Reborn Capital Madman

"The opportunity has indeed appeared!" Gao Xian nodded happily, "In the US market, we can only rely on Ruixia's sales network across the United States; in Western Europe, we can set up operations in the UK for personal computers, home video game consoles and other products

branches and subsidiaries, and even listed the shares of Huanyu Electronics on the London Stock Exchange."

Gao Xian is equally confident about the value of the European market, because there are more traces to follow.

In the "old script", before Big Blue's IBM-PC unified the market standard, there were already many recognized best-selling products in the personal computer market.

The success of IBM-PC is mainly reflected in the fact that it allows business users to realize the productivity value of personal computers and enthusiastically adopt them.

But having said that, big companies like IBM, which are known for their conservative management, have always been slow to catch rabbits and never let go of hawks. The personal computer succeeded first, and it relied on its own advantages to be the first to arrive.

In other words, before the emergence of IBM-PC, the personal computer market could be described as a success, and at least three leaders were cultivated.

The first one to stand out is Apple, founded by Jobs and Woz; compared to Apple, which is widely known, Tang Di and Kang Maoda are submerged in the long river of history.

But in fact, Tang Di and Kang Maoda were more successful than Apple during the same period.

Tangdi Computer is Ruixia's own product. With Ruixia's sales network across the United States, it has quickly become the market leader; Kangmaoda has integrated microprocessors, semiconductor memory and other industries, making its products highly cost-effective.

In contrast, Apple under the leadership of Steve Jobs, who was still in the "middle school" stage, was simply not as mature as the operations of Tang Di and Kang Maoda.

In view of the increasingly fierce competition in the American market, Tangdi and Kangmaoda opened up the European market. In the early 1980s before the emergence of IBM-PC, the annual sales of products reached hundreds of thousands of units, and Kangmaoda's annual sales reached one billion.

USD level.

This shows how valuable the European market is!

Since they seized the opportunity in the European market, why did Tang Di and Kang Maoda remain unknown afterwards?

In Gao Xian's view, there are many reasons why Tang Di and Kang Maoda were eventually eliminated by the market.

First of all, compared to the Apple-II, the Apple product of the same period, and the later market standard IBM-PC, Tangdi Computer and Commodity Computer were really at a disadvantage.

For example, the product design is too "dead" and not as strong as the expandability provided by Apple-II and IBM-PC through the slots on the motherboard.

Almost none of the flagship products of Tangdi Computer and Commodity Computer costs more than 800 US dollars, usually around 500 US dollars; while the price of Apple-II is mostly more than 1,200 US dollars; as for the IBM-PC series

For a product, it was rare to take the low-price route and create a $1,500 model, and it failed.

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Such price comparisons also illustrate the product weaknesses of Tangdi Computer and Kangmaoda Computer.

Secondly, internal strife also occurred between Tang Di and Kang Maoda's top management, similar to how Apple drove out Steve Jobs.

Charles Tondi died young, and the operational trajectory of Tondi Computer and Ruixia naturally began to deviate due to the struggle for power among the successors; Kang Maoda was the founder of Jack Trammell and the company's main investor Owen Goole.

Germany had serious differences and had to end in split.

Gao Xian is well aware of the experiences and lessons of the three leaders in the personal computer industry: Apple, Tangde, and Commodity. Naturally, he will not repeat the same mistakes, but directly capture the value of the European market.

Of course, competition in the European market is not that fierce, but compared to the American market.

In the era of vigorous development of personal computers, Western European countries have also actively participated. However, at the level of technological research and development involving the core microprocessor, almost only the United Kingdom has achieved outstanding results. In the "old script", there will be no one after more than ten years.

The ARM architecture microprocessors used in ubiquitous smartphones come from this.

This problem can be easily solved. Gao Xian can just find an opportunity to kill these competitors who have only recently revealed their sharp edges.

After chatting with Zhou Wenyao and making up his mind, Gao Xian ordered his subordinates to prepare for the establishment of Gaoxin Group branches and subsidiaries in London.

Because Gao Yi has already set up an office in London, there are ready resources available. The big boss Gao Xian does not need to worry about such trivial matters. He only needs to go to the United States to inspect the development of the personal computer and home video game console industries.

Can.

The referendum had just concluded in the UK, and all parties were busy harvesting the results. Seeing that Gao Xian didn't have many opportunities to interact with the big bosses, he naturally said goodbye without any regrets.

After arriving in the United States, from the perspective of Gao Xian, a senior expert who has always paid attention to the development of the personal computer field, a throbbing breath hit his face.

