Chapter 271 Annual Summary
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 player in the Japanese computer market, offers a different platform for its home computers.
Yes, the Microsoft system had not yet been released at that time.
There is no unified operating system for computers on the market.
Basically, different brands will have different operating platforms.
Because of its good cooperative relationship with Fujitsu, HAL took the lead in developing games on the other party's operating platform.
However, when it comes to the leader in the personal computer market, it must be NEC.
The three major computer manufacturers in Japan are NEC, Fujitsu, and Sharp.
Among them, NEC is undoubtedly the first in terms of market penetration and fame.
"Pac-Man" was able to sell 200,000 copies on Fujitsu, so it would not be difficult to surpass the former by porting it to NEC's PC-8801.
For a job like this where he could make money for free, Baichuan Feng didn't care about family background.
It’s true that Fujitsu is an old friend, but NEC is also very good-looking.
With the attitude of treating everyone equally, Shirakawa Kaede decided to advance into NEC.
It seems that there is still room for development in current computer games. HAL really gave itself a surprise.
Previously, he thought that it would take ten to eight years for the personal computer market to develop.
I didn’t expect that although it is not yet popular, its profitability is not bad at all.
"Xiaosong, remember one more thing. Starting next year, pay attention to some new game production companies.
Whether it is for home game consoles or personal computers.
If you find a potential production team, please let me know immediately."
"Hai" Assistant Kosong quickly recorded and nodded in agreement.
The incident with HAL gave Shirakawa Feng a wake-up call, since the profits from game production are so high.
So in the land of Neon, some of the well-known game producers in later generations may have already been developing in an ignorant way.
In this case, Shirakawa Electric must of course make arrangements as early as possible.
It is definitely not possible for HAL to fight alone.
If you want to develop in the gaming industry, it is very necessary to actively introduce third-party production companies.
Not to mention the next generation of handheld game consoles, the subsequent home game consoles alone will require sufficient game content support.
Therefore, taking the lead in game production companies in advance is also to improve the upstream and downstream industrial chains of the game entertainment industry.
Shirakawa Electric doesn't need to absolutely dominate them, just a little bit of participation will be enough.
In addition, Shirakawa Kaede has some other plans regarding the handheld game console business unit and HAL.
But it seems too early now, let's wait until the next generation of game consoles comes out.
After going through the HAL situation, Arai Yu turned to the SIC page.
“SIC’s first batch of chip orders has been delivered to Namco.
The other party’s arcade machine is expected to be launched two weeks before the New Year, and the specific market feedback may not be received until after the New Year.”
Two weeks before the New Year? Baichuan Feng calculated the time and it seemed like there were only a few days left.
This is the first large-scale commercial use of SIC, and Shirakawa Feng is very much looking forward to it.
“The first order of 50,000 pieces is expected to bring SIC a profit of 150 million yen.
However, we placed a one-time order of 100,000 units with Fujitsu, and sold around 20,000 units to other fields such as research institutes and automation equipment companies.
Overall, SIC will probably make a profit of 200 million yen this year, but if it wants to recover all the initial costs, it is expected to break even next year according to the current development trend. "
Shirakawa nodded, indicating his understanding. From the beginning of SIC's establishment to the current production of chips, the total investment has exceeded 1 billion yen.
In order to achieve real profitability, even if everything goes well in the future, it will take at least one to two years to achieve this goal.
However, judging from SIC's current profit share, it is indeed in the mass consumer sector with a larger shipment volume.
Thinking of this, Baichuan Feng also became concerned about SIC's next move.
"How is the cooperation with Fujitsu?"
"We are currently optimizing and customizing the SIC8089, and we expect it to be used in Fujitsu's next-generation personal computers next year."
During this period, Yu Arai has also made detailed inquiries about all subsidiaries of Shirakawa Holdings.
I can’t fully understand the general business situation and the goals for the next stage, but I have a general grasp of the basic situation.
"Very good. This is the strategic focus of the SIC. We must ensure that it is the top priority."
"Hayi"
Baichuan Feng had both respect and admiration for this old senior.
It is indeed not easy to supervise so many affairs and keep them in order at this age.
However, there are not many good solutions for the time being, as the management teams of several subsidiaries have not yet grown up.
The only experienced person, Nakajima Heitaro, had just joined the company and had not yet sorted out many things.
But it should be ready by next year, and by then we can gather the heads of several subsidiaries together and hold a closed-door meeting.
I believe that in this way, many situations can be understood more clearly.
And Yusuke Arai can concentrate on banking business, after all, this is where he is really good at.
Ultimately, there is still a lack of talent, but just look at the situation of Panasonic and Sony and you will understand.
Most of the talents in Japanese companies are trained by themselves, and it is rare for them to be parachuted in directly.
This has also resulted in a very low level of activity in Japan's talent market. Even if many senior management talents change jobs, they only jump back and forth between the same few companies.
