Chapter 659: Establishment of the Gaming Team
Cost is an important factor in whether a new product can be successful. In many cases, it is even more important than technology.
For example, in the 2010s, some companies specializing in the development of electric vehicles were able to produce electric vehicles with better performance than fuel vehicles, but the cost was too high. One reason was the high R&D cost, the second was that there were not enough users to share the cost, and the third was the lack of infrastructure for the energy replenishment model, which made development extremely slow. It took ten years for the general public to gradually accept it.
The playability of the game console is very good, which is an advantage over other products, but the core model of the arcade is to sell it to bar owners, who then let bar customers play it to recover costs. The cost that customers can accept is also limited. If it is too expensive, no one will play it.
After all, although Americans today are rich, they are not nouveau riche, and this business requires enough customers to spread the cost, so the price that Honor sells to bar users cannot be too expensive. Generally, it is necessary to ensure that the boss can make a profit within an average of half a year or even three or four months. Otherwise, after a long time, customers who are tired of the game will no longer play.
Gordon Moore replied: "According to the current price of 4004 chips, it will cost about $900, which is a bit more expensive than the previous [Pong]. Although the price of 4004 chips has dropped, the game [Space Race] requires higher computing power, which means more chips are needed."
"Well, okay, a slightly higher price is acceptable." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then we will continue with the previous model, with the motherboard produced in the United States and the rest in Hong Kong. This will be the case in the early stages, but later on I hope to try to produce both the chips and the motherboard in Hong Kong."
Half a year ago, Yang Wendong asked Intel to cooperate with Honor Electronics to build a complete chip industry chain in Hong Kong. Unless some products are impossible to produce in Hong Kong, the industry chain must be built in Hong Kong first, even if it is loss-making.
In fact, this "loss" is also calculated based on the current international demand and Hong Kong demand. With the future development speed of the electronics industry, in fact, in just a few years, this "loss" may no longer exist, and there may even be a profit, unless the Hong Kong factory always has problems with production capacity and quality, which is beyond Yang Wendong's control.
Now, with a lot of money, Hong Kong has built related factories in North Point, Hong Kong Island, but it will take more than half a year to complete. These factories have extremely high requirements for infrastructure. Kinmen Construction can handle the construction, but some core standards and designs can only be handled by American companies, which is much slower. Even if it is a bit urgent, we can only wait. For such a high-tech project, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry.
However, according to the plan, the factory will be completed in 73, so small-scale production can be carried out first. For these early products, we will naturally choose our own company's products. The whole process will be easy to control and after-sales service will be convenient. Even if there is a problem, it will only affect ourselves, and our team can also learn from past mistakes.
Gordon Moore asked: "If the products from Hong Kong can pass the inspection, then it won't be a problem. But you have to bear the risk yourself."
"Of course, I know, but how can there be no risks in the electronics industry?" Yang Wendong said with a faint smile.
If you want to be a high-tech company, whether it is automobiles, chips, electronic products, home appliances or even small products like Changxing Industrial, there are risks. Manufacturing is inherently linked to quality risks. If you don’t take any such risks, then no one can succeed.
In the history of Samsung, when it was making semiconductors in its early years, the quality problems were so serious that even its own electronics companies were unwilling to use Samsung semiconductor products. But in the end, it gradually became successful. In the past, Haier, Midea, Gree and other companies in mainland China also had huge quality problems in the early days. These are stumbling blocks that must be overcome to succeed.
Gordon Moore nodded and said, "Okay, let's start with production, and then gradually conduct small-scale trials later."
"OK." Yang Wendong replied.
Intel has also achieved good results in its chip field recently. Gordon Moore also showed Yang Wendong some of the new products that will be launched soon. However, for Yang Wendong, these do not mean much to him. Before the emergence of personal computers, he did not care about this market, mainly because he did not understand this technology. He just wanted to become a major shareholder of Intel.
At noon, the group had lunch at a hotel near Intel and then separated.
Everyone returned to the InterContinental Hotel where they were staying. In the presidential suite, Yang Wendong, Wang Zhiqun and several other Chinese ate some fruits, nuts and other snacks. "Jiahao, you are the person in charge of Honor Electronics' permanent Intel. Tell us, how have you been studying here in the past few years?" Yang Wendong asked first.
