Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 926 Transformation (4K)

Hamilton is the person in charge of EDGE baseband chip research in Texas Instruments' wireless division.

He's been in a bad mood lately.

On the one hand, the company has cut employee benefits, salaries and bonuses since June. On the other hand, the Texas Instruments stock he holds has also fallen by 37%, which is simply a bolt from the blue.

Unfortunately, just yesterday, my wife suffered layoffs.

This made Hamilton, who heard some rumors about his company, feel the chill even more.

A close high-level friend said that the EDGE baseband department is also included in the layoffs. Some people said that the company plans to sell the baseband business as a whole, and some even said that even the buyer has been in close contact.

Hamilton knew that the company's baseband research was relatively low-line, but...

If this is really a massive layoff or sale, how will TI's future mobile chips compete with Qualcomm?
On the evening of the 29th, the worried Hamilton was called to the conference room on the 7th floor, and once suspected that he was about to be laid off.

However, when he saw four other colleagues waiting outside, he let go of his worries.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the five technical directors who had been waiting for half an hour but said nothing to each other walked into the meeting room.

Hamilton met Richard, the head of his family, and another group of strangers.

"This is President Fang of Yike Company. Let me introduce the technical content you are currently in charge of."

When Hamilton heard the plain order from the master, he glanced at the other party in a daze, and then at the smiling oriental man next to him.

He stood in the first place, and before he had time to think about such a battle, he said subconsciously: "I am Hamilton, the director in charge of EDGE baseband design, and I am responsible for researching EDGE's support for multi-slot capacity transmission data. What we are doing is computing systems to receive The number of MIPS required for the pattern to work."

"Since synchronization, equalization and channel decoding require DSP MIPS, the EDGE baseband architecture in receive mode will require 15 DSP MIPS."

"This is the premise that the 8PSK equalizer is not taken into consideration. If this is added, there will be eight different channel coding modes that can be switched according to the channel quality..."

Hamilton spoke more and more smoothly, putting aside the worries and pressures brought about by the economic situation.

When he talked about relying on advanced virtual design, reconsidering the division of algorithms, hardware and software, and completing RF, baseband and call processing simulations, the head Richard stopped this behavior.

"It's okay, Hamilton, it's okay." Richard glanced at the Yike team who was writing and drawing, and felt that this method of introduction was really inefficient.

Hamilton stopped with some intrigue, and looked at the oriental man who was always smiling resentfully, suspecting that he didn't understand what he was saying at all.

He has already recognized it. This is Yi Ke Fangzhuo who was angry at Nokia at the press conference.

"Richard, we have made good progress on this research, we just need to allocate some more funds, and we will get good results soon."

Hamilton felt that everyone was coming, so he took advantage of the opportunity to make a request.

"Because of the company's overall strategic considerations, your department has been included in the scope of layoffs." Richard officially announced the purpose of this trip at this time, and then glanced at the other four technical directors who looked uneasy, and added Said, "Your ones too."

Hamilton had no idea that his wife had just suffered layoffs yesterday, and it would be his turn today.

This is Deyi!

It is Texas Instruments, which has such big customers as Nokia and Motorola!

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly thought of his own stock, and he understood in an instant - this is also Deyi whose market value has fallen by nearly 4%.

The company’s revenue in this quarter was US$33.87 billion, down 8% year-on-year, and its net profit was US$5.63 million, down 26% year-on-year. The next four quarters will face a more severe situation.

Hamilton thought of the frowns of executive friends at the dinner table, and thought of his pessimistic forecast that both revenue and profit in the next quarter may decline by [-]% year-on-year.

This is more pessimistic than the tone in the third quarter earnings report, but... Before today, who would have thought that the Dow Jones index would fall by nearly 800 points?

Unlike the self-confidence when he introduced his research content just now, Hamilton's thoughts became confused. Is his team about to be sold?Yike company?Does Echo need to research the baseband?If you were laid off, where did you go?Broadcom?
The eight-member team accompanied by Yi Ke began to discuss in a low voice.