Over time, both individuals and companies have a clear understanding of each other's situation.
There is absolutely no sense of novelty in discovering talent, let alone the goal of injecting fresh blood into the company.
So at the moment, there are not many good solutions for Shirakawa Holdings.
Baichuan Feng can only hope that the young people under him will grow up as quickly as possible and become independent soon.
After visiting several branches, it’s time to visit the most important Shirakawa Electric.
"Shirakawa Electric's handheld game console division is expected to achieve a total profit of 7 billion yen in Japan this year."
Sure enough, as soon as Arai Yu opened his mouth, he did not disappoint Shirakawa Feng.
Compared with last year's profit of 4 billion, this year's profit has increased by 75% on a year-on-year basis, which is a gratifying growth.
Although the configuration was changed to one machine and one software in the second half of the year, the selling price was also lowered.
However, thanks to improvements in the screen, total sales have increased significantly compared to last year.
Relying on sales volume, the profit of handheld game consoles was increased by 1.75 times.
No wonder Nintendo is so anxious. With such pressure on Shirakawa Kaede, he will try every means to seize the market.
However, the bottleneck of Shirakawa Electric's LCD screen will not last long.
Next year, Shirakawa Electric has prepared a bigger surprise for Nintendo. I hope that the veteran Hiroshi Yamauchi can hold on.
"Shirakawa Electric's Walkman Division is expected to make a total profit of around 20 billion yen in Japan this year."
Then, Yutaka Arai talked about Shirakawa Electric's pillar products, the Walkman and its series of components.
This number sounds like a lot, but Baichuan Feng did not seem very excited.
Because just last year, the Walkman's domestic profits were around 17 billion yen.
The growth of 3 billion is less than 18% year-on-year, which is far behind the 75% of handheld game consoles.
But there is nothing we can do about it, as there are too many manufacturers entering the portable player market this year.
Sony, Shirakawa Electric, Panasonic, Hitachi, NEC, and Toshiba are the main professional players .
Sanyo, Sharp, Casio... these are a few part-time players that occupy second-rate shares in the market.
With so many brands entering the portable audio field, no matter how big the market is, there is not enough to share.
With such fierce competition, it is very rare for Shirakawa Electric to improve on last year's performance.
This is because it launched a new generation of portable players in the second half of the year, which once again put it one step ahead of its competitors in terms of creativity.
In addition, the pricing of low-end models dropped drastically, and they exchanged price for market share, which ultimately led to this achievement.
Otherwise, judging from the gradually declining trend in the first half of the year, it is hard to say whether last year's profits can be maintained this year.
As the saying goes, if a market cannot be monopolized, its profits will decline significantly.
This is about profits in Japan, so how is Shirakawa Electric performing overseas?
"In the North American market, Shirakawa Electric expects total profits from handheld game consoles to be around 19 billion yen. For Walkman products, total profits will be around 70 billion yen.
However, this is only an estimate at the moment. Taking into account tariffs and local taxes, the specific figure may be lower.
The exact data will have to wait until the North American financial team gives a detailed financial report after the New Year.”
After going over the operating conditions of all the companies under Shirakawa Holdings, Arai Yu sorted out the information in his hands and pushed it in front of Shirakawa Feng.
“For more detailed information, President Shirakawa may wish to refer to these materials.
However, the official report will have to wait until after the financial settlement period in March, when I will report to President Shirakawa."
"Thank you for your hard work, Arai-senpai."
Baichuan Feng specially stood up to see the old senior off. He was the one who handled most of the matters of Baichuan Holdings this year.
It's not easy at such an old age.
Besides, he was introduced by Teacher Yamada, so Shirakawa Kaede naturally treated him as one of his own.
"Okay, President Shirakawa, you don't have to see me off." Arai Yu waved his hand, "After I finish these things, I can spend the New Year holiday in peace.
I guess this time, no bank will be suddenly acquired again."
"Haha, you're joking, senior. Good things like this can't happen every time."
Last year, before the New Year holiday was over, he was left in Akita for nearly half a year. Now thinking about it, Shirakawa Kaede felt a little embarrassed.
"That's true. It's worth it even if I don't take a vacation for such a good thing."
Arai Yu is quite open-minded and even hopes that this kind of thing will happen again.
With a smile, he sent Yu Arai out the door, and the financial team returned to their respective positions.
Baichuan Feng returned to the meeting room and couldn't help but pick up the report and take a look at it.
As expected, the North American market contributed the bulk of Shirakawa Electric's profits.
Whether it is a handheld game console or a walkman, the profits are basically two to three times that of Japan.
It seems that I will have to put more energy there in the future. Alas, after all, the North American people need us.
Baichuan Feng said that he was concerned about other people's concerns.
The report in my hand probably contains all the profits of Shirakawa Holdings this year.
But since you have earned so much money, how much have you spent this year?
