Chapter 514: The Birth of Hong Kong's Home Appliance Manufacturing Base
Chapter 514: The Birth of Hong Kong's Home Appliance Manufacturing Base
September came quickly. In a month and a half, the cooperation plan between RCA and Honor Electronics was gradually improved in various details and finally signed. Both the United States and Hong Kong were eager for this cooperation to succeed as soon as possible.
RCA needs to enter the Commonwealth for production and build a factory in Japan. After entering the Asian market, it can also avoid being attacked by Japanese brands. Honor Electronics also hopes to take this opportunity to obtain production experience, technology, industrial chain, etc. of large color TVs.
It can be said that both parties achieved multiple goals at one stroke.
RCA's vice president Thomson also rushed to Hong Kong in person to sign a contract with Yang Wendong.
"It's a pleasure working with you, Thomson." After signing, the two shook hands with each other.
Thomson smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to work with you, Mr. Yang."
"Just call me Eric." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I will entertain you at this store at noon. In the afternoon, we will go to visit the factory that is about to be built."
"Okay." Thomson agreed.
After enjoying a delicious Chinese meal, more than ten people from both sides set off for North Point;
On the way, Thomson said, "Eric, the meal we just had was the best meal I have ever had. I have fallen in love with Chinese cuisine since today."
"Haha, when it comes to food, we Chinese are definitely ranked high in the world." Yang Wendong said with a smile;
In fact, I am still a little modest. I am definitely the first. However, most Chinese people have just had enough food and some meat to eat, and their deep-seated pursuit of delicious food has not yet sprouted.
Of course, the food we are comparing here is for the common people. In Europe, America, Japan, and even India, the food that the upper class eats is definitely not bad, while for the lower class, even in Europe and America, most people and even students only have hamburgers, biscuits, cheese, etc. for lunch.
Thomson smiled and said, "When I return to the United States, I will have to visit Chinatown more often."
"You'll like it very much." Yang Wendong smiled.
After a while, the car arrived at North Point, which is a large area of old buildings, and some equipment is now being dismantled;
"Why not go further out into the suburbs?" Thomson asked.
Yang Wendong explained: “Thomson, Hong Kong’s transportation is far inferior to that of the United States, and most people don’t have cars, so we need to build the factory where there are many people.
Besides, my factory is here, and the supply chain is here, which is the best choice for our joint venture factory.”
"If that's the case, the cost of treating industrial wastewater and waste will be much higher," said Thomson.
"I will pay attention to this aspect." Yang Wendong added: "I will arrange people to check the land and groundwater near the factory for heavy metals and other possible pollutants every month, so that real-time monitoring can be achieved."
He absolutely did not want what happened in Taiwan's history to happen in Hong Kong, so he would inform the RCA people of his actions in advance to stop them from thinking;
Of course, RCA doesn't have this idea yet, and neither does Thomson. It's not easy for him to target the other party based on something that hasn't happened yet, so he can only give them a warning in advance.
It is most appropriate to control by rules.
"That's a good idea," Thomson agreed.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Come this way, let's go take a look at the factory. This piece of land has a total area of 13 square feet."
Zheng Zhijie worked very hard to acquire such a large industrial land in North Point. The Hong Kong government sold part of it, and the other part was acquired by Changxing Real Estate.
Fortunately, it is only 68 years now and the land price is not very expensive. If you buy it now, even if it is not developed, it can be multiplied several times in a few years.
Such a large piece of land is enough for the joint venture factory between RCA and Honor Electronics to not worry about the size of the space in the short term. More importantly, for the nearby industrial chain controlled by Honor Group, the birth of such a high-end TV assembly factory will have a very strong stimulating effect on the industrial chain.
On the 8th, Wang Zhiqun came to Yang Wendong's office with a thick stack of documents and said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, this is the list of various parts that RCA provided a few days ago. We are required to study it ourselves first to see if it can be manufactured in Hong Kong and when samples can be produced;
Once the samples are ready and sent to the United States, and are approved by RCA, they can be used in the color TVs produced by our joint venture factory."
"Let me take a look." Yang Wendong took the document and started to read it.
There were hundreds of products on it, each with a drawing, graphics and text description. After looking at it for a while, he asked, "What are the results of your internal analysis?" Wang Zhiqun replied, "About 30% can be tried out for production now. I have also asked them to process it according to the specified materials, and it will be sent to the United States after processing.
There are still about 40% that require improved processes, equipment or technical personnel, etc., and the details will take some time to study; the last 30% involve more complex technologies that we cannot manufacture. "
"Then let's get 70% done first, step by step." Yang Wendong said, "After the factory starts operation, we can study the remaining 30% one by one. If we really can't get it done, we can import a small amount. In this world, even Europe and the United States can't produce everything themselves."
