Chapter 532 Electronic Calculators and Hong Kong's Initial Chip Layout
Chapter 532 Electronic Calculators and Hong Kong's Initial Chip Layout
After listening to this, Lin Youqi said, "Okay, what about other races?"
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Let's look at the law. If there is no regulation, then don't do it. If there is a regulation, then just give the lowest share and the most ordinary position. In short, we must abide by the law, but we must also consider our best interests.
But other races are not all scumbags. If they perform well, we can promote them appropriately or recruit more of them.”
"Okay, I understand." Lin Youqing asked again: "It's just that it's fine for me to be in charge now, but if the new team is in charge in the future, they may not listen to us."
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "It's okay. The new team may be mainly white, but in the future, the HR department of each branch and even other companies of our group in the United States must be headed by Chinese, and the same applies to finance.
These two departments may not be staffed entirely by Chinese, but at least the supervisors should be Chinese, or at least Chinese should have a say. I will transfer people from Hong Kong, or look for Chinese Americans in the United States. "
Investing overseas is something that Hong Kong capital cannot do. After all, if they want to expand, they must build factories, after-sales or sales outlets overseas.
For the sake of localized operations, in addition to the factories, the management team for overseas business is preferably local. However, the most important personnel and financial power are still under the responsibility of the Hong Kong headquarters. Large amounts require the approval of the headquarters, and the personnel and financial teams of overseas branches are mainly composed of their own people.
Lin Youqi nodded and said, "He's just a Chinese American, so I don't think I can trust him absolutely, right?"
"Do you think we can absolutely trust those sent by Hong Kong?" Yang Wendong asked in return: "The important thing is not where they come from, but to make these Chinese and white people in these companies have a certain conflict of interest, so that it is most conducive to our control;
As long as the overseas companies are not integrated internally, that is enough, even if one party is less capable.”
The most untrustworthy thing in this world is loyalty. For example, in the party struggles in the late Ming Dynasty, it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, good or bad. What matters is that there is confrontation. If the court were united, the emperor would definitely not be able to sleep.
"Yes, Mr. Yang." After listening, Lin Youqi did not ask any more questions;
The boss does have a hand in controlling overseas companies, even including Hong Kong companies. The personnel and financial rights are in the hands of the headquarters. Professional managers only have operational rights and no decision-making power on major matters.
The same goes for the American person in charge. Although he seems to be far away from the emperor, he does not have any financial rights and needs authorization from his boss.
Yang Wendong added: "As for the details, we will discuss it after the professional team arrives. You can arrange for people to build the infrastructure first, so that it is larger and more luxurious."
"Yes, Mr. Yang." Lin Youqing agreed.
On the way back, Su Yiyi asked, "Brother Dong, to run a chain store, shouldn't you have a team first and then build it?"
"I want to, too." Yang Wendong explained, "But without a base, it's a bit difficult to recruit a stronger team. Although Changxing Group is somewhat famous in Asia, it's not so popular in Europe and the United States. At most, only Chinese people may know a little about it."
In the era without the Internet, information dissemination was very difficult. Even if there was the Internet or mobile Internet, how many netizens in the mainland knew about large European companies in the past? Except for consumer products such as BBA and Volkswagen.
Without the Internet, actively searching would be a very troublesome thing, so in the early years, Changxing Group mainly recruited Chinese overseas. Engineers involved in R&D could only be recruited if there were decent research institutions.
"That's right." Su Yiyi nodded.
Yang Wendong added: "This won't be a big problem in the future. My company's products are preparing to enter the US on a large scale, and we will gradually invest in publicity. In a few years, many people in the US will know about our company."
In the future, electronic products, Red Bull, and some products of Changxing Industrial will enter the United States on a large scale, and he will even invest a lot of money to expand into channels such as Best Buy;
Only in this way can Hong Kong capital truly go global.
Su Yiyi smiled and said, "That's good. When you succeed, my Yiran Home might also be able to enter the United States."
"That's also possible. As long as we integrate the supply chain and reduce costs to a minimum, the US can definitely develop by adopting a franchise model." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But this only applies to the mid- and low-end, not the high-end. The high-end requires brand support and top-level clothing design."
The core of industrial competition is cost-effectiveness, which is the most important, especially for products with low technical content. Whoever has the lowest price and good quality will win.
However, for high-end or technologically advanced products, the demand for cost-effectiveness is not very high.
Su Yiyi said: "I don't need to go high-end, it's good enough to do well with the current model."
"Yes, the market for the ordinary model is the largest, and this is what we need." Yang Wendong said: "The high-end route can only be successful if it is a new industry and has its own technology;
Or it could be possible if the country is a strong economy and has a strong historical heritage.”
In the past, European luxury goods sold for tens of thousands of dollars per bag, and there was no technology involved, but many people were willing to buy them because of their historical heritage. In this regard, even the United States is hard to catch up.
Or like Apple, which has risen through technology and new industries, there are also opportunities;
Of course, this possibility also exists in the new markets created after the mainland's reform and opening up.
"Yeah." Su Yiyi nodded.
The next day, Yang Wendong took Su Yiyi to a small warehouse office building near Stanford University and met two acquaintances.
"Hello, Mr. Moore and Mr. Noyce." Yang Wendong introduced, "This is my wife."
"Hello, Mr. Yang, your wife is so beautiful." Moore praised with a smile.
"Thank you." Su Yiyi also replied.
Over the years, she has also learned English. Although she is not as good as Yang Wendong, she has no problem with basically speaking and listening.
After a few casual greetings, they walked around Intel's company; the company was small, with only a few people, and it took only a few minutes to see the whole thing. Moore said, "Mr. Yang, the company has just been established, so it's a little small."
