Chapter 696: The ultimate form of OEM

In the private room of the clubhouse, Li Weidong discussed some detailed questions with Rebs.

Chairman Li, how much do you plan to invest in this mobile phone operating system? Mr. Lei asked.

In the early stage, I plan to invest one billion. Li Weidong smiled slightly: It's enough for you!

So many! Rebus was startled.

I'm still worried that one billion is not enough to make a mobile operating system! Li Weidong replied.

Enough is definitely enough. As long as you find the right people, you won't need so much! Rebs took a deep breath: To be honest, I have never led such a large project.

Why? For a project as big as WPS, there must be a lot of development funds! Li Weidong asked.

In fact, there are not so many. Take WPS as an example. We have made so many versions over the years, and our cumulative R\u0026D investment is tens of millions of RMB. Rebus replied.

It's only a few tens of millions? I thought that for software research and development, it would take hundreds of millions of dollars to produce results. Li Weidong said suddenly.

Back then, Gates didn't spend a lot of money on the Windows system. The key is the direction of research and development. When doing software research and development, the most important thing is that the direction is right. As for technical problems, programmers can solve them. Anyway, they are all for programmers. paid.

Rebs paused, and then said: Software development is not equal to writing code, making a software is also divided into several steps. First of all, we need to make a plan, that is, to clarify what kind of software to make.

Then do market demand analysis. Only when there is market demand can the product be sold. After that comes the product design stage, which simply means clarifying the specific functions of the software. This stage does not even require the participation of programmers.

After the design is completed, it is the programmer's turn to start programming. After the programming, the product will be tested, continue to improve the function, fix the BUG, ​​and then put it into operation. After it is put into operation, there will be follow-up maintenance work.

Li Weidong smiled slightly; I'm an outsider in these things, I just pay for it, and it's up to you to operate it.

Chairman Li, you're making things difficult for me. After all, it's a one-billion-dollar project. I'm still busy with Jinshan's listing, and I can't do it alone. Rebus said.

Li Weidong understood what Rebus meant,

He knew that Rebs wanted to recruit other people to join the team. After all, Li Weidong paid so much money for such a big project. If Rebs wanted to have the right to speak, one person would definitely not be enough.

Li Weidong only cares about the success of the project, but he doesn't really care about the right to speak. So Li Weidong said: One hero and three gangs, if you think there is a suitable candidate, you can also pull it into our project.

Rebus pondered for a moment, and then said, There are candidates, but it will take some time to recruit them.

If there is time, we have it. Li Weidong continued: Apple's iPhone will not be officially launched until the end of June. Our system can learn from Apple's IOS. Before the iPhone is officially launched, it should be enough for us to form a team.

Rebs nodded, and continued: At present, I have several candidates in mind. The first is the engineering director of Google China Engineering Research Institute, named Lin Wenwu. gold star award.

Director Lin has participated in WindowsNT3.51, WindowsNT4, IIS, Exhange2000, Windows2000 and other large-scale software development work, and is very experienced in operating system development.

Google's engineering director? Li Weidong frowned, and continued; As far as I know, Google is also working on a mobile phone operating system. There was an Android operating system before, which was acquired by Google. This person must be dug here. , otherwise it would be cheaper for Google.”

If you want to invite him over, just giving him money is not enough. There were several investment banks on Wall Street that paid him several times higher than Microsoft's salary, but he still chose to go to Microsoft. So he had to give him a partner position, and he must be given enough autonomy. Rebus said.

No problem. As long as you think it's worth it, we'll give you whatever you want. Li Weidong agreed without even thinking about it.

Rebs went on to say: The second candidate is Zhao De, the chief designer of Xinji Design. He used to be the director of the Engineering Design Department of Beijing University of Science and Technology. There is no professional level. Whether it is software or hardware, he needs Him. The third one is the development director of the current Microsoft Chinese Academy of Engineering...

Rebs mentioned several people one after another, all of whom will be the team members of Xiaomi in the future.

Li Weidong still expressed his original stance: I don't understand, I just pay for it, and you can do it for one billion.

It was the first time that Rebs had seen such an imposing boss. If he hadn't heard about Li Weidong's self-made fortune, Rebs would have thought that he had met a boss who was taking advantage of him.

...