Wang Zhiqun nodded and said, "Yes, but it's a pity that we can't produce 30%, which accounts for more than half of the value of color TVs."
"This is normal. We can't produce it because of the high technology. High technology naturally has a high price." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
Wang Zhiqun said: "Yes."
Yang Wendong added: “A color TV can drive the development of so many industries, which is of great help to us;
Do you think that if we also attract some overseas refrigerator, washing machine and even air-conditioning factories to come to Hong Kong for production, can we bring about an industrial chain?
Especially for air conditioners, we are not yet able to make them well. Finding companies like these from the United States to come to Hong Kong can also improve the industrial chain.”
Honor already has refrigerators and washing machines, but to be honest, they are not very good, just like the early Samsung. If you say it is good value for money, it is a low-end brand.
But there is no way around it. For an industry with some technical content, without technology you can only produce low-end products and be ignored by suppliers.
Although air conditioners have been produced in laboratories, they have no cost-effectiveness. You know, air conditioners are installed indoors, and have very high requirements for sound, power consumption, and comfort. It is very difficult to do these things well and maintain a balance.
"In theory, it is possible. Especially after RCA's investment, it will be much easier for us to attract companies that build white appliances," Wang Zhiqun analyzed. "Mr. Yang, which appliance company are we going to introduce?"
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, “I just suddenly thought of this. So, you can check the situation of American white goods companies and find a few suitable ones.
Then we can take the initiative to negotiate with them. If they are willing, we can form a joint venture. If they are not willing, we can also do OEM. This kind of thing does not necessarily have to be proposed by them. In recent years, many American companies have been forced by the Japanese, and there will definitely be some willing to cooperate. "
Before RCA proposed this, Yang Wendong had also thought about such cooperation, but Hong Kong had nothing, and it would be difficult to attract large American home appliance companies to invest;
But now that RCA has become famous, it is much easier for us to do the same thing.
"This is indeed a good idea." Wang Zhiqun said: "Although we also have home appliance companies, at least in the short term we will not enter the US market, fans are not included;
Bringing in American companies can help them expand into new markets and compete with Japanese brands, and we can also take the opportunity to develop the supply chain in Hong Kong and Taiwan.”
"Yes, the supply chain is the most important. With the supply chain, we can make home appliances ourselves in the future." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But the premise of the supply chain is that there is a market and customers. It is too difficult for us to do this alone."
In the past, the mainland was able to develop into the world's most terrifying industrial country in 40 years, with industrial chains of almost all industries. The fundamental reason was that it had attracted investment for many years, attracting a large number of foreign companies, and then these foreign companies cultivated the local industrial chain;
Of course, domestic enterprises also played a big role in this process, but the role of foreign enterprises is beyond doubt;
For example, in the case of automobiles, although the exchange of market for technology was not successful, the entire automobile industry chain was built in China, which also provided the foundation for the subsequent rise of electric vehicles. Otherwise, even if the three electrics were strong, it would be useless if the others were not good.
The same is true in Hong Kong now. First, the assembly factory is introduced. RCA and other companies will not give Honor Electronics any technology and may even be defensive. But it doesn’t matter. I just need the industrial chain. I can research and develop or purchase other patents later.
To take a step back, even if I do nothing, my supply chain can still make money, and the land for building the factory can still make money in the future, so I won't lose money anyway.
Wang Zhiqun replied: "Okay, there is another advantage to this. In the early years, North Point was dominated by the plastic processing industry. Li Jiacheng was also here.
Now they are all preparing to move to Kowloon or close down. If our plan works, we can transform North Point into a large home appliance production base in Hong Kong."
"That's a good idea. Do you want to negotiate terms with the Hong Kong government?" Yang Wendong asked.
Wang Zhiqun said: "Yes, if the Hong Kong government wants to attract foreign investment to Hong Kong, it has to make some policy conditions."
Yang Wendong asked with a smile: "But hasn't the Hong Kong government always implemented a non-interventionist policy in the market? How can we convince them?"
Wang Zhiqun replied: “The Hong Kong government will not negotiate with ordinary factories, and it doesn’t matter whether they come to invest or not;
But a large-scale project like ours may bring thousands or even tens of thousands of high-paying jobs and taxes to North Point, and will also cause a sharp rise in local housing prices. The Hong Kong government has enjoyed so much for nothing, so it must do something. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be better for us to go to Taiwan or Singapore?"
"Okay, let's go talk to the Hong Kong government." Yang Wendong nodded in agreement.
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(End of this chapter)