Video Game Empire

In the early 1970s, Japanese VCRs were just beginning to enter the American market. ▲∴Top▲∴▲∴▲∴, .. The most representative products are the beta format video recorder developed by Sony, and the (Victory) company vhs format video recorder which was launched a year later.

Americans like to watch movies, and not everyone has the opportunity to go to the theater to watch them during the public release period. Many people probably missed it for a variety of reasons, so there is a huge video rental market in the US. The videotape copyright revenue is also the most important revenue of American film companies besides the box office.

Americans also particularly like to watch sports games. If they don’t have time to watch live TV when they go out, they usually use the video recording function of their home video recorder to record the live game on a blank video tape, and then watch it slowly when they get home. These reasons have created the United States has the world's largest consumer video recorder market.

The company has also learned the lessons of the previous TV field, and decided from the beginning to directly use Japanese companies to help it OEM VCRs, thereby offsetting the advantages of Japanese companies in terms of manufacturing costs. At that time, the company was the first to find Sony, but Sony regarded itself as very high, and refused the request.

So in a fit of rage, he turned to the alliance and found Panasonic to manufacture video recorders for him. The consequence of Sony's refusal is that the beta-format video recorder has been suppressed by the company's vhs format for seven or eight years since it was launched in the United States.

Of course, there is a reason why the vhs format has a more accurate grasp of the US market. For example, when Sony launched a beta-format video tape that can record 1-hour programs, the vhs-format video tape can already be recorded for two hours. The former was released when the tape was released. The videotape in vhs format can already record a complete football game (4 o'clock).

But it is undeniable that Sony's failure in the US VCR market. It is absolutely inseparable from the company's support for the vhs format. Although the company's sales share in the TV market is shrinking under the squeeze of Japanese companies. But its as a local electronics giant. Since the era of radio and radio, it has begun to deeply cultivate the domestic market of the United States.

The influence the company has accumulated in sales and promotion over the past 60 years cannot be erased overnight by foreign companies. Under the influence of the company taking the lead in supporting the vhs format, the number of hardware manufacturers supporting the vhs and beta formats in the US market is more than 8, and Sony is completely defeated.

It is a pity that in the TV business, Japanese companies do not need to resort to, and naturally it is impossible to manufacture for them. But if other Asian companies can achieve the same production costs as Japanese companies, then after offsetting the price disadvantage. With the advantage of the host, it is not afraid to compete with any Japanese company at all.

The three played all 18 holes in nearly three and a half hours. Although Li Xuan hit a hole-in-one and caught an eagle not long after the start, he still couldn't rank first in the final total score.

But he wasn't at the bottom either, because Bradshaw was worse than him. The president is obviously in no state today. Since Bradshaw learned that Orient Electronics could indeed easily raise enough money to acquire the company, his mind couldn't be all on the pitch. For the first time, he really began to seriously consider the pros and cons of being acquired by Dongfang Electronics.

Although Bradshaw is the chairman of the company's board of directors, he is a professional manager. Except for some shares acquired as equity incentives. He is not a shareholder of the company himself. Therefore, Bradshaw does not exclude the company from being acquired. It is just a change of boss for him. What he values ​​more is the advantages and disadvantages of the acquisition on the future development of the company.

It's not easy to play an 18-hole game, although they don't have to go all the way like the pros. Most of the time, you can take a four-wheeled electric vehicle dedicated to the stadium. Li Xuan also had some gains today. For example, he and Reed reached an agreement that Citibank provided a comprehensive line of credit to Orient Group.

compared to mortgages. The comprehensive credit line provided by the bank according to the enterprise qualification is more flexible to use. Borrowers can follow their financial needs. Borrow at any time, without having to go through cumbersome loan approval procedures every time. And the use of credit is not limited to loans. It also includes letters of credit, letters of guarantee and other services.

Previously, Dongfang Company had the support of a big cash cow in the game business, and the demand for bank loans was very low. As a result, the huge credit lines provided by the two banks, HSBC and Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, were not used by Oriental Company most of the time.

