Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 237 Wheel Mouse
Emerging countries have more opportunities and are most likely to change their destiny.

But emerging countries must also be aware that they need to choose countries with stable political situations.

China fits this principle perfectly.

Even so, it is still a one in a hundred situation.

After all, whether it is developing new markets or starting a business, it is a low-probability event for success.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony and the banquet, Masato Takeshita walked up to Junyoshi Koike.

"How is it, what are your development plans?"

Koike Junyi said with some embarrassment: "For now, we have only added a few game companies, and the business of chip design companies is very small."

The gaming industry is one of the driving forces behind the development of chips.

Many giant semiconductor companies got their start in the gaming industry.

A well-known one is NVIDIA.

If Sega hadn't helped, even if the company hadn't gone bankrupt, the chip research and development work would have been delayed for a while.

"That's right. The next step is to try to get the Sega and Nintendo business."

Nintendo currently dominates the Japanese gaming industry, and Sega is the only gaming company capable of resisting.

Especially in the North American market, Sega is even comparable to Nintendo thanks to the pursuit of young people.

The current chip demand from the two companies is enough to support a medium-sized foundry.

If Xinghai Semiconductor can take over the foundry business of these two companies, it will also be able to solve a large share of wafer fab production.

"Don't worry, President. Nintendo has great opportunities."

Gunpei Yokoi, the second-in-command of Nintendo, prefers mature and cheap technologies.

Xinghai OEM perfectly meets this requirement and the possibility of cooperation is very high.

On the contrary, Sega is more difficult to deal with.

Sega pursues the most advanced chip technology, and Xinghai's foundry technology level is second-rate in the world and may not be able to meet the other party's needs.

However, Xinghai's current foundry is still better than TSMC.

TSMC’s current technological level is at best third-rate.

"Very good, the company will give you a bonus then."

Knowing that his company's wafer foundry business is getting better and better, the young man smiled happily.

"President, let's not do that."

Koike Junyoshi's face changed drastically and he quickly stopped the young man from thinking of this.

"?"

Takeshita Masato's mind was full of doubts.

Shouldn't we all happily accept bonuses?

"Well, even if we succeed in winning Nintendo's business, the operating rate of the new wafer fab will only be 60% at most. There's nothing to celebrate."

“Not to mention that there are still wafer fabs expected to be completed in May and October, and the operating rate is expected to be even lower by then.”

Atsushi Koike is very anxious now and wants to grab all the wafer foundry business in the world.

"So that's it."

Masato Takeshita couldn't help but sigh that Japanese companies are truly blessed.

Japanese workers may be the only ones in the world who would refuse bonuses because of poor performance.

Because they truly regard the company as their home.

Of course, this trend gradually disappeared in Japan.

The lifetime employment system has collapsed, companies no longer regard employees as part of their business, and employees naturally will not take the company seriously.

Love is mutual.

He patted Koike Junyi on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I got news that the demand for chips will surge in the second half of this year, and our production capacity may not be enough."

The earliest operating systems were all in English and characters, which were very difficult to operate and required a long time to learn.

After the graphical operating system came out, the computer operation process was simplified.

Most people can easily get started after just a few hours of study.

However, the development of graphical operating systems has not been smooth sailing.

Xerox, which first developed a graphical operating system, did not see the business opportunity.

Apple was the first to discover the business opportunity, but its computers were too expensive.

Therefore, the graphical operating system has not yet been fully rolled out and completely replaced the command set operating system.

But soon, things will change.

In June this year, Microsoft will release Windows 6, which will change the world.

This is the first graphical operating system of global significance.

As computers became easier to use, the demand for computers skyrocketed, which in turn affected the demand for chips.

The demand for chips is increasing, but the number of wafer fabs is limited, and even large companies cannot meet their needs on their own.

Those small and medium-sized companies can only entrust production to wafer foundry companies such as Xinghai Foundry and TSMC.

By that time, Xinghai will be outsourced to the company and might be chased for orders.

"Hi, got it!"

Since the president was so confident, Koike Junyoshi felt a little more relieved.

My boss will never harm me in this regard.

After leaving Xinghai Foundry, Masato Takeshita, accompanied by Lou Gerstner, came to the hardware development department of Xinghai Semiconductor.

“How is the mouse selling?”

