"What Mr. Chen mean, let's sell together?" Bill Gates asked.

"It can't be said that it is sold together, it can only be said that we work together to form a perfect supporting program, and in the end it is up to the customer to choose, which one does not want which software, or has the right to freedom, whether it is office software or computer games, it is the case, and there will be a discount in it, how to operate, still need to be studied." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In later generations of China, operating systems, office software and even very games are free, but in fact in foreign countries are not, each item is charged, the original history, after Microsoft monopolized the operating system and office software, the price of these software added up is more expensive than the computer hardware itself, that is to say, the total revenue of global computer companies is not comparable to Microsoft, and computer hardware has a cost, although Microsoft's software also needs R & D expenses, but mass shipments, will spread out all costs.

High revenue and high profit margins made Microsoft the world's largest company by market capitalization in the 90s, with a peak of more than $600 billion, and Bill Gates became the world's richest man for many years.

Since you can't change history, then embrace history, and reach cooperation with Microsoft in advance, so that all users are accustomed to using Midea's office software, once they get used to it, even if others bypass the patent, unless there is a revolutionary innovation, otherwise, it is unlikely to change the habits of users.

"That's good, too." Bill Gates and Paul Allen glanced at each other, and the former said.

"Is there any problem with IBM?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"Probably not, IBM only cares about R&D in the hardware field, and the software is basically outsourced, and they also encourage various software companies to develop all kinds of software for them." Bill Gates said.

"Well, in this case, it will be much easier for us to work together, as long as we work together, we can provide a complete software solution, as long as the price is right, I think we can quickly win a large market share." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In the early 80s, there really was no computer company that paid attention to software, Apple, IBM, HP are the same, in the current era of low computer production capacity and short supply, the profit of hardware far exceeds the software, and if the software wants to sell well, it needs to be adjusted for different hardware manufacturers, and it is very troublesome to operate. This naturally led to no giant caring about software, Apple was the first to launch the concept of image display system, but has been investing money in hardware, resulting in Microsoft first out of the finished product, and IBM after seeing Microsoft's results, directly outsourced all the operating systems of its own computers to Microsoft.

It wasn't until the mid-80s that the computer giants discovered the importance of the operating system, but it was too late, Microsoft launched window1.0, which perfectly solved many problems in terms of performance, plus Microsoft is still iteratively upgrading and patent barriers, others can no longer catch up, even IBM.

In the end, the biggest profit in the entire computer market was monopolized by Microsoft.

"Mr. Chen, now that IBM's operating system is already in use in the world, IBM should not agree to the big change, if Midea wants to develop this market, it can develop all kinds of software alone, and the next operating system that Microsoft is developing can be embedded in all kinds of Midea software in advance." Bill Gates said again.

"Yes, we are already developing games and office software based on current IBM computers." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, there is no unified operating system on the market today, so different versions can only be developed for different platforms, IBM's personal computer was also one of the largest brands in the 80s, with sales not lower than Apple, and it is also a market that Midea's software department and game department cannot give up.

"That's great." Bill Gates said.

"Mr. Gates, take the liberty of asking, can Microsoft accept investment now?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"Mr. Chen, are you going to invest in Microsoft?" Bill Gates asked.

"Yes, I'm more optimistic about Microsoft's future, and Midea is ready to cooperate with Microsoft, so I also want to invest a little bit." Chen Zhiwen said.

"Mr. Chen, the current Microsoft is not very short of funds, so it has no plans to introduce other capital to invest for the time being." Bill Gates shook his head and said.

"In this world, there are few companies that lack funds, after all, as long as you want to survive, it is not difficult, but if you want to develop and grow, you must need a lot of money, either into research and development, or in marketing, otherwise, the opportunity will be given to others." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said.

"What Mr. Chen means is that if we don't accept investment, we won't work with us?" Paul Allen, who was on the side, said suddenly.

"Not really, Mr. Allen is thinking too much." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said: "Cooperation will naturally cooperate, but our cooperation itself is not exclusive, your operating system can introduce other software, and my software can also choose other operating systems."

I'm very optimistic about the future of operating systems, so I'm going to choose one to invest in, and I'm going to invest a lot of money to make up for the technical disadvantage in order to make sure the investment is successful, but in this way, Microsoft may face other competitors, so it's better to accept my investment. ”

"Mr. Chen's proposal is really hard to refuse." Bill Gates frowned and said, he naturally knows what Chen Zhiwen means, in today's computer market, the operating system is indeed not only Microsoft, but they are the strongest at present, but if others get a lot of money, then they naturally have the ability to grab the market, not to mention how much they can grab, as long as there is a strong enemy, then their customers have a choice, which is a very bad choice for Microsoft.

"This is just normal business logic, you two can think about it, my conditions will definitely satisfy you." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In the future, one of the most basic logic of Internet investment companies is that when you refuse to ask me to invest, I will invest in other people, which feels very domineering, but in fact, it is just a normal operation, if you don't let me invest, don't you let me invest in your competitors?

"And how many shares does Mr. Chen want?" Bill Gates asked, if it was an ordinary investment fund, he would refuse ninety percent, but Chen Zhiwen is different, the person in front of him has capital, vision and ability, and has a lot to do with Apple, and is a dominant company in the field of entertainment electronics.

"I don't want much, 10% is fine, I can invest at 130% of Microsoft's current valuation, and at the same time, if you need it, I can lend you a sum of money as a major shareholder at low interest to support your R&D and marketing, up to $10 million, how about it?" Chen Zhiwen put forward his own conditions.

This condition is actually very generous, the general investment fund is unlikely to offer this price, but the general fund also needs to spend a lot of time to negotiate slowly, he is unwilling, not that he can't invite professionals to negotiate, but in the era of technology, what will happen in a few months, no one knows, compared to the future market value of Microsoft, it is important to be able to settle down as soon as possible.

"$10 million? Mr. Chen is really generous. Bill Gates couldn't help but be impressed, Microsoft's turnover last year was only 8 million a year, but this year because of the relationship with IBM, it shouldn't be a problem to double easily, but no matter what, $10 million is a lot, and the interest rate is still low.

"In this way, such a big matter, you also need to discuss it internally, this is my business card, you can contact me at any time." Chen Zhiwen took out a business card and handed it over.

Microsoft's products are not civilian goods, so the terminal retail they build is ineffective for them, but money can be used to solve the problem.

(End of chapter)