In 1990, Hong Kong Hung Hom:

The waves of Victoria Harbour lap on the cornerstone of the Guest Terminal, one of the reception piers of Whampoa Plaza, the second largest shopping paradise in Hong Kong, where tens of thousands of locals and overseas tourists come every day.

Whampoa Plaza faces the sea on one side and 22 commercial buildings on the other, all of which are commercial office buildings, hotels, or high-end apartments, all of which are owned by Hutchison Whampoa Group.

To the west of Whampoa Plaza is the headquarters of Midea Group, which consists of 6 commercial buildings, in addition to administrative staff, various R&D departments and laboratories have also been relocated, and all departments are together, and the efficiency of cooperation between each other has been greatly improved.

"Chairman, this is our latest new generation of mobile phones. He Guoyuan opened a wooden box with a rimmed edge and took out an item that was only slightly smaller than the eldest brother.

Xu Zhi took it and frowned, "Can't this thing shrink a little more?"

He Guoyuan smiled bitterly: "Chairman, I also want to make it smaller, but if it is small, there will be problems in heat dissipation and signal, we have designed dozens of different sizes and styles, this is the best one." ”

"Well, it's a lot more convenient than Big Brother. Xu Zhi said helplessly.

For people in the 21st century, Big Brother's design is simply anti-human, people who hold up to answer the phone, and don't exercise regularly, can't stand it for a few minutes, but this is also an option that has no choice, and the technology of the 70s can only be like this.

He Guoyuan said with a smile: "Chairman, the weight of this dream-1 mobile phone is only 550g, which is definitely the lightest mobile phone in the world at present, using the latest TFT LCD technology, equipped with text messages, calendars, schedules, alarm clocks, calculators, emails, games and other functions, and also has the function of Bluetooth propagation, which can realize the function of connecting to the local area network, which is definitely a product of cross-era significance." ”

Xu Zhi flipped through the mobile phone in his hand and asked, "Can't you install a camera?"

He Guoyuan shook his head and said: "I consulted He Da Company, with the current digital camera technology, it cannot be reduced to the point where it can be put into a mobile phone, and the current digital technology is not mature, and the definition is very low." ”

"It's a pity!" Xu Zhi sighed, in the history of the development of mobile phones, the inclusion of digital cameras in it is a very revolutionary step. But now that the technology doesn't support it, it's a matter of a few more years.

Xu Zhi then asked, "Kodak shouldn't know that our information digital camera is meant to be put into the phone, right?"

He Guoyuan shook his head and said: "Of course they don't know, I just provided the dimensional data we need, but Kodak, they thought that we were also going to enter the field of digital cameras, and from time to time they belittled digital camera technology in front of the people we sent." ”

"It's just a fool without vision, the digital age is coming, if you don't hug it, you can only wait for death, Kodak is reluctant to make huge profits from film, hesitates, and is estimated to taste the consequences soon. Xu Zhi shook his head and said.

Kodak's bankruptcy is one of the most famous cases in the history of human business, knowing that digital cameras will inevitably replace traditional tape cameras, and they have enough technology accumulation in the early 80s, the world's first degree of advancement, but for capitalists, the biggest disadvantage of digital cameras is that they do not need endless "consumable" film, which is unacceptable for Kodak, which has stepped into the top ten listed companies in the United States by selling film.

The end result of the reluctance to make film profits was the rise of Japanese digital cameras and Kodak's entry into the high-speed rail of bankruptcy.

"Have all the technical patents inside the mobile phone been authorized? This is a new product, once it is launched, there are many people who are red-eyed, and if it infringes on other people's patents, it will be troublesome. Xu Zhi then asked, wireless information communication technology has appeared for decades, most of the basic patents have been formed, and later companies cannot bypass the past, but can only obediently buy patent authorization.

He Guoyuan said with a smile: "We have reached an agreement with Ericsson and Motorola on the authorization of basic patents, and it is the chairman of the board of directors who took precautions and suppressed these companies with the sharp weapon of text messages, and they also had to sit on the negotiating table." ”

"There's no way, we're a Chinese company, and we don't have a basic patent, so we can only go off the rails like this. Xu Zhihaha laughed. In 1986, after the SMS patent was acquired, it was not charged immediately, but implemented a global free policy for the first three years, which can be used by any company.

