The Industrial Giant Reborn - Chapter 632

c623 Entering the mobile phone business

“Copper mine? In recent years, the value of copper has indeed been very low. Many copper mines in Europe and the United States have been closed.” Zhou Jiayang thought for a while and said, after all, Hutchison Whampoa has a mining industry, although the main development direction now is through Invest in Rio Tinto to make indirect profits and get a share of the pie in the future, but you still need to develop yourself. There is no conflict between the two. It’s just that over the years, Hutchison Mining’s only achievement is the iron ore at Christmas Creek. Others The local government has also spent a lot of money on surveying, but the results are not very good. There is no way. Surveying is itself a very risky matter. If it is not detected, it will be a huge loss. If it is detected, it will be a huge reward. Just like Christmas Creek, directly and indirectly The equivalent of at least $3 billion in revenue, although it will take a long time to earn the money.

“Yes, now is the best time. This stock market crash is just an episode. In the long run, the economy in Asia will definitely develop rapidly in the future,” Chen Zhiwen said: “The demand for copper mainly comes from wars and In terms of infrastructure, wars are basically gone. There are also local conflicts. In terms of infrastructure, infrastructure construction in the West has also ended in the past ten or twenty years, so copper prices will plummet. But once the economy in Asia develops and there is such a large population , will inevitably lead to the development of infrastructure. Whether it is the economy or infrastructure, electricity is needed, and electricity requires copper, so this area is definitely a rigid need.”

In fact, the demand for iron ore will be higher, but this market is too big, has been monopolized by many giants, and has been recognized as an important economic lifeline by many countries. It would be too difficult for Chen Zhiwen to intervene, even if It may work, but the cost is too high and not cost-effective. Therefore, I can participate in some through Christmas Creek and leave the others to Rio Tinto to develop.

But copper mines are different. First of all, the market is much smaller, the demand is low, and the recovery rate of copper is high because of its high value, so the value of copper mines is not as obvious as that of iron ores. Secondly, there are many copper mines in Europe and the United States. Even copper processing companies are closing down and losing money. If you enter the market at this time, not only will you not be targeted, but you may also be welcomed. Once you get it, if the copper price rises again in the future, as long as the benefits are not huge It’s outrageous, and the general government won’t force you to leave in an ugly way. After all, they also want to maintain their reputation as a “free market.”

Of course, some mainland companies may have been targeted in later generations, but that is obviously a continuation of the ZZ problem.

There are really too many types of mining. Even giants like Rio Tinto and Vale cannot cover everything. Their demand for Hutchison Mining is not that high. Therefore, if you seize one area, you can make it bigger and more stable. That’s pretty good. Copper is the direction I chose. Although its scale is far smaller than that of iron, it is much stronger than rare metals. The most important thing is that it is not very sensitive. The market for special metals is not big, but because of its special uses , there will always be a lot of trouble.

Of course, Hutchison Mining can only capture a small part of this market, and the majority will still be national enterprises like Chile. There is no way, the world’s major copper mines are within our borders, and no one can compete with it, not even European and American giants.

“Okay, I will go to the United States to find out clearly. The mainland is also short of copper, and the demand for copper will be very high in the future. This is indeed a good opportunity. If we win some companies in the entire industry chain in the United States, we can exert a strong That’s an advantage.” Zhou Jiayang nodded and said.

“Well, that’s it. The stock market crash won’t last long. If you find something suitable, just buy it.” Chen Zhiwen said again, not only in Hong Kong, but also in the United States. The stocks of some well-known companies are now in Started acquisitions, even Costco itself is the same, buying back its own shares, it is really cool to buy at a low price. Compared with the price of cashing out a few months ago, it is easy to make hundreds of millions of dollars back and forth. But it is equivalent to the net profit of the entire Costco for more than a year. No wonder, most companies around the world hope to go public, and doing finance can make even more huge profits than doing industry itself.

Of course, if you want to make such a high profit, you have to look at your ability. Most people can only make a small profit by just being a little bit away from the leek.

“Understood.” Zhou Jiayang and Dong Youwei said in unison.

Time soon came to 1988. The world had recovered from the 1987 stock market crash, and the bubbles in various places suddenly became smaller, and then quickly returned to normal. During this small decline, Chen Zhiwen’s capital quickly took action and obtained a large number of high-quality investments.