Because he invested in Intel, which is also a powerful American technology company, the current game development business is handed over to Intel;
But there are too many uncontrollable factors. In addition, communication was difficult in this era, and there was a time difference between Hong Kong and the United States. Early games were simple, and Intel could basically do a good job with a brief description. However, with the development of electronic technology, the game interface became more and more complicated. If such a model is adopted, the efficiency will be very low, and even irreversible errors may occur. After all, the program is like building a house. Once the foundation is built, it will be too late to change it if errors are found later.
So in the past few years, from the very beginning, Yang Wendong arranged for a large number of Hong Kong people to go to Intel for permanent study, and also recruited Chinese technical engineers in the United States who were willing to go to Hong Kong in the future. It cost millions of dollars just to build a team in Hong Kong that can professionally produce games in the future.
As long as this team succeeds, no matter how many millions of dollars are invested now, the success of a future game can easily pay for itself, and it can even bring enough talent teams and new industries to Hong Kong and the mainland in the future.
Xie Jiahao replied: "Mr. Yang, we now have 122 employees in Intel, most of whom are from Hong Kong, and a small number are recruited in the United States. Over the years, Intel has also allowed us to participate in game design, and even a few of us have participated in chip framework changes, just to allow us to fully understand their chips, but they generally don't let us participate in the latest chip design."
"That's enough. They can't really give us all the core technologies." Yang Wendong smiled.
Even if I am a major shareholder, they will not really give me the core technology. Even in Hong Kong, some of the companies I have invested in are actually wary of me as a capital giant.
This is also human nature. Yang Wendong would not make any excessive demands. His purpose is just investment and he would not consider anything else.
Xie Jiahao continued, "For the game [Space Race], many Chinese people in our company also participated and were responsible for a part of it, but the core hardware design. Intel did not ask us not to participate, but the difficulty was too high and we could not participate. It was designed by several senior engineers in Intel through consultation. Once it came out, the structure came out."
"Well, hardware design is indeed the most difficult." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "That's okay, just take it step by step. In the early stages, even if you design the hardware structure, if you really can't do it at the beginning, you can try outsourcing it."
Just like the battery life of electric vehicles in the past, if you want to increase the battery life, you just need to add batteries. However, the cost of adding batteries is high and you cannot compete with others. Batteries themselves are heavy. If you add too many batteries, the appearance will be unsightly and the battery consumption per 100 kilometers will be high. This is a vicious cycle. For electric vehicles, how to find a balance is very technical, which tests the battery, electronic control, motor, and comprehensive design of the car.
The same is true for game consoles and even future computers. Chips are expensive. How to purchase the least number of chips at the lowest cost and then make the equipment meet the needs is also a test of technical content.
In the past, it was said that Atari had designed a wonderful game, but the game required too many chips, resulting in a cost of more than $5000, which made it impossible to commercialize. So they had to find a way to reduce the hardware cost, which meant they needed a new design to ensure the normal operation of the game, but with a significantly reduced number of chips.
Finally, under the high reward, Jobs, who was working at Atari at the time, found a top technology geek, Steve Wozniak, who solved the problem. The number of chips in the game was reduced from more than 130 to about 40. As a result, Jobs also received a bonus of nearly US dollars, but only gave Steve a few hundred dollars.
But this also shows that many times, the success of some top designs is determined by a key person. This makes it convenient for Yang Wendong. As long as he finds a few capable people in the United States and Japan, whether they move to Hong Kong or continue to work in the United States, as long as they can work for him, it will be easy to solve the loopholes in his team.
Xie Jiahao replied: "If that's the case, our current team should be able to be responsible for the production of new games."
"Okay, I'll let you guys try out the next game first." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Well, you take some people back to Hong Kong, and when I return to Hong Kong in a while, I'll talk to you about the new game.
During this period, you should cooperate with Changxing Real Estate to select a suitable location for the office. The space should be larger, as the team will need to expand significantly in the future."
Xie Jiahao agreed: "Okay, Mr. Yang."
