But arcade machines, as a commodity for civilian use, are actually the same as personal computers that will appear in a few years. They need to rely on quantity to open up the market. This requires reducing the cost, that is, the number of chips, just like what Woz solved before. The problem is, no matter how good Atari’s game is, it needs at least 120 chips, so the ex-factory price of the arcade machine is four to five thousand dollars, and it needs to be 5,000 to 6,000 dollars at the bar terminal. No bar can afford an arcade machine at this price. It is impossible to get back the cost if you buy it back, which stifles the development of the entire industry.

But Woz’s 44-chip design allows the ex-factory price to be controlled at about 1,500 US dollars, so that the price at the bar terminal is only two to three thousand US dollars, and the price has been reduced by more than half, so that the bar can pay back the cost. Therefore, they are willing to purchase. When the purchase volume is sufficient, Atari can also rely on the quantity to lower the purchase cost of chips and form a closed loop of commercial success.

Since then, the arcade industry, like personal computers, has officially entered the stage of development.

It can be said that the emergence of arcade machines is inevitable, but a high-end talent like Woz has the ability to advance the commercialization of arcade machines by one or two years.

Chen Zhiwen intends to make arcade machines, so he must have such talents, and he must also place the R\u0026D center in the United States, at least in the initial stage, because if it is placed in Hong Kong, it may not be possible to manufacture it with 500 chips, but as long as Woz's team has designed it, and it can be handed over to Hong Kong for production.

It only needs to wait another month at most before Midea can start designing its first core product. Otherwise, the entire company will be in a state of serious losses, because the chip technology is updated every two years.

Chips two years ago could not meet the requirements of simple arcade machines. This year, the cost of chips has dropped a lot, so that this thing can start to operate. However, the games launched now are just the first test of the water in the market. If you want to reach the peak, you have to Wait a few more years, wait for the chip capability 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 Caikens.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Buffett." In a quiet private room of a coffee shop, Chen Zhiwen saw Buffett and his assistant Caikens again.

"Mr. Chen, I am also very glad to see you again." Buffett said with a smile: "I heard that Mr. Chen's supermarket has opened in Los Angeles. Congratulations."

"Small troubles are far worse than Mr. Buffett's performance." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, for those with some resources, it is not difficult to find Chen Zhiwen's industry in the United States, such as the stock market acquisitions before The Wal-Mart stock was announced because it reached the critical point of 5%. Although no one cared that a Chinese bought the stock of an ordinary supermarket company at the time, it was also public information, and anyone could check it. The acquisition of Fedmart was also obtained from the stock market. In the middle of the acquisition, there will be delisting behavior in the future. As for Costco, who can be found out from the government?

"At Mr. Chen's age, I'm just a small investor, but it's far inferior to Mr. Chen's current achievements." Buffett smiled and said, "Mr. Chen seems to be very optimistic about the US retail industry?"

In the previous meeting, Buffett didn't pay much attention to the Asian in front of him. Later, after Caikens returned from Hong Kong, he praised Chen Zhiwen's knowledge in socio-economic aspects, which aroused Buffett's interest, and then arranged for a thorough investigation, only to find out , the young man in front of him has already invested tens of millions of dollars in the US market, and he has achieved quite a lot in Hong Kong, but if he wants to find out where he earned so much money, he can't go any further, because he didn't have anything at all before. industry.

Looking back at Chen Zhiwen's investment in the United States, he actually only invested in the retail industry. He bought a company and operated it himself. In addition, he bought the stock of a family-owned retail company with a good development trend. Of course, there may be other investments. But either the investment is not much, or it is very hidden.

"Very promising. I think the retail industry in the United States will experience a blowout development in the near future." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

Buffett frowned and said, "Why? The U.S. economy is not doing well right now?"

"There is an opportunity when there is a crisis. This time is actually an opportunity to eliminate the weak. Those who are incapable will be eliminated during this period, and those who survive, as long as they persevere and wait until the economy recovers, they will achieve higher results." Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said.

"So Mr. Chen is optimistic about this supermarket called Wal-Mart?" Buffett nodded and said, "I checked the latest annual report of this supermarket, and the speed of development is indeed astonishing, and the capital turnover efficiency is also very high. Mr. Chen is far away in Hong Kong, how did you choose this company?"

"That's my secret." Chen Zhiwen said lightly, "Mr. Buffett also wants to invest in the retail industry?"

"I don't have this plan for the time being, but it is not ruled out. I still need to observe and observe." Buffett said with a smile.

"OK, what did Mr. Buffett think about the establishment of a factory in Hong Kong that I discussed with Mr. Caikens before?" Chen Zhiwen turned back to the topic. In fact, Buffett is very cautious. He was optimistic about Coca-Cola as early as the early 1980s, but he waited until 1988 to start buying in large quantities. Because I suddenly learned about a good company from others, I was eager to enter the market. If this is true, I will not be able 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 shareholding structure will prevent him from investing more, and the impact on Chen Zhiwen will be beneficial, because more funds will enter the market. The share price will only go up significantly.

And his most important layout in the United States is currently Costco, which is the foundation that will affect the future foundation, and the sole proprietorship will not be affected in any way.

"One thing I don't 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? The order from the supermarket has little impact on the cost of the textile industry."