The endocrinology department of a tertiary hospital is overcrowded, and there are not enough beds in the ward, so even the capacity is filled with beds.

Most of the people hospitalized here are diabetic patients.

Early in the morning, Director Gao led his resident doctors to start rounds.

Walking to the window of one of the elderly patients, Director Gao looked at the data of the patient's fasting blood sugar this morning, then asked carefully, and then said:

Uncle Liu, in your current situation, your blood sugar has been relatively stable, and you can go to the hospital. After returning home, you must take medicine on time, and you must control your diet, especially rice porridge. You can't eat it anymore. Blood sugar is too fast.

In addition to keeping your mouth shut, you have to open your legs. You need to strengthen your exercises and do some aerobic exercises on weekdays. However, considering your age, exercise should be moderate and not too strenuous.

Another very important point is to monitor the blood sugar situation. The fasting blood sugar in the morning should be tested and recorded regularly. If your blood sugar is too high and cannot be lowered even after taking medicine, you should seek medical attention in time.

Facing this patient who could be discharged from the hospital, Director Gao carefully instructed him responsibly.

Uncle Liu was afraid that he would not be able to remember, so he simply took out a paper and wrote it down. After Director Gao finished giving instructions one by one, Uncle Liu said, Director Gao, I have written down everything you said. Take medicine, control your diet, It’s easy to say that it’s better to strengthen the exercise, but the key is to come to the hospital early in the morning to monitor blood sugar, register and line up to draw blood and test blood sugar, which is indeed a bit troublesome.”

Mr. Liu, if you find it troublesome to come to the hospital to draw blood, just buy a blood glucose meter. Prick your finger, and the first drop of blood will be able to test your blood sugar, and the results will be available in a few minutes. We sell them in our hospital. , or you can buy one by the way, and I will let the nurse teach you how to use it later. Director Gao said.

Blood glucose meter? That thing must be quite expensive! I heard that a blood glucose meter costs tens of thousands of dollars! Uncle Liu said.

That was in the past, counting a few boxes of test strips, it really cost tens of thousands of dollars. Director Gao paused, then continued; But now it's not so expensive. If you just buy the machine, it's six to seven thousand dollars. , mainly due to different brands. The most expensive one is Roche’s, which costs more than 7,000 yuan, while the cheapest one is like Omron’s, which can be bought in the early 6,000 yuan.”

In recent years, the price of blood glucose meters has indeed dropped a lot. The original price of 10,000 yuan has been reduced to 6,000 to 7,000 yuan. This is not because the conscience of the merchants has discovered that they are benefiting consumers, but because the competition has become more intense.

Blood glucose meters from German brand stores were the first to enter the Chinese market, such as Roche and Bayer. The quality of German products is undeniable, but the price is really expensive. Today, the price of the Roche blood glucose meter is also the most expensive.

Later, blood glucose meters from other countries also entered the Chinese market, such as Johnson \u0026 Johnson and Abbott in the United States, and Omron in Japan. These brands are also top international brands in the medical device industry, and their popularity is no worse than that of Roche and Bayer.

Americans, Germans, and Japanese, in order to snatch the Chinese market, naturally lowered product prices, which ultimately benefited Chinese consumers.

But the price of six or seven thousand was still too expensive for the Chinese people at that time.

Director Gao continued to explain: In terms of the performance of the blood glucose meter, Roche's blood glucose meter is definitely the best, and the sensitivity of Roche's blood glucose meter is the highest, followed by Bayer's.

Moreover, Roche's blood collection volume is also the lowest, only about 0.5 microliters, while Bayer's requires 1 microliter. It's just that Roche's price is also the most expensive. The 7,000 yuan I just mentioned is Roche's.

Which one is in the early six thousand? Uncle Liu asked immediately.

Omron's 6,000-year-old product is a Japanese product, and its sensitivity is lower than that of a German product. Director Gao replied.

Uncle Liu hesitated for a moment, and said, It's still too expensive. It only costs five yuan for me to come to the hospital to take a blood test, and three yuan for the registration fee, which is eight yuan, and the round-trip bus fee is two yuan. A blood sugar is a total of ten dollars.

If I want to buy a blood glucose meter, the cheapest one costs 6,000 yuan, which is enough for me to go to the hospital for 600 tests, and the market value of the blood sugar test is more than ten yuan a piece!

