Chapter 59: The Cow Dung Chip

"Giant Group will invest 500 million RMB to officially enter the health supplement industry!"

"Boss Shi of Giant proclaimed that health supplements will become one of Giant's most important industries, and the Giant Group will complete its listing next year!"

"Foreign computer brands are making aggressive inroads, and the market share of domestic computer brands has dropped to 22%!"

"Multiple domestic computer brands have announced partnerships with overseas brands. Great Wall is acting as the agent for IBM computers, Founder is acting as the agent for DEC computers, Stone Group is acting as the agent for Compaq, and brands like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple have all announced agency agreements with domestic distributors!"

Inside a company in Yanjing that specialized in color printing, Wang Jizhi flipped through the newspapers in his hand. He read through several of them consecutively, and they were largely similar. Faced with the aggressive onslaught of foreign companies, multiple domestic tech companies either avoided conflict and transformed into other fields, or chose the route of "if you can't beat them, join them," abandoning independent computer brands to instead act as agents for those foreign computer brands.

This was not limited to the computer industry; it was even more pronounced in other sectors. As soon as a foreign brand entered an industry, the domestic brands in that sector were immediately routed in utter defeat, often handing over the market on a silver platter.

Take Nokia and Siemens seizing the domestic communications industry, routing a crowd of domestic communication brands. Only the Chrysanthemum Factory persisted in the independent research and development of communication devices, while the rest of the once-illustrious domestic communication giants performed miserably.

Furthermore, giants in aviation, automobiles, motorcycles, cameras, and televisions—such as Boeing, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Sony, and Kodak—entered the domestic market, creating a dimensionality-reduction strike.

Procter & Gamble, Whirlpool, Johnson & Johnson, and others entered the domestic market, defeating or shelving a slew of established national brands like Xuehua, Narcissus, and Meijijing, and rapidly occupying the market.

As for the soft drink and beverage industry, the phenomenon was even more evident. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo swept through established domestic beverage brands like Tianfu Cola, Beibingyang, Asia Soda, Bawangsi Soda, and Laoshan Cola, leaving almost no domestic soft drinks on the market.

Starting last year, foreign brands began a fierce offensive against the domestic market, which became even more apparent this year. Whether in electronics, home appliances, automobiles, beverages, or food, very few domestic companies dared to resist the aggressive foreign brands.

Under these circumstances, it was no wonder that Dongling High-Tech could cause such a massive sensation after defeating the Silver Marten mouse in America. While all other brands were running away, Dongling High-Tech alone stood its ground holding the sword of the Silver Marten. Today, by pouring so much money into research and development again, it naturally appeared eccentric and unique within the domestic tech industry.

Flipped through several newspapers, Wang Jizhi could not help but let out a sigh. He was one of the highest-status figures in the domestic tech industry, having formerly served as the chief engineer of the Stone Group. The 2401 printer, independently developed by the Stone Group, was created under his leadership and became the cash cow of the Stone Group. Even compared to similar Japanese products at the time, it was quite advanced.

Wang Jizhi had also introduced a technical titan named Qiu Bojun to the Stone Group. Later, Qiu joined a company called Kingsoft, and in the future, Qiu Bojun would become the mentor of a certain figure who shouted "Are you ok?" Just like the academic circle, the tech industry likewise had its heritage and cliques!

However, before the Stone Group went public, Wang Jizhi had a falling out with the management over issues such as compensation and R&D funding. With a fiery personality that could not tolerate any flaws, he despised forming cliques and the practices of gift-giving and cultivating connections, ultimately resulting in his resignation. He did not receive a single share of Stone Stock.

Looking at the news in the newspaper, Wang Jizhi shook his head repeatedly. He felt that the current domestic tech companies were not even as formidable as when he faced Japanese companies back in the day. At that time, he still dared to lead a team to research and develop printers to counter Japanese goods. Although Stone did not support his R&D and gave him a research budget of less than 0.3% of revenue, he still managed to make it happen.

Yet what about those companies now? They didn't even dare to fight and simply ran away, leaving him shaking his head in disappointment.

Just as he was about to put down the newspaper, a piece of news in the *Yanjing Daily*, noted as being reprinted from the *Hanxi Provincial Daily*, caught his attention.

"Dongling High-Tech invests 15 million to establish a joint laboratory with Hanxi Jiaotong University, and will allocate 5% of its profits for research and development annually in the future..."