For example, in Hong Kong, Landmark purchased more than 10% of the stocks of more than 60 listed companies, becoming the largest blue-chip shareholder in the entire Hong Kong market. Originally, some of these companies were worried that Landmark would annex them, but later it was discovered that Landmark dispatched professional Many people came to the company to communicate and seek various cooperation possibilities. They also introduced high-quality and cheap loans from Hisense Bank, achieving a win-win cooperation. In the Mainland, Land has also begun to build large-scale office buildings and commercial buildings in Shenhai City. In addition, it has donated 100 charity Zhiwen Primary Schools in eastern Guangdong Province to provide many children in poor mountainous areas with a path to education.

Hutchison Whampoa signed eight port development contracts with several countries in Southeast Asia at lightning speed. It was officially because of the global economic recession that Hutchison Whampoa was able to do so smoothly. At the same time, several large copper mines in the western United States, 2 A copper ore processing company was also acquired by Hutchison Whampoa at a low price. Now it is preparing to send mainland Chinese with professional knowledge to study in the United States, and then move the processing production lines to the mainland.

The mine cannot be moved, but the production line can. Processing it domestically can not only create jobs, but also reduce foreign exchange for the country. It kills two birds with one stone. For Hutchison Whampoa, it also needs its own related industrial chain, and these are also It is impossible to place it in the United States, where labor costs are high and the country is gradually deindustrializing.

Funds in the United States took the opportunity to purchase stocks of Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and other companies on a large scale. These companies are large enough to accommodate sufficient funds, unlike some small technology companies.

After various preparations, Chen Zhiwen’s multi-party capital made perfect use of the stock market crash and obtained a large number of high-quality assets in the future. Moreover, it also gained some favor from the local government, because Chen Zhiwen was raising the falling stock price. To help the economy recover, no one could have imagined that the stock market crash would end so quickly.

This kind of operation can make much more money than short selling, and there is no trouble. The operation of big capital has always pursued a win-win situation. Soros is actually a smart man. When he operates like this, it can only be said that he pursues a win-win situation, and not that he pursues a win-win situation. Not with the country he was attacking, but with a group of hedge funds with a lot of capital.

One day in March, Chen Zhiwen came to Midea Building, which has become the tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. However, unlike some previous real estate companies that built high-rise buildings and rented them out, all Midea buildings are for self-use. Today, Midea Group, Even the tallest building in Hong Kong is actually not enough. However, after all, it is a manufacturing industry, involving technology research and development, quality control, and production management. It is still placed in Yuen Long or some parts next to mainland factories, in Central. It is the auxiliary departments such as administration, sales, finance, and purchasing. Of course, there is also the top management of Midea. Although they have high positions, they are also auxiliary departments.

“Sheng Chen, this is the sales data of our Pokémon in the first three months.” Lei Shengli smiled and handed over a set of reports.

“Oh, that’s right. We sold 8 million units in 3 months. Is this already the highest record for our handheld console?” Chen Zhiwen took a look at the data and said with a smile. He still remembered a small part of some classic arcade games or handheld games from the 1980s. Therefore, more than a year ago, when the chip industry and short-distance wireless signal transmission technology reached a certain level, Chen Zhiwen arranged to develop this “Pokémon”, this game can be said to be the most brilliant game in the history of handheld consoles. In a few years, when mobile phones begin to appear and computer prices fall further, people will gradually shift their interest. It is said that the late 1980s and early 1990s were the last glory of the traditional electronic game industry. Although in the 21st century, some home game consoles still have a large market, but compared with computer games or mobile games, they are just younger brothers.

Of course, Chen Zhiwen didn’t know the historical performance of “Pokémon”, but it must have been very popular. It was normal to earn several million dollars in a quarter. The newly released games would be a big sensation, and sales would gradually stabilize later on. .

“Yes, it far exceeds the previous record. The main reason is that this game allows friends to interact with each other. It is so attractive. Especially in Japan, the supply is still in short supply. We have used all the foundries, but we still follow It doesn’t meet the demand.” Lei Shengli said with a smile.

“Well, now these OEMs are mainly in Wanwan and Hong Kong, right?” Chen Zhiwen asked again.