But if Dongfang Electronics successfully acquires the company, the company's capital chain will be very tight in the next period of time, so Li Xuan needs to plan ahead and take the initiative to establish a good relationship with the bank.

After the three players finished playing, they took a short rest and prepared to stay at the club for lunch. The lunch at the National Golf Course is said to be the tastiest of any golf course in the United States. It's a pity that Reed had to apologize to the other two after receiving a phone call. He needed to return to Citibank headquarters in Manhattan early for an urgent business.

However, this also gave Li Xuan and Bradshaw a chance to discuss the issue privately.

"I think the company's current market value is undervalued, and the main reason is the pessimistic view of the capital market on the US TV industry, that it is dying!"

Li Xuan put down the knife and fork in his hand, wiped the corners of his mouth lightly with a paper towel, then picked up the wine glass, took a sip of the wine to accompany the meal, and said lightly. The Wellington steak here tastes very good, it seems that the chef of the restaurant is not living up to its reputation.

"Thornton, you must know better than me that the American television industry is still booming. Although cable television in the United States has been rising rapidly in recent years, the impact on the three major public television networks, including the one, is unimaginable. It is so big. And from the financial statements released in the past, the company's revenue in the media business has been growing steadily!

The TV business is booming, and there is no reason for TV sales to stagnate. According to the data I got. Total U.S. TV and sales in the first six months of the year were up 1 percent from the same period last year. The US economy is emerging from the shadow of recession. However, the sales of American local brands represented by the company failed to achieve synchronous growth! "Li Xuan said calmly.

Bradshaw didn't rush to take Li Xuan's words either. Instead, he continued to tackle his own lunch, and his main course of the day was Roasted Lamb Chops with Rosemary.

"Have you heard of Samsung?" Li Xuan asked suddenly.

Bradshaw finally settled his lunch and nodded: "That's a Korean company!"

"That's right, it just replaced Japan's Panasonic as the world's largest black-and-white TV maker a few years ago! When I was shopping the other day, I found two Samsung-branded color TVs that had already started to hit the market. into the US market.

Their prices are about 10% lower than the lowest price of similar Japanese brand TV sets! "In the past few days, Li Xuan deliberately took the time to visit several electrical appliance sales companies in New York. He actually found the famous Samsung on the shelves.

Samsung in 198 was far less beautiful than it was three decades later, and it only had a certain popularity in Korea. Even though it has become the largest manufacturer of black-and-white TVs, Samsung's influence in the TV field is still weak.

Because the current mainstream of the TV industry is color TV, black and white TV can only be regarded as a backward product on the verge of elimination, and it only has a large market in third world countries. But Samsung started from black and white TVs, and it took 30 years to develop into one of the most famous electronics giants in the world.

"I understand what you mean. If Korean companies are better at cost control than Japanese companies, then Taiwan and Hong Kong companies can do the same!" Bradshaw said with a smile.

"Yes. I always thought the future of electronics manufacturing was in Asia! Japan beat the US with its high productivity. Korea beat Japan with equally well-trained workers, and cheaper labor!

For a mature electronic product like a TV, the competition is the production cost, and a very important part is the labor cost! Now even the cost of wages for workers in regions such as South Korea and Hong Kong is skyrocketing. Not to mention Japan.

Like Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung have all started to build factories in Southeast Asian countries! And Hong Kong Lu's Electronics Co., Ltd., which cooperates with Hong Kong, has moved almost all of its TV production lines from Hong Kong to mainland China! "Li Xuan said.

Although he bought the company for a big reason. Is to value its wholly owned TV station. But as the second largest core industry after the media business, the TV business has a strong position within the company. But not inferior to the company.

The decision of the Oriental Group in the TV business after the acquisition will directly affect the management's attitude towards mergers and acquisitions. The TV business represents the company's splendid career in the past 20 to 30 years. Although the glory of the past is gone, everyone wants to recreate the glory.