Upon seeing these words, Wang Jizhi's spirits lifted. He had heard the name Dongling High-Tech and knew it had a lawsuit with Microsoft, but he hadn't paid attention back then. This time, however, seeing Dongling High-Tech invest so heavily in R&D made him thoroughly remember Dongling High-Tech.

One had to know that among the many domestic tech companies, there were quite a few that earned much more than Dongling High-Tech. Yet Wang Jizhi was seeing this for the first time: a company willing to make such a grand display and pour so much money into research and development.

Looking at the news in the newspaper, Wang Jizhi felt both an itch in his heart and a sense of helplessness. He was currently co-founding companies with others, but ever since leaving the Stone Group, Wang Jizhi felt he was suited for R&D, not management.

He had successively founded several companies or cooperated with others—totaling two or three ventures—but they all ended on bad terms. Compared to his time at Stone, Wang Jizhi's career was practically a roller coaster, rising all the way up, and then plummeting down, down, down...

Looking at the news in the paper, Wang Jizhi genuinely felt that if Dongling High-Tech's joint laboratory involved printer R&D, he would gladly shut down his current company and rush over. However, he wasn't clear about Dongling High-Tech's current business operations, and he wasn't certain what kind of scenario he would encounter if he rushed over blindly, which made him somewhat hesitant.

It wasn't just Wang Jizhi who saw this news. In another computer brand company in Yanjing, inside an office bearing the title of Chief Engineer, a fifty-something, thin man who had been selected as one of the country's first batch of CAE (Chinese Academy of Engineering) academicians could not help but smack the table when he saw the news of Dongling High-Tech establishing a joint laboratory.

Under the current domestic tech industry climate, Dongling High-Tech's courage to invest so much money into R&D filled Academician Ni with a trace of envy.

Thinking of his own current predicament, he could not help but let out a sigh. Within the company now, opinions on whether or not to research and develop chips had become as incompatible as fire and water, splitting the company into two factions. However, the majority of senior executives tended to support the other side, leaving him feeling utterly helpless.

Riding on its previous popularity, the news of Dongling High-Tech establishing a joint laboratory was rapidly reported and reprinted by various media outlets.

However, regarding Dongling High-Tech's actions of spending so much money to build laboratories and engage in R&D, both the tech industry and the outside world were actually buzzing with discussion.

Some claimed that Dongling High-Tech was merely fishing for fame and compliments. While other tech companies all purchased overseas technology or bought components for assembly, Dongling High-Tech alone acted eccentrically by engaging in R&D. Spending so much money, the technology developed might not even measure up to foreign ones—what was the point? Wasn't this fishing for fame and compliments?!

"I believe that the domestic tech industry should not isolate itself and build carts behind closed doors; we should open our eyes to look at the world. The world is a whole, and every place is assigned a different division of labor. Under this system, everyone can make money.

"I have also heard about certain companies wanting to engage in independent research and development. But I must say, independent R&D is not yet applicable to the current domestic market conditions. The most important thing right now is to survive, rather than engaging in some bizarre R&D!

"When you can buy something that works for one yuan, why spend ten yuan, fifty yuan, or even more to research and develop that very same one-yuan item? I simply cannot understand it!"

Wang Tian'an, the boss of Tiancheng Trading Company, the largest domestic electronic trade import and export company, responded to the media's inquiries regarding Dongling High-Tech's establishment of a joint laboratory with utter disdain.

He believed that Dongling High-Tech had gained a little fame and was now getting carried away, just making a blind fuss. With that money, wouldn't it be wonderful to pay dividends, buy cars and houses, or invest in stocks, real estate, and futures? Why smash money into the bottomless pit of R&D, leaving not even a single hair behind in the end?

Wang Tian'an's trading company primarily engaged in import agencies for computers and other electronic components, meaning it imported overseas computer components into the country and sold them to other computer manufacturers and distributors, making a fortune over the years.

Yet the emergence of the Silver Marten mouse made Wang Tian'an feel very uncomfortable. Ever since the Silver Marten mouse appeared, the computer mice he imported from overseas, including Logitech, were piled up in warehouses and couldn't be sold.

Wang Tian'an didn't care about the minor financial losses, but what worried him was that if domestic tech companies truly all engaged in self-research of products, who would he sell the components bought from abroad to? Wasn't this utter nonsense? He felt a deep-seated hatred for Dongling High-Tech's act of establishing a joint laboratory and wanted to severely criticize it; he wished nothing more than to tear down the joint laboratory!

