The Industrial Giant Reborn

"You mean, you also want to open a software company?" Chen Zhiwen asked curiously.

"No, the hardware still needs to be done, but the hardware computer I want to build must have unique software to match it, so as to improve the computer's performance to its optimal state," Jobs said.

"You mean, build a system independently? Separate from Weiruan? This seems to be no different from Apple's current strategy, right?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"It's too late to start working on operating systems now. It may still be possible for big consortiums, but I can't do it. The funds are definitely not enough. Now that maintenance and software are the trend, others, probably only IBM, have a chance." , or, if I were still at Apple, it would be possible, or it would be you Eric, but if you invested in Weiruan so early, you probably have no idea in this regard." Jobs asked.

"Yes, I don't know how to make an operating system." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. This is not a technical problem, but a background problem. It is not difficult to make it by yourself, but if you make it if no one else uses it, it will die. Even if your own computer is used, the system Whether it can be popularized depends on a large number of third-party companies. These companies are mainly American. It is impossible for them to hand over their foundation to a Hong Kong company. Even Europe, a die-hard ally of the United States, cannot do this.

However, there is another point. The current Weiruan is indeed very successful. This thing is like this. Once some three parties accept you, it will only snowball to attract more people. In the end, only one company will dominate, and almost no one will be able to win. Possibility to accommodate a second home.

The reason why there will be Apple and Android in the field of smartphones in future generations is because Apple’s mobile phones follow a closed management model, which gives Android a chance. Otherwise, in 2007, Apple would directly open iOS to all smartphone manufacturers, and Google would have no chance. No more Android.

Of course, facts have proven that Apple’s strategy is right. The profit of monopolizing the high-end market is obviously higher than that of just one platform. It may also involve matching issues between iOS and other manufacturers, etc., resulting in the inability to open up. In this regard, Chen Zhiwen also I don’t understand.

"So, I'm going to make a computer with special functions." Jobs paused and said, "Actually, this is the idea you gave me, Eric."

"Me?" Chen Zhiwen asked in confusion.

"Yes." Jobs nodded and said: "After being kicked out of Apple by the Apple board of directors, I felt that I was completely discouraged. Later, I went to Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and other companies to talk to their CEOs or founders. , and they also told me that my problem was that I was too arbitrary and did not consider that in the early days, Apple might be able to achieve some results just by relying on me alone.

But when Apple later developed to that scale, it needed a large team to take charge, not an individual.

After that, I thought of you, and I did an in-depth study of your management model, and found that you only provide opinions and have dedicated people responsible for other things. It is through such a simple model that you are successful.

I finally understood my problem, and in the process of researching Midea, I discovered that you just launched a new software called Photoshop. This software gave me a new direction. "

"Photoshop? Do you also want to enter the graphics editing software market?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Photoshop is the first software launched by Midea Group and has the highest technical content. Others, whether they are games or office software, are more creative.

Although due to market reasons, the sales volume of Photoshop is far less than that of games or office software, but after it was launched on the market, it has become very popular among professionals. It can edit pictures. This function is so practical, but the defect problem is currently very big. If If you change it too much, there will be obvious distortion.

However, a high-quality software itself requires a lot of trial and error, updates after market verification, and improvements in computer hardware technology. Comprehensive factors such as this will eventually lead to the birth of high-quality software. In fact, many software in later generations have gone through this process. The process is successful.

Chen Zhiwen is relatively satisfied that Photoshop can enter the market in many countries. As long as he cultivates user habits and his popularity will grow, he will definitely be able to gain a foothold in this small field in the future.

"Yes, I have analyzed your Photoshop software. It prefers to edit and modify a picture or photo. This is enough for the news industry, but it is not enough for complex animation production." Jobs analyzed : "Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" was very successful before. I also know that your people are also working hard to make more animated movies, including one about African animals. The number of comics required is huge. Yes, Photoshop alone is not efficient enough.

