Rebirth of the Tech Madman

Chapter 1071 Sony died in despair

…

In fact, Hewlett-Packard’s former CEO Louis Pratt, who is less than sixty years old, can serve for a few more years.

However, with HP’s founder William Wheelett’s declining health and David Pockard’s death, some of HP’s persistence can no longer withstand external pressure.

For example, Louis Pratt is very unpopular with investors. Hewlett-Packard, under his leadership, has performed too steadily in the past few years when it entered the Internet wave, and its profits have been dull and tasteless.

In the past, HP could explain that low-key is its own style; but now Wall Street does not agree.

Other homes are full of turmoil, how can you stroll around in the courtyard!

Under this circumstance, Louis Pratt offered to resign this year and abdicate to the meritorious.

It stands to reason that HP, which has a deep qualifications that can be regarded as a witness to Silicon Valley, must be full of talents. It is not a problem to select a successor from within.

Indeed, a highly popular candidate appeared within HP. Ann Livermore, who began serving HP in 1982 and was promoted to vice president in 1995.

To some extent, Ann Livermore’s entry into the CEO candidate list is HP’s rebuttal to questions from the outside world about the rigidity and aging of its system and the disconnection from the times.

In Silicon Valley, and even the entire United States, female executives are rare.

And Louis Pratt has made a lot of improvements in this regard. He widowed his spouse in 1981 and raised two young daughters by himself, so he empathized with the empathy and introduced many widely-acclaimed measures on humane caring for employees, which is also in line with HP’s long-standing corporate culture.

Ann Livermore is in this context, from a marketing position, all the way to vice president, becoming a role model for women in the workplace.

If Ann Livermore really takes over HP, it will undoubtedly send a message to the outside world: HP is not stubborn, but always advancing with the times.

It has to be said that Louis Pratt’s abdication to let the talents lay out was very painstaking.

But Wall Street is not buying it.

Ann Livermore has been serving Hewlett-Packard for almost twenty years, and he is naturally influenced by the corporate culture of Hewlett-Packard Way. If he becomes the CEO, he will definitely implement the old things without changing the soup.

More importantly, HP’s management is still unable to splash water, and Wall Street cannot directly exert its most effective influence.

Because of this fundamental conflict of interests. Hewlett-Packard did nothing else this year, it was busy with the political struggle within the company.

In the end, Wall Street went high.

Didn’t HP play Ann Livermore as a female corporate executive? Then, as you wish, find someone from the outside and airborne a female corporate executive with a more brilliant star halo.

As a result, Carrie Fiorina, who successfully separated Lucent from AT&T, was selected and sent to Silicon Valley.

Just like Carrie Fiorina, who is a star in the entertainment industry and favored by Wall Street, immediately sat on the altar and became the first female CEO of a company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was interpreted by the media as a woman breaking through the workplace. Ceiling sign.

It’s just that the star-making movement triggered by this kind of corporate political struggle is expensive.

Carrie Fiorina had been very moisturized at Lucent, but now she has moved to HP, so she must be compensated. As a result, she received 65 million restricted HP shares.

Other benefits include: signing bonus of 3 million, annual salary of 1 million and annual bonus of 1.25 to 3.75 times, as well as 36,000 loan assistance, moving allowance, etc. , You can even use company aircraft to handle personal affairs.

In short, HP hired a big star for a big price and paid more than any previous CEO, including the two founders William Wheelett and David Puckold; if it was an internal promotion With Ann Livermore as CEO, that would surely save a lot of money.

Carrie Fiorina, who has earned both fame and fortune, is naturally the target of her allegiance to the benefactor who promoted her on Wall Street, not the representative of the Wheelett family who has little influence in HP.

The richest man hoped in his heart that Hewlett-Packard would be able to withstand Wall Street’s harvest of “raising pigs and killing pigs”; even, he quietly supported it.

