Xu Zhi smiled, and then said: "The matter of the factory is like this first, Lao He, IBM has just released the personal computer 5150, what do you think of this matter? How much do you think it will affect our Glory computer?"

He Guoyuan said: "Some time ago, I have been paying attention to this matter, 5150 I have not seen this computer, but only look at some of the various hardware data published in American computer magazines, this computer is indeed very competitive, and the software is also relatively sufficient, enough to have a great impact on our computer sales." ”

On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced a personal computer IBM5150 designed for business, school, and home, offering many advanced features and a variety of software options.

The computer is still an all-in-one structure, but it weighs only 11 kilograms, which is considered a very light brand for its time, and is paired with Microsoft's x86 system, as well as IBM's own spreadsheet and text software.

"5150 This computer is on the same level in terms of configuration and price, and the glory computer is at the same level, not to mention who is good and who is bad, but the brand effect of IBM, can bring a huge market effect, which is our weakness. Xu Zhi shook his head and smiled.

Before the 70s, IBM was synonymous with high technology, from the era of World War II, IBM created one after another technology products that can change human life, at its peak, in 1967, IBM's market value reached $192.3 billion, and the GDP of the entire United States that year was only $830 billion, IBM's market value reached 23% of GDP, which even exceeded Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company that year.

And in 1974, the number of computers produced by IBM was 4 times the total amount of other computers in the world, becoming the absolute monopoly of the entire industry, in the 70s, the president of IBM went to European countries, and the local president would personally receive it, not only because IBM had money, but the influence brought by high-tech technology, all countries want to develop science and technology, whether it is medical research and development or aerospace technology, IBM large computers.

However, the US government's antitrust investigation completely suppressed IBM's development in the late 70s, and Apple's rise brought great changes to the entire computer industry, and after getting rid of the antitrust investigation, IBM also began to officially enter the field of personal computers.

Not only He Guoyuan, but also Apple's Steve Jobs, and Whitpacket Texas Instruments, which has entered the computer field, are also worried about IBM's entry, which is like Coca-Cola suddenly entering the beer field, even if it has not been produced before, this kind of brand effect that everyone knows is enough to put a lot of pressure on a bunch of beer companies.

He Guoyuan also understands this, saying: "The company is already working on the second generation of computers, and there are some new features and games that should be released in September. ”

"It's stressful in the long run, but it's not that serious for the time being. Xu Zhi waved his hand and smiled: "Although IBM is a big enemy, in fact, now is not the time to fight, the personal computer market is still in a state of explosion, we are more important to expand this market, push our brand to more computer whites, rather than and other companies to compete for those customers who understand personal computers." ”

"Xiaobai?" He Guoyuan was stunned.

Xu Zhi said with a smile: "Xiaobai refers to the kind of novice, people who don't understand anything, this kind of person will not investigate the characteristics of the computer, nor do they understand what processor, memory, hard disk, graphics card, etc."

They know only the simplest of uses, such as playing games, using electronic software, or drawing graphics. ”

"If you don't understand anything, it's hard to use a computer. He Guoyuan frowned and asked.

Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "This is actually not to worry, now the development direction of personal computers is to simplify processing, and if a person buys a computer, after using it for a period of time, he will naturally understand a lot, what we want to do now is to attract these people who don't know anything to buy our computers, as for when they replace them in the future, they will rely on their strength to compete, but I estimate that in the past ten years, the main force to buy computers is these whites." ”

What the chairman said is indeed very reasonable. He Guoyuan nodded and said, "Then what do we rely on to attract these little whites, game?"

"Games have a little bit of a role, but companies can't just give up the entire computer game market for the sake of computer hardware expansion. Xu Zhi shook his head and said, using games as a gimmick can indeed increase the sales of computers, but this practice is an act of abandoning the basics, one will damage the layout of the game industry itself, and the other will affect the correct development direction of its own computer itself.

He Guoyuan asked, "What does Xu Sheng mean?"