PS: Ask for monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)
Cost is an important factor in whether a new product can be successful. In many cases, it is even more important than technology.
For example, in the 2010s, some companies specializing in the development of electric vehicles were able to produce electric vehicles with better performance than fuel vehicles, but the cost was too high. One reason was the high R&D cost, the second was that there were not enough users to share the cost, and the third was the lack of infrastructure for the energy replenishment model, which made development extremely slow. It took ten years for the general public to gradually accept it.
The playability of the game console is very good, which is an advantage over other products, but the core model of the arcade is to sell it to bar owners, who then let bar customers play it to recover costs. The cost that customers can accept is also limited. If it is too expensive, no one will play it.
After all, although Americans today are rich, they are not nouveau riche, and this business requires enough customers to spread the cost, so the price that Honor sells to bar users cannot be too expensive. Generally, it is necessary to ensure that the boss can make a profit within an average of half a year or even three or four months. Otherwise, after a long time, customers who are tired of the game will no longer play.
Gordon Moore replied: "According to the current price of 4004 chips, it will cost about $900, which is a bit more expensive than the previous [Pong]. Although the price of 4004 chips has dropped, the game [Space Race] requires higher computing power, which means more chips are needed."
"Well, okay, a slightly higher price is acceptable." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then we will continue with the previous model, with the motherboard produced in the United States and the rest in Hong Kong. This will be the case in the early stages, but later on I hope to try to produce both the chips and the motherboard in Hong Kong."
Half a year ago, Yang Wendong asked Intel to cooperate with Honor Electronics to build a complete chip industry chain in Hong Kong. Unless some products are impossible to produce in Hong Kong, the industry chain must be built in Hong Kong first, even if it is loss-making.
In fact, this "loss" is also calculated based on the current international demand and Hong Kong demand. With the future development speed of the electronics industry, in fact, in just a few years, this "loss" may no longer exist, and there may even be a profit, unless the Hong Kong factory always has problems with production capacity and quality, which is beyond Yang Wendong's control.
Now, with a lot of money, Hong Kong has built related factories in North Point, Hong Kong Island, but it will take more than half a year to complete. These factories have extremely high requirements for infrastructure. Kinmen Construction can handle the construction, but some core standards and designs can only be handled by American companies, which is much slower. Even if it is a bit urgent, we can only wait. For such a high-tech project, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry.
However, according to the plan, the factory will be completed in 73, so small-scale production can be carried out first. For these early products, we will naturally choose our own company's products. The whole process will be easy to control and after-sales service will be convenient. Even if there is a problem, it will only affect ourselves, and our team can also learn from past mistakes.
Gordon Moore asked: "If the products from Hong Kong can pass the inspection, then it won't be a problem. But you have to bear the risk yourself."
"Of course, I know, but how can there be no risks in the electronics industry?" Yang Wendong said with a faint smile.
If you want to be a high-tech company, whether it is automobiles, chips, electronic products, home appliances or even small products like Changxing Industrial, there are risks. Manufacturing is inherently linked to quality risks. If you don’t take any such risks, then no one can succeed.
In the history of Samsung, when it was making semiconductors in its early years, the quality problems were so serious that even its own electronics companies were unwilling to use Samsung semiconductor products. But in the end, it gradually became successful. In the past, Haier, Midea, Gree and other companies in mainland China also had huge quality problems in the early days. These are stumbling blocks that must be overcome to succeed.
Gordon Moore nodded and said, "Okay, let's start with production, and then gradually conduct small-scale trials later."
"OK." Yang Wendong replied.
Intel has also achieved good results in its chip field recently. Gordon Moore also showed Yang Wendong some of the new products that will be launched soon. However, for Yang Wendong, these do not mean much to him. Before the emergence of personal computers, he did not care about this market, mainly because he did not understand this technology. He just wanted to become a major shareholder of Intel.
At noon, the group had lunch at a hotel near Intel and then separated.
Everyone returned to the InterContinental Hotel where they were staying. In the presidential suite, Yang Wendong, Wang Zhiqun and several other Chinese ate some fruits, nuts and other snacks. "Jiahao, you are the person in charge of Honor Electronics' permanent Intel. Tell us, how have you been studying here in the past few years?" Yang Wendong asked first.