Small workshops for manufacturing personal computers sprouted everywhere. The pioneers claimed that personal computers could break the monopoly of large companies and government through large computers, and they worked tirelessly to find real business opportunities.

Gao Xian read the latest industry observation reports submitted by his subordinates, compared them with the "old scripts" he had mastered, and quickly discovered the differences.

Because Huanyu Electronics launched a personal computer under $800, the personal computer that Gao Xian was testing has become the first target to be dissected, studied, and then copied and sold.

In this regard, Zhou Wenyao explained: "Because of the advanced engineering higher education in the United States and the long-standing merchants selling electronic products like Ruixia, it is very easy for ordinary people to obtain electronic components. Therefore, electronic technology enthusiasts in the United States

The group is very large and the technical level is not low.”

"Many of those who imitated our personal computer products were participants in the popularity of calculator products a few years ago. When the market collapsed due to price wars, they turned their attention to personal computers, which are technically quite advanced.

accumulation."

"Take the most typical example of one of the best, Edward Roberts, the developer of the Altair-8800 computer. He failed in the calculator business, but he has made the personal computer host product without a display better than ours.

The price is still cheap at US$621, thus winning many orders.”

"We once planned to use legal means to deal with Edward Roberts, to scare the monkeys, but after an on-site observation of Edward Roberts' company, the investigators and I determined that it was just a small workshop with a simple production line and a mess.

, I really can’t take action.”

"I think the most effective way to deal with the proliferation of small workshops that are copying our products is to start a price war, just like what Texas Instruments did to the calculator market."

"After all, we have a mature operating model. We can get the core component of a personal computer, the microprocessor Intel 8008, at a purchase price of no more than US$75 each. Intel's Intel 8008 and

Motorola’s MC6800 is priced at US$360 per unit on the market.”

"Of course your method can sweep away these small workshops that imitate our products just like the autumn wind sweeps away fallen leaves." Gao Xian affirmed and then said: "But it is only temporary, because cheaper personal computer parts

Parts will be available soon."

Zhou Wenyao asked uncertainly: "Are you talking about the microprocessor that was often mentioned in electronics magazines recently and was developed by employees who left the Motorola MC6800 R&D team?"

"You've done your homework well, that's it." Gao Xian muttered: "I estimate that this microprocessor may not be more powerful or faster than Feijin's Z80, but it will definitely achieve a lower price."

"At the same time, as capital continues to pour into the semiconductor industry and factories are built one after another, the selling price of semiconductor memories is bound to drop significantly."

"As hardware manufacturing conditions become increasingly mature, formal commercial companies whose operations are far more mature than small workshops will definitely enter the market."

Having said this, Gao Xian glanced at Zhou Wenyao and said with a smile: "These companies are naturally not old computer companies like IBM and HP, because they still look down on this business whose product functions are as weak as child's play."

"Since it is not IBM or HP, our personal computers have sufficient advantages in terms of product scalability, continuity, usability, etc."

In fact, personal computers are by no means a new concept, and the industry also has different understandings of it.

HP, for example, has used Motorola's MC6800 microprocessor to create what they consider a "personal computer" product, and the price is not even as low as $800, it's hard to even sell it below $10,000.

The personal computer that Gao Xian is testing the waters has the advantage of being extremely usable at a low enough price. When customers buy it, they can use the included software to perform tax calculations, etc.

In contrast, personal computers produced by small workshops such as Edward Roberts' Altair-8800 can only be described as semi-finished products. People without relevant technical foundations will not be able to use them if they buy them.

When a company with formal operations like Kangmaoda enters the market, this advantage of Universal Electronics PC will not be so obvious.

Fortunately, Gao Xian still knows the key to this field.

In the final analysis, personal computers are for customers, and they are ordinary users who have no computer technology foundation. Whoever can make them feel easy to use and operate will win the favor of the market.

To do this, it can only be achieved through personal computer software.

Gao Xian asked with great leaps of thinking: "What are the results of our personal computer software development solicitation activities?"

"In addition to our own assembly language and C language compilers, programmers have provided compilers for other programming languages, which should further improve product availability." Zhou Yaowen replied: "I will immediately ask how the relevant reports are prepared.

That’s it.”

Having said this, Zhou Yaowen confirmed: "Boss, I will coordinate with Ruixia to engage in a price war to eliminate those small workshops that imitate our products?"

"Don't make it too obvious." Gao Xian pointed out: "This kind of suppression should guide them to give up copying our products and switch to developing components that are compatible with our products, such as memory plug-in cards to expand memory capacity."

Zhou Yaowen nodded in agreement. He left Gao Xian's office and walked a long way before he thought about it. The boss's move turned competitors into supporters, which was really amazing!