Chapter 198 Apple is about to go bankrupt
Li Zetian often thinks about a question: What is the purpose of making money?
Here in the orphanage, he found the answer: when money is so much that it is just a bunch of numbers, what he pursues is not just money, but more influence, status, and the ability and responsibility to change the world and others.
Spider-Man has a classic line: "With great power comes great responsibility!"
This sentence is the most appropriate to describe Li Zetian.
In fact, when Li Zetian was changing the world, he was also changing himself, making him stronger!
Many disabled children were abandoned by their parents and were very pitiful. Since Li Zetian established an orphanage, he could not abandon them a second time. Because apart from here, they may have no place to stay... In fact, whether they are normal people or disabled people, everyone has unlimited potential. Some disabled children in the orphanage may be super geniuses who are extraordinary in some fields, such as mathematics masters or computer hackers...
In short, no matter what, philanthropy must still be done.
Besides, the companies under Li Zetian's name have to donate to the L.Y Foundation every year anyway to reduce taxes, so there is nothing wrong with doing charity...
This is indeed the case. Many years later, when those who benefited from the L.Y Foundation grew up and achieved amazing results in all walks of life, they were all full of gratitude to Li Zetian, so that Li Zetian's global influence reached It is unimaginable that even the president of a country does not have as much weight as his words!
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At the end of December, as the glorious deeds of the L.Y Foundation were frequently reported by the media, the scale of the foundation became larger and larger, and people from all walks of life donated money. The L.Y Foundation has also set up branches in various countries around the world, and the funds raised have almost reached one-tenth of the funds donated by Li Zetian's company. This was simply beyond his expectation! And this number will probably become even bigger in the future!
Since Yu Jingqiu was pregnant in 1981, and Li Zetian later focused on political investment and charity, he did not interfere too much in the development of the companies under his name. However, these companies were basically on the right track. , even without his command, the performance was very good, with total revenue as high as 70 billion U.S. dollars and profits of more than 15 billion U.S. dollars. Especially the Flamingo Company, which entered the world this year and sold a total of more than 40 million Flamingo-1 game consoles and nearly 300 million game cartridges. Together with other income, this year it hit US$17 billion. The sales volume ranks among the top 30 Fortune 500 companies, almost equal to the revenue of the entire television industry in the United States, making it an entertainment industry comparable to the film industry.
Li Zetian asked his companies to donate US$1 billion to the L.Y Foundation. In addition, almost US$100 million has been raised from external sources.
The funds from the L.Y Foundation are mainly used for the construction of orphanages, schools, hospitals, and research in education and medical care. Roche Pharmaceuticals and Genentech have made huge profits and saved a lot of R\u0026D funds because of their cooperation in medical research with the L.Y Foundation!
After 1981, in 1982, Li Zetian was ready to do something big, so he decided to use a large amount of funds to distribute dividends this time. As a result, Gene Umbrella Company received a dividend of US$4.5 billion.
In Li Zetian's view, US$4.5 billion is really not much. In the previous life, Apple's annual profit was US$40 to 50 billion. However, considering the current value of the US dollar, it is still quite valuable.
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Li Zetian had time to take a look at the Flamingo Company office.
"It's surprising that Apple didn't release a new game console during Christmas this year." Li Zetian smiled in surprise, holding a glass of red wine and taking a sip.
Nolan Bushnell said: "Mr. Li, this is the shrewdness of Apple! During the Christmas shopping holiday, merchants are everywhere advertising promotional activities. If Apple releases a new phone at this time, the media will expose it. The popularity is not high and it is difficult to attract people's attention. Moreover, the Flamingo Company is also conducting promotional activities. Many players are rushing to the Flamingo-1 game console and game cartridges. It is difficult for Apple to release a new machine at this time. Produces a sensational effect!”
Li Zetian frowned slightly and nodded, feeling that Nolan Bushnell's analysis made sense.
Apple knew that it would be difficult to compete head-on with Flamingo, so it deliberately staggered this time period.
