area51novel #488 - Developments after the PC Era
#488 - Developments after the PC Era
The new generation of large black fish submarines and the SPC (Stored Program Control) exchange, respectively, demonstrated a vigorous momentum in the military and technology fields, laying the foundation for Dongda's new round of leading advantages.
However, in addition to these two, there was also the beginning of the information revolution, which Ren Zhong had initiated long ago. Starting with the first 8080 chip in October 1955, Dongda's efforts in computers led to the birth of the personal computer. After the technology was disseminated at the Global Computer Conference, and after nearly a year of promotion, a revolution in the field of personal computers was quietly taking place in North America and Europe.
Thanks to the efforts of many companies, personal computers were directly hyped up, causing a surge in demand for personal computers among consumers in the North American and European markets. In less than a year, dozens of emerging personal computer brands were spawned. After returning from the Global Computer Conference, manufacturers, regardless of their capabilities, launched various models of personal computers based on the 'idiot-proof' kits provided by Dongda. The difference lay in how much they deviated from the public version, but even if they didn't change anything, they could have Dongda OEM their own brand, assemble and sell after purchasing various components, which did not affect the launch of the product. Prices naturally varied, allowing personal computers to enter a popularized level among the great powers. This marked the official entry of affordable personal computers into households, initiating a new era of information faster and more fiercely than in the main world.
In less than a year after the Global Computer Conference, these personal computer brands cumulatively achieved annual sales of millions in both continents, becoming new favorites in the electronic product market and kicking off the first wave of hot sales for personal computers.
With the widespread application of personal computers in the office environment, people began to realize the great convenience they brought.
Due to the continuous deepening of applications, the first wave of personal computer craze did not fade away after the initial heat, as some experts predicted, but instead became more vigorous due to the introduction of new software and the improvement of office equipment.
Large companies continuously developed new office software, fax machines, printers, and other equipment that were compatible with Dongda's personal computer standards, making it easy to connect and use them. This greatly expanded the functions of personal computers in office and entertainment, and even achieved paperless office to some extent, greatly improving the office environment.
White-collar workers in the city began to realize that personal computers would become indispensable tools in their daily work.
It was under such market insight that Vision, a leading company in the technology field, quickly divided its personal computer product line into two major categories: home and business, and developed two personal computer products with customized features.
The launch of Vision Workstation (tower chassis) and Vision Thinkstation (desktop chassis) quickly met the main needs of the market. These two computers sold well immediately after advertising and promotion. Vision also thoughtfully provided users with a concise and practical user manual and a box of operating videotapes to help users get started faster.
The Vision Workstation was priced at $2999 and was equipped with a rare 15-inch color VGA monitor at the time. For corporate users, after using office suites, they were freed from traditional handwritten documents and spreadsheets, and felt unprecedented convenience. The ability to easily modify and reuse documents increased office efficiency several times.
The Vision Workstation quickly became the best-selling business personal computer on the market, occupying more than 70% of the market share, and became Vision's first single product with annual sales exceeding $1 billion. This achievement not only made the market crazy, but also broke the previous record that only the automotive industry and a few electronic products could reach $1 billion in sales.
The launch of Vision Thinkstation further consolidated Vision's leading position in the personal computer market, and its stock price rose by 50%. The financial community valued Vision's personal computer business at over $5 billion within 3 years, and some analysts even believed it would exceed $10 billion. This valuation is not only a high recognition of the personal computer market, but also an affirmation of Vision's leading advantage in the personal computer field.
The market's response was rapid. Vision's competitors began to feel the pressure, and they had to re-examine their product lines and market strategies. Some companies began to increase investment in research and development, trying to catch up through technological innovation. Others began to seek partners, hoping to enhance their market competitiveness through mergers or acquisitions. Still others began to explore new market segments, trying to find their foothold in specific niche markets.
In this competition, some traditional large electronics companies also began to transform, making personal computers an important part of their product lines. They used their brand advantages and channel resources to quickly occupy market share. At the same time, they also innovated in software and services to provide more comprehensive solutions to meet the needs of different users.
With the intensification of market competition, consumers became the biggest beneficiaries. They could buy personal computers with better performance at lower prices, and enjoy more complete after-sales service at the same time. There were more and more personal computer brands and models on the market, and consumers could choose the products that best suited their needs and budget.
Vision's success also attracted a large amount of venture capital into the personal computer field. Many start-ups sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, bringing innovative ideas and products, trying to get a share of the personal computer market. Some of these start-ups, with their unique products and innovative business models, became new favorites in the market.
With the continuous expansion of the personal computer market, the related industrial chain has also been rapidly developed. From chip manufacturers to display suppliers, from operating system developers to application software providers, the entire industrial chain is busy meeting market demands. The development of these companies has further promoted technological innovation and industrial upgrading, forming a virtuous circle.
In this feast of the personal computer market, Vision is undoubtedly the most shining and largest winner in the North American market at this stage. Even old brands like MBI and GE have to admit defeat, because they don't have Ren Zhong's golden finger behind them.
Of course, Europe is another scene. Goldenstar from Misty Capital is also shining brightly, and, like Vision, is simultaneously focusing on both business and home use. Taking John Bull as its base, it is rapidly spreading to the entire Europe. However, in Europe itself, there are also many latent dragon companies that are blooming and bearing fruit in their own countries, seizing the tide of the first wave of personal computers.
After all, Europe is fragmented and does not have the unified market of the North American continent, so although Goldenstar's products are not inferior to Vision's products, its market share is still somewhat lacking due to the lack of market unification in Europe.