While the media was still debating whether Dongling High-Tech's establishment of a joint laboratory was necessary or not, Li Dongling arrived at the entrance of the newly registered joint laboratory.

Dongling High-Tech had purchased a piece of land near Hanxi Jiaotong University to construct the joint laboratory for the R&D center. However, since building a laboratory takes time, the joint laboratory temporarily borrowed a three-story building from Hanxi Jiaotong University to use as its premises.

Entering the grounds of the joint laboratory and pushing open the door, Li Dongling saw Han Qianyi and Liu Guoguo directing a group of teachers and students who were busy cleaning rooms and moving experimental equipment.

In the early stages, the joint laboratory would be funded by Dongling High-Tech, while Hanxi Jiaotong University would provide the personnel to jointly develop products and conduct experiments.

"This is the first project entrusted to the joint laboratory by Dongling High-Tech. I hope it can be developed as soon as possible. Dongling High-Tech is going to launch a new product, and this also concerns how much funding the joint laboratory will receive next year!"

Coming to an office, Li Dongling handed the design blueprints for the electronic virtual pet machine, which he had worked on overnight, over to Han Qianyi.

Liu Guoguo leaned over, and upon seeing the motherboard chip design diagram along with Han Qianyi, both of their faces immediately revealed expressions of extreme disgust. "Cow-dung chips?!"

The structure of an electronic virtual pet machine was very simple, basically consisting of just a few items: a plastic shell, a screen, buttons, an internal motherboard, and a button battery. The only part with technological difficulty was the core motherboard and chip of the entire virtual pet machine.

The motherboard and chip Li Dongling prepared to use for the virtual pet machine were precisely cow-dung chips. The greatest characteristic of this type of chip was... cheapness!

An item where the middle of the motherboard featured a black lump was basically a bonded chip, or what people called a cow-dung chip. This kind of chip had nothing to do with aesthetics; industrial design beauty simply did not exist for it. Its main traits were a short R&D cycle, low technical entry barriers, low manufacturing processes, and low costs. They could be found everywhere in electronic watches, calculators, and electronic toys.

"This chip will be used in a new product from Dongling High-Tech, and I hope the joint laboratory can develop it as soon as possible," Li Dongling said to Han Qianyi and Liu Guoguo.

"One month!"

Liu Guoguo thought for a moment. "At most one month, and I will lead the team to get it out. However, the funding must be sufficient!"

"I will also have other technical personnel from the department and the school help with the R&D!"

Han Qianyi also stated. This was the first cooperation between the two sides and concerned whether the joint laboratory could continue to operate in the future, so he could not afford not to treat it with utmost caution. In this era, big spenders like Dongling High-Tech who were willing to shell out money for R&D were truly rare indeed.

"If the development is successfully completed and the new product yields good returns, Dongling High-Tech will additionally issue bonuses to the personnel from Hanxi Jiaotong University participating in the R&D, and will also provide a donation to Hanxi Jiaotong University!"

Li Dongling intended to tie Hanxi Jiaotong University onto Dongling High-Tech's chariot through the joint laboratory, letting the university know that as long as they helped Dongling High-Tech develop good things, the university and the R&D personnel would also reap generous rewards. This would form a community of shared interests.

No amount of empty talk could ever be as pragmatic as real cash. As long as they saw that personnel participating in the R&D of Dongling High-Tech products could receive bonuses and Hanxi Jiaotong University could receive donations, they would desperately help Dongling High-Tech with R&D without Li Dongling having to waste his breath. Who would go against their "own" money?!

At the Dongling High-Tech Electronic Industrial Park, under the round-the-clock construction of multiple building crews, the prototype of the simple factory building within the industrial park had begun to emerge, and it was expected to be ready for use before long.

On the other side, various production equipment and assembly lines were continuously being hauled into the industrial park, ready to be installed once the simple factory building was completed.

Meanwhile, on the right-hand side upon entering the Dongling High-Tech Industrial Park, at a erected sign bearing the three large characters "Recruitment Office," quite a few people were waiting in line.

Song Yajun, the veteran workhorse from the technical section of the former Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1, poked his head and peered inside, feeling somewhat hesitant about whether or not to go in.