Chapter 696: The Ultimate Form of OEM

In the private room of the club, Li Weidong talked with Rebus about some detailed questions.

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

"In advance, I plan to invest one billion." Li Weidong smiled slightly: "That's enough for you!"

"So many!" Rebus was shocked.

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

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

"How is that possible? For a project as big as WPS, there must be a lot of development funds!" Li Weidong asked.

"Actually, it's not that much. Take WPS as an example. We have made so many versions over the years, and our cumulative R&D investment is tens of millions of yuan." Rebus replied.

"Only tens of millions? I thought those doing software research and development would have to invest hundreds of millions to achieve results." Li Weidong said suddenly.

"Back then, Gates did not spend much money on Windows systems. The key was the direction of research and development. When doing software research and development, the most important thing is to have the right direction. As for technical problems, they can be solved by programmers. Anyway, they are all left to programmers. Pay wages.”

Rebus paused and then said: "Software development is not just writing code. Making a software is also divided into several steps. First, you must make a plan, that is, clearly define what kind of software you want to make.

Then do a 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. The product after programming will be tested, functions will continue to be improved, and bugs will be fixed before it is put into operation. After it is put into operation, there is still follow-up maintenance work. "

Li Weidong smiled slightly; "I am just a layman in these matters. I only provide the money, and you have to run the operation."

"Chairman Li, you are making things difficult for me. After all, this is a billion-dollar project. I also have to be busy with Kingsoft's listing. It's not what I can do alone." Rebus said.

Li Weidong understood what Rebus meant. He knew that Rebus wanted to attract other people to join him. After all, for such a big project and Li Weidong had contributed so much money, if Rebus wanted to have a say, one person would definitely not be enough.

Li Weidong only cares about whether the project can be successful, and he doesn't really care about the right to speak. So Li Weidong said: "There are three gangs of heroes. If you think there is a suitable candidate, you can also join our project."

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

"If we have 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."

Rebus nodded and continued: "Currently, I have several candidates in mind. The first is the engineering director of Google China Engineering Research Institute, named Lin Wenwu. He was the founder of Microsoft Asia Engineering Research Institute and received the highest contribution award from Microsoft. Gold Star Award.

Director Lin has participated in large-scale software research and development work such as WindowsNT3.51, WindowsNT4, IIS, Exchange2000, Windows2000, etc., 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 making mobile operating systems. There was an Android operating system before, which was acquired by Google. This person must be poached by us. , otherwise it will be cheaper for Google.”

"If you want to invite him here, just giving him money is not enough. At that time, there were several investment banks on Wall Street that offered him a salary several times higher than that of Microsoft, but he still chose to go to Microsoft. So he had to be given 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.

Rebus continued: "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. His professional level is unparalleled. Whether he is doing software or hardware, he needs Him. The third one is the current development director of Microsoft China Engineering Academy..."

Rebus mentioned several people one after another, all of whom will be members of Xiaomi's future team.

Li Weidong still expressed the same attitude as before: I don't understand, I just pay, one billion is up to you.

It was the first time for Rebus to see such an imposing boss. If he hadn't heard about Li Weidong's self-made fortune, Rebus would have thought he had met a boss who was taken advantage of.

…

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

Most of the people hospitalized here are diabetics.

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

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

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

In addition to keeping your mouth shut, you also need to stretch your legs, exercise more, and do some aerobic exercise on weekdays. However, considering your age, you should exercise in moderation and avoid overly strenuous exercise.

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

Facing this patient who could be discharged, Director Gao gave instructions carefully and responsibly.

Uncle Liu was afraid that he would not be able to remember, so he simply took out a piece of 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 easier to do more exercise. The key is to monitor blood sugar. It’s really troublesome to come to the hospital early in the morning and register and queue up for blood tests.”

"Uncle Liu, if you think it's troublesome to come to the hospital to draw blood, just buy a blood glucose meter. Prick your finger, and you can test your blood sugar with the first drop of blood. The results will be available in a few minutes. We sell them in the hospital. , or you can buy one by the way, and I will ask the nurse to teach you how to use it later." Director Gao said.

