Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 460 Does Atari Still Have Time?
When Tang Huan was spitting out lotus flowers in high spirits to sell his own router, the atmosphere at the Warner headquarters in New York was much more dull.

In 1982, Yada contributed more than one-third of Warner's operating income.Now that this golden egg with such an important status is beginning to fade, Warner's top executives can't believe it.

In the movie industry, box office ups and downs are quite common. Everyone is used to the high risk of raining from one of the clouds. However, the sharp decline in the home video game console market still caught people off guard.

Not to mention the sense of loss in Warner boss Steve Rose's heart. What makes him most aggrieved is that he can't show it yet, and he has to hold on with his mouth, otherwise his prestige will be lost.

Previously, the popularity of the "ET Alien" video game during the Christmas period really made Steve Ross proud.

Look, this is the boss's brilliance - he spared no expense to decisively win the video game authorization of "ET Alien", and also won Spielberg by the way. Now the money is rolling in, there is nothing better than this what?

However, after the sales of the "ET Alien" video game exceeded 100 million copies, it encountered a downturn in the entire industry, and its momentum was obviously lost.

The sales have reached tens of millions of dollars, which can be regarded as being squeezed into the list of Atari's best-selling games, but compared with the more than 3000 million dollars paid for the "ET Alien" video game licensing fee, it is obviously not enough. up.

And now there are nearly 400 million copies of the "ET Alien" video game, lying in the warehouse, even if they are willing to deal with it at a low price, no one is willing to take it over.

Gein, a game that was shoddy due to rush work, has been sprayed on the street by players who have come back to it.

It can be said that Steve Ross made a loss-making deal that made him feel heartbroken.

At this time, Atari's new CEO, James Morgan——James Morgan was sitting across from him, reporting on his work.

"The Great Depression in the home video game console market is inevitable, and the Atari 2600 is getting old day by day, and the Atari 5200 has basically failed. We must take decisive and effective measures to reduce operating costs."

"Then tell me about your plan." Steve Ross nodded slightly with no expression on his face.

"First of all, I plan to close the game console factories in the Far East." James Morgan, who has just turned 40, is in the prime of his life, and when he speaks, it is called straightforward.

Steve Rose's cheeks trembled slightly, and he said slowly, "If I remember correctly, the factory in Xiangjiang has only been in operation for a year."

"It doesn't make much sense for us to reduce manufacturing costs. Everyone's products are now unsalable." James Morgan explained carefully, "And Silicon Valley will also lay off employees. I made a rough estimate. The first batch To reduce the burden of more than 1000 people."

Steve Ross is a decisive shopping mall tycoon. In his eyes, layoffs are just a simple subtraction operation, so that it will not hurt the past. The reason why he showed an unhappy expression just now is because he Not reconciled.

In fact, he had expected James Morgan's plan to reduce operating costs, after all, there were not many options left for Atari.

What Steve Ross really cares about is whether Atari's decline can continue to drag down Warner's stock price, and how to save this once golden egg.

He found a new CEO for Atari, which shows that he still holds the hope of continuing to operate. After all, Atari's assets are hundreds of millions of dollars, and this candidate also shows that he is satisfied. courage.

So Steve Ross nodded slightly, and said in an affirmative tone: "These measures are exactly what the question should mean."

"In addition, Atari has another place that can significantly reduce operating costs. Its research and development is disorganized and wasteful. Many researchers have consumed the company's resources for two years, but so far they have not gained anything. The current Atari cannot be Bell Labs, and these research projects that are destined to be useless must be cut off." James Morgan once again raised the butcher knife in his hand.

Steve Ross pondered for a moment noncommittally, "You only mentioned measures to reduce expenditure, what about open source?"

"Although the market for home video game consoles has gone downhill, the arcade business is not affected. Atari's background in this field is no worse than any competitor, including EA." James Morgan, who took it as his duty to turn the tide, looked There is a lot of ambition in it.

"What about the personal computer?" Steve Ross asked expectantly, "The Atari XL, the follow-up model of the Atari 400/800, isn't it just released? The personal computer industry is very profitable now, Fangyuan Not only did the computer companies take away more than a billion dollars in the IPO circle, but the current market value has exceeded 10 billion dollars. Others eat meat, so we should be able to drink a few sips of soup.”

"I'm about to report the performance of the personal computer business in detail." Of course, James Morgan felt that his boss was so envious of Tang Huan, a competitor, that he almost felt resentful.

"We have fallen into a vicious circle in the development of personal computers. The projects I emphasized to be cut are based on this reason."

James Morgan pondered and said: "Other companies developing personal computers simply develop such products, but Atari develops personal computers on the basis of game consoles. Factors come into play."

Speaking of this, James Morgan sighed angrily, "Atari 400/800, and now Atari XL, additional radiation shielding covers are added to the circuit board, which directly makes us fall into the cost This is simply a very ridiculous thing. And our disagreement with the Federal Communications Commission on radiation standards is still continuing, which brings another business risk to the company that cannot be ignored."

Steve Ross, who was completely uninitiated in high technology, felt dizzy when he heard James Morgan rambling on so much.

He frowned and interrupted James Morgan irritably, "The reason why you are invited to be the CEO of Atari is to solve these problems. I just want to ask, do you think Atari can still Make a difference?"

"Of course Atari hasn't reached the point of collapse yet, but reforms will take time." James Morgan shrugged. "I just hope that the headquarters will not interfere too much with the operations of Silicon Valley as before."

Steve Ross, whose face was slightly hot, gritted his teeth and nodded, "Okay, then I will give you time, but you have to understand that time is limited."

(End of this chapter)