In the past few years, Japanese animation has also been very famous in the United States. They are also promoting animation and animation movies on a large scale, so I think the market will definitely be very big in the future. Animation can improve the efficiency of computers and make many normal movies. The plot and story cannot be filmed, that’s for sure.

Among all industries, the new generation of children earn the most money. Although it is not as good as women, children's movies are special in that they can be watched by the whole family, or at least one adult will accompany them. "

"It makes sense. You have told me the future business direction of my Disney." Chen Zhiwen laughed and said that Disney's future direction will focus on children's movies or animation and love movies to make money from little girls.

Although the Marvel superhero series attracts more money, it will have to wait at least more than ten years. Besides, the Marvel series does not conflict with ordinary animation movies, and the money that should be made will still be made. Therefore, the direction of animated movies can be said to be Disney's top priority, especially cartoon characters, is that if a new character similar to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is created, the profit will definitely be calculated in billions of dollars, and it will also drive very considerable peripheral income.

Midea specializes in Photoshop. In addition to being profitable in itself, it is also one of the fundamental reasons why it can assist Disney by making it early. However, the first generation of Photoshop can indeed improve efficiency, but it still cannot keep up with Disney's massive demand. After all, it is still It’s only the first generation, and Chen Zhiwen’s research on Photoshop in his previous life was not deep, so he could only provide some basic suggestions.

"I think if I follow your direction, I will never go wrong." Jobs said with a smile: "However, such a product still needs a customer, so I came to see you this time because I also want to know, if I make With such a combination of software and hardware, can Disney become its big customer?"

"Of course, if you can make products that improve Disney's efficiency, I will definitely pay for it." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In terms of animation auxiliary technology, Chen Zhiwen cannot provide very good advice. Midea is not very good at this aspect, and Photoshop is already very good. It is not impossible to develop deeper research, but it is difficult to guarantee success. .

It's not some creative projects. Chen Zhiwen actually doesn't have much confidence. This is actually the normal state of many companies. Many large technology companies develop hundreds or thousands of projects together, and then a few of them may succeed, and then they can focus on it. Investment, this is also the reason why many large groups have huge R\u0026D funds. Behind every successful project, there may be hundreds of failed projects, and the cost of these projects will eventually be included in it. Similarly, the same is true for the pharmaceutical industry. , the only difference is that the customers of technology projects are the general public, and R\u0026D costs can be easily shared evenly no matter how high they are, but not in the pharmaceutical industry, so some drugs for rare diseases are ridiculously expensive.

The current scale of Midea is actually the same. Except for the projects specially arranged by Chen Zhiwen, the others are also casting a wide net to catch fish. Adding a project about animation is actually not a big problem, but compared to the project itself, Disney It is more important to have such a time-saving and energy-saving tool.

In the original history, Steve Jobs founded Next and Pixar after being fired by Apple. The latter became the most famous animation production company in the world and launched "Toy Story" which influenced the entire animation industry.

I have to say that Chen Zhiwen also admires such people who can stand up after failure, such as Steve Jobs, Shi Yuzhu, etc. For such people, no matter how much Chen Zhiwen interferes with history, it will at most affect their life process, but there is a high probability that It won't change a life that can continue to be successful.

Now, due to his own reasons, Jobs was preparing to enter the field of animation production a year or two earlier, which he wanted. Although the industry itself can also make a lot of money, it is still far less than what he will get after having this tool. Disney's.

As for letting people work for you? That's something you don't even have to think about. Not to mention Steve Jobs, even in Hong Kong, if someone failed in business, he wouldn't make such a request.

"That's great, how about we continue to do what we did before and you invest in my company?" Jobs said with a smile.

"Okay." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

He also knew Jobs' purpose. Naturally, it was to bind himself, the largest possible customer in the future. After all, you can't just build software. It also needs to be used by a large number of customers, and then problems can be discovered and then updated and iterated. So in the end, The difficult process is the early stage. Once the early stage passes smoothly, it will be much easier later. Many companies in later generations relied on this method to make money after success.

