When it comes to Southwestern Bell (SBC), except for Americans, not many people know about this company. However, when it comes to its parent company, AT&T, it is famous. Its Chinese name is American Telephone and Telegraph Company.
Bell, the inventor of the telephone, established the company in 1877. After controlling the U.S. telecommunications industry for nearly a hundred years, in 1984, the U.S. Department of Justice split AT&T into eight parts, AT&T, which specializes in long-distance phone business, and seven small companies. Bell, among them, includes Southwestern Bell.
After twenty years of integration, by the time Huang Xuan learned about Southwestern Bell, only one of the Little Bells was still intact, and its parent company, AT&T, also had poor performance. This is what makes Huang Xuan's heart beat.
According to the information Lorraine searched from higher similarity planes - comparing information searched from more planes, the accuracy will be greatly improved (which can be called relative similarity) - in about a month, Southwestern Bell would in turn acquire its original parent company: AT&T.
And this will undoubtedly immediately increase Southwestern Bell's stock price.
Of course, if you just want to make money, there are many ways to choose from, but if you want to make continuous profits, Southwestern Bell can solve an almost insurmountable problem for Huang Xuan - patent rights.
Lorraine can naturally find technologies that do not have patent rights. However, it is difficult to make money from basic technologies, and commercial technologies always have problems with promotion. How long did it take for Ethernet to start making money? Huang Xuan couldn't wait that long.
Technologies that can avoid patent rights are always at two extremes: First, the technology is very advanced and will bring benefits to more people, and will not encounter patent issues. However, relatively speaking, such technology Of course it will consume more energy. Second: The technology is advanced and has been rarely studied by predecessors. However, it is not the only or necessary choice, just like plasma TVs or projectors for LCD TVs. It is not mainstream and few people promote it. Therefore, Such technology either makes less money, or requires spending a lot of money to do it yourself.
Huang Xuan didn't want to be so extreme.
His requirements for profitability are very high, but they are not abnormally harsh. Therefore, instead of trying to bypass the patent rights, it is better to go deep into the patent rights. Under the guidance of this idea, Huang Xuan set his sights on DVD equipment. .
The annual consumption of DVD equipment is approximately between 60 and 100 billion U.S. dollars. This big cake still has the potential to continue to grow. Huang Xuan, who holds more than 1 billion U.S. dollars, is naturally interested in it.
This is a cake fit for billionaires.
When it comes to DVD, we have to talk about the issue of patent rights. From the current point of view, after the DVD Alliance, the next generation DVD standard will be monopolized by the Blu-ray Alliance and the HD Alliance. The former has Sony as the first standard, and the latter has Toshiba as the initiator, so no matter which alliance Huang Xuan wants to join , both need a little opportunity. At least for now, there are no Chinese companies in the two alliances.
According to Lorraine's information, within two years at most, the HD Alliance will collapse due to the defections of major Hollywood companies. Before that, the two sides were neck and neck.
Blu-ray optical drives are very expensive, but the technology is more advanced, and HD is not much cheaper. Generally speaking, it is now the market incubation period. Only when one of the optical drives drops from several thousand yuan to a few hundred yuan will it be possible. It will be interested in the consumer market, but Huang Xuan is very confident that it can achieve this goal in a short time.
The premise is that one of the alliances is willing to take him in.
Therefore, when considering this issue, Huang Xuan naturally thought of capital.
If it is a person with a technical background, such as Huang Qunsheng or Tang Yi, they may join one of the alliances through technical shares or joint development, but Huang Xuan will not do it. He has not even started high school, and he can't even make a fuss. I understand why blue light is 405nm and why red light is 650nm, and I don’t even understand why a disc with a blue laser can have twice the capacity than a red laser. However, these do not affect Huang Xuan’s judgment.
As the eldest grandson of the Huang family, Huang Xuan has long been familiar with capital. The only restriction on capital is whether it is sufficient.
After thinking about it on the table, Zhang Xinyi came in with two cups of tea, sat down gently next to Huang Xuan, put the tea on the bedside table, and said with a smile: "My son has really grown up. When I think about beautiful women, I still think about money.”
Huang Xuan's face froze and he didn't know how to answer. He lay on the pillow along the head of the bed and said, "I think I'm just thinking about the money."
"SBC shares?" Zhang Xinyi smiled and said, "I also want to ask you, why did you think of acquiring shares of this company?"
"Don't everyone want to buy high-quality stocks?" Huang Xuan said with a careless eye.
"If it is really more profitable than your own company, then why doesn't this company collect all its stocks? It means there are always risks, right?" Zhang Xinyi said, picking up a cup of tea and blowing on it: "New tea, have a taste How about it."
"Oh." Huang Xuan half-lyed up, took a sip of tea, and said, "Are you particularly interested in knowing what I want to do?"
