The Industrial Giant Reborn - Chapter 639
c630 Preparation for the LCD industry
As the most mature and relatively simple industry under its umbrella, the home appliance industry does not bring much profit. This can be seen from the revenue of later giants such as Haier. Although the turnover is high, the profit margin is average. , because in this industry, people in any country will not go out of their way to buy any high-end model after confirming the brand. Basically, it will be enough. This is completely different from the automobile industry.
The fundamental reason is naturally excessive performance. When ordinary products can meet everyone’s needs, high-end models and brands will be worthless. This is not only the case now, but also in the future computer and smartphone industries. Even after the emergence of electric cars, there is a serious excess of performance, and the final development may be the same. The only uncertain factor is that the car involves safety, so it may evolve into a situation where performance does not matter, everyone is similar, and the final competition is the opposite. It’s safety: active structural safety and passive intelligent driving safety, etc.
The same goes for the home appliance industry. Refrigerators, refrigerators, washing machines, and ovens. Which brand can’t make these things? There will be a slight gap in technology, but the difference will not be big after both are mature. Originally, the color TV industry was similar, but in a few years there will be a reform in the LCD industry, which is an exception.
Therefore, if you want to do well in this industry, you need to compete on costs, sales and after-sales, and these have been captured by Midea. For Chen Zhiwen, it doesn’t actually matter whether the home appliance industry makes money or not. Compared with games, computer software and other fields, no matter how hard it is, home appliances can’t compare with these, let alone those in the technology field and financial investment. But as long as this is combined The industry has won a part, that is, it can create employment for millions of people. Such big data is enough for any country to treat him as a guest.
Not only the mainland, Chen Zhiwen does not intend to put all production here. It is true that this is the most suitable production base in the world, but after all, some home appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators are large in size, high in quality, low in profit, and the transportation cost is also very high. , and the tariffs in some areas are very high. Therefore, for the sake of terminal retail, there will also be some production bases in some countries in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Mexico, some countries in South America and other regions.
On the one hand, it is to save shipping costs, and on the other hand, it is also due to the issue of dispersed interests among countries. You cannot keep making money in other places without investing. This will not last long. After all, even Haier in later generations also went to other countries to invest and build factories, all for similar considerations.
Under such circumstances, Midea can also control the economic conditions of multiple regions based on order issuance needs, so as to obtain higher benefits for the group.
But the premise of all this is that if you want to achieve the greatest effect, you still have to engage in a long-term price war in the global market in the past few years and have a good game with Japanese brands. The main thing is that my quality is no worse than yours. , the service is the same, but the price is a little lower than yours. This time, it will not be a quick war, but a long-term war of attrition.
Japan’s electronics industry is now about to face South Korea’s Samsung’s semiconductor price war, Midea’s home appliance price war, and the impact of Japan’s economic collapse. With a three-pronged approach, Chen Zhiwen also needs to capture the market he needs.
As for the semiconductor industry, Chen Zhiwen has also invested heavily in TSMC. Not to mention how powerful TSMC will be, but it will not be difficult to survive this semiconductor price war.
After visiting the perfect large-scale super factory of air conditioners, refrigerators, compressors, motors, etc., Chen Zhiwen did not stay long. He was the big boss. He was just here to visit, not to review, so he did not need to read any information and left it to his subordinates. Just do it.
Soon, he came to the Yanjing No. 1 Electronics Factory, which was once the largest in Yanjing City, which was also the original BOE in history.
Six years ago, Chen Zhiwen deliberately invested money to save this company. He also hoped that this company could go on the same path and replace his layout in the LCD industry. After all, he has money, but what he is good at is creativity. products, or civilian products that are extremely dependent on terminal sales.
Commodities such as LCDs and chips cannot be achieved just by having money. You must have professional people, a professional team, and huge ZZ resources behind them to be successful.