If it is according to Li Xuan's true wishes, his first choice is definitely to sell the TV business. For the Oriental Group, the profits brought by the TV business are far less lucrative than those from the computer, game, software, semiconductor and other businesses.

But if Li Xuan's idea is made public, what awaits him must be a wave of internal opposition. You must know that Jack Welch, who was later known as one of the most outstanding managers of the 20th century, packaged and sold the miscellaneous electrical appliances division of ge company that manufactures electric irons, ovens, curling irons, etc. last year, and ended up in ge company. There was a surge of opposition from within.

Many old employees angrily wrote a letter of complaint and asked him, is the ge appliance that does not produce electric irons and ovens still the original ge appliance?

However, Jack Welch resisted the pressure, and Li Xuan knew that the ge company under his leadership had successfully achieved a transformation. In another time and space, ge's market value ballooned from $1 billion to $480 billion over the next two decades.

In fact, the current ge companies and companies are facing the same problem, that is, the company is big but not strong, and many businesses have plummeted profits under the competition of Japanese products. If Li Xuan does not make an acquisition now, according to the original trajectory, Jack Welch will acquire the company in two years. But he is still focusing on sorting out the internal clues and has no time to free up his hands.

How to avoid the competition of Japanese products can be described as a difficult problem for all corporate managers in the United States in the 1980s! When the entrepreneurs had no good solution, the US government had to take action, and finally used the "Plaza Accord" to force the yen to appreciate, thereby weakening the export competitiveness of Japanese products.

And Li Xuan is now coming up with a new idea to let Dongfang Electronics, an Asian company, buy it, so as to break out of the predicament by integrating the advantages of cheaper production costs in Asia.

In fact, in another time and space, until the era of flat-screen TVs in the 21st century, the TV industry in the United States finally gave birth to a local brand that can lead the North American sales market.

Li Xuan in his previous life also heard about the company. Not because he bought a TV set from this company in his previous life, but because the founder of this company is also of Chinese descent, named Wang Wei. Of course, this Wang Wei, like most of the Chinese-American celebrities Li Xuan knew before, was still from Taiwan.

The company founded by Wang Wei has a very important feature, that is, all products are manufactured overseas. The famous (and notorious) Foxconn company is one of its two main foundries. And the company itself with annual sales of more than one billion US dollars has only more than 100 employees!

"If Dongfang Electronics takes over, what kind of arrangements are you going to make?" Bradshaw asked seriously.

A smile appeared on Li Xuan's face. He understood that from now on, Bradshaw's attitude towards the acquisition of Dongfang Electronics has finally changed fundamentally.

"I personally think that the current company is too bloated, and it is inevitable to lose weight! The weight loss plan can be divided into two parts. Among them, those marginal businesses that are not related to the main business should be sold directly. For example, blanket factories, insurance companies None of these are necessary to be retained~www.readwn.com~ Among the businesses that must be retained, the manufacturing industry is all transferred to Asia, and all factories in North America are gradually closed! At the same time, the funds returned are used for the construction of sales channels and investment in technology research and development. I firmly believe in one sentence, only the technology of the sunset, not the industry of the sunset!

CRT technology is transitioning from curved CRT to coaching flat CRT, and the future trend should be flat CRT! In my opinion, LCD is likely to replace CRT in the near future and become the new development direction of image display technology! "Li Xuan did not forget to be a prophet at the end.

"Is this why you have been investing heavily since the acquisition of the LCD business?" Bradshaw asked with interest. He also has some concerns about the liquid crystal business previously sold to the Oriental Group. Li Xuan has been investing heavily in the research and development of liquid crystal technology for the past two years.

"Of course!" Li Xuan nodded confidently. (To be continued..)

ps: I fell asleep while writing last night. I don’t know what keyboard I pressed. As a result, the computer restarted, and the more than 2,000 words I wrote were not saved! During this time, the weekend updates are worse than work. Apart from the reason for getting sick last week, it is actually chasing a girl! Well, I have been rejected, so sad, I will have a lot of time to write a book next weekend...