Chapter 248 Opportunity to Enter the Electronics Industry

Chapter 248 Opportunity to Enter the Electronics Industry

Chapter 248 Opportunity to Enter the Electronics Industry

"Oriental Daily?" Qin Zhiye reviewed it several times in his mind and said, "This name is really good. It is concise, elegant, and easy to remember."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "This is the best name."

He was originally struggling between Oriental Daily News and Tiantian Daily News, but after some consideration, he felt that Oriental Daily News was more generous.

Qin Zhiye asked again: "Then this Oriental Daily is similar to other newspapers?"

"Yes, most of them are similar. We can use our funds, scale and experience to make a normal newspaper." Yang Wendong added: "But there is one thing, we must focus on horse racing and stocks;
Another thing is to focus on writing about ordinary people’s social problems and daily social stories, which are also what ordinary people like to read because they may encounter such things themselves.”

When we were making high-end newspapers, we actually seized the opportunity that there were no color newspapers in the Hong Kong newspaper industry. We were the first to capture this market and thus achieved success.

But nowadays, as an ordinary newspaper, there is really no special advantage, so the simplest thing is to imitate the successful method of the Oriental Daily in its previous life: writing horse and dog stories, daily stories of ordinary people, and so on.

"Ordinary social stories." Qin Zhiye thought for a while and said, "Mr. Yang, there must be many such stories in Hong Kong, but most of the lower-class people can't write.

If we want to explore their stories, we have to hire a lot of journalists to go deep into society to interview and explore.”

"It doesn't matter, just recruit people." Yang Wendong didn't care. In the past, the Oriental Daily also had hundreds of ordinary reporters who specialized in searching for stories in the streets.

This actually has little to do with the illiteracy rate among the people. Even if it is the 80s or 90s and everyone can read and write, how many people would think of writing down their stories and sending them to a newspaper?
"Okay." Qin Zhiye was also very surprised.

The clients of high-end newspapers are high-class and the profit margins are considerable, but the market size is too small. In addition, we have the first-mover advantage, so there will be no challenge if we succeed.

But now that we can make ordinary newspapers, the market potential has suddenly expanded by more than ten times.

Of course, the profits are definitely not as good as those of high-end newspapers, but when it comes to newspapers, sales volume is sometimes more important.

Yang Wendong added: "Then let's start preparing during this period. It would be best if the team is ready after the Chinese New Year next year."

The newspaper company has no shortage of funds, printing equipment, work space and so on. Even as for people, some of the veterans in the existing team can be asked to lead the team.

"Okay, I will recruit people as soon as possible." Qin Zhiye added, "But we can only poach people from the same industry."

"Then dig them up. Don't worry too much. They have the ability to keep those people with high salaries." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

The media industry in the entire Changxing Group is definitely not used for profit.

Because the combined profits of the radio station and the newspaper are probably not as much as a single real estate project of Changxing Real Estate;
But its value lies in its "mouthpiece" function and its influence on some markets. Therefore, within Changxing Group, the two major media businesses have a particularly high status.

After negotiating with Qin Zhiye about the follow-up matters of Oriental Daily, Zhang Hui, who was in charge of the radio business, also came up and reported on the radio station's situation in the past year.

"There are now 40 radio users?" Yang Wendong smiled and said after hearing the number, "It seems that the Hong Kong electronics industry has developed quite well in the past two years. The price of radios has dropped a lot."

Hong Kong's electronics industry started in the 60s. The earliest large-scale electronics factory was a joint venture between Sony and "radio king" Hu Xiaoqing.
The factory assembled the radios in Hong Kong and sold them across the Commonwealth, allowing Sony to circumvent the Commonwealth's high external tariffs.

Therefore, Sony has transferred a lot of technology, and as the scale of this factory grows, the extended industrial chain has gradually formed.

From 60 to 61, more than a dozen radio factories were established in Hong Kong. The products of these factories were naturally supplied to the local Hong Kong market first. This also caused the price of radios in the Hong Kong market, which were originally only imported, to plummet to 3% to 4% of the original price.

The plummeting price of radios is naturally good for radio stations, and Hong Kong Commercial Radio was naturally blown up by this trend.