Richard looked at his five technical directors, listened to the discussion next to him, and then looked at Mr. Fang, feeling a little impatient. When will this be?
He motioned Mr. Fang to sit next to him, and then whispered his tendency to spread in the near future: "Mr. Fang, are you interested in the entire GSM/GPRS/EDGE baseband chip department?"

Fang Zhuo was shocked when he heard this: "The entire baseband department? This...then...um..."

If you sell the entire baseband department, it will be even harder to compete with Qualcomm.

To buy a processor from you, you have to find another company to buy the baseband, and it is more likely to find your competitor to buy the baseband. Even if you can buy it like this, it will not only increase the production cost, but also increase the battery consumption and design difficulty.

How are you still playing around?

Fang Zhuo's thoughts turned. Richard, the head of Texas Instruments, would only know the situation of Texas Instruments better than himself. If he wanted to use this to reduce expenses, it must be the lesser of two evils, and the decline of Texas Instruments The speed is faster than what I saw and imagined.

He hesitated: "If I remember correctly, Texas Instruments' mobile phone baseband department can contribute a lot of revenue?"

"The second largest department in the wireless business." Richard nodded and spit out a figure, "The package price is 28 billion U.S. dollars."

Seeing the startled look on Mr. Fang's face, he added, "We can talk about the price, and we don't need to pay it all in cash."

Fang Zhuo tentatively said, "8 million?"

Richard laughed angrily.

Fang Zhuo sighed and waved his hand: "It's too expensive, too expensive, Richard, the current situation in the industry is unclear, no matter who it is, they will be very cautious about large transactions. I'm not interested in this yet."

This package price is indeed too expensive, and the most important thing is that Yike has no evaluation of this transaction.

Judging from Fang Zhuo's intuition, this is not cost-effective enough for Yi Ke.

The financial crisis has just erupted, and the situation of the entire industry can be looked back.

"Mr. Fang, we think Hamilton's EDGE baseband design content is beneficial." Yike team gave an opinion at this time, and Hamilton and his ten engineers are worth starting.

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly, turned his head to Richard and said, "This is very good."

Richard looked at Hamilton and replied: "Tomorrow the company will set up a layoff and employment team to be responsible for communication in this area and the proper placement of employees."

He said to Hamilton: "Hamilton, you can leave, Yike is interested in your research, you can chat with your engineers tonight, and there may be other manufacturers coming."

TI's engineers are generally very valuable.

Hamilton is still at a loss. He has worked in Texas Instruments for 12 years. At this moment, these 12 years seem to be condensed into a single sentence.

At this time, he saw Dongfang got up from his seat, walked to him with a smile, and stretched out his right hand.

Hamilton subconsciously shook hands.

"I hope to see your research shine again in Yike in the future." Fang Zhuo said so and returned to his seat.

Hamilton has mixed feelings, not sure if Yike will be a good home.

He wanted to speak, but Richard, the leader, was expressionless, and the colleagues next to him looked anxious, and finally walked out of the meeting room without saying anything.

The signboard of Texas Instruments is still shining in the night.

But Hamilton felt he had dimmed.

Let's sell Texas Instruments' shares tomorrow.

With this in mind, he silently left the headquarters of Texas Instruments.

An hour later, four more people left silently.

When Fang Zhuo and Richard got up from the conference room, both of them realized the unsustainability of this model tonight.

Texas Instruments has too many people to lay off.

This selection is too slow.

"Tomorrow, I still have two important global meetings to attend, and Anderson will be in charge of this work." Richard got away first, and then said, "Tomorrow the personnel department will come up with a list of layoffs, you can Get a pre-screening first, or you'll be in Dallas this week."

Fang Zhuo calculated: "There are 56 employees involved tonight, and it's okay to work overtime. For us, taking a week is a respect for Texas Instruments."

Texas Instruments is going to lay off 600 people, and Yike evaluates their work content in groups.

Richard said lightly: "This time the situation is more serious. Since you are here, you might as well take a look."

Fang Zhuo: "..."

It's as casual as going to the vegetable market to buy meat.

He took two steps and suddenly realized the problem, and asked, "How many employees will Deyi lay off this time?"

Richard said without any fluctuation: "Probably more than 3000 people will be carried out in batches depending on the situation."

