Author: quiet thoughts

Why do we need to develop another version of a computer game after it has already been released?

That's because HAL's "Pac-Man" was developed for the Fujitsu FM-8 personal computer platform.

NEC, the largest giant in the Japanese computer market, uses another platform for its home computers.

Yes, the Microsoft system at this time has not yet been released.

The operating systems of computers on the market are not uniform.

Basically, different brands will have different operating platforms.

Because of its good cooperative relationship with Fujitsu, HAL also took the lead in developing games on the other party's operating platform.

But to say that the leader in the personal computer market is, of course, NEC.

Neon Computer Yusanjia, NEC, Fujitsu, Sharp.

Among them, NEC is well-deserved number one in terms of market penetration and reputation.

"Pac-Man" can be purchased on Fujitsu for 200,000 copies. It will not be difficult to surpass the former when transplanted to NEC's PC-8801.

How could Bai Chuanfeng care about his family status in this kind of free work?

It’s true that Fujitsu is an old friend, but NEC is also pretty and handsome.

In line with the attitude of sharing everything, Shirakawa Kaede decided to march towards NEC.

It seems that today's computer games are still making progress, and HAL really gave himself a surprise.

Previously, he thought that the personal computer market would take ten or eight years to develop before it would pick up.

Unexpectedly, although it is not popular yet, its profitability is not bad at all.

"Xiaosong, make another note. Starting next year, pay attention to some new game production clubs.

Whether it is for home game consoles or personal computers.

If you find a potential production team, remember to notify me immediately."

"Hai," Assistant Komatsu said while recording quickly and nodding in agreement.

The HAL incident gave Shirakawa Kaede a reminder, since the profits of game production are so high.

So in the land of Neon, some of the well-known game manufacturers of later generations may have been developing in ignorance.

In this case, Shirakawa Electric must of course make plans as soon as possible.

It's definitely not possible for HAL to fight alone.

If you want to develop in the game industry, it is very necessary to actively introduce third-party production companies.

Not to mention the next generation of handheld consoles, the subsequent home game consoles alone need sufficient game content support.

Therefore, taking the lead in game production companies in advance is also improving the upstream and downstream industry chains of the game entertainment industry.

Shirakawa Electric does not need to absolutely dominate them, it just needs to participate a little bit.

In addition, Shirakawa Kaede has other plans regarding the handheld business unit and HAL.

But it seems to be too early now, let’s wait until the next generation of game consoles comes out.

After the HAL situation was over, Arai Yu turned to the page of SIC again.

"SIC's first batch of chip orders have been completed with Namco.

The other party's arcade machine is expected to be launched two weeks before the new year, and specific market feedback may not be received until after the year."

Is it two weeks before the new year? Bai Chuanfeng calculated the time and it seemed that there were only a few days left.

This is the first large-scale commercial use of SIC, and Shirakawa Kaede is very much looking forward to it.

“The first batch of 50,000 orders is expected to bring SIC a profit of 150 million yen.

However, we placed a one-time order of 100,000 pieces with Fujitsu, and other fields such as research institutes, automation equipment companies, etc. also sold about 20,000 pieces piecemeal.

Generally speaking, SIC can make a profit of about 200 million yen this year, but if it wants to recover all the initial costs, according to the current development trend, it is expected to reach breakeven next year."

Shirakawa Kaede nodded and expressed his understanding. From the beginning of SIC's establishment to the current chip production, the total investment has exceeded 1 billion yen.

If you want to achieve real profits, even if everything goes well in the future, it will take at least one to two years to achieve this goal.

However, judging from the current profit proportion of SIC, it is true that it is still for the public consumption field, and the shipment volume is larger.

Thinking of this, Bai Chuanfeng also became concerned about SIC's next move.

"How is the cooperation with Fujitsu?"

"The current SIC8089 is being optimized and modularized, and it is expected to be applied to Fujitsu's next-generation personal computers next year."

