Chapter 148
The next morning Zhou Feng prepared to go see Qi Zhongtang. After all, the promise made last night was made after he was drunk, so he had to add an extra layer of insurance when he was sober.
As soon as he reached the door of the dormitory area, he heard shouting inside. Zhou Feng thought there was a conflict, so he hurried a few steps.
It was not until he entered Wu Congzhou's dormitory that Zhou Feng knew what had happened.
Two internet-addicted teenagers, one big and one small, were playing"Donkey Kong" next to a TV.
Wu Congzhou stood up quickly when he saw Zhou Feng come in. Since the first red and white machine was assembled, he brought back a device and tried it out whenever he had nothing to do. He actually found some bugs.
Qi Zhongtang just looked back and immediately turned around to continue operating Mario. After he failed, he slapped his thigh with regret.
"Just a little bit, my score will surpass yours!"
Touching his shiny forehead, Qi Zhongtang said:"Zhou Feng, this game is the one that sold for five million US dollars?"
Zhou Feng smiled and nodded:"To be precise, it is the arcade agency fee in the United States and the island country."
Wu Congzhou heard about this for the first time. He widened his eyes in surprise and murmured:"Five million US dollars?"
Qi Zhongtang asked in surprise:"Xiao Zhou, you just found out about this?"
Seeing Wu Congzhou nod, Qi Zhongtang patted Wu Congzhou on the shoulder and smiled:"This indirectly proves the market value of this game. We have to rely on it to open up the market, so the experience is not strong enough."
He looked at Zhou Feng and said:"We must expand the circle and let more people try to experience and feedback before launching the product into the market."
Zhou Feng's eyes lit up after hearing this. It's not that this idea is so new, but that there are not many companies that can really pay attention to the voice of the market.
Just a suggestion can show that Qi Zhongtang really got into the role
"Lao Qi, this has already been done. I have asked Zhao Xiaoqiang to send the latest batch of equipment to Hong Kong Island. At that time, we will recruit game experience officers from all over the country as the first batch of customers of Zhengfeng Company, which can also be regarded as the source of word-of-mouth."
This was decided before Li Jiale returned to Hong Kong Island, but the time was not now, but one month before the release. Zhou Feng set the actual release time for Christmas this year.
On the one hand, the product needs to be optimized and adjusted, and on the other hand, the current production capacity is limited, and it will take some time to accumulate inventory.
Qi Zhongtang thought for a while and asked:"Zhou Feng, I heard from Xiao Zhou that you don't plan to promote it in China?"
Zhou Feng nodded. This was a decision he had made after repeated consideration. At this point in time, choosing to focus on the domestic market would do more harm than good, and would hinder export business.
Qi Zhongtang had different ideas, but he was new here and was unfamiliar with many things, so he hesitated for a while.
Zhou Feng saw that Qi Zhongtang was hesitant to speak, and said directly:"Old Qi, the main reason why I chose not to enter the domestic market for the time being is that games are not well accepted in China at present. I am afraid of backlash and even a series of chain reactions, which would completely cut off the road, so I strategically gave up."
"If you have any ideas, you can speak them out directly. If you can avoid them, I will definitely support the development of the country as our base camp."
Qi Zhongtang thought for a while and said,"I didn't consider anything else, but I think that even if we don't make money from this land, we should first enclose the land."
"I think the Famicom will either fail or not. If it succeeds, the trend will spread quickly and many companies will come out to make it."
"At that time, it might be much more difficult for us to start developing the domestic market."
Zhou Feng agreed with this. The situation would indeed develop as Qi Zhongtang expected.
And it is true that counterfeit products occupy half of the domestic market, but the one that was counterfeited in the previous life was Nintendo.
"What do you think?"
Qi Zhongtang stood up and stroked his hair while turning around and said,"Can we castrate the Famicom, lower the price, and change the appearance of the accompanying games so that they can be used for learning? What do you think?"
Zhou Feng was indeed stunned. Qi Zhongtang's seemingly cunning move actually woke him up.
This has been done in China before. The most famous one is the Subor Learning Machine, which does the work of a game console under the banner of learning.
But before the Subor, there was a real learning machine.
It was jointly developed and designed by the Huaqing Microelectronics Research Institute and the Ministry of Electronics. Instead of calling it a learning machine, it is better to call it a home computer.
It is actually a copycat product of the Apple 2 computer. It has all the functions of the Apple 2 computer, and even better. What's more, the most important thing is that its cost is very low, as low as less than one thousand yuan!
In order to reduce costs, it doesn't even have a computer monitor, and directly adopts the method of directly connecting to the TV like a home game console.
But because it was launched in the late 1980s, the iteration of computer products was too fast. As a popular model, it did not achieve enough market penetration and was soon replaced by some high-end models from abroad.
As a low-end model, the market was occupied by the Subor, which suddenly appeared.
So this learning machine soon disappeared.
Thinking of all this, Zhou Feng also began to calculate carefully. It would be a pity to give up such a huge domestic market, but he really didn't want to enter the market through games.
Instead of doing this, it would be better to change the track directly, focus on promoting home computers, and develop the market with the goal of truly coming up with a learning product.
If game consoles are a quick way to make quick money, then computers are a business worthy of long-term investment.
The reason why Zhou Feng did not get involved in the computer industry at the beginning was because of the large investment and long cycle, and now he has lost the opportunity to enter the industry, so it can be said that he has no advantages.
But at this point in time, it is completely different to enter the industry with a real home computer such as a learning machine.
The market can be developed normally, and may even be encouraged by relevant departments. At the same time, it also cultivates the soil in the domestic computer field, allowing more people to join this industry.
Moreover, this simplified version of the home computer has many similarities with the red and white machine. It can be said to be an upgraded version of the red and white machine. It can be used as a reference in both research and development and production, and is very suitable as an entry product.
Thinking of this, Zhou Feng has made up his mind. This thing can really be done
"Lao Qi, I think your idea is very good, but we are not making game consoles, but real computers."
Lao Qi was confused. How did it become a computer? Did he just say that?
Wu Congzhou was also confused. He had always wanted to develop in the computer field. After coming to Kaoshantun, he basically extinguished his dream of computers. But he didn't expect that it had only been a short time, and Zhengfeng would actually make computers! Zhou Feng hurriedly repeated the idea of China Computer.
The two were shocked after hearing it. They didn't expect that computers could be made in this way!
If this idea is really implemented, then this computer will become the first home computer in China, and its price will be unprecedentedly cheap.
Zhou Feng naturally said the idea of imitating the Apple 2 computer, which basically has no bottleneck in research and development design.
Everyone is familiar with this computer, and there are several of them in the new factory.
Qi Zhongtang calmed down after being excited. He thought of what Zhou Feng said that night, that all research and development results must be profitable to operate in the long run!
"Zhou Feng, computers are not used in China now, and not many people even know the concept. What happens after we design and produce them?"
"Even if it is cheap, it is not affordable for the average working class, so who should we sell it to?"