Fang Zhuo stopped, this is five times as much information as he got!
If you really go through all these employees, I'm afraid it will be Christmas in Dallas.

Yike's eight-person evaluation team was simply not enough.

When Fang Zhuo just thought of Deyi's number, he felt overwhelmed.

He sighed: "The impact of this financial crisis is really too great. I didn't expect Texas Instruments' transformation to be so fast and resolute."

"There are ups and downs." Richard never had too many waves, but now he said, "If you lose weight in a crisis, there is nothing to hesitate about. As long as there is a way forward, there is nothing to be afraid of."

"Now the demand for PC and mobile phone system chips continues to weaken, and our competitive environment has also undergone many changes, but the demand for industrial application chips is growing rapidly."

Richard showed a smile: "Boss Fang, if you have such customer needs, you can introduce them to us."

"The market for mobile phone chips is so big..." Fang Zhuo felt sorry for Deyi.

He has already felt the pace of Texas Instruments' transformation, and the baseband business will be sold. If the situation is not right, mobile phone chips will not be far away.

"Few people can survive the cooling of the global economy, and we must be prepared for a full-scale decline." Richard shook his head, "Eco is a lucky one, your growth in smart phones is commendable, Nokia, Motorola, they're all out of luck."

He continued: "As you said, Nokia has reached a very dangerous moment, and Texas Instruments must also be prepared for this. Hamilton was an employee of Texas Instruments in 1996. I regret that it is up to me to tell him tonight. I talked about layoffs, but as long as Deyi survives, I very much hope to see the day when he comes back."

Fang Zhuo was silent for a while, knowing that Richard was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

He just shook hands with the leader before getting into the car, and said something similar to before: "I hope Yi Ke will not bury the talents of these people."

Richard nodded and bid farewell to the first buyer who arrived at Texas Instruments.

The evaluation with the five technical leaders of Texas Instruments at night was really time-consuming, and it was already one o'clock in the morning when we returned to the hotel.

When Fang Zhuo got out of the car, he asked a question that he hadn’t said in Texas Instruments: “Why did five people from Texas Instruments talk about five different technical contents, and you think it’s all right? What if I met ten people tonight? Is everything okay?"

"But...they are indeed very good." Elder, the deputy technical director who accompanied him this time, spread his hands innocently, "Perhaps, this is a gift from Texas Instruments."

Fang Zhuo thinks about it, it is also possible that the other family is still worried about the economic crisis, and he has already arrived in front of him quickly, so he has to come up with some dry goods.

The problem is, this is the first company I have seen in the United States. The scale of layoffs of this first company is so large, and the R&D content is so good. What should I do next?
He looked at Elder and said, "Shake people, we need more people to assess what we need."

Elder felt the same way, Deyi was too fat and needed colleagues to come quickly.

……

The U.S. stock market plummeted, global stock markets plummeted, and the financial crisis came.

Xiong Xiaoge, who returned to Beijing from Wuxi, is paying attention to the latest economic situation on the one hand, and considering the situation of Dangdang on the other hand.

He took people to inspect the logistics center where Dangdang was shut down, and it was indeed planned well. The shutdown would be a kind of harm to the company and the local area, and a hero needs to stand up at such a time.

On the last day of September, Xiong Xiaoge synthesized the information he had obtained, and while contacting his contacts, silently conveyed the pressure of the shutdown, while also looking for a suitable opportunity to meet Li Guoqing.

After all, Mr. Fang had some unpleasantness with Mr. Li before.

Although Mr. Fang misjudged himself a bit, he must have a clear understanding of the matchmaking.

After two days like this, Xiong Xiaoge felt that the time to meet was approaching when he heard that there was a new situation inside Dangdang.

October 10rd, National Day holiday.

Xiong Xiaoge went to Dangdang headquarters alone and knocked on the door of Li Guoqing's office.

Five minutes later, he was kicked out.

Xiong Xiaoge wasn't angry or disappointed.

It's just that Mr. Fang really hurt others deeply.

Xiong Xiaoge remained patient and continued to wait. He could understand Mr. Li's displeasure, but...

When there is a crisis, there is always an opportunity.

(End of this chapter)