This hospitalization has already cost a lot of money. I am an ordinary retired worker. The monthly pension is only 1,500 yuan. If it is 6,000 yuan, I have to eat or drink for four months to save it. .

After listening to Uncle Liu's narration, Director Gao just sighed helplessly. He has been a doctor for more than 20 years, and he has seen many patients who have no money to see a doctor and can only go home and wait to die. It is countless.

So Director Gao said, Uncle Liu, if you think the imported blood glucose meter is more expensive, you can consider the domestic blood glucose meter, which is the dog brand, and the price is cheaper.

How much is the domestic blood glucose meter? Uncle Liu asked immediately.

More than 3,000 yuan, including the test paper for a year, it will not cost 4,000 yuan. Director Gao said.

So much cheaper! Uncle Liu was surprised.

However, domestic blood glucose meters are not as sensitive as imported ones. For example, Roche's blood glucose meter, if the blood is dripped on it, the result can be obtained within ten seconds. Domestic blood glucose meters have to wait for more than half a minute.

Director Gao continued: In addition, the domestic blood glucose meter has a large blood collection volume. Roche only needs 0.5 microliters of blood, but the dog's blood glucose meter needs 2 microliters of blood to get a more accurate result.

It's just an extra half a minute, it's not a big deal. But what are you talking about, 0.5 microliters and 1 microliter, how much is there, and how big is the difference? Uncle Liu asked.

0.5 microliters is just a small drop of blood, which is almost the amount of blood that an ordinary mosquito sucks at one time! Director Gao explained.

That 2 microliters means a few more bites from mosquito bites. Uncle Liu nodded, and immediately said, Then I'd better buy domestic ones, which can save 3,000 yuan. It doesn't matter!

For Uncle Liu, a few more drops of blood can save 3,000 yuan, and he would rather bleed more and spend less money.

After the ward round, Director Gao returned to his office.

After a while, there was a knock on the door, Director Gao said please come in, and a man in a suit and leather shoes came in.

Director Gao, sorry to bother you! The man in the suit said politely.

It's Manager Chen. Director Gao pointed to the chair in front of him, and said, Sit down!

This Manager Chen is a medical representative by profession and now works for Bayer.

In the Department of Endocrinology, the most common medical representatives are probably people from Bayer.

Bayer has been rooted in the Chinese market for many years. It is no exaggeration to say that the shadow of Bayer can be found in the endocrinology departments of all domestic hospitals.

Among other things, the food models commonly used in the Department of Endocrinology to introduce sugar content to patients are almost all provided by Bayer.

In the era when medical representatives could freely shuttle between various departments of the hospital, the frequency of Bayer's medical representatives appearing in the endocrinology department was more than that of the chief resident physician.

There is always a time to take a nap in the hospital, and the medical representative can’t wait to stay in the ward 24 hours a day, preferably watching the doctor one-on-one to prescribe medicine.

Seeing this manager Chen with a humble expression, he said, Director Gao, I took a look. Recently, the sales of Bayer's blood glucose meters in your department have dropped by more than 70%!

Director Gao lowered his head to look at the medical records, and said, Not only your products have declined, but sales of Roche's and Johnson \u0026 Johnson's have also dropped. The main reason is your blood glucose meters, which are more expensive. Our domestic blood glucose meters are more expensive. It is cheaper, only half of yours, so patients prefer to buy domestic blood glucose meters.

Domestic oximeter? Are you referring to the puppy blood glucose meter? As far as I know, the detection error of the puppy blood glucose meter is larger than our detection error, and the sensitivity is much lower. Manager Chen obviously also grasped some information.

But the dog's blood glucose meter is really cheap, it only costs about 3,000 yuan. Director Gao said, closing a medical record, and looked up: I heard that their electronic blood pressure meter is cheaper, It’s less than a thousand yuan, and even Johnson \u0026 Johnson’s blood pressure monitors in the Cardiology Department can’t be sold!”

Manager Chen hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, Our products are more expensive, but our products are of better quality! And we give higher rebates.

In order to sell massage seats, Li Weidong was the first to engage in gold sales. Now in the medical industry, gold sales have become normalized, and all major pharmaceutical companies are doing it.

