giants of the era

Chapter 259

With the acquisition of Wells Fargo Bank, Li Zetian also has his own financing institution, and he can use the bank's funds to develop his business in the future.Many acquisitions in the future will cost billions of dollars or tens of billions of dollars at every turn. Without the support of banks, it will be difficult to successfully acquire these companies.

As powerful as Li Zetian, the current cash reserves are not much.

"Mr. Li, do you have any other orders?" At this time, Wells Fargo CEO Nick Paul asked.

Li Zetian thought about it. After so many years in the United States, he found that there are relatively few ATMs, and ATMs between different banks cannot be connected to the Internet. For example, Citibank users cannot withdraw money from Bank of America ATMs, and Bank of America users cannot withdraw money from Citibank ATMs. withdraw money.

This is very inconvenient, but it also means a huge business opportunity!

Li Zetian organized the language in his mind, and then said: "I think Wells Fargo can consider vigorously developing ATMs and building ATMs all over the United States, such as supermarkets, department stores, movie theaters, commercial streets, stores and other places where there is a lot of traffic and needs to spend. In addition, contact other banks to jointly establish an ATM network and unify bank cards so that customers can engage in financial transactions across banks, making it more convenient for cardholders to use ATMs. People can use one bank card to get cash at ATMs of different banks !"

"Mr. Li, we invest huge sums of money to build ATMs, and other banks don't need to spend money to invest in ATMs, but they can enjoy the benefits. Isn't this too cheap for them?" A Wells Fargo executive asked.

Li Zetian said with a faint smile: "If users of other banks make inter-bank withdrawals or transfers on Wells Fargo ATMs, we will need to charge a part of the surcharge! In addition, we can also charge a part of the surcharge for withdrawals in other places."

Wells Fargo CEO Nick Paul's eyes lit up immediately, and he said excitedly: "Mr. Li, your move is really wonderful! In this way, users of other banks also indirectly become users of Wells Fargo Bank. It can make us a lot of money. In addition, due to the existence of this surcharge, it will greatly promote the conversion of users into Wells Fargo depositors, because in this way, they do not need additional surcharges to withdraw money at our ATMs Yes! At the same time, through the ATM, the brand of Wells Fargo can also be promoted, and the popularity will be raised, so that more people can become our users!
Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that ATMs are not branches of banks!If ATMs represent bank branches, then regulations limiting the opening of branches across state lines will limit further development of ATMs.In other words, we can open ATMs to all parts of the country without restrictions, thus creating countless profit points! ! ! "

Li Zetian smiled and nodded, "Well, what Nick Paul said is similar to what I mean, so investing in the establishment of ATMs will be a key project of Wells Fargo Bank! As far as I know, Citibank has done a very good job in ATMs .Do you guys remember when a snowstorm blanketed New York in 1978?"

Li Zetian paused for a moment before anyone could answer. He went on to say, "At that time, the snowstorm was so heavy that road traffic became extremely difficult, and many banks and shops had to close their doors. Citibank released an advertisement at the right time: In the picture, New York Citizens walked hard before the blizzard, came to the ATM of Citibank, and took out cash. A famous slogan appeared behind the screen: 'Citibank never rests'. This blizzard suddenly increased the utilization rate of Citibank's ATM Since then, Citibank’s ATM service has gradually gained popularity. By 20, Citibank’s deposits in New York had even doubled!!!”

Everyone present knew about this, and they couldn't help nodding their heads when they heard this. At the same time, it also allowed Li Zetian to establish an excellent image and high prestige in their hearts. Put the brush on!
Under the admiration of everyone, Li Zetian bid farewell.Regardless of his eloquence, he is actually not familiar with banking business.In addition, he was also afraid that if he said too much, it would affect the decision-making of the management of Wells Fargo Bank.

……

On February 2st, Nintendo's FC game console was officially released in all RBs.

President Hiroshi Yamauchi attaches great importance to the release of FC and came to Akihabara in person.

"President, Flamingo Company is really deceiving people. They actually threatened third-party game developers not to develop games for Nintendo, and they were shameless, saying, 'The game company can develop three games a year is the limit, no more Otherwise, the quality of the game cannot be guaranteed, and I am afraid that it cannot pass the review of Flamingo Company. 'Humph, is this a threat?! Who doesn't know that according to the requirements of the royalty system, other games except for the subsidiaries of Flamingo Company The company can only release three new games a year on the Flamingo-1 game console platform, and they are all exclusive games that cannot be released on other game platforms. If third-party game development companies still intend to develop games for Nintendo, then the game's The number of developments will exceed 3, and Flamingo will reject the game on the grounds of poor game quality!" An employee said angrily.

Hiroshi Yamauchi remained silent, staring at the shops on both sides of Akihabara.

Flamingo Company's suppression of Nintendo FC game consoles was already in his expectation. If it was him, he would also suppress competitors mercilessly.