“There are not many left in Hong Kong. At present, they are mainly in Wanwan, and a small number are in South Korea and Japan.” Lei Shengli replied: “The labor in Hong Kong is too expensive now. Even if we are willing to spend this money, we can’t find enough workers, the service industry is robbing people so much that some people with some ability are speculating in real estate and stocks.”

Today, Lei Shengli finally understands why his boss started planning to gradually transfer Hong Kong’s industries as early as 1984. In fact, the housing prices in Hong Kong have soared in recent years, which has caused the labor force to double, and because Everyone has money, and consumption in the service industry has also increased. This has also led to higher and higher wages in the service industry. There are not many people in Hong Kong, and then the manufacturing industry has been robbed of people.

In terms of the income and working environment it provides, the manufacturing industry is really not as good as the service industry. The wages are high and the working environment is not that hard. Some may be relatively free. Ordinary factories simply can’t grab people, but ordinary people can’t. No matter how manufacturing is the foundation of the economy, they will only go to places with better wages.

And how many capable people are willing to watch the real estate speculators outside doing nothing and easily make tens or hundreds of thousands a year, while they are still working overtime until midnight? Or take a step back, if a technical engineer speculates in real estate while working, and the income from real estate speculation far exceeds that from work, then who will still want to work?

As a result, there has been a large number of resignations within Midea, which has saved Midea a lot of severance pay. This is true even for Midea, let alone other factories. When companies related to the industry chain cannot survive, then the center Enterprises will have the same ending and have no choice but to leave. Fortunately, Chen Zhiwen ordered early preparations, otherwise such a large scale would have been very laborious. This is when most of the production is outsourced.

Hong Kong’s industrial real estate rose for two years after 1985, indicating that the environment at that time was still favorable to industry. However, after 1987, industrial real estate fell off a cliff and no one cared about it. In the end, the Hong Kong government was forced to take it back and change it. The re-auction of commercial properties is the most favorable indirect evidence of the decline of Hong Kong’s industry.

“Wanwan itself also has some industries of its own. In addition, the population is limited and the competition pressure is relatively high. In addition, their housing prices and stock prices have also risen sharply in the past two years. It is estimated that they will soon copy the situation in Hong Kong. Even if the situation does not lead to de-industrialization, labor costs will definitely rise sharply.” Chen Zhiwen analyzed: “An order is given to all OEMs to build factories in the mainland while ensuring that their production capacity and quality are not problematic. The first choice is Shenhai City, where the electronics industry chain is complete, and I need to slowly transfer production capacity to the mainland.”

In the original history, Wanwan’s electronics factory was unable to produce enough. Now, because Midea is the dominant player in some electronics industries, it will only form more orders. You know, these games in the original history They are all owned by Japanese companies. They will definitely give priority to production in their own country, and some scraps will be given to South Korea. Wanwan is already busy enough, let alone now, especially in the next ten years, the computer market will still be small. It will double at a rate of almost 100% every year. In the end, more or less of these orders will be reserved for Wanwan. In this case, Chen Zhiwen must also arrange for Wanwan companies to enter the country as soon as possible to avoid overcapacity. Inadequate situation.

“Okay, I’ll arrange this.” Lei Shengli nodded. In terms of cost and efficiency, Midea also needs a large amount of electronic production capacity to be transferred to China. However, Hong Kong’s local OEMs have also gone to speculate. The company has a house, and its professionalism is not as good as that of Wanwan. In this area, it can only rely on Wanwan to realize production.

“Well, that’s fine. Just do it as soon as possible. Everything else doesn’t matter.” Chen Zhiwen paused and then said, “Woz has developed the latest laptop computer in the United States. You can connect with it later. If there is no problem, just Ready to launch.”

“Laptop? Coming out so soon? That’s good. Computer hardware is our weakness. Now laptops have just started. We may need to rely on this to turn over.” Lei Shengli said in surprise, from the United States He naturally knows about the matter of studying laptops.

“It may be possible to turn around, but it may be a bit difficult to be the top. It takes time to slowly take your time.” Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: “However, I am more optimistic about another market. I very much hope that we can be in this market.” If it succeeds, I am going to make a new generation of mobile phones. In terms of functions, it will be significantly better than the current big brother.”