Xu Zhi said: "At present, Midea's annual profits are very considerable, although a large amount of profits in the early stage are used to invest in the stock market, and the return on profits is also okay, but this is just a financial investment, I think it is time to lay out the downstream of the electronics industry." ”

After listening to this, He Guoyuan also understood, and asked: "Xu Sheng means that we are going to enter the field of terminal sales. ”

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Yes, entering the field of terminal sales, we can not only sell personal computers, but also our own color TVs, radios, refrigerators, air conditioners and other household appliances can also be sold together, and our own stores, of course, will give priority to selling their own brands, that is, it is easier to introduce our computers to these whites." ”

"Our own brand?" He Guoyuan asked, "So, we don't have a large number of small stores, and take the route of large supermarkets?"

"Yes, at present, the retail market in Europe and the United States has begun to approach the route of large supermarkets, and traditional small stores have not been able to keep up with the trend, especially in the two areas of supermarket sales and electrical appliance sales. Xu Zhi nodded in agreement.

He Guoyuan said: "The large supermarkets in the United States are in the suburbs, the land price is not expensive, and the construction cost is not very high, but it is not easy to contact all the well-known brands in the world to enter our stores, because we are competitors." ”

Xu Zhi smiled: "It doesn't matter, because for the time being, I don't plan to open a supermarket, but an electronic department store market, except for our own brand of Midea, I don't plan to operate other brands by myself, but lease them all to these companies in the form of internal stores, and they are responsible for their own profits and losses." ”

He Guoyuan thought for a while and said, "This is some large shopping malls similar to Xiangjiang?"

"Yes, a principle. Xu Zhi said with a smile that the large shopping malls in Xiangjiang are all real estate giants, such as the Wharf Group behind Harbour City, but the shops in Harbour City are all rented out, and Wharf is only responsible for unified management and rent collection.

The same is true for Wanda in later generations, and this kind of truth is very normal in shopping malls, because it is impossible for the company behind a shopping mall to operate many industries such as clothing, cosmetics, luxury goods, clothing, and restaurants at the same time.

However, this is not the case in the electrical appliance market, in this era, many supermarkets buy their own products and then turn to sell, and the difference in price is earned.

If you set up such a chain of electrical supermarkets, even if the product variety is far less than that of ordinary supermarkets, but management, operation, and capital will form great pressure, and in this way, you can only expand step by step like Wal-Mart, which is still a successful case.

As long as you contact many electrical appliances and kitchenware brands at the beginning, reach a cooperation agreement, the new company is responsible for the construction of the site, and then sublease the store to various electrical companies or their local distributors, this model is the simplest, although whether it can be profitable depends on the level of operation, but in terms of capital, it is the best way to expand rapidly.

He Guoyuan nodded and said: "If this model is adopted, it can indeed save a lot of management and operating costs." ”

"Yes, with this model, we can travel lightly and expand quickly in the United States. Xu Zhi said with a smile: "As long as the scale is expanded, our first goal will be achieved, and more importantly, we can also set up our own after-sales channels in the United States, and the cost will be reduced a lot when unified." ”

Labor in the United States is extremely expensive, and generally cheap electrical appliances, if they are broken, are basically thrown away, which is why the United States is the world's largest electrical appliance market.

But for computers that cost more than a thousand dollars, Americans will not be so tyrants to replace them casually, and can only seek help from professionals.

At present, personal computers are still an emerging industry, but even a company like Apple, although the market value exceeds 2 billion US dollars after listing, but it does not have the ability to set up its own after-sales channels, most of the customer's computer is broken, it needs to be mailed over, which takes a lot of time, often about half a month.

Now Americans are also accustomed to this model, but Xu Zhi's goal is to build his own electrical appliance stores in cities of a certain size throughout the United States, and each shopping mall will be equipped with after-sales service personnel, although there will be similar competitors in the future, but at least for the time being, there is no second one that will make this kind of investment.

Neither will IBM, it will not be short of money, but personal computers are only a small part of IBM's huge business, and it is impossible to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build such a large channel.

He Guoyuan asked, "There are so many cities in the United States, where do we start?"

"California, what do you think. Xu Zhi said: "The West Coast is close to our Asia, and our Midea branch is also headquartered in Los Angeles, so it's easier to start here. ”

"Okay, then I'll immediately arrange a headhunting company in the United States and set up the team first. He Guoyuan asked again: "Then what is the name of our chain store?"

"It's called Best Buy, and the English name is bestbuy. Xu Zhi said with a smile.