Right now, whether FC can break out of the tight encirclement, whether it can win the support of third-party game developers, all depends on today's sales situation!
Flamingo's royalties system has already caused many game developers to complain, but they cannot do without Flamingo.If the performance of FC sales is good, it will surely make some game developers consider developing games on the FC game console platform.

As the saying goes, "Better be the head of a chicken than the queen of a cow."

For some companies, they can't get ahead on the Flamingo-1 game console platform, but on the FC game console platform, if they can get Nintendo's publicity and help, sales may be even higher.In addition, Nintendo's conditions will not be as harsh as Flamingo's.

Flamingo Corporation is literally exploiting them!

In fact, they didn't know Li Zetian's good intentions. It is precisely because of the royalty system that the quality of the game can be guaranteed.Game development companies will strive to make the game the best it can be.Because they know very well that under the condition of limited number of game development, the better the quality of the game, the more money they can make!

Nintendo has developed games in RB for many years, and still has a group of fans. That morning, Akihabara ushered in a large wave of players, which seemed very lively.

"President, there are quite a lot of people!" The people around Hiroshi Yamauchi said happily.

Hiroshi Yamauchi nodded, and said in a low voice: "The price of FC is 25 yen ($100), while the price of the Flamingo-1 game console is 37.5 yen ($150). The performance exceeds Flamingo-1, and the price is 12.5 yen cheaper, so it is very popular. The only thing that FC can’t compare with Flamingo-1 is that there are too few games on this platform, only our Nintendo company Too many games can’t be developed!”

This time, it can be said that Nintendo has spent a lot of money. FC is almost sold at cost price, hoping to seize the market through a low-price strategy, and then make money through game cards.From a strategic point of view, there is no problem at all, and it is quite correct, but Nintendo does not have strong capital.A huge company has so many mouths to eat, and if the product does not make money, it means that the company faces losses every day.If the sales of game cartridges are not good, it will be difficult for Nintendo to survive.

Li Zetian was the first to learn about the release of Nintendo, and frowned, "Nintendo wants to compete with Flamingo on price? Well, I'll stick with you till the end!"

Afterwards, Li Zetian picked up the phone and contacted Flamingo CEO Nolan Bushnell. He first asked about the situation of the second-generation Flamingo game console: "Bushnell, the Flamingo-2 game console developed how's it going?"

"Three-quarters of it is completed, and it should be able to catch up with the Christmas promotion in December this year!"

"Well, that's great!" Li Zetian was overjoyed and said, "Since the second-generation product is coming out, let's start to reduce the price of Flamingo-1, on the one hand to grab more users, and on the other hand Block the development of other companies!"

"Okay, I understand! Nintendo officially launched the FC today, and the price is 25 yen. Then, Mr. Li, the price of Flamingo-1 has dropped to 20 yen. What do you think?"

"can!"

As soon as the conversation was over, at noon that day, Flamingo announced that the price of Flamingo-1 had dropped to 20 yen.

Yamauchi Hiroshi received the news immediately, and his face turned pale.

After a while, Ye Qiuyuan's inquirer got the news that the sales of FC suddenly dropped, and many users who originally bought FC bought Flamingo-1 instead.

"President, do we want to lower the price?" A young assistant asked.

As soon as the voice fell, it was immediately opposed by some people.

"FC just went on sale this morning, and the price suddenly dropped in the afternoon, what do you make the previous users think?"

"Yeah, you can't lower the price easily!"

"However, Flamingo-1 has an advantage in the first place, and now the price is lower than FC. Customers are all buying Flamingo-1. We have been working hard these days to attract people to the store. Isn't it because of the fire? Flamingo-1 as a wedding dress?"

Hiroshi Yamauchi was silent for a long time, interrupted the quarrel with a wave of his hand, and said in a deep voice: "It is definitely not acceptable to lower the price. Changing the order overnight will cause great damage to the company's reputation!"

"President, what should we do then? We can't sit idly by, can we?"

Hiroshi Yamauchi said in a deep voice: "There is no need to reduce the price, but we can change the way, such as giving users two game cartridges for free, and the previous users can come and receive two game cartridges at any time!"

When everyone heard the words, they all said that this method was good.

At this time, Hiroshi Yamauchi raised his voice a few decibels, and said loudly: "There are many third-party game developers looking at us now. If we want to win this battle, we must have extraordinary courage!!!"

"Understood, President, then I will give your order now!" said the assistant.

"Well, let's go!"

Soon, Hiroshi Yamauchi's decision was made.

After Li Zetian heard the news, he couldn't help but the corners of his mouth curled up, and he laughed playfully, and said to Dongfang Yuqin, "Notify Nolan Bushnell, the Flamingo Company is also giving away two game cassettes..."

"Okay, Mr. Li."

(End of this chapter)