"Last year, mouse sales increased 264% to more than 350 million units."

After the business adjustment of Xinghai Semiconductor, Qingtian Sheng, who is in charge of the hardware department, sounded quite proud.

“It’s a very good result. We will continue to work hard this year and strive to set a new record.”

"Hi!"

Although Masato Takeshita was not very satisfied with the sales of the mouse, he did not show it on his face.

This was the limitation of the times and he couldn't blame anyone.

The mouse also needs to wait until the operating system officially enters the graphics era before it can take off.

With today's operating systems, a keyboard is all that's needed.

"What about our competitors?"

"Logitech still leads us in market share thanks to its relationships with European and American computer manufacturers. Its sales volume is about 20% higher than ours."

Logitech was one of the first companies to discover the value of the mouse market and had supply contracts with many computer companies.

If it weren't for Masato Takeshita, Logitech would have been the company that changed mouse design.

"As for other mouse companies, they are not yet a big deal."

"We need to be humble. We don't have that much advantage in this market."

The mouse of Xinghai Semiconductor mainly changes the design concept, and there are basically no technical difficulties.

So whether it is a large factory or a small factory, you can easily enter.

If it weren't for the low cost-performance ratio, computer giants such as NEC might have already produced it themselves.

Naturally, we need to be more vigilant to maintain our existing market share.

"Hi, it's me, Meng Lang."

Qingtian Sheng bowed repeatedly, looking extremely frightened.

"See how scared you are of the employees, speak more lightheartedly."

Lou Gerstner quickly interrupted, not wanting to embarrass his subordinates.

"Uh, I'm not nice enough."

Masato Takeshita was a little speechless, as he was definitely the one who smiled the most.

"What do you say?"

"Uh, okay."

Masato Takeshita thought about it and realized that as his power grew, he was indeed becoming more and more distant from his employees.

He patted Qingtian Sheng's shoulder cheerfully and acted in a friendly manner.

"Qingtian-san, don't worry about what I just said. Just keep a normal mind."

"Let's go to the Mouse Research and Development Center."

"Okay, President."

Qingtian Sheng was frightened but also extremely excited at the same time.

It is such an honor for me to be patted on the shoulder by the president.

Arriving at the mouse laboratory, the young man looked at the design drawing in front of him and asked, "Is this the new type of mouse designed by our company?"

"Yes, the current mainstream thinking about mice is wireless technology and photoelectric technology."

“The company has made some discoveries in these two areas and has applied for patents.”

Logitech mouse has high sales volume, but its profit is not as high as that of Xinghai Semiconductor.

The gap lies mainly in patents.

Now Xiaxinghai Semiconductor keeps applying for new patents to prevent mouse companies such as Logitech from using this trick on it.

There is no way. Mouse companies such as Logitech started researching wireless and optical technologies of mice a few years ago.

Xinghai Semiconductor applied for patents in the hope that there would be enough patents to exchange in the future.

"Have you ever thought about adding a scroll wheel between the left and right buttons of a mouse?"

"When you control the computer screen, you can use the scroll wheel in the middle to pull the screen up or down."

“This saves more operating time.”

The introduction of the middle scroll wheel is definitely a major change for the mouse.

Whether Xinghai Semiconductor's mouse business can surpass Logitech may depend on this move.

"Add a roller?"

"Add a scroll wheel in the middle of the mouse?"

"This this……"

The R&D staff's eyes lit up, as did Lou Gerstner and Qing Tiansheng.

This design is absolutely amazing and will definitely make their own mouse a big seller.

"The president is really amazing. He can come up with such a great suggestion after just a few glances."

"You are truly the Dragon of Japan."

"Great, this will definitely surpass Logitech."

The guys in the mouse project team of the hardware R&D department are very happy.

Because this accessory is so practical, you can imagine that it will be a big seller.

The hot sales of the mouse meant an increase in bonuses, so everyone was naturally very happy.

"Since everyone thinks it's good, let's develop it quickly."

"The sooner we can get the finished product, the sooner everyone can get the bonus."

After talking about the mouse, Masato Takeshita turned to the keyboard department.

But before the rise of PC gaming, there was really nothing much to say about keyboards.

He could only give a few simple words of encouragement and say something vague, like he hoped everyone could contribute to the company.

Finally, Masato Takeshita came to the most important part of the hardware department, the company's motherboard production project team.

He looked at Tsuyoshi Miyazaki, the project team's chief R&D expert, in a gentle tone.

"How is the development of the PC motherboard going?"

"We have developed computer motherboards with performance that is on par with the mainstream in the market, but we don't have much experience in this field. Currently, only NEC and Fujitsu purchase small quantities of them."

"I see. What about Toshiba?"

Toshiba is also a shareholder of Xinghai Semiconductor, so naturally it has to take care of its sister company.

"Toshiba currently only has a laptop business, and our company has not yet conducted related research and development."

Perhaps because NEC and Fuji are too strong, Toshiba has no ambition to enter the desktop computer field.

It chose to overtake on the curve and take the portable route.

Eventually, Toshiba invented the world's first true laptop computer.

Toshiba also used this to make huge profits in the 1980s and 1990s.

"In this case, we will develop notebook motherboards while developing more advanced desktop motherboards."

In the same field, the richer the business lines, the easier it is for a company to gain a foothold.

A single production line is too dangerous.

Toshiba only focused on the notebook computer market, but was later eliminated by the times.

"this."

Miyazaki Tsuyoshi looked at his president with some embarrassment, not knowing what to say.

"Why, is there any difficulty? Tell me boldly."

"It is a bit difficult. We just don't have enough manpower."

Now, Masato Takeshita was speechless.

He could only comfort her dryly: "Well, let's wait a little longer about the laptop motherboard."

"In a few years, when there are more talented people, the situation will be much better."

Although Japan's stock market bubble is on the verge of bursting, companies' desire for talent has not diminished much.

At most, we used to give various gifts and money, but we don’t do that anymore.

There are still few people but many jobs.

It was not until after 1993 that Japanese college students found it difficult to find jobs.

"Yes, I know."

After inspecting the hardware department, Masato Takeshita and Lou Gerstner returned to the president's office.

"Do you think we should also set up a corresponding software department?"

"Software department?"

"Yes. Directly copy the successful path of American software. Set up project teams for office software, database, EDA, etc."

Masato Takeshita is very worried that his own company will be targeted one day.

So he prepared for a rainy day and chose a route that would make his company invincible.

“It’s expensive, isn’t it?”

Lou Gerstner was a little hesitant and didn't want to waste money.

"Except for the database, the investment won't be huge; a few million dollars will be enough."

Currently, all kinds of software are relatively simple and are still in the early stages of development.

As for the database, there is no way around it, as it requires more server resources.

"Sure, I will try my best to recruit software-related talents."

Since it doesn't cost much, Lou Gerstner is still willing to give it a try.

If we can eventually occupy the local software market in Japan, the company's valuation will increase a lot and our own income will also be higher.

"Well, I know a software company called Kingsoft in Hong Kong that is very good."

"If Japan can't find relevant talent, we can try to start with Hong Kong and mainland China."

"Kingsoft, which has its headquarters in Hong Kong and most of its employees in mainland China, is a start-up with good technology."

As early as 1988, Kingsoft Software developed WPS, which is equivalent to Word.

However, this software hardly makes any money, and it is entirely up to Qiu Bojun and others to generate electricity.

Masato Takeshita wanted to ask Bo Jun and others to make micro-innovations in the Chinese translation of American office software, and then have Japanese employees make micro-innovations in the Japanese version based on the Chinese translation.

The Chinese and Japanese characters are more similar, which can save the input of local Japanese employees.

This can be considered as a compromise when there is a shortage of local manpower.

"Hong Kong, China?"

Gerstner was skeptical.

"Yes."

The young man nodded heavily, then spoke slowly.

"It is true that the area is poorer, but the base is there."

“The number of computer talents is not as high as that of the United States and Japan, but it is almost the same as that of Britain, France and Germany.”

1990 years,
The United States naturally stands out in terms of the number of computer talent reserves.

There are more programmers in the United States than in the rest of the world combined.

Next is Japan, which also leads the following countries by a large margin.

Although China ranks around 7th, the gap between it and the third-placed United Kingdom is not big.

This is also an important reason why the Internet developed rapidly in the United States in the 90s, but not so well in other countries.

The number of people is there.

Even if you want to develop rapidly, there is no large enough market and ecosystem.

(End of this chapter)