With the Time Shop, I Too Am the Greatest Conglomerate of All Time

Episode 60. Fish with bait.(1)

haha. Nell is looking for an OS other than Windows.

This is going to be fun.

I thought it was completely the MS camp.

After all, it seems that entrepreneurs have neither permanent allies nor permanent enemies.

“To be precise, it’s not for personal PCs, but there are things we’re developing.”

The drill CPU was a key part of the T-Project.

The operating system for tablet PCs, EasyOS, was being developed as a version for RISC.

I had to change the OS I was developing for CISC to RISC, so I complained that I had an increased job.

Fortunately, it was fun, and the grumbling didn’t last long.

“okay? That’s good. Then can I hand over the contact information of Director Kang to Nel?”

And about two hours later, I got a call from the US.

“hello. Mr Kang. This is Luke Garcia from Nel. I contacted Mr. Lee of Song Eung Logic because he heard that there is a separate OS that he is developing for drilling.”

“yes. Mr Garcia. Although there is an OS under development . To be precise, we are not developing for desktop PCs.”

Luke’s voice lowered as if disappointed.

“Um… my company mainly sells desktop PCs. I am very sorry to say that it is not.”

“haha. You must be disappointed. The OS we’re developing isn’t for desktop PCs, but Nel can develop such an OS if needed.”

“okay? That’s fortunate. We, Nell, are willing to buy a drill CPU as long as there is a suitable OS. If we start development from now on, how long will it take to complete the OS for that desktop PC?”

this bastard.

You try to make your work so easy.

where to eat for free.

“ah. But that’s a bit of a problem.”

“Is it a problem?”

“yes. Right now, we don’t have enough OS development manpower and facilities left. Creating an OS for desktop PCs requires hiring new staff and bringing in new workstations for developers. But we can’t afford to invest any more right now.”

“Hmm. In a word, money is an issue, right?”

“All right. We will discuss it with the boss and get back to you.”

The next day I got a call from Luke.

“Mr. Kang. I want to hear the story you talked about yesterday in more detail. I’m going to go to Korea in 3 days. Do you have time?”

“it’s okay.”

“I’m happy. So where can I go to Korea?”

“All you have to do is come to the Seoul headquarters. Send me your email and I will send you the address.”

“yes. My email address is…”

I hung up the phone and smiled.

‘Hey! I asked for the bait.’

The next day I got a call from Nell.

Sungwoon Logic CEO Lee Byung-hoon was contacted again.

“haha. Kang Director. It seems that PC makers are struggling with drill CPUs. This time, I got a call asking if there is an OS that is being developed by Umpack and H.C.O. Can I hand over the contact information of Director Kang?”

Umpack and H.C.O.

These were the PC makers who ranked second and third in the U.S. personal PC market share.

‘The fish are coming. haha.’

“yes. Please pass it on.”

Not long after, Umpack also contacted me.

“hello. Mr Kang. This is Andrew Jackson from Umpac.”

“I heard that there is an OS being developed for the drill CPU?”

“yes….”

I asked Andrew after telling him the same story he had done with Luke of Nel.

“The Nel company decided to come to Korea the next day. How about coming to Korea and talking with Um Pak?”

“Um… I’ll report back to the boss and then I’ll get back to you.”

I repeated the same thing to the contact from H.O.

In the end, both Umpack and H.O.C decided to come to Korea the day after tomorrow.

Gather in the main office meeting room.

Representatives of major US PC manufacturers, including Nell, Umpack, and H.O.C, gathered in one place.

Maybe it was because they were competing fiercely, but they looked at each other and looked uncomfortable.

I opened my mouth without hesitation.

“I expected that it would be an uncomfortable place for each other. However, we needed your help to solve our common concern: developing an OS that supports Drill CPUs. So please understand that I asked everyone to gather in one place like this.”

Luke, Nel’s representative, said.

“We know we need money to develop the OS. I think you were thinking of raising the funds from various companies, but I wonder if there is a need for that. Why don’t you talk to us alone, as our Nel company can provide you with the necessary funds?”

At those words, Umpack company manager Andrew jumped.

“It’s the same with our Um Pak. PC sales in the US are a bit behind Nell, but our company’s size isn’t that great either. We can provide enough funds for OS development.”

Levy, the representative of H.O.C., also intervened.