Zhang Xinyi was startled and said "Yeah".
Huang Xuan sat up against the bed and said with a proud smile: "I knew you would be interested." As he said this, he asked Lorraine to turn on the energy screen in case it was needed.
Everything was well prepared, Huang Xuan chewed tea and asked: "What do you think of the DVD market?"
"It's very rich." After hearing Huang Xuan's serious words, Zhang Xinyi also became interested and sat sideways on the bed. Although he is his own son, not every mother can come across a son who can make billions of dollars in one year.
"With tens of billions of dollars in revenue a year, you're not interested at all?" Huang Xuan said, shaking his head.
"You are a thief." Zhang Xinyi first criticized Huang Xuan's posture, and then said: "The 6C Alliance is already very stable, and there are already so many domestic DVD manufacturers. It is no longer wise to invest in it."
Huang Xuan smiled mysteriously and said: "I am talking about the new generation of DVD technology, Blu-ray and HD." He clapped his fingers and said: "Whether it is Sony or Toshiba, the current technology is not mature, and more is needed. manufacturers are joining, if someone is willing to join forces with them now, the resistance will be much smaller than when the technology matures in the future.”
"But how do you join in?" Zhang Xinyi knew all about these business affairs. She smiled and said: "One billion US dollars in cash is not bad, but for such an alliance, it is too little..." She said and realized , asked: "Does Southwestern Bell have a patent?"
"Southwestern Bell doesn't have it." Huang Xuan shook his head and said, "But AT&T does."
"AT&T?" These world-renowned companies are stars in the business world. Zhang Xinyi said strangely: "I haven't heard that they have blue light technology, and even if they do, it should be from Lucent Technology."
In 1996, the famous Bell Labs separated from AT&T and established Lucent Technologies. As a laboratory with 5,000 patents, countless world-defining technologies have been born here. For Zhang Xinyi, who is not familiar with technology, There’s nothing surprising about the technology here.
Huang Xuan still shook his head and said: "I am actually saving the country through curves." As he spoke, he dipped water from the tea cup and drew on the bedside table: "AT&T does not have DVD technology, but it has the MPGE-4 patent (note 1), and the Blu-ray Alliance definitely needs this technology. Without MPGE-4, there will be nothing." He crossed A with his hand, then pulled it to M, and then said: "The Blu-ray Alliance itself is. It will not accept us as a member, but if it is proposed by AT&T, plus some technology and funds, there is a possibility of negotiation. "
He connected A's line to S and continued: "But even if AT&T agrees to my acquisition of decisive shares, it will have some additional terms, such as MPGE-4. If I don't agree, I will continue to Negotiations may take a long time. Then we can't get anything done."
He finally connected Line A to the outside and said: "But I got an inside message that Southwestern Bell may acquire AT&T. The final offer is around US$15 billion. After dilution, .5% of Southwestern Bell's shares can still have % , enough to influence the board of directors. And since I acquired Southwestern Bell first, they naturally cannot modify the terms of MPGE-4 in advance, so there will be no legal issues. "
As a company with a market value of more than 70 billion U.S. dollars, it can be regarded as a major shareholder if it holds more than 5% of the shares. However, it is often other companies and institutions that hold such a large number of shares, so % of the shares are already considered to have the right to speak.
Zhang Xinyi looked at Huang Xuan with sigh, grabbed his head with both hands and shook it, and said happily: "Okay, son, I originally discussed with your father, if you really can't do anything, , we will find two lawyers to manage your living funds. Unexpectedly, as you grow up, you will become more sensible. "
Huang Xuan smiled silly, these things were indeed his own thoughts, except for getting many future consultations.
After sighing, Zhang Xinyi drank tea happily and said with relief: "But there is still a little problem, why choose Blu-ray instead of HD? Now it seems that Toshiba needs allies more."
Huang Xuan couldn't say, because he knew Toshiba would lose, so joining the HD alliance would consume more energy. He had to avoid the important and answer: "That's because HD does not use MPGE-4, and these guys' patent fees It’s very expensive. Each DVD costs US dollars in royalties. Toshiba wants to save money, so if I join the HD Alliance, Southwestern Bell’s shares will be useless.”
This is a complete reversal of cause and effect. Zhang Xinyi glanced at Huang Xuan, but instead of saying anything, she said with concern: "Then your money has been used to buy shares. In this way, even if you enter the Blu-ray Alliance, you will have no production funds."
"Who knows how long the negotiations will take. By then, I will have raised enough money." Huang Xuan's voice was low, but he was thinking about what was left before.
Note 1: MPGE-4 can be understood as a video and audio coding format. Its patent is also a complex system. AT&T does not have exclusive rights, but it is a very important part. (To be continued)