Not long after, at 9 o'clock in the morning on January 20, Apple held a press conference and announced that the Apple game console would be officially released on February 1, 1982. Company CEO Vincent Gay claimed that the price of the Apple game console is only $150, which is $50 cheaper than the Flamingo-1 game console, but its performance is more powerful! In addition, he also emphasized that the Apple game console is compatible with games on the Atari 2600, and that the new machine will carry 25 new games when it is released.
I have to say that Apple game consoles really attract a lot of people.
A large number of Apple fans and Sunbird fans are looking forward to it.
The popularity of Apple's flagship store has increased a lot over time.
The media had nothing to report during this time, and Apple was just doing something, so they reported that Apple was about to release a game console. At the same time, the editor involved the Flamingo Company to stir up hatred and make comparisons, attracting attention and triggering heated discussions.
I don’t know if Apple is behind the scenes, but the Apple game console has been extremely hyped. Even if many people don't plan to buy an Apple game console, they still want to see whether it is fun or not.
On the morning of February 1st, a long queue greeted us at the entrance of Apple’s flagship store.
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"Mr. Li, things are a little bad. Many Apple flagship stores are overcrowded!" Dongfang Yuqin frowned and said to Li Zetian after receiving a call.
Li Zetian suddenly stood up, frowned and said, "Let's go and see for ourselves!"
"OK."
Not long after, Li Zetian and Dongfang Yuqin arrived near the Apple flagship store in downtown Los Angeles. The two did not get out of the car, but observed the situation outside through the car window.
Sure enough, a queue formed in front of the flagship store.
Li Zetian felt a sense of crisis in his heart, thinking that Apple game consoles were going to carve up the game market.
However, his worries soon disappeared.
There are indeed many people coming to watch the fun, but very few people are willing to spend money to buy it.
"Although the Apple game console has so many games, only three or four are fun, while the Flamingo-1 game console has dozens of fun games, and many of the games are classic and long-lasting! I would rather spend more money on Fire I don’t want to buy an Apple game console even though I have a Flamingo-1 game console. It’s boring to leave!”
"Me too. As long as I have played games on the Flamingo-1 console, I feel that the games here are not interesting!"
"Come here with joy and come back with disgrace! Apple left Chronos Li, and everything they developed is rubbish. Apple game consoles still want to compete with the Flamingo-1 game console. It's a fool's dream!" A Chinese shook his head. A sigh.
"..."
After a while, many people left the Apple flagship store empty-handed. They come, but they don’t shop.
Li Zetian watched for more than ten minutes, suddenly laughed, and then said to Dongfang Yuqin: "Let's go back, Apple will not be in trouble!"
On that day, Apple sold a total of 150,000 game consoles. This result is indeed a good result for a new game company, but for Apple, which acquired Sunbird, it is undoubtedly a very bad result. .
The next day, Apple’s flagship store was far less busy than the first day.
After a week, it can almost be described as empty.
Media opinion immediately changed direction and continued to badmouth Apple.
"Popular Electronics": "In terms of performance, Apple's Apple game console is better than the Flamingo-1 game console; in terms of price, the Apple game console is also cheaper than the Flamingo-1 game console. But Apple lost in the end It was a complete mess. Just one week later, Apple game consoles could no longer be sold. Through comparative analysis, we can easily draw a conclusion: the core competitiveness of the game market is game software, not game consoles! The games on Apple game consoles It’s not fun, so players abandon it…”
"Wall Street Journal": "Apple made a desperate move, acquiring Sunbird, developing game consoles, and even selling them at a loss, with a loss of $50 for each machine sold. However, even so, players did not buy it. The Apple game console project became The most failed project in Apple’s history, causing the company to suffer serious losses. Apple will file for bankruptcy soon!!!”
"..."
PS: I'm not in good condition today, so I didn't make any updates. I'm sorry. Get up early tomorrow morning to code and go out to hang out. Sooner or later you will have to pay it back.