"A 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 before. Counting several boxes of test strips, it really cost tens of thousands of dollars." Director Gao paused for a moment and then said, "But it's not that expensive now. If you buy the machine alone, it costs six to seven thousand dollars." "The main reason is that the brands are different. The most expensive one is from Roche, which costs more than 7,000 yuan. The cheaper one is like Omron, which can be bought for just over 6,000 yuan."

In recent years, the price of blood glucose meters has indeed dropped a lot. The original price of a blood glucose meter has dropped from 10,000 yuan to 6,000 to 7,000 yuan. This is not because businesses have a conscience and want to benefit consumers, but because competition has become more intense.

German brand store blood glucose meters were the first to enter the Chinese market, such as Roche and Bayer. The quality of German products cannot be said, but the prices are also really expensive. To this day, Roche blood glucose meters are also the most expensive.

Later, blood glucose meters from other countries also entered the Chinese market, such as Johnson & Johnson and Abbott from the United States, and Omron from Japan. These brands are also among the top international brands in the medical device industry, and are as well-known as Roche and Bayer.

In order to seize the Chinese market, Americans, Germans and Japanese naturally lowered the prices of their products, which ultimately benefited Chinese consumers.

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

Just listen to Director Gao continue to explain: "In terms of the performance of the blood glucose meter, the German Roche is definitely the best. The Roche blood glucose meter has the highest sensitivity, followed by the German Bayer.

Moreover, Roche’s blood collection volume is also the lowest, requiring only about 0.5 microliters, while Bayer’s requires 1 microliter. It’s just that Roche’s is also the most expensive. The one I just mentioned costing more than 7,000 yuan is Roche’s. "

"Which one is over six thousand?" Uncle Liu asked immediately.

"Omron's six-thousand-year-old product is a Japanese product, and its sensitivity is worse than that of German products." Director Gao replied.

Uncle Liu hesitated for a moment and then said: "It's still too expensive. It only costs five yuan for me to come to the hospital to collect blood. Including the three yuan registration fee, that's eight yuan. The round-trip bus fare is two yuan. The test is A blood sugar test costs a total of ten yuan.

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

This hospitalization has already cost a lot of money. I am an ordinary retired worker, and my monthly pension is only 1,500 yuan. If it is 6,000 yuan, I would have to go without food 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. He has seen many patients who had no money to see a doctor and had to go home and wait to die. This kind of family situation is relatively common, and even more so. There are 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 Puppy brand and the price is cheaper."

"How much does a domestic blood glucose meter cost?" Uncle Liu asked immediately.

"More than three thousand yuan, including a year's worth of test strips, it doesn't cost more than 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, such as Roche's blood glucose meter. When blood is dropped on it, the result can be obtained in more than 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 also requires a large amount of blood. Roche only requires 0.5 microliters of blood, but the puppy blood glucose meter requires 2 microliters of blood to produce more accurate results. "

"It's just an extra half minute, it's no big deal. But what are the 0.5 microliters and 1 microliters you're talking about, and what's the difference?" Uncle Liu asked.

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

"That 2 microliters means a few more bites from mosquitoes." Uncle Liu nodded, and then immediately said: "Then I'd better buy the domestic one. I can save 3,000 yuan and shed a few more drops of blood." It doesn’t matter!”

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

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

After a while, there was a knock on the door. Director Gao said, "Please come in." A man in a suit and ties walked in.

"Director Gao, I'm 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!"

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

In the endocrinology department, 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 Bayer can be found in the endocrinology departments of all domestic hospitals.

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

In an era when medical representatives could freely travel among various departments in the hospital, Bayer's medical representatives appeared in the endocrinology department more frequently than the chief residents.

There is always time to take a nap while in the hospital, but the medical representative wants to stay in the ward 24 hours a day, preferably one-on-one watching the doctor prescribing medicine.

Manager Chen looked humble and said, "Director Gao, I took a look and found that the sales of our Bayer blood glucose meters in your department have dropped by more than 70% in recent times!"