"Yes, we did a random check last month, and there are about 50 radios in Hong Kong now." Zhang Hui said: "Most of them listen to our commercial radio station.

Our radio station is much more interesting than the other two."

"50? That should be the limit, right?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "There are more than 300 million people in Hong Kong now, so it is estimated that there are only or households, right?"

There are many single people in Hong Kong today, but there are also some families with more than five people. Many people who have a little money even have several wives and even more children.

Zhang Hui said: "From the perspective of the number of households, it is almost reaching the limit, but now Hong Kong's economy is better, so many people are beginning to pursue having a radio in their own room or around them.

This could be another big market, and theoretically, our user base could double.”

"Yeah, but the upper limit is still a bit too low." Yang Wendong nodded: "It's better to complete this goal first."

Hong Kong has a total population of just over 300 million. If any business only has the local market, the upper limit will be pitifully low. It is also unlikely that the radio station can go overseas, with Macau being the only option at best.

The industrial and shipping markets are so large because they are major global businesses.

The real estate market is not small either, because it is sucking the blood of all Hong Kong's economy, and Hong Kong has a special location, otherwise the real estate market would not have reached the same high level as in the past.

This is the upper limit of the media sector. However, if a TV station comes out, it will be much better. Although it is difficult for Hong Kong TV stations to be transmitted overseas, TV programs can be transmitted overseas. The TV programs produced can have overseas markets.

The same is true for the film industry. In fact, you can't make much money in the local market. The external market is the most important. After the 90s, Hong Kong television and movies declined at the same time because the overseas market was conquered by Hollywood blockbusters, and at the same time, they failed to grasp the mainland market, so naturally they fell into ruin.

Zhang Hui paused and suddenly said, "Mr. Yang, there may be some problems with this goal."

"What do you mean?" Yang Wendong asked back.

Zhang Hui said: "I'm afraid the price of radios in Hong Kong will increase significantly soon."

Yang Wendong asked again: "Why?"

"Because Japan is about to impose large-scale export taxes on transistors exported to Hong Kong," Zhang Hui explained.
"In recent years, Hong Kong's local radios have also been competing for the Japanese radio market in various parts of the world. In the first ten months of this year, Hong Kong exported more than 50 radios to the United States.

The core cost of a radio is the transistor, which cannot be produced in Hong Kong and was previously imported from Japan." "Hong Kong radios are taking over the Japanese market? It's only been two years, right?" Yang Wendong was really surprised.

Although it was a matter of time, he could not have imagined that it would start in just two years.

In the eyes of Europeans and Americans at this era, Japan is the king of roll. However, 20 years later, they will find that Koreans are rollier than Japanese. And after another or years, they will find that Chinese are the most rollicking.

Today's Hong Kong is actually a microcosm of the mainland in the past, except that the total population is too small, and with the real estate dominating the market after a decade or so, it is now a short-lived phenomenon.

Zhang Hui confirmed, "Yes, radios don't require much technology. Some small factories can just hire a few dozen people to assemble hundreds of them in a day.

Although the quality is average, it is cheap, and the export market is booming. In the past two years, most of the parts can be produced in Hong Kong, except for the core transistors. "

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "So the Japanese are going to take action against transistors? Restrict the export of transistors to Hong Kong?"

"Yes, there is only news about this right now, and Japan has not made a formal decision yet." Zhang Hui said, "But the news should be true. People in the industry who have some connections in Hong Kong know about this matter."

Yang Wendong asked again: "What about importing from other places?"

Zhang Hui replied: "There are not many countries in the world that can produce transistors. In Asia, there is only Japan. The prices in Europe and the United States are higher. Even if Japan increases export taxes, it is still cheaper than Europe and the United States."

"The Japanese should have calculated the price as well." Yang Wendong said.

The Japanese are not fools. Imposing export tariffs is something that rarely happens in most countries. It goes against normal trade logic. Even if they are cautious, they will not give up the market to others.

Zhang Hui went on to say: “Once Japan increases export tariffs, the cost of radios in Hong Kong will increase significantly, which is bad news for us.”

"Transistor!" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "The mainland should be able to make it, right?"

