Chapter 1399: The chip opportunity is here

'Chairman, you wanted to see me?'

This morning, Fok Kin-ning came to Xia Yu's office.

'Well, put down what you're doing and come with me to Tiangong Group.'

Xia Yu said, getting up and picking up the suit hanging behind him to put it on.

Fok Kin-ning was a little surprised, but immediately said, 'Okay.'

'Oh, yes, the newspaper on the desk, the Fengyun Daily, take it with you and read it on the way.'

'Okay.'

After Fok Kin-ning picked up the newspaper, Xia Yu also finished dressing and set off towards the door.

Fok Kin-ning could only stuff the newspaper into his bag and follow suit.

Once downstairs, the motorcade was ready, and Xia Yu led Fok Kin-ning to the middle armoured car.

The motorcade then started up and drove towards the Yuen Long Science and Technology Industrial Park.

At this time, Fok Kin-ning finally had time to open his briefcase and take out the newspaper he had brought with him.

The newspaper carried reports on major world events outside Hong Kong.

After browsing for a while, his eyes settled on an article on the second page.

The headline read: 'US Department of Commerce finds that the island country is dumping read-only memory chips on the US.'

On 17 February 1986, the US Department of Commerce...

After reading the entire article carefully, a series of thoughts came to Fok Kin-ning's mind.

At that moment, Xia Yu asked with a faint smile, 'Kin-ning, what are your thoughts?'

Huo Jianing came back to his senses, paused for a moment, and then replied, 'Chairman, I don't know much about the global chip market, but I think that now that the US Department of Commerce has made a determination, there will definitely be a series of follow-up sanctions.'

'The island country will definitely try to fight back, but I don't think they will succeed.'

'But if we want to enter this market, will the US also impose sanctions on us in the future?'

Xia Yu smiled and said, 'It's hard to say.'

'At least it's unlikely before Hong Kong's return, but after the return, it's possible.'

'However, the chip market is complicated and crucial, and we must do this.'

'But in the long run, we must study the ins and outs thoroughly.'

'In any case, the sanctions against the island nation have taught us that technology and the market are important, but the comprehensive strength of a country is even more important.'

'You are right.'

Fok Kin-ning nodded in deep agreement, subconsciously glancing north, in the direction of the mainland.

After that, Xia Yu didn't say anything else, and let Fok Kin-ning think about the meaning of his words on his own.

Ten minutes later.

The convoy finally drove into the Yuen Long Technology Industrial Park.

It arrived at the Tiangong Group area.

Tiangong Group occupied the largest area in the entire Yuen Long Technology Industrial Park.

This was obvious at a glance from the aerial view of the industrial park.

And within the entire Tiangong Group, the one that occupied the most land was the Tiangong Automotive Parts Group.

Tiangong Automotive Group has not only a million-capacity automobile manufacturing base in Yuen Long Science and Technology Industrial Park, but also the core Tiangong Automotive R&D Centre, as well as many subsidiaries.

For example, Tiangong Motorcycle Manufacturing Company, Indonesia Automobile Manufacturing Company, Zung Fu Trading Company Limited, Lamborghini, Lotus Cars, McLaren, Aston Martin, American Federal-Mogul Corporation, Tiangong Driving School, etc.

However, most of these companies are located abroad.

The general manager of the Tiangong Group is still Chen Caijun, and in the years since he took the helm, he has lived up to Xia Yu's expectations.

The group is doing very well in all areas, whether it be research and development, production or sales.

After the field trip, Xia Yu had a clear grasp of the situation at the Tiangong Automobile Group.

Chen Caijun has upheld Xia Yu's philosophy, and in the first few years of the company's development, he did not rashly launch many new models, but instead focused on optimising the existing models, upgrading them, and doing his best to establish the brand and build a reputation.

Whether it is the Fengshen sports car, the Shenyu model, the Glory model, or the SUV, the main models on the market now are all second-generation.

It's just that the first-generation models have not been completely discontinued, but their production capacity has been severely reduced.

In terms of car prices, due to the development of the global economy in recent years, currencies have naturally depreciated, and car prices have also risen accordingly.