Director Gao lowered his head to look at the medical records and said, "Not only has your sales dropped, but Roche's and Johnson & Johnson's sales have also dropped. The main reason is that your blood glucose meter is relatively expensive. Our domestic blood glucose meter has a lower price." It’s cheaper, only half of yours, so patients prefer to buy domestically produced 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 ours, and the sensitivity is much lower." Manager Chen has obviously mastered some information.

"But puppy blood glucose meters are really cheap. One unit only costs about 3,000 yuan." Director Gao said, closing a medical record and raising his head: "I heard that their electronic blood pressure monitors are cheaper. For less than a thousand yuan, the cardiology department can’t even sell the Johnson & Johnson blood pressure monitor!”

Manager Chen hesitated slightly, then lowered his voice and said: "Our products are more expensive, but the quality of our products is better! And the rebates we give are also higher."

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

Products such as imported blood glucose meters cost six to seven thousand yuan each, and with a 20% rebate, it costs more than one thousand yuan.

However, Director Gao curled his lips unmoved: "Our doctors will also consider the financial situation of the patients when conducting treatment and medication. Imported drugs are indeed more effective, but many patients really don't need them. So I think, how about you lower the price?”

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

After getting no benefits from Director Gao, Manager Chen had to leave. When I walked to the door of the ward, I happened to see a resident doctor who had just finished the night shift.

"Teacher Wang, you are off work!" Manager Chen stepped forward quickly.

Then Manager Chen started talking about the decline in sales of Bayer blood glucose meters.

I heard Manager Chen complain: "The price of our blood glucose meter is higher, but the rebates we give are also higher! Even if Director Gao is a benevolent doctor, he can't live with the money! Besides, we at Bayer are talking to you The cooperation between the two is not just a day or two. Old friends should help each other more! "

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

What's more, blood glucose meters are not a product we exclusively sell. Among the medical equipment stores in front of our hospital, which one doesn't sell blood glucose meters? Your Bayer ones sell for 7,000, while the puppy ones only sell for 3,500. They are all clearly marked in medical device stores.

Patients are not fools. If you go to the store and inquire about it, you can also get a rough idea of ​​the performance and price of the blood glucose meter. It is not clear at a glance which product is more affordable! "

Resident Doctor Wang's words made Manager Chen suddenly enlightened.

When it comes to selling money for fun, puppy health is the originator, and Bayer can only be regarded as a descendant. Since Bayer, a junior, knows how to use gold sales, how could Puppy Health not use this marketing method!

Moreover, blood glucose meters for puppies are cheaper. Bayer sells one here, and four or five for puppies. In the end, the rebates given by puppies are even higher.

More importantly, blood glucose meters are different from medicines.

During the hospitalization, the drugs used by the patient are all provided by the hospital. Although various therapeutic drugs are also sold in pharmacies, it is impossible for the doctor to write an order and let the patient go to the drugstore to buy the medicine by himself, and then take the medicine. 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 capacity and work efficiency of Chinese hospitals, this is definitely impossible.

Therefore, for patients, the price of drugs is actually opaque. Even if the price is clearly marked, patients do not know whether the drug is sold cheaply or expensively.

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, and he cannot get a refund.

But blood glucose meters are different. As long as it is a medical device store, they can sell them. This is a completely market-oriented product. Both the product performance and the price of the product are transparent. Patients can shop around and choose before purchasing. Products that are more suitable for you.

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

If we look at future generations, in an era when the Internet is developed, the prices of fully market-oriented products like blood glucose meters will be even more transparent. If you search on a shopping website, the price of the product will be clear at a glance, and there will be all kinds of user reviews.

…

Puppy Health Company, Lu Guangming took the last quarter's financial report and introduced it enthusiastically.

Medical devices are indeed very profitable. With a profit margin of several times, Puppy's profit last quarter was still very impressive.

The price of later generations of domestic blood glucose meters has reached a hundred yuan level. For more than 200 yuan, you can buy a high-performance domestic blood glucose meter.