“Funding is available to us, too!”

If we were going to negotiate on our own, we wouldn’t even call them together like this.

I calmed the overheated atmosphere and continued.

“Everyone, listen to me first. We know that your agency is good at mobilizing funds. But I’m thinking about $90 million, can you afford that one company?”

At my words, the conference room became quiet.

90 million dollars was more than 100 billion won in Korean Won.

It was not an amount that even a company with good financial power could freely decide on support.

After a while, Luke, Nel’s representative, asked.

“Ninety million dollars. That’s a huge amount. Is there any reason why it takes so much money to develop one OS?”

“If you simply make an OS, you don’t need that much. However, even if there is an OS that supports the Drill CPU, if there are no other applications such as word processor or web browser, would you use this OS?”

“..So, 90 million dollars is what you need, assuming you are also developing applications?”

“yes. I know that if I only make an OS, it won’t sell, but it’s foolish to start developing the OS blindly.”

“..I will call the head office and come.”

“Me too.”

I decided to take a break for now.

About an hour later, I returned to my seat.

In addition to the phone call with the head office, it seemed that they were talking to each other in the meantime.

Luke, Nel’s representative, asked me.

“If we invest that money, what will we get?”

The subject was changed from ‘I’ to ‘we’.

“There are two main benefits. One is that the OS developed by us can be used without restrictions. This condition will apply even if the OS is upgraded in the future. Simply put, with one investment, you can use the OS provided by us for free for life.”

Luke asked with a suspicious look.

“Even if you say that, if you change the name like Windows and release the OS later, won’t that benefit disappear?”

“no. If you sign a contract, you don’t have to worry about that, as we will definitely put a clause in the contract that covers all OSes developed by us.”

“..okay. So what are the other benefits?”

“We will give you all the applications we sell at a discount of 30% off the regular price.”

“The second benefit is a bit dissatisfying. Why aren’t the applications free?”

It was an unreasonable requirement.

If you unlock the application for free, there is no place to make a profit.

No matter how large the initial investment, it was bound to go bankrupt in the end.

“haha. $90 million is a lot of money, but no other company can use that money to unlock all applications for free. If you know of a place, please let me know. I will consider it.”

At that, Luke coughed in vain.

“Hmm, hmm. I understand for now.”

This time, Andrew, the representative of Umpack, asked.

“Mr. Kang. Can Drill CPUs continue to be upgraded in the future? The reason we need that OS is to use a CPU with good performance. However, if things are overtaken by Wontel or other CPU makers after a year, there is no reason to use that OS, so there is no reason to invest.”

“of course. A successor version with significantly improved performance is also in development. However, the problem is that the foundry process capacity cannot keep up with our development speed. In fact, the current drill CPU was designed to achieve 800Mhz if only the foundry process capability was supported.”

At those words, admiration erupted from the mouths of the officers.

“Five! 700Mhz alone is a great performance, but you mean 800Mhz was originally possible?”

“That’s right. Probably by the end of this year, the process capability of the foundry will increase a lot, so even if you use the same blueprint, 800Mhz will come out.”

The PC makers looked at each other and nodded their heads.

“If that is true, there seems to be a reason for us to invest, but the amount of investment is the problem. Even if the three of us share, they each need $30 million, so I think we should go to the headquarters and talk more.”

“All right. Please contact me when you are finished.”

The office of the CEO of Nell, USA.

CEO Michael Hill asked Luke.

“You mean they asked for $30 million?”

“What do you think, Luke? $30 million, is it worth the investment?”

“Thirty million dollars is a lot of money. However, considering that we are paying $60 for Windows OS licenses for every PC we sell, even if we sell only 500,000 units, it is worth the investment, so I think it is worth the investment.”

“Fifty thousand. If the operating system is not Windows, can we sell 500,000 units?”

“If you look at Apple’s PCs being sold now, it’s quite possible. Probably close to 2 million units sold in this quarter alone, can’t we sell 500,000 PCs with the same CPU? Of course, our software is a bit weak, but even considering that, we can sell at least 500,000 units.”

After thinking for a moment, Michael nodded.

“like. I’m going to make that investment. In the worst case, you could blow it all up, but I think you’ll need insurance in case the drill CPU continues to survive in the market. Contact the developer to invest in them.”