This method of text communication soon became a trend, and in terms of usage, it was not much lower than the power of the telephone.

Three years later, when the SMS function became a habit for everyone, Midea began to implement a charging policy, manufacturing companies and telecommunications companies need to pay royalties, although not much, but this is a very stable income, with the gradual popularity of mobile phones, SMS function has become one of the necessary functions of all mobile phones.

When Midea develops its own mobile phone, it needs all kinds of basic patents, and it is also possible to negotiate successfully by virtue of having a sharp weapon such as SMS in hand, otherwise, in this era when mobile phone manufacturers are also communication technology monopolies, there is not enough capital, and even the door of this industry can not enter.

He Guoyuan then asked: "Then how much does our mobile phone cost?"

Xu Zhi asked, "How much does it cost?"

He Guoyuan was already ready, saying: "If it is mass-produced, the LCD and memory chips are all produced by us, and if the production line is moved to the mainland, the cost of each mobile phone should be controlled within 600 US dollars by using the low labor there." ”

"Then set the ex-factory price at $800 and try to use our own group's resources to reduce the final retail price. Xu Zhi said after thinking for a moment.

He Guoyuan asked: "But if that's the case, isn't the price of our mobile phone about the same as that of the average big brother?"

"It's about the same as other mobile phones, our functions are much stronger, but the price is the same, how do you think consumers will choose?" Xu Zhi smiled and shook his head: "The purpose of our mobile phones is not to take the high-end route, the more common civilian products, the more profitable, occupy the market first, as long as the brand comes out, there are various opportunities." ”

High-end products are highly profitable, but the market is limited, the simplest example being the auto industry, where companies like Supercars or Rolls-Royce have gone bankrupt in recent decades.

He Guoyuan pondered for a moment and said: "If this is the case, we must prepare a large-scale production line in the mainland first, otherwise, it may not be too late to supply at that time." ”

"Then get ready first, you discuss it with He Huang, and talk about this matter as soon as possible. Xu Zhi nodded and agreed.

In the field of home appliances, Midea is all built and produced by itself, because home appliances are not as good as other high-tech electronics industries, and their profits are limited, especially if they need to cooperate with Midea's price war strategy, it is unrealistic to outsource them.

However, the production line involved in the manufacture of computers and future mobile phones is not as stable as that of household appliances, so Midea mainly outsources these businesses, such as Foxconn in later generations, and Hutchison in order to expand its influence in the mainland, but also in order to seek a new business, so it took over most of Midea's personal computer orders, and at the same time, with its own high-quality cost advantages, it also won orders from HP and some IBM computers.

Hutchison Electronics already has the trend of "Foxconn" in the future.

"This shouldn't be a big problem, the investment in the assembly line is not large, we have already cooperated with Hutchison a lot when developing this mobile phone, if you want to expand the scale, you can directly copy and build the workshop and production line." He Guoyuan paused, and said: "If this is the case, we also need to hold a product launch conference, and at the same time carry out advertising, so that people around the world know our products first, and then decide on the production plan based on the follow-up feedback." ”

"You can look at this piece!" In terms of operation, Xu Zhike is not as good as He Guoyuan: "TVB's satellites cover the entire Southeast Asia, although due to some legal reasons, the TVB channel has a limited range of transmission, but most of the TV stations in Southeast Asian countries have a lease relationship with our satellites, and the cooperation in this area will be a lot more convenient."

In Southeast Asia, in terms of per capita income, the horse is not as good as that of European and American countries, but it is better than the number of people, and Western companies often encounter difficulties in adapting to the water and soil. ”

He Guoyuan nodded and said: "There are dozens of countries in this part of Southeast Asia, and it is really not easy to deal with it, but fortunately, the sales network of the previous game console products has been paved, and there are some partners with sufficient strength in the local area, so the sales of mobile phones should not be a problem."

In the U.S., we have Best Buy, and we have Disney Channel, which is a powerful advertising tool, and I think Europe is our weakness. ”

Xu Zhi smiled and said: "You first run the American and Asian markets well, and then talk about it, on the European side, as long as our products are done, the channel chamber of commerce will send them to the door by themselves, this is a revolutionary product." ”

……