However, the nameplate of Europe's largest PC giant was still firmly held by Goldenstar, prompting the proud British aristocracy to frantically buy Goldenstar's stock to show their support. Due to their overwhelming enthusiasm, Goldenstar issued another 100 million shares, pushing the total market value to an unprecedented height of 15 billion pounds! It rightfully led the European technology industry and became an undisputed star.
The raised funds will be mostly invested in the development of software and personal computer peripherals. Ren Zhong allowed Dongda to control the operating system, but in terms of application software, Ren Zhong couldn't expect the whole world to wait for Dongda's software engineers to satisfy their needs. Moreover, this type of software itself has many localization requirements, making it difficult to complete their demand customization from the distant East.
Coupled with the successful experience of the main world, the best approach for applications is to let them bloom everywhere, allowing the whole world to continuously develop various applications around Dongda's current operating system. This will ultimately add bricks and mortar to the personal computer path opened up by Dongda, continuously extending the functions of personal computers to form an ecosystem, eventually making this ecosystem so large that the Western powers won't be able to subvert it even when they come to their senses.
“I didn't expect Vision Company to do so well, selling so many computers. If this market were exported by our Dongda, it would support many people.” Staff Officer Ye said with some frustration. So many domestic computer companies, with their proximity advantage, failed to seize the opportunity to achieve Vision's brilliant sales performance. Watching thousands of job opportunities slip away, Staff Officer Ye was really envious.
“Staff Officer Ye, it's different. Vision has established its brand value in the past. In addition, the personal computer they launched perfectly meets users' many dream expectations for personal computers in terms of both function design and appearance design. Only in this way can they extend and even enhance Vision's brand influence. Coupled with their stronger market purchasing power, the sales of these products can be so vigorous.” Ren Zhong shook his head and smiled. How could he not have thought of monopolizing the market, but the experience of the two worlds told Ren Zhong that this was unlikely.
“Their economic development is much more advanced than ours. Based on our current economic foundation, our market potential cannot be compared with their market at all. Frankly speaking, personal computers can already be completely popularized in middle-class families in Western powers. Buying a personal computer is a bit difficult for them, but it is not unaffordable. In this regard, our Dongda has no way to compare now. Even in our wealthiest cities, among a hundred dual-income families, there may not even be one with the potential to buy a personal computer. In this regard, our market is at least an order of magnitude behind others.
However, even if the purchasing power of Western powers reaches the level of popularizing personal computers, if we do not open up standards and allow them to develop within their own countries, we will not be able to have such a destructive market penetration ability as we do now.
Because the sales of our products in the powers are still subject to various restrictions. Their capital forces will definitely not let go of such a big cake and allow our Dongda to enjoy it exclusively. Therefore, instead of slowly haggling with them in this field, ultimately missing the opportunity for our large-scale shipments, it is better to launch a surprise attack and, after making concessions, directly become the unshakable leader of this ecosystem by selling core components.
You should know that in these computers sold, most of the core components are produced by our Dongda. We earn at least thousands of US dollars for each computer. We are the real big winners in this wave.
Now, the annual chip production of our chip enterprise Dongxin Technology has reached the level of tens of millions of chips. The production line and the manufacturing research system for backend production equipment have all been driven. The investment we made in the chip industry in the past has basically been fully recovered in the past year. If we look at the big picture, we have firmly grasped the leading position when this informationization and personal computer era was launched.”
Ren Zhong carefully analyzed the gains and losses of this matter with Staff Officer Ye, lest the higher-ups waver in this regard. You should know that the current situation is very good, even if the latent dragons left outside make a fortune and a large part of the profits have to be distributed to capital.
But Ren Zhong knew it was worth it.
In this huge wave of informationization, several trillion-dollar companies will be born in the future, but the Western powers will never allow these trillion-dollar companies to make money in the East!
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The profits are too great, they would rather build high foreign trade walls to keep this market in their own hands.
Precisely because of this, Ren Zhong launched the ultra-long-term development Hidden Dragon Plan.
The original intention of the Hidden Dragon Plan is to use one's own people who secretly lurk in the deepest parts of the opponent to develop and reap the fattest piece. Even a part of this cake must be distributed to those capital tycoons through listing, which is also a very cost-effective deal.
Relying on this strategy, Vision and Goldenstar, under Ren Zhong's guidance, have now become the most dazzling stars in the West. Now the fact is that they have become the leaders of the technology wave in the Western powers.
Siemens, Philips, STMicroelectronics, and MBI, these world-class well-known technology companies, which originally developed very rapidly in the technology wave in the main world, are now being impacted and scattered by the seeds developed by the Hidden Dragon Plan, such as Vision and Goldenstar.
For example, in terms of radios, they have just gotten crystal transistor radios, and Goldenstar has completed the ever-changing new models of portable radios, entering the era of personal portable devices.
Even in the originally leading fields of products such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, and washing machines, the seed enterprises launched by the Dongda Hidden Dragon Plan are now widely blooming in Europe, launching new products that are at least one generation ahead of these large companies and starting to impact the market!
These so-called new technologies that shine in the world were already mature in the main world in the 1970s and 1980s. After Ren Zhong's transfer, the technology is introduced and digested in Dongda's corresponding home appliance product R\u0026D center, and a part of it will be transferred to the seed players of the Hidden Dragon Plan to blossom and bear fruit in the Western powers. Of course, similar products will basically emerge in Dongda to echo them.
Making the East and the West seem to be chasing each other in technological innovation, but in essence, these are all one's own people fighting each other, but it greatly frustrates the development potential of the Western powers' true direct line. When the market is eaten up by the seeds of the Dongda Hidden Dragon Plan, the original technology companies in the Western powers that made a lot of money lose a lot of market, and the huge loss of profits directly damages their technology research and development investment capabilities, thereby reducing their development speed.
(End of this chapter)