Products such as imported blood glucose meters cost six to seven thousand yuan, and a 20% return is more than one thousand yuan.

However, Director Gao curled his lips unmoved: Our doctors will also consider the patient's economic situation when we treat and use drugs. The effect of imported drugs is indeed better, but many patients really don't need them. So I think, why don’t you Bayer lower the price?”

The pricing of the product is determined by the head office, so it doesn't count if I say it! Manager Chen sighed helplessly.

Director Gao didn't get any benefits, so Manager Chen had to leave. When I walked to the door of the ward, I happened to see a resident doctor who had just left the night shift.

Mr. Wang, you are off work! Manager Chen hurried forward.

Then Manager Chen began to chat about the decline in sales of Bayer blood glucose meters.

Manager Chen complained: The price of our blood glucose meter is higher, but the rebate we give is also high! Even if Director Gao is a benevolent doctor, he can't make trouble with the money! Besides, we Bayer and you Ke's cooperation is not a day or two, old friends, we should help each other!

Resident Wang smiled slightly, and then said: Manager Chen, the rebates given by Bayer are not low, but the rebates given by Puppy Health are also quite a lot! Although they sell them cheaply, the advantage lies in small profits but quick turnover, right?

What's more, the product of blood glucose meter is not our monopoly. Among the few medical equipment stores in front of our hospital, which one doesn't sell blood glucose meter? Your Bayer ones sell for 7,000 yuan, and the ones for puppies only sell for 3,500 yuan. The prices are clearly marked in medical equipment stores.

Patients are not fools. Go to the store to inquire, and you can get a general idea of ​​the performance and price of the blood glucose meter. It is not clear at a glance which product is more affordable!

What Wang said in the hospital made Manager Chen suddenly enlightened.

When it comes to selling with gold, Puppy Health is the originator, and Bayer can only be regarded as the younger generation. Since the younger generation of Bayer knows to use gold sales, how can Puppy Health not use this marketing method!

Moreover, the puppy’s blood glucose meter is cheaper. Bayer sells one here, and the puppy can sell four or five. In the end, the rebate that the puppy can give is even higher.

More importantly, blood glucose meters are different from medicines.

During the hospitalization period, the medicines used by the patients are all provided by the hospital. Although the pharmacies also sell various therapeutic medicines, it is impossible for the doctor to write a list and let the patients go to the pharmacy to buy the medicines according to the order, and then take the medicines. Go back to the hospital for treatment.

Perhaps there are situations in foreign countries where patients are asked to buy their own medicines and then take them back to the hospital, but given the load and work efficiency of Chinese hospitals, this is definitely impossible.

Therefore, for patients, the price of the drug is actually opaque. Even if the price is clearly marked, the patient does not know whether the drug is cheaper or more expensive.

Even if the patient wants to shop around, he can only see the bill after the treatment is completed. At that time, the consumption has been completed and the medicine has been used in the body, so he cannot get a refund.

But the blood glucose meter is different. As long as it is a medical device store, it will be sold. This is a completely market-oriented product. Both the product performance and the product price are transparent. Patients can shop around before consumption and choose products that are more suitable for you.

Under such circumstances, the cheaper dog blood glucose meter can naturally occupy the market quickly.

If it is placed in the future, in the era of the Internet, the price of a completely market-oriented product like a blood glucose meter will be more transparent. If you search on a shopping website, the price of the product is clear at a glance, and there are all kinds of user reviews.

...

Puppy Health Company, Lu Guangming introduced the financial report of the last quarter with great interest.

Medical devices are indeed lucrative. Relying on several times the profit margin, Puppy’s profit in the last quarter was still very impressive.

The price of domestic blood glucose meters in later generations has reached the 100 yuan level, and you can buy a high-performance domestic blood glucose meter for more than 200 yuan.

Among the foreign brands, they are completely handed over to China for OEM, and the price has reached one to two hundred yuan, and the ordinary imported brands are five to six hundred yuan. Even the imported products of Roche, the industry leader, can be bought for less than one thousand yuan.

So the puppy blood glucose meter sold for more than 3,000 yuan, and the profit was enough to be several times. Roche’s 10,000-dollar blood glucose meter back then was purely bullying the Chinese people who couldn’t make it themselves, and earned dozens of times the profit with tears in their eyes.