Although he was not very familiar with the history of domestic technological development in the 50s and 60s, Yang Wendong seemed to have seen information about BOE in his previous life. This company was the Yanjing No. 50 Electronics Factory in its previous life. It was established in the s and originally produced transistors.

Zhang Hui said: "There are indeed some in China. Some people have asked China Resources, but the production quantity is too small. It is said that China itself does not have enough. Moreover, all radios are exported. Who dares to use domestic ones?"

"Since China can make it, Hong Kong should be able to do it too." Yang Wendong said, "Do you know anything about transistor manufacturing?"

In previous lives, everyone was basically familiar with modern electronic devices such as chips and integrated circuits, but in this era, transistors are the core of many electronic products, similar to the chips in previous lives.

Zhang Hui replied: "It should be possible. When Japan produced the first transistor, the conditions were not necessarily comparable to those in Hong Kong today.

But the difference is that the Japanese government led the company to do this, and the British Hong Kong government would not do such a thing."

"It's a dream to rely on the British Hong Kong government." Yang Wendong smiled and then said, "But we still need to investigate the transistor issue. Just because it was possible then doesn't mean it will be possible now. Do you know any professionals in this field? People from Taiwan will do, or overseas Chinese will do."

The special thing about the electronics industry is that many technologies are simple in the early stages, but as technology iterates, the cost of getting started for novices will become higher and higher, and it may even be impossible to get started later on.

Take LCD and chips in the past as an example. In the 80s, there were countless factories around the world capable of producing them, but by the 21st century, there were only a few left. Even if new players had enough funds, they could not enter.

Zhang Hui thought for a while and said, "I'm not very clear about this technology. How about I go and see if there are people in Hong Kong or Taiwan who are good at it?"

"Well, okay, there should be some in Taiwan." Yang Wendong said, "Contact Lao Wei, and you can participate in this together."

The British Hong Kong government was ruled by lazy people. Apart from the people's livelihood industries, they basically did not care about other economic activities. They also used the "free market" as a high-sounding excuse and did not even control the banking industry, which eventually led to a serious run on Richard Lim and Hang Seng Bank.

Taiwan is much better. In the 60s, it proposed and implemented the Ten Major Construction Projects, which led to Taiwan's economic take-off. At the same time, it introduced foreign investment, developed export trade, encouraged high-tech enterprises and heavy industry, and so on.

Wang Yung-ching’s Formosa Plastics Group was founded in this environment, as were many other high-tech enterprises.

"Okay." Zhang Hui agreed.

He probably already knew that his boss might be preparing to enter the electronics industry.

That afternoon, Wei Zetao rushed to Hong Kong Island from Kwun Tong. When he saw Yang Wendong, he immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, I know a few experts in the electronics industry."

"Do you know him?" Yang Wendong asked curiously, "He's from Hong Kong? Are there any experts in this field in Hong Kong now?"

Wei Zetao explained: "No, they are from the United States. They work for several large companies in the United States and graduated from the Department of Electronics of a local American university."

Yang Wendong asked again: "Then how do you know them?"

Wei Zetao said: “Because Mr. Yang had previously publicly stated that Hong Kong would develop the electronics industry, I thought that we would definitely lack talents in this area in the future;
So I asked Lin Youqi in the United States to look for talent in this area. He also found at least dozens of Chinese engineers through headhunters and gradually talked to them. Several of them said they would consider coming to Hong Kong. "

"Well done, this saves a lot of time." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Originally I wanted to wait until the Hong Kong electronics industry has a certain foundation before we enter the market, but now they are facing a shortage of transistors, so I also plan to advance my entry."

As a time traveler, the biggest advantage is knowing the future development trend, and making terminal consumer products is the most effective, especially after having capital, you can also indirectly obtain channels and their profits by investing in the retail industry.

But in 59, my resources were limited, the radio technology was simple, and I didn’t have any advantages, so it was nothing.

It was almost the year 62, and Hong Kong's electronics industry was about to explode. In order to protect its own radio industry, Japan restricted the export of transistors to Hong Kong. This gave us a blank market and an opportunity to enter the electronics industry.

Wei Zetao smiled and said, "This is what we should do. I will contact the United States. They are about to have Christmas vacation, so we can ask them to come to Hong Kong."

"Okay." Yang Wendong agreed.

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)