For example, the price of the bare car for the second-generation Shenyu luxury sedan has reached 24,800 US dollars, an increase of 1,900 US dollars over the previous Shenyu model.

Of course, Chen Caijun is a prudent businessman, but he is also enterprising and has a long-term vision.

Therefore, he has also tentatively launched a new model, the Morning Star CX model, which is a car that fills the mid-to-low end of the market for Tiangong Motors.

The price of the bare car is 10,800 US dollars, which is 5,000 to 6,000 US dollars cheaper than the medium-sized Glory generation.

This car was officially launched on the market in August 1985.

To date, global sales have reached 121,000 units.

This sales volume is not considered amazing, but it is at least considered a success that has gained a foothold in the market, and with proper marketing in the future, it can still be a hit.

As for luxury brands not based in Hong Kong, such as Lamborghini, Lotus, McLaren and Aston Martin, the combined global sales of these four brands last year were less than 10,000 units.

However, it can also be seen from the financial reports that these luxury brands are actually making steady progress, but due to their positioning, the growth rate is relatively slow.

But anyway, these luxury brands have long since emerged from the doldrums thanks to the global sales network of the Tiangong Automobile Group.

The difference between having a patron and not is obvious.

Finally, Xia Yu spent a long time at the Tiangong Automotive R&D Centre.

Before leaving the Tiangong Automotive Group, Xia Yu stopped Chen Caijun and gave him a series of instructions.

For example, the production base of Tiangong Automotive in Xiangjiang has a fixed production capacity of one million vehicles. If it wants to expand in the future, it will invest in building factories worldwide.

As for new models, it can be more daring in the next few years, enrich the company's model range, enhance its overall competitiveness, and at the same time balance the development risks.

After leaving the Tiangong Automobile Group, Xia Yu went to the nearest Tiangong Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Group.

This group is a full-range home appliance manufacturing company with a complete range of small and large appliances.

The only difference with the Tiangong Automobile Group is that the product research and development centre of the Tiangong Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Group is located in the industrial park, and one-third of its production capacity is also located here.

The remaining two-thirds of its production capacity is located in Pengcheng, mainland China.

Tiangong Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Group is quite satisfied with its current development, but it can be seen from the group's market that its main market is within Asia, and its competitiveness outside of Asia is not strong.

Therefore, Xia Yu's instructions to Colin Hester were to further develop the Asian market, especially the mainland market, and to increase the pace of international expansion.

Tiangong Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Group's turnover last year was 15.424 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to only 2.528 billion US dollars.

This business data is not even in the top five in Asia, so there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Afterwards.

Xia Yu went to the Tiangong Machinery Group and the Tiangong Electronics Group.

Finally, he went to the Tiangong Technology Laboratory.

'Hello, Chairman Huo,'

'Dr. Lu, you have worked hard over the years.'

'It's not hard work, I really feel guilty for not having made much contribution to the group.'

Lu Chao's face was a little gloomy, and he lowered his head in self-reproach.

Xia Yu was taken aback, and then laughed and shook his head.

'Dr Lu, you haven't let me down. The lab has more than 2,000 patents, which is an outstanding achievement.'

'Maybe so, but the losses last year were too great.'

Lu Chao felt slightly better, but he still looked embarrassed.

In his opinion, the group had provided Tiangong Technology Lab with a cumulative 3.758 billion Hong Kong dollars in research and development funding last year, and it was not bad that 914 patents had been developed.

This is a great disservice to the group's support and to the chairman's trust.

'Dr. Lu, let's go in and talk,'

Xia Yu said without further ado, patting his arm and striding inside.

'Dr. Lu, I've read the lab's development report for last year, and I can skip the content today. I don't really understand technical things, so today you can mainly tell me about two things.'

'The first is the full situation regarding patent conversion.'

'The second is the difficulties the lab is currently encountering.'

'Okay.'

'Chairman, since there are 34 laboratories in the entire laboratory, I don't really know the whole situation. Why don't I gather the heads of each laboratory and report to you in a meeting?'

Xia Yu paused for a moment, looked at him, smiled, and nodded: 'Okay, let's go straight to the meeting room.'