Yu Arai also had a detailed understanding of all the subsidiaries under Shirakawa Holdings during this period.

The general business situation and the goals for the next stage cannot be clearly stated in mind, but I still have a rough grasp of the basic situation.

"Very good, this is the strategic focus of SIC, and it must be guaranteed to be its first priority."

"Hai"

Bai Chuanfeng felt both respect and admiration for this old senior.

It is really not easy for someone at this age to be able to supervise so many things and keep everything in order.

However, there are not many good solutions for the time being, and the management teams of several subsidiaries have not yet grown up.

Heitaro Nakajima, the only experienced employee, has just joined the company and many things have not yet been straightened out.

But it should be almost done by next year, when the heads of several sub-clubs will be gathered together and hold closed-door meetings directly.

Presumably in this way, many situations can be understood more clearly.

Yu Arai can also concentrate on banking business, after all, this is what he is really good at.

After all, there is still a lack of talent, but just look at the situation of Panasonic and Sony.

Most of the talents in Japanese companies are cultivated by themselves, and they are rarely directly parachuted in.

This has also resulted in Neon’s talent market being very less active. Even if many senior management talents change jobs, they only jump back and forth between those companies.

Over time, both individuals and companies have a clear understanding of each other's situation.

There is no freshness in discovering talents at all, and the goal of injecting fresh blood into the company is even more out of the question.

Therefore, there are not many good solutions for Baichuan Holdings at present.

Bai Chuanfeng can only hope that the young people under his banner will grow up as soon as possible and reach the point where they can be independent as soon as possible.

After passing several branches, it is now the turn of the most important Shirakawa Electric.

"Shirakawa Electric Handheld Division's total profit in Neon this year is expected to reach 7 billion yen."

Sure enough, as soon as Arai Yu opened his mouth, Shirakawa Kaede was not disappointed.

Compared with last year's profit of 4 billion, this year's profit increased by 75% on a year-on-year basis. The growth is encouraging.

Although it was changed to a configuration of one machine and one software in the second half of the year, the price was also lowered.

However, thanks to screen improvements, total sales increased significantly compared to last year.

Relying on the volume, the profit of the handheld console has also been increased by 1.75 times.

No wonder Nintendo is so impatient. With such pressure on Shirakawa Kaede, he will do everything he can to compete for the market.

However, the neck of the LCD screen of Shirakawa Electric cannot be stuck for long.

Next year, Shirakawa Electric has prepared a bigger surprise for Lao Ren. I hope that senior Hiroshi Yamauchi can endure it.

"Shirakawa Electric's Walkman Division and Neon Local's total profit this year is expected to be around 20 billion yen."

Immediately afterwards, Yu Arai talked about Shirakawa Electric's pillar product, the Walkman and its series of components.

This number sounds like a lot, but Shirakawa Kaede didn't show much excitement.

Because just last year, the domestic profit of the Walkman was about 17 billion yen.

3 billion growth, the year-on-year increase is less than 18%, which is far behind the 75% of handheld games.

But there’s nothing we can do about it, there are too many Walkman manufacturers entering the market this year.

Sony, Shirakawa Electric, Panasonic, Hitachi, NEC, Toshiba, these are the major professional players.

Sanyo, Sharp, Casio... these are a few part-time players occupying a second-tier share of the market.

There are so many brands entering the field of walkman, no matter how big the market is, they are still not enough.

With such fierce competition, it is very rare for Shirakawa Electric to improve on last year's performance.

This is due to the launch of a new generation of Walkman in the second half of the year, which is once again one step ahead of its competitors in terms of creativity.

In addition, the pricing of low-end models has greatly increased, and the price has been exchanged for market, and finally achieved such results.

Otherwise, judging from the gradual decline trend in the first half of the year, it is difficult to say whether this year can guarantee the profits of last year.

Sure enough, as the saying goes, if a market cannot be monopolized, its profits will fall sharply.
To be continued...