But unfortunately, Louis Pratt did not look like a hero. After a few rounds of fighting, he frustrated and retired. The HP founder family was unable to support Adou. In the end, Wall Street seized control of HP. .

As John Chambers reminded, after the fall of HP, the Fangyuan and philosophical software of the Down Kingdom will definitely become the next coveted target.

This is why, obviously, the monopoly case of the United States of America v. Zheru Software Company has been suspended again. Tang Huan can take advantage of this gap to go to China on the other side of the Pacific to appreciate the heroic performance of the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. the reason.

Needless to say, the richest man is also afraid of moths growing out of the way at this delicate time.

Seeing that Tang Huan immediately understood what he meant, John Chambers tentatively asked: “Zheru Software’s antitrust lawsuit has been postponed to the end of the year; but next year it will still come, what will happen? What to do?”

Although John Chambers is an absolute **** confidant, the richest man still has to reserve his true intentions with him.

Not for others, this is determined by the art of leadership.

What’s more, forcing his subordinates to accompany him to “bungee jumping” in a magnificent era is also somewhat difficult.

Tang Huan replied slowly and deliberately: “Today, Fangyuan Computer Standards have been solid and indestructible. Even without the cooperation of Philosopher Software, they can continue to develop with the industry.”

“Furthermore, the change in the name from’Fangyuan Computer’ to’Fangyuan’ is also a reminder that the company’s business scope should not be limited to the computer field.”

“As for the Zheru Software Company, even if it waits for the worst result, it is not a big deal. After all, kingship is not eternal, and we can at least retreat from the whole body.”

Savoring the words of the richest man, John Chambers showed a complex look on his face. There is not only the relief of not having to accompany the madman to the cliff, but also the reluctance to give up the domineering industry.

Tang Huan, who had a panoramic view of all this, finally laughed loudly, “No matter what, I will not let my own momentary thoughts put my followers in danger.”

…

Among the many back hands of the richest man, there is definitely a different form of “eggs not in the same basket.”

For example, Apple Computer is undertaking a series of resources that philosophers have poured in.

After the ipod was officially launched on the market in October last year, sales exceeded 200,000 units during the Christmas quarter; in the first quarter of this year, sales reached 120,000 units; the next two quarters Here, sales are generally maintained at this level.

Undoubtedly, just like the dawn of personal computers more than ten years ago, Apple’s apple-ii shined brightly. In the current digital music market where some chaos is reborn, Apple’s ipod has taken the lead. , Absolutely can afford the evaluation of great success.

With such good results, Apple Computer will definitely continue to make a big fuss on the iPod, tirelessly innovating the old.

As the first anniversary of the release of the ipod generation is approaching, it is no surprise that Apple Computer will launch the ipod second generation with higher hardware specifications and better operating experience.

However, Apple Computer’s actions did not stop there. It also launched a new ipod, and Jobs therefore specially invited the richest man to visit.

After Tang Huan arrived at Apple Computer, he saw that Jobs, like his executives, was complaining about the report, how the cost of electricity had risen so much.

California has introduced a lot of reforms in the electric power industry. One of them is the prohibition of “long-term wholesale electricity prices.”

Now, the negative effects on California’s commerce, industry, etc. are beginning to show up one by one.

California’s local power supply companies, such as Pacific Watt, have obviously declined, while out-of-state energy giants such as Enron have begun to control the right to speak. There are too many excuses for the price increase, and all of them are high-sounding, so that ordinary people don’t know where to criticize.

Gein, these excuses are facts.

California has a dry climate this year. Although developed agriculture is sufficient to cope with this situation, hydropower stations are inevitably affected.

This year is still very hot, with peak electricity consumption reaching new highs.

And now, the prices of oil and natural gas have started to rise, and Enron, which has become the main power supply company in California, must of course transfer this cost to users.

All in all, if I want to increase the price, you can only accept it.

To Jobs’s chagrin: Apple Computer has finally gotten out of the predicament. The iPod, which was exploited by philosophers’ patents, music licenses from record companies, and other factors, also made a little money, but suffered from high electricity prices.