Those who came to receive them were all the leaders of Yanjing No. 1 Electronics Factory. Among them, the director was named Wu Yuehua. Chen Zhiwen only treated them politely. Although he was the director, he was also a dispensable figure, and all the former Among the people who came to receive the reception, the one who most concerned Chen Zhiwen was a middle-aged man named Wang Dongsheng, who was the founder of BOE later.
Because of Chen Zhiwen’s butterfly effect, Yanjing No. 1 Electronics Factory did not fall into a serious loss crisis in the late 1980s as it had historically. Instead, it relied on Chen Zhiwen’s funds and Midea’s large orders to make things happen. Since then, the scale of the entire company has increased several times in a few years, and it has once again become one of the largest domestic enterprises in the entire Yanjing City, with more than 10,000 employees employed. This can also be said to be the powerful force of Midea Group. A phenomenal representative of the ability to derive employability.
As the largest customer and major shareholder of Yanjing No. 1 Electronics Factory, Midea can naturally participate in the operation of the entire company. This is currently the only company among Chen Zhiwen’s various investments in the country that directly interferes in the operation. Because most of them, Midea, Hutchison, and Galaxy Trading only invest, and basically don’t care about it unless they suffer huge losses or huge quality problems.
The reason why he got involved was naturally because Chen Zhiwen wanted to let Yanjing No. 1 Electronics Factory follow the route of BOE. During this process of participating in management, Midea also focused on reviewing the talent team within the electronics factory to ensure the company’s operations. There is a certain degree of fairness, allowing capable people and teams to shine. Therefore, Wang Dongsheng, a young man who once studied abroad and has rich theoretical and practical experience, was promoted, and Very much supported by representatives from the United States.
“Hello, Mr. Chen.” Wang Dongsheng was still a little cautious when facing Chen Zhiwen, but at the same time he was also a little grateful. Although he also thought that he was very capable, there are still many capable people in this world. Can they be reused? Your own abilities still need to be valued and promoted by people above you. Otherwise, even if you can succeed in the end, you may not know how many twists and turns it will take and how long it will take.
“Mr. Wang Dongsheng, right? I’ve heard of you, and Lei Shengli thinks highly of you.” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
Although I am optimistic about the future of BOE and Wang Dongsheng, it is naturally impossible for Chen Zhiwen, the ultimate boss, to have any communication with him when the other party has not achieved much. This is not realistic. Now that it has been more than ten years since the reform, all parties in the future Industry giants have begun to appear in this era. Some famous ones, such as the founder of Haier, Chen Zhiwen, went to meet him and talked about it. Most of the others are not well-known, or at most have a little reputation in the industry. , Chen Zhiwen only arranged the appropriate time for his subordinates to invest and provide resources to help, but he did not go out to meet everyone, and there were many such people, and he did not have the time.
At most, when these people make great achievements in the future, it will be natural for them to meet each other. Or, as in today’s situation, if they come to visit the entire large enterprise, then it will be normal for them to meet by the way.
As for Lei Shengli, he has had a relationship with Wang Dongsheng, and it is true that Wang Dongsheng is very capable. Over the years, under his leadership, he has developed some technologies for Midea that can solve many problems many times, and even Lei Shengli has Li also wanted to poach him to Hong Kong, but was stopped by Chen Zhiwen. No matter how powerful a technical talent is, he can’t compare to someone who has laid out the LCD industry. Without Wang Dongsheng, there may be other people who can lay out the domestic LCD industry in the future. But Chen Zhiwen didn’t know who it was, so he couldn’t make arrangements as soon as possible.
“We would also like to thank Mr. Lei for giving us the opportunity.” Wang Dongsheng said with a smile. If Midea had not specifically supported Yanjing No. 1 Electronics Factory, with enough orders and financial support, No. 1 Electronics Factory could have developed many Although the high-quality technology is not as good as that of Japan, it still has many unique features.
“Opportunities are also mutual. We will naturally give opportunities to those who are capable.” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
“Mr. Chen, the air outside is not very good, should we go inside?” Factory Director Wu Yuehua said.