After listening to Lu Guangming's report, Li Weidong said, Old Lu, come with me to America in two days!

Okay. Lu Guangming agreed first, and then asked, What are you going to America for?

Go to Johnson \u0026 Johnson, I want to be an OEM of medical devices for Johnson \u0026 Johnson. Li Weidong said.

Lu Guangming thought for a moment and said, Chairman, we are now doing research and development and making our own products. Whether it is sales, market share, or profits, they are all very good. We don't need to be agents for other companies. work!

The profit of doing OEM is not high, and if we do OEM for Johnson \u0026 Johnson, the cost of Johnson \u0026 Johnson's products will inevitably decrease, and the price of their products will also decrease, which will actually create competition for us!

With the scale of Johnson \u0026 Johnson, even if we don't do OEM for Johnson \u0026 Johnson, they will come to China to set up factories. Instead of letting them set up their own factories, why don't we preemptively strike! Li Weidong laughed, and then said:

The biggest advantage of our Chinese manufacturing is cost. Faced with the low-cost competition of Chinese manufacturing, foreign-funded enterprises have only two choices. One is to withdraw from the Chinese market, and the other is to become Chinese manufacturing. You can't always count on Johnson \u0026 Johnson Get out of the Chinese market!

In all fairness, the technical level of foreign capital is indeed higher than ours, just like blood glucose meter, Omron, Abbott, Bayer, Johnson \u0026 Johnson, their technology is much stronger than ours, let alone Roche with the best technology!

We want to learn and absorb foreign advanced technology as soon as possible, and narrow the technological gap between us. The fastest way is to do OEM for them, which can be regarded as learning from foreigners and improving ourselves.

Moreover, as an OEM, as long as the scale is large enough, it is easy to build an entire industrial chain. Once we have established an industrial chain, we can grasp the right to speak in this field.

At that time, even if we don't accept OEM orders, those foreign companies want to start a new factory and see the new factory, it will depend on our face, because the relevant industrial chain is in our hands.

Lu Guangming suddenly realized and nodded: It is still the chairman who is far-sighted. If we can really build an industrial chain of medical devices, we will be invincible by then!

...

Being an OEM is like an assembly line dog, earning a lot of hard money, most of it is taken away by the brand.

Just like Foxconn only earns four dollars for producing an Apple mobile phone, and then distributes it to workers for only a few tens of cents, which sounds like a superficial profit.

But in fact, Foxconn has built a complete supplier industry chain through OEM. There are many companies in these industry chains that have direct investment from Foxconn. They all follow Foxconn. Where Foxconn sets up factories, the supplier industry chain is determined. where will follow.

Those who really understand the foundry industry will understand that the scariest thing about Foxconn is not the employment of 800,000 workers, but the huge supply chain system behind it.

The assembly fee of four dollars for a mobile phone is indeed not high, but if the entire component supply chain is included, the profit can be considerable.

Fortunately, Foxconn is only doing OEM, they do not make electronic products themselves.

Just imagine, if Foxconn also makes electronic products and builds a Foxconn mobile phone to compete with Apple, when Apple releases a new product, it will be able to block Apple's neck at the production end in minutes. As long as Foxconn finds an excuse to delay shipments for a few days, Apple's stock price will fall several times.

It is precisely because Foxconn does not make products by itself, so the relationship between Foxconn and Apple can only be mutual restraint and interdependence in the end. Foxconn cannot do without Apple, and Apple cannot do without Foxconn.

If either Foxconn or Apple can find a replacement, the balance between the two will be broken immediately, and the entire Apple ecological chain will undergo earth-shaking changes.

Doing OEM and branding, and being able to control the entire product supply chain, and being able to focus on customers in minutes, is tantamount to being a talker in this industry. It can be regarded as the ultimate form of the foundry model.

There are many companies in China that are the ultimate form of OEM. For example, the home appliance industry in China, such as Midea and Galanz, are both OEMs and brands.

The result of the ultimate form is to do OEM for others for a few years, and then buy other people's business by the way after a few years.

Li Weidong had this intention in mind.

First learn the advanced technology of foreign brands by doing OEM, and wait for the right time to directly acquire their business into your own hands.

At that time, several brands will operate independently, but the market will be their own, which is not considered a monopoly. What a joy!