Because he invested in Intel, which is also a powerful American technology company, the current game development business is handed over to Intel;
But there are too many uncontrollable factors. In addition, communication was difficult in this era, and there was a time difference between Hong Kong and the United States. Early games were simple, and Intel could basically do a good job with a brief description. However, with the development of electronic technology, the game interface became more and more complicated. If such a model is adopted, the efficiency will be very low, and even irreversible errors may occur. After all, the program is like building a house. Once the foundation is built, it will be too late to change it if errors are found later.
So in the past few years, from the very beginning, Yang Wendong arranged for a large number of Hong Kong people to go to Intel for permanent study, and also recruited Chinese technical engineers in the United States who were willing to go to Hong Kong in the future. It cost millions of dollars just to build a team in Hong Kong that can professionally produce games in the future.
As long as this team succeeds, no matter how many millions of dollars are invested now, the success of a future game can easily pay for itself, and it can even bring enough talent teams and new industries to Hong Kong and the mainland in the future.
Xie Jiahao replied: "Mr. Yang, we now have 122 employees in Intel, most of whom are from Hong Kong, and a small number are recruited in the United States. Over the years, Intel has also allowed us to participate in game design, and even a few of us have participated in chip framework changes, just to allow us to fully understand their chips, but they generally don't let us participate in the latest chip design."
"That's enough. They can't really give us all the core technologies." Yang Wendong smiled.
Even if I am a major shareholder, they will not really give me the core technology. Even in Hong Kong, some of the companies I have invested in are actually wary of me as a capital giant.
This is also human nature. Yang Wendong would not make any excessive demands. His purpose is just investment and he would not consider anything else.
Xie Jiahao continued, "For the game [Space Race], many Chinese people in our company also participated and were responsible for a part of it, but the core hardware design. Intel did not ask us not to participate, but the difficulty was too high and we could not participate. It was designed by several senior engineers in Intel through consultation. Once it came out, the structure came out."
"Well, hardware design is indeed the most difficult." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "That's okay, just take it step by step. In the early stages, even if you design the hardware structure, if you really can't do it at the beginning, you can try outsourcing it."
Just like the battery life of electric vehicles in the past, if you want to increase the battery life, you just need to add batteries. However, the cost of adding batteries is high and you cannot compete with others. Batteries themselves are heavy. If you add too many batteries, the appearance will be unsightly and the battery consumption per 100 kilometers will be high. This is a vicious cycle. For electric vehicles, how to find a balance is very technical, which tests the battery, electronic control, motor, and comprehensive design of the car.
The same is true for game consoles and even future computers. Chips are expensive. How to purchase the least number of chips at the lowest cost and then make the equipment meet the needs is also a test of technical content.
In the past, it was said that Atari had designed a wonderful game, but the game required too many chips, resulting in a cost of more than $5000, which made it impossible to commercialize. So they had to find a way to reduce the hardware cost, which meant they needed a new design to ensure the normal operation of the game, but with a significantly reduced number of chips.
Finally, under the high reward, Jobs, who was working at Atari at the time, found a top technology geek, Steve Wozniak, who solved the problem. The number of chips in the game was reduced from more than 130 to about 40. As a result, Jobs also received a bonus of nearly US dollars, but only gave Steve a few hundred dollars.
But this also shows that many times, the success of some top designs is determined by a key person. This makes it convenient for Yang Wendong. As long as he finds a few capable people in the United States and Japan, whether they move to Hong Kong or continue to work in the United States, as long as they can work for him, it will be easy to solve the loopholes in his team.
Xie Jiahao replied: "If that's the case, our current team should be able to be responsible for the production of new games."
"Okay, I'll let you guys try out the next game first." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Well, you take some people back to Hong Kong, and when I return to Hong Kong in a while, I'll talk to you about the new game.
During this period, you should cooperate with Changxing Real Estate to select a suitable location for the office. The space should be larger, as the team will need to expand significantly in the future."
Xie Jiahao agreed: "Okay, Mr. Yang."
PS: Ask for monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)