This is still different from Apple at that time. Although Steve Jobs is in a very embarrassed state now and is even ridiculed by many media, he is after all the founder of Apple with the most potential in the United States. He still has hundreds of millions of dollars in his hands. A dead camel is bigger than a horse.

"OK, how about I give you 20% of the shares? If there is no problem, I will arrange for someone to send the contract over tomorrow." Jobs said with a smile.

"Okay." Chen Zhiwen didn't care. The number of shares didn't matter. Although the direction chosen by Jobs was a bit in-depth, it was not aimed at the mass market, and its potential was still very limited. It might not be as good as a popular hit product. A small game. Investment is just a binding relationship, and he does not need too many shares.

After getting what he wanted, Jobs discussed the future development of the computer industry with Chen Zhiwen, and then left the hotel.

Although meeting with Jobs was not the main purpose of his visit to the United States, it was good to be able to reach such an agreement with him. Jobs has always been very talented. He was able to found Apple and later Pixar. In the 21st century Needless to say, his subsequent achievements are needless to say. Now, after nearly 10 years of entrepreneurial career at Apple, his only weakness, his lack of understanding of how to deal with people, has been mostly solved. This thing is not about ability, but about attitude. Even the young Steve Jobs understood these things, but his life was too smooth and he could not tolerate other people's criticism, which ultimately led to today's failure. Later, he was able to achieve great success because he grew up after eating a sting. Wise.

Of course, he is still aloof and arrogant, and his temper is not that good, but it is much stronger than before.

The day after Jobs left, Ron, who was in charge of financial investment business in the United States, came to the hotel where Chen Zhiwen was staying. He needed to report an important matter.

"Boss, we have reached an agreement with Intel in accordance with your request and acquired 4.99% of their shares." Ron said after arriving, and then placed a contract in front of Chen Zhiwen.

Chen Zhiwen opened it and took a look. The ratio on the stock was 4.99%. As for the price, it was only more than 10 million US dollars. Then he said: "Now that Intel has been forced to suffer serious losses by Japanese chip companies, this is a good price."

In later generations, Intel was the world's top chip company. Especially before the emergence of smartphones, their cooperation with Microsoft could be said to be like a duck in water. One controlled the global software system, and the other controlled the chips of all computers. Until Steve Jobs came up with the smartphone. , Google launched free Android, and several other chip companies seized the opportunity of mobile phone chips, this combination was broken. It can be said that in the computer age, no one is their opponent, and they want to reach 10 % height is difficult.

However, in the past few years, things have been different. Microsoft has not yet established a monopoly on the operating system. The chip industry is based on a state of free competition. No matter how strong Intel's development capabilities are, how can it compare in terms of production? After going through Japan, which is the most popular country in the world, a lot of the market was robbed, and in the end I suffered serious losses.

Intel has also been trying to persuade the U.S. Congress to suppress Japanese chips, and Congress has agreed. However, Japan is also its own ally dog, and it still has to give some face. Therefore, it has not directly issued policies to suppress it, but placed its hope on the upcoming The signing of the "Plaza Accord" forced the yen exchange rate to appreciate, which naturally caused a sharp increase in the costs of all manufacturing industries.

It's just that what the old men in Congress didn't expect was that even if Japan's exchange rate increased, the U.S. chip industry was still no match. In the end, a bill was introduced in 1986 to increase tariffs on Japanese chips by 100%. Intel was saved because of this, but overseas markets That didn't work. In the end, Intel gave up on memory chips and instead cooperated with Microsoft to develop and run chips. With the help of the US government, Intel finally controlled the global computer chip market.

This year can be said to be the best time to invest. A few years ago, when Japanese chips were not so strong, Intel's stock price was still very high. (End of chapter)