The arrival of a great era sometimes comes slowly, sneaking in silently like the spring rain moistening things. When people discover it, the traces of this era have penetrated into every aspect. Looking back, no one can tell clearly when these spring rains brought the whole world to a new stage. The earth is moist.
But sometimes, the arrival of a great era has obvious signs. Although people of this era have not realized it yet, looking back, many people will find an obvious sign, that is, this standard represents that this era has arrived.
IBM, located in New York State, USA, has been having a hard time as the largest computer manufacturer in the United States and even the world in the past two years. The rise of Wan'an six years ago brought a huge impact to it, especially the WPS system that took away Thirty percent of his customers were targeted at commercial companies. The hardware of both parties was similar, and the software had its own characteristics. IBM relied on the contacts accumulated over the decades since the company was founded, although some They are not as good as Wanan Company in terms of performance, but this gap will not cause them to suffer a crushing blow.
It's not pleasant to be chased by a Chinese company all the time. Of course, the other party's wish to defeat you is really wishful thinking. Even so, the big guys at IBM often feel like they have something stuck in their throats.
Three years ago, a computer named Apple was born. Its simple style immediately attracted the attention of the world. Many media reported that Apple Computer would change the development of the computer industry. At that time, Apple was majestic and still in the market. The shocking advertisement was played during the Super Bowl. In this advertisement, Apple acted as a protester, while other companies represented by IBM were oppressors. This advertisement caused quite a stir. Let the United States remember Apple.
But in the eyes of IBM's top executives, Apple's behavior was just to build momentum for its listing. The next year, Apple went public as expected, and the 27-year-old Jobs became a billionaire.
But so what? Your design is very good, but what about the price? It reaches 4,700 US dollars, which is more than 1,000 US dollars more than the bulky and bulky computers of IBM and Wan An. The functions are almost the same. , only one mouse is still useful.
No one would buy it at such a high price. Of course, it can also be used as a collectible. In the past few years, most of Apple’s customers have been schools, which use it as a database to process some test scores. The annual financial report shows that Apple Computer shipments are really not good, hovering around five or six thousand units for a long time. There are also some software sales, but these sales are not enough to satisfy those shareholders.
That is to say, at the beginning of this year, Apple Computer's founder and CEO Steve Jobs was dismissed by all shareholders and left the company that was quite promising a few years ago. This news caused a small ripple in the computer industry. , but no one will think that Jobs is a pity. His rather romantic character has never been suitable for managing a company. Perhaps he should be called an inventor.
Apple has never been regarded as a rival by IBM. It seems that its only rival now is Macau. The other one is Texas Instruments, which occupies 10% of the market share in the United States, but it must first catch up with IBM. Defeat Wanan Company, which holds 25% of the market share, and then challenge yourself.
But at the beginning of this year, as the production level of electronic components improved, the price of computers slowly dropped. By April, the price of a commercial computer had dropped from the original US$3,200 to US$2,700.
The drop has reached 16%, which is definitely a positive effect for the computer industry. Prices have dropped.
, there will be more people buying computers. Similarly, whether it is IBM or Wan'an Company, the sales volume of computers has risen sharply. It can be seen from the stock market that from the beginning of the year to now, Wan'an Company's stock price has increased
20%. Chairman Wan An's net worth has also risen, reaching a peak of three billion US dollars.
For this reason, Wan An's photo even appeared on the front page of Time magazine, and he himself was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
These honors make IBM, Wan'an's old rival, a little restless. Even though IBM's computer sales have increased by 17%, as a veteran powerhouse, it will never allow a junior to show off its power in front of it.
As a result, IBM engineers set their sights on personal computers again.
In the past, the price of personal computers was very high, with each unit costing close to US$5,000. Who would buy one? Now with the general reduction in the price of electronic components, the cost of personal computers has also dropped a lot. How much can it be reduced?
Apple's computers currently sell for US$4,100 each, which is still relatively high.
But IBM has strong backing, many electronic industries serve it, and it is best at cost control. After more than three months of adjustment and assembly, the first personal computer with the IBM logo rolled off the assembly line.
The shape of this computer is roughly similar to that of Apple Computer, but there are obvious differences in style. Apple Computer is designed in a simple style. In the eyes of the wealthy IBM, this is a symbol of poverty. Computers are high-tech products and can reflect its high technology.
It is not only its powerful computing power, but also should be connected to many sockets, so that it has the flavor of the future.
IBM's first personal computer rolled off the production line. It cost about US$3,600. The most important cost was the integrated circuit board that combined the host computer and the monitor. This integrated circuit board was more expensive than the two separate integrated circuit boards.
The cost is 20% higher.
But this is not a problem! When receiving the order, an IBM supplier told them that as long as they gave them four months, they could use new technology to assemble the latest integrated circuit boards at a lower cost.
At that time, the price of a personal computer was only US$3,200. If such a personal computer was equipped with software from IBM, even an individual would not refuse such a high-tech product.
Even if the current price is US$3,600, I believe it will attract some individual customers.
IBM seems to have seen another sales channel. It doesn't need to be too much. As long as it can reach 20% of the sales volume of commercial computers, IBM will usher in a new round of glory.
Therefore, the company's top management has made preparations. The new personal computer will be launched into the market within a week and will be baptized by the market. I believe that the company's stock price will skyrocket again by then.
IBM is starting to launch personal computers, and Wan'an Company is not idle either. Fifty bulky computers are equipped with the latest chips. When the computers are turned on, a clear picture appears on the screen.
"Everyone, let's take a look. This is our latest image processing program. What do you think?"
Wan An pointed at the computer screen and said in front of more than a dozen company executives.
"This is………?"
Facing such a clear picture, everyone was stunned.
Ordinary people wouldn't be surprised if they saw this clear picture. Isn't this just a photo? Why can't you see it? But everyone present is a computer expert who knows how to perfectly display a photo on a computer.
How difficult it is, at least now Wan'an cannot do it so clearly, and even IBM can't do it to this extent.
In the past, computers could only do some data processing and word processing. Even if they could display pictures, the pictures were basically full of rigid pixel modules. It would be good to be able to roughly distinguish graphics, but now what is displayed on the screen is thousands of pixels.
An's avatar is the same as his own person. Well, maybe you can see the roughness if you look closely, but this is already very remarkable. It is definitely the world's leading image processing program.
But now, the computer in front of Wan An has done it.