“Okay, go in.” Chen Zhiwen nodded. Over the years, whether it is Shanghai, Yanjing, or even many other cities with a good economic scale, the large-scale development of industry has gradually led to the air environment becoming worse and worse.
However, there is nothing wrong with this in itself. When many people do not have enough to eat, it is sheer nonsense to consider environmental issues, as long as they do not directly pollute the living area by emitting pollution. In the future, there will be a lot of environmental protection saints in the West who simply did not grow up. I am short of food and have a disease in my mind. I have never thought that even in the 21st century, there are still hundreds of millions of people in the world who cannot even fill their stomachs. When the economy is too poor, even a small illness may lead to death because there is no antibiotics. , at this time, environmental protection has no meaning.
Moreover, most of the companies that are truly non-polluting are kept in their own territory by Western countries. If ordinary countries want to develop their economy, they must pay the price. This is what any country wants to develop. Problems that must be faced in the early stages.
Relatively speaking, Shenhai City is much better, because their main industry comes from Hong Kong, and after decades of development in Hong Kong, the remaining manufacturing industries are basically pollution-free. It can be said that It was Hong Kong’s previous pollution that prevented Shenhai City from this situation.
In other inland cities, heavy industry is needed everywhere. After all, in this era, various heavy industries have not yet formed large-scale industrial giants, and due to transportation factors, the transportation of heavy industry products is inconvenient. Many things, such as steel, some chemical materials, Fertilizers, cement, paper, etc. all need to be produced locally, so pollution will naturally occur.
If not, the city’s economy will be ruined. Even today’s Yanjing City is the same. There are too few non-polluting industries like Chen Zhiwen’s. Moreover, Midea itself does not directly produce pollution, but many of its raw materials, such as steel plates and plastics, In essence, it is still produced in a nearby factory, but the pollution has been transferred.
It is impossible to develop industry without pollution. We can only wait until economic conditions improve, and then gradually carry out measures such as industrial upgrading and sewage treatment upgrades.
Everyone came to a conference room inside the office building of Yanjing No. 1 Electronics Factory. Factory director Wu Yuehua also introduced the development of the entire company. At present, the main direction of the electronics factory is still the various signals in color TVs. Manufacturing of transmission solution equipment.
Chen Zhiwen didn’t know much about technology and didn’t express his opinions at the meeting. Then everyone went to the workshop for a walk.
After lunch, Wang Dongsheng came to an office occupied by Chen Zhiwen.
“Hello, Mr. Chen. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to meet with you alone.” Wang Dongsheng said.
“You’re welcome. We all work for the development of the electronics industry in the mainland, but the positions are different.” Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, “I heard that you have some unique ideas? Is it some new technology of color tubes?”
“Electronic color picture tubes have been around for decades, and the available technologies have long been registered as patents by European, American, Japanese and other companies. In recent years, even our electronics factory has often had to buy these technologies at high prices. If we want to avoid them, In the past, it was too difficult.” Wang Dongsheng shook his head and said: “What I want to say is that I think the future of LCD is the future of the television industry. Rather than investing heavily in the field of color picture tubes, it is better to start from scratch in the field of LCD. Even in the West, The country was earlier than us in LCD, but at least the gap is not that big and we still have opportunities.”
“Liquid crystal chip? The industry does have similar views on this aspect. However, at this price, LCD chips are relatively expensive even when used in laptop computers. It is not easy to use them in color TVs.” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
“That’s true, but no matter what, the main raw material of liquid crystal is ordinary silicon. The reason why it is so expensive is due to production technology problems. In other words, with the development of technology in the future, its price will inevitably drop, replacing the need A large number of color tubes of precious metals and precious compounds.” Wang Dongsheng said: “There is still a long way to go before the technology is realized, but the time is long enough for us to catch up. Otherwise, we will wait until others really make it. If you enter again, it will be too late.” (End of this chapter)