Among the foreign brands, all are made by Chinese OEMs, and the price is as high as one to two hundred yuan, and the ordinary imported brands are five to six hundred yuan. Even the imported products of Roche, the big brother in the industry, can be bought for less than one thousand yuan.

Therefore, the puppy blood glucose meter sells for more than 3,000 yuan, which is enough to make several times the profit. At that time, Roche's 10,000-yuan blood glucose meter was purely to bully the Chinese people into not knowing how to make it, and they made dozens of times the profit with tears.

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

"Okay." Lu Guangming agreed first, and then asked, "Why are you going to the United States?"

"Go to Johnson & Johnson. I want to do medical device manufacturing for Johnson & 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, it is very good. We don't need to act as agents for other companies." Work!

The profit of OEM is not high, and if we do OEM for Johnson & Johnson, the cost of Johnson & Johnson's products will inevitably decrease, and the price of their products will also decrease, which will create competition for ourselves! "

"With the scale of an enterprise like Johnson & Johnson, even if we don't do OEM work for Johnson & Johnson, they will come to China to set up a factory. Instead of letting them set up their own factory, why don't we take a pre-emptive strike!" Li Weidong laughed and continued:

"The biggest advantage of our Made in China is cost. Faced with the low-cost competition of Made in China, foreign-funded enterprises have only two choices, one is to withdraw from the Chinese market, and the other is to become Made in China. You can't count on Johnson & Johnson. Get out of the Chinese market!

To be fair, the technical level of foreign capital is indeed higher than ours. For example, blood glucose meters, Omron, Abbott, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, their technology is much better than ours, let alone Roche, which has the best technology!

We want to learn and absorb advanced foreign technologies as quickly as possible and narrow the technological gap between us. The fastest way is to do OEM work for them. This can be regarded as learning from foreigners and learning skills to strengthen ourselves.

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

Even if we don't accept OEM orders by then, those foreign companies that want to start a new factory will still have to look at our face, because the relevant industrial chain is in our hands. "

Lu Guangming suddenly understood and nodded: "The chairman is still far-sighted. If we can really build a medical device industry chain, we will be in an invincible position by then!"

…

Working as an OEM is like an assembly line dog. You earn a lot of hard money, but most of it is taken away by the brand.

Just like Foxconn only earns four US dollars from producing an Apple mobile phone, and then distributes it to the workers, it may only be tens of cents. It sounds like only a superficial profit.

But in fact, Foxconn has built a whole set of supplier industry chains through OEM. Many of these industrial chains have companies with direct investment from Foxconn. They all follow Foxconn. Wherever Foxconn sets up factories, the supplier industry chain will be the same. Will follow wherever it goes.

Those who truly understand the foundry industry will understand that the scariest thing about Foxconn is not the 800,000 workers it employs, 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 parts supply chain is included, the profit is very considerable.

Fortunately, Foxconn only does OEM work. 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 new products, it will be able to choke Apple on the production side in minutes. As long as Foxconn finds an excuse to delay shipments for a few days, Apple's stock price will fall for several consecutive times.

It is precisely because Foxconn does not make its own products that the relationship between Foxconn and Apple can only be a balanced relationship of mutual restraint and interdependence, in which both prosper and suffer. Foxconn cannot live without Apple, and Apple cannot live without Foxconn.

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

Being able to do both OEM and branding, and being able to control the entire product supply chain, and being able to focus on customers in a matter of minutes, is equivalent to being a talkative person in this industry. It can be regarded as the ultimate form of the foundry model.

Enterprises with this ultimate form of OEM are not unheard of in China. For example, China's home appliance industry, such as Midea, Galanz, etc., both OEM and brand.

The ultimate result is to do OEM work for others for a few years, and then acquire their business by the way after a few years.

Li Weidong had this intention.

First, learn the advanced technology of foreign brands by working as an OEM, and then when the time is right, directly acquire their business into your own hands.

At that time, several brands will operate independently, but the market will be their own, and it will not be considered a monopoly. It is really wonderful!