Chapter 58

The game development department of Oriental Electronics also underwent significant changes. Some new talents were recruited, and some of the original employees left. Not everyone was suitable for game development.

In Li Xuan's view, those who were qualified to stay should at least be interested in game development. If you were resistant to this work, joining the development team would only hold everyone back. Secondly, you needed to have some of your own ideas. The game industry was always a place where creativity reigned supreme. If you always did only what others told you to do, you would remain a dispensable figure at the bottom of the hierarchy.

After a series of adjustments, Li Xuan established the game development department based on the original software development department. The new game development department was temporarily divided into two groups. The first group continued to be responsible for the subsequent development of Hong Kong Blocks and Tank Battle, while the second group, which Li Xuan separated out, officially began the development of *Mario Bros*.

The original hardware development department also underwent recruitment, with the number of people exceeding twenty. Their main work in the near future, in addition to continuing to improve the performance of the T-1 type universal arcade board, was a new task assigned by Li Xuan.

The T-1 type arcade board was the one previously developed for Tank Battle and Hong Kong Blocks, using the MOS6502 processor as the CPU. Li Xuan named it by taking the first letter of the English word "Tank."

After the project planning meeting for the new game *Mario*, Li Xuan returned to his office. He had been busy these past few days, with countless tasks waiting for him every day.

Li Xuan sat for a while, rested a bit, and then picked up another folder on the table. It contained the materials just delivered by the headhunting company, who had already identified several suitable candidates to lead Oriental Electronics.

Li Xuan had already carefully reviewed the materials. The one he picked out and placed on top was none other than Han Peng, whom he had just met the night before. Since the headhunting company had sent these materials to Li Xuan for his selection, it meant that all of them had some interest and could be invited for detailed discussions. Li Xuan finally understood why Han Peng had specially approached him the night before.

He smiled gently, recalling their first encounter the night before, which left a good impression on him.

"Hello, is this Brother Han? I'm Li Xuan from Oriental Electronics. I wonder if you have time. I'd like to invite you for afternoon tea. Great, at 3 PM, at The Lobby in the Peninsula Hotel. We'll definitely meet there!"

Both parties ended the call with mutual understanding.

As the inviter, Li Xuan arrived at the Peninsula Hotel fifteen minutes early and had already reserved a seat. The Peninsula Hotel's lobby tea room was the most famous place in Hong Kong for afternoon tea, known as the "Film Star Tea Room" since the 1950s, with many movie stars being regular customers.

"Brother Li, I didn't expect to see you so soon!" Han Peng no longer called him "junior" as he did the night before.

"Brother, just call me Vincent!" Li Xuan smiled and then, without beating around the bush, stated his purpose, "Three months ago, I founded Oriental Electronics Technology Company. A month ago, the two arcade games developed by the company achieved tremendous success in the U.S. market. Oriental Electronics quickly expanded from a small research and development company of less than twenty people to a medium-sized electronics company with nearly five hundred employees.

I have never managed a large company before. I could barely cope with managing twenty people, but managing hundreds was beyond my capabilities. I urgently need to invite someone with relevant experience to lead the company, and the headhunting company recommended you, Brother!"

Han Peng looked at the young junior sitting across from him and suddenly smiled, "Vincent, what do you think of Hong Kong's electronics manufacturing industry?"

"It's very backward. It's more like an electronics assembly industry rather than a manufacturing industry! Although Hong Kong has over a hundred electronics factories, very few have more than a hundred employees. Most are engaged in the assembly production of radios, flashlights, electronic watches, and calculators, with all core components imported!" Li Xuan, who was well-prepared, spoke confidently.

"Vincent, you're right. The largest and most technologically advanced company in Hong Kong is probably the Ampex Vantec where I currently work. Their factory in Hong Kong mainly produces magnetic tapes. Among the Chinese-funded electronics factories, there are a few with some technical content, including Wang's, Lu's, E-Lite, VTech, and Takung.

Wang's and E-Lite mainly produce circuit boards, Lu's produces televisions, VTech produces electronic toys and learning machines, and Takung produces electric motors," Han Peng nodded and said, "Most of Hong Kong's electronics factories are small, with only a few dozen employees. They rely on low labor costs to do contract manufacturing for European, American, and Japanese companies, earning a meager profit. Their principle is to be flexible and do whatever is profitable, but it's difficult for them to grow and become strong."

"Actually, Oriental Electronics has the ambition to grow and become strong, but the current challenge is a severe shortage of technical talent!" Li Xuan sighed.

"Only fifteen years ago did the University of Hong Kong start admitting students in the electronics major, initially with only twenty students per year, now expanded to about eighty. The Chinese University of Hong Kong established its electronics department only ten years ago, and there are also some higher diploma courses in electronics at other colleges! Hong Kong's talent pool in this area is already quite limited, and the courses in schools are mostly theoretical, with very few practical technical talents," Han Peng explained.

"Although Hong Kong's electronics industry has developed rapidly in recent years and has become the second-largest economic pillar after the textile industry, the technical threshold for the electronics industry is higher compared to textiles, clