Hong Kong films: From street thugs to Hong Kong financial tycoons

Chapter 90 The Desperate Scheme of Silicon Valley Elites: The Butcher's Knife Finally Falls!

At the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Hall 1, hundreds of incandescent lights on the ceiling simultaneously illuminated the originally dimly lit venue, making it as bright as day.

On the giant screen behind the stage, the game screen of "Myth: Zombie Taoist" had been switched back to the blue sky and white clouds desktop of the Loongson Windows system.

The white mouse cursor remained quietly in the center of the screen, as if the devastating visual storm had never happened.

However, the more than two thousand people in the audience could never return to the superior mindset they had just a few tens of minutes earlier.

More than a minute passed, and still no one spoke in the entire hall, not even a cough. The whooshing sound of the air from the central air conditioning vents could be clearly heard.

The senior engineer from Silicon Valley who had been yelling about his computer crashing just moments before was now slumped in his chair like a lump of mud.

His forehead was covered in large beads of cold sweat, which dripped down his cheeks and onto the legs of his expensive suit trousers, but he didn't even have the strength to reach out and wipe it away.

"It's over—it's all over—"

This white tech guru, who earns a million-dollar annual salary in Silicon Valley and has participated in writing countless core low-level codes, nervously repeated these words.

He understands technology, so he knows better than the media reporters present who only watch the spectacle that those few seconds when the fat man casually dragged the view with the mouse represented a terrifying hardware gap.

That's real-time 3D physically based rendering! To achieve this on a personal computer, you need not only a GPU that's never been heard of before to provide computing power, but also a motherboard data bus with massive throughput.

What's even more important is that the so-called Loongson Windows system achieves perfect scheduling with no redundancy at the underlying logic level.

It's like everyone's struggling to compete on a 28-inch bicycle, while Apple and Microsoft have just added training wheels and are about to celebrate with champagne.

As a result, Yaosheng Technology simply flew over them in a supersonic fighter jet, roaring overhead without even letting them smell its exhaust fumes.

Not only this engineer, but also the dozens of fund managers and analysts from Wall Street investment banks in the front row were all acting like madmen, pulling out their paper and pens and frantically scribbling on them.

They're doing the math. As hyenas of capital, their sense of smell is the most acute. Now that Yaosheng Technology has created this groundbreaking monster, there's only one question left: how much will this thing cost?

"A custom-built dual-core CPU — a dedicated graphics processor — large capacity — plus the development cost of a software ecosystem capable of outperforming Hollywood blockbusters —"

A Wall Street analyst wearing gold-rimmed glasses was writing rapidly with his pen, even tearing the paper.

He turned to his companion and, his voice trembling, concluded: "John, the manufacturing cost of this machine is absolutely astronomical."

"If IBM or Apple were to make it, the unit price of this mainframe would be at least $15,000, just considering the amortization of R&D costs. Even if they sold it at a loss, it would definitely not be less than $10,000!"

"Ten thousand US dollars?"

His companion next to him swallowed hard.

"In today's market, a regular business computer sells for only two or three thousand US dollars, or ten thousand US dollars. This is not a consumer product for the general public at all. It is a luxury item prepared for military laboratories or top research institutes."

Upon hearing this analysis, the representatives of the competitors around them, whose faces had been ashen, finally managed to force out a smile that was even more painful than crying.

Yeah, what's the use of high price and amazing technology if you sell a machine for $10,000? How many ordinary people in the world can afford it?

As long as you can't lower your prices and make your products more accessible, then our established computer brands that sell for two or three thousand US dollars will still have room to survive.

At worst, we'll devour the low-end market, and let Yaosheng Technology play in the high-end luxury market.

Thinking of this, the foreigners felt a little more at ease. They all raised their heads and stared intently at Lu Qiu on the stage, waiting for the price that was destined to be ridiculously high.

In the VIP room on the second floor, Lin Yao sat on the sofa, playing with a lighter in his hand, clicking it on and off, the flame flickering, reflecting on his overly calm face.

The whispers, self-righteous analyses, and calculations of the people downstairs were all heard by him through the listening devices in the private room.

"Old Chen."

Lin Yao didn't even look up, just casually called out.

Chen Zheng quickly stepped forward and bowed slightly: "Boss, what are your orders?"

"Look at those foreigners down there, how seriously they're doing their accounting."

Lin Yao chuckled lightly, his tone full of mockery.

"They used their rigid industrial system to apply to our large-scale semi-automated unmanned factories, and used their R&D costs that require multiple layers of outsourcing to calculate the cost for us to directly obtain the underlying code."

"These people still haven't figured out one of the most basic questions."

Lin Yao threw the lighter on the table, making a crisp sound.

"I, Lin Yao, am not sitting here today to fight them for market share; I'm here to overturn the table."

"Notify Lu Qiu."

Lin Yao stared coldly at the stage below through the glass.

"Stop keeping us in suspense, just state the price, let's bring this press conference to a close."

"clear."

Chen Zheng picked up the walkie-talkie and whispered a few instructions.

On the stage of Hall One, Lu Qiu received instructions through his earpiece. He straightened his collar, took a leisurely step, and walked back to the podium.

Fatty Wang had already discreetly slipped backstage, handing the spotlight back to this tech enthusiast.

Lu Qiu gripped the edge of the podium with both hands, looking at the pairs of eyes below the stage filled with inquiry, tension, and even a hint of hope.

"The demonstration just now is only a small corner of our Loongson microcomputer ecosystem."

Lu Qiu didn't bring any manuscripts; he was more relaxed than ever before.

"Besides playing games, this machine's Windows system also comes pre-installed with a full suite of office software and graphic design software. I can confidently tell you that it can do more than you can imagine."

Some reporters in the audience were getting impatient. A foreigner with a big nose stood up, held up a recorder, and asked loudly, "Mr. Lu, we have already witnessed its performance."

"What we want to know right now is how much you plan to sell this incredibly high-spec supercomputer for."

Ten thousand US dollars, or twenty thousand US dollars?

As soon as the question was asked, all the breathing in the room stopped again, and hundreds of camera lenses were pointed at Lu Qiu's mouth.

When Lu Qiu heard the figure of ten thousand US dollars, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. He shook his head and looked at the foreign reporter as if he were looking at an old relic who was still using an abacus to do accounts.

"Ten thousand US dollars? My friend, you're overestimating the technological barrier and underestimating Yaosheng Technology's determination."

.

Lu Qiu turned around, picked up a remote control from the table, and pressed a button on the large screen behind him.

The blue sky and white clouds desktop disappeared, replaced by a pure black background. In the center of the screen, an image of a Loongson host, a monitor, and a keyboard and mouse set appeared.

Next to it, there is a simple configuration list:

[Loongson 1.0 Dual-Core Processor]

Independent GPU graphics display chip

[Built-in Loongson Windows Graphics Operating System]

[Free full version of the 3D game "Myth: Zombie Master" on disc]

Lu Qiu turned around and took a deep breath.

"Our boss often says that good technological products should not be displayed in museums for people to admire, let alone become toys for a few rich people to show off."

"The essence of technology is to serve the general public, so that every family and every ordinary person in the world can enjoy the convenience of the information age."

"So if this computer sells for $10,000, we're not making a product, we're robbing people."

The Wall Street analysts in the audience, who had just been confidently analyzing costs, suddenly felt a pang of unease, a strong sense of unease instantly rising within them.

If they don't sell it for ten thousand US dollars, how much can they sell it for? Eight thousand? Five thousand? Even if they sell it for five thousand, given their current production costs, they will definitely lose money!

He paused to take a sip of water, leaving the audience in suspense for a full half minute before Lu Qiu picked up the microphone again.

"Today, we at Yaosheng Technology are here not only to launch a new product, but also to redefine the price standard for personal computers."

Lu Qiu suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

"Snapped!"

On the big screen, below the configuration list, a huge, scarlet number appeared like a bombshell, crashing onto the retinas of more than two thousand people in the audience.

Not ten thousand US dollars, not eight thousand US dollars, not even five thousand US dollars; the line of red numbers clearly stated:

[Global unified retail price: US$1999!]

boom!!!

The moment this number was announced, it felt as if the roof of Hall 1 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was about to be blown off.

"Fuck, how much? $1999?!"

"They're insane! Yaosheng Technology has absolutely gone mad! This price doesn't even cover the cost of that GPU chip! They're committing suicide!"

"This is impossible! Even IBM's worst single-core character machine sells for $2,500! This performance monster is selling for $1,999? This isn't business, this is charity!"

The entire room erupted in chaos, with reporters frantically pushing and shoving to the front to get a clearer picture of the number.

The representatives of Silicon Valley hardware manufacturers, as well as the spies from Microsoft and Apple, were all pale-faced, staring at the big screen as if they had seen a ghost.

$1999—that price was like a rusty saw, severing the lifeblood of all of them.

If Yaosheng Technology really releases its products to the market at this price, then no one on Earth will buy their expensive and unusable junk anymore.

All competitors will be wiped out by this price cutthroat competition, leaving not even ashes.

"This is dumping! This is malicious market monopoly!"

The Silicon Valley engineer who had stood up earlier completely broke down, jumping up and down and cursing.

"You're not trying to make a profit at this price; you're trying to drive us all out of business. Besides, you can't even produce the goods. Even if you could manufacture a thousand units, your cash flow would collapse!"

To all his foreign counterparts, Lin Yao was risking his life, using a foundation of hundreds of billions of US dollars to cover this cost hole, trying to bankrupt his competitors.

The problem is, once the shipment volume increases, the losses become a bottomless pit.

Faced with the angry insults and doubts from the audience, Lu Qiu shrugged nonchalantly, his tone so relaxed that it made people want to punch him.

"Sir, whether we can make a profit or not is none of your concern. After all, the cost control of our fully automated production line is something that you outsourcing companies can't understand."

"As for what you said about not being able to deliver the goods—"

Lu Qiu glanced at the digital watch on his wrist and a bright smile spread across his face.

"Just before I took the stage, all 300,000 units of our company's stock had been loaded onto air freight charter planes."

"At this moment, these 300,000 Loongson microcomputers should have already landed at customs in New York, London, and Tokyo, and are on their way to major chain electronics stores."

"Everyone, the purchase channel is now open."

Lu Qiu bowed slightly.

Welcome to our era.