He asked angrily, “Zheru seems to have made great progress in solar photovoltaic research and development, right?”

“But for this kind of urgency, it won’t help. Accept your fate.” Tang Huan smiled slightly, and then urged: “Hurry up and show me the new idea of ​​the iPod.”

“This is a sample.” Jobs handed over a small thing shaped like a U disk, and proudly introduced it: “It’s called ipod_shuffle, and it weighs only 22 grams.”

Playing with ipod_shuffle, Tang Huan pointed to the core and asked, “You replaced the micro hard drive with flash memory as a storage medium?”

“Indeed, we used 256mb of flash memory.” Jobs nodded, “You have also seen that compared to the iPod, ipod_shuffle also cancels the LCD screen and the control wheel on the hardware, and cancels the address on the internal software. Functions such as book, calendar, etc. Therefore, it does not win by storage capacity, that is the task of the second generation of iPod.”

Tang Huan smiled playfully, and asked in cooperation: “Then what is the main selling point of ipod_shuffle?”

Jobs, who was scratched to the itch, immediately explained happily, “life_is_random—life random interpretation, give_chance_a_chance—give a chance by chance. ipod_shuffle is designed to easily load the selection of songs, and to play them in a random manner. Enjoy the fun of getting rid of rigid arrangements.”

The richest man nodded slightly, and the usual shuffle function in the media player on the computer can play such connotative tricks. This is the difference between Jobs and Apple Computer.

A big selling point of ipod is fashion. Big-name public figures including US President Bill Clinton are using this product, so it is not difficult to imagine its popularity.

The ipod_shuffle derived from ipod, placed in an economically underdeveloped market, must be regarded as a low-end product with various shrinking functions, but in a developed market like the United States, it has played out new cultural connotations.

Moreover, replacing the ipod_shuffle of the micro hard drive with flash memory will also become a real portable music player that is completely free from environmental factors such as vibration and is completely suitable for use during exercise.

The richest man who affirmed the market value of ipod_shuffle, finally asked directly: “If you come to me, you must not only appreciate your creativity. Let’s talk, if you have any requirements, I need my cooperation.”

Jobs was also welcome, pointing to iPod_shuffle and said: “I want to reduce the price of iPod_shuffle to at least half of that of iPod, and the key factor is flash memory.”

Tang Huan happily said no problem, I will provide you with the most cost-effective flash memory supply chain. ”

…

Apple Computer is now fiddling with campaign activities, including advertising, and is becoming more and more sophisticated. The ipod second-generation and ipod_shuffle have not been officially released yet, and the hype has been raging, and the appetite of the market has been stoked.

The booming ipod market shows the general trend of digital music players replacing traditional tape players and CD players, and a slow-reacting book manufacturer, especially Sony, will undoubtedly face the fate of being eliminated.

Akio Morita, 78 years old, has been in hospital for several days due to pneumonia in the Central Hospital of the Tokyo Metropolitan Jason Association in Minato-ku, Tokyo.

Although he withdrew from Sony’s management due to a stroke at the end of 1993, Akio Morita has been paying attention to Sony.

Just as all companies are prone to failing after success, Sony, which has been cut off by the richest man with a series of projects including lithium-ion batteries, has begun to show its crisis.

For example, the Trinitron picture tube, which Sony is most proud of, is increasingly threatened by lcd, and it has been led by Sharp.

Now, the Walkman, which has been popular all over the world for more than ten years, looks so old in front of Apple’s iPod.

Feeling that the proud work he left behind was like this decayed shell, the vitality was fading away little by little, Akio Morita sighed gloomily.

…

The richest man is personally interrogating the supply chain of flash memory. Masako Wada called and said: “Sony founder Akio Morita has passed away.”

Another famous player died!

Tang Huan raised his brows and said: “I can’t get out of here, you represent me, and send the most sincere condolences!”