"It's okay. Any big company started out as a small company. The entrepreneurial environment I started in was much worse than yours." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
When he started from scratch, it was really hard. He worked outdoors in such a hot summer. But at that time, most people in Hong Kong were basically hard-working, so there is nothing to compare;
Moore smiled and said, "We have to thank Mr. Yang for his investment, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get started so easily."
Although he and Noyce had some savings after working for many years, it was basically family wealth and not much could be used to start a business. Although it was enough, Yang Wendong's investment saved them from having to save every penny in the early stages.
Yang Wendong said: "Having a good economic foundation is also a necessary requirement for starting a business, but the sustainability of funds also needs to be considered. How is your chip plan going?"
Moore smiled and said, "I'm just about to introduce it to you. This is our latest product, the 3101 storage, a 64-bit SRAM. We are going to use it to bid for Honeywell's order.
Honeywell is a large American company. If we can get this order, our future development will be much smoother.”
"Honeywell? Sure." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But I also have some orders here that I can give to you."
"What order?" Moore and Noyce also became interested. No company would think that having too many orders, especially a startup like theirs, would not mind having a small one.
Yang Wendong said: "I need you to help me design a chip that can carry out digital calculations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division."
As time went on, electronic calculators were also introduced. The market for this product was very considerable, especially in the early days when it was very expensive and the profits were very high.
Of course, just like electronic watches, the market is big but the competition is also fierce. It all depends on who can control the costs and advantages;
"This is going to replace our current calculators?" Moore asked. "But how do you display numbers?"
"Don't worry about this." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "I need you to help me design such a chip and make the algorithm inside it. The price will not be low."
There are calculators on the market in Europe and America, but they are purely mechanical. It can be said that they are the real crown of industry, with extremely high technical content, but the cost is also very high, and it is not cost-effective at all. Only a few universities in Europe and America will buy this thing;
Not to mention in Asia. Not to mention the cost, its efficiency is far lower than that of an abacus. Even manual calculation is faster than a mechanical calculator.
Now that the electronics industry has developed to the point where calculators can be produced, we naturally have to seize this opportunity. Regardless of how much money we can make, just earning a patent and reputation as the first inventor will be of great help to the future promotion of Honor Electronics.
But unlike electronic watches, complex devices like calculators cannot be controlled by transistors, or even if they can, the cost and size cannot be controlled, so chips are the best choice.
Moore did not ask any more questions. After talking with Noyce for a while, he said, "Mr. Yang, such a chip can be made in theory, but I am not sure how much it will cost. It requires in-depth research and development after the project is established."
"No problem. You can start the project first, and then give me the price of the commissioned R&D." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "There are also many chip R&D projects in the United States, so we can probably know the cost."
Currently, the United States is the only dominant country in the world in terms of chip development, and even Europe cannot catch up. Japan may also have some technology in this area, but it is still a long way off at this point in time.
If they wanted to make calculators or more complex chips, they had to rely on the United States, and Intel was their best choice, and they were also shareholders of the company.
"Okay." Moore agreed.
Yang Wendong added: "I have another request. After the research and development is completed, the production can be placed in the United States in the early stage, but I need to transfer it to Hong Kong in the later stage. So I will arrange for people to come here to learn in the early stage."
"Produced in Hong Kong? Mr. Yang, you mean packaging and testing? That's no problem?" Moore replied.
Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "No, it's the entire production process. Unless there are certain processes that Hong Kong really can't produce, then we put them overseas."
Hong Kong is not without a chip industry. In the 70s, many electronics companies placed their packaging and testing operations in Hong Kong, taking advantage of the low labor costs and high-quality personnel here.
But later, due to some events and Singapore's attraction of foreign investment, these industries eventually left Hong Kong;
Moore said: "Mr. Yang, this operation is not cost-effective."
"I know that it is very costly to move the entire industrial chain to Hong Kong, but as long as there are enough orders from Hong Kong or Asia in the future, it is still cost-effective." Yang Wendong added: "Isn't it the same with transistors in the past? In the early years, it was most cost-effective to produce them in the United States, but didn't Japan later surpass the United States in cost control?"
In the future, the demand for chips in the industry chain alone will be very high. Many home appliances will actually use chips in the future. As long as the cost of chips is reduced after iteration, when it is lower than that of traditional controllers, spring will come.
Not to mention computers, game consoles, music players, etc. He can even learn the OEM model;
Of course, many years in the future, when the computer industry is large enough and the electronics industry is important enough to the United States, it may restrict the development of other places. However, that is a long time in the future, so let's talk about it later. The worst outcome is that we can produce the chips needed for our own home appliances, which is enough. At worst, we can invest in TSMC and Samsung, and the same thing will happen.
"Okay, that makes sense." Moore nodded and agreed, "Okay, once the design is completed, you can send someone over to learn. It's not that difficult. You just need to buy all kinds of equipment, and the personnel must have a certain level of education, know how to operate the equipment, and understand some electronic technology."
"I know this. I have already made preparations in Hong Kong," Yang Wendong replied.
In order to lay out the future of the electronics industry, Yang Wendong had Honor Electronics train professional talents in Hong Kong a few years ago, especially in some overseas technologies, etc., not to mention mastering research and development, but at least understanding the basic knowledge;
Priority is given to talents within the company who are willing to learn and grow, or high-quality college graduates who have just graduated. There are also international students who have returned to Hong Kong, but there are not many of them.
The cost of developing a certain industry in an underdeveloped area is very high, so it is usually driven by the government. For example, in the 70s, Japan joined forces with several major conglomerates to develop the chip industry.
As for Hong Kong, he can only rely on himself, but he has no intention of making Hong Kong a chip capital in the future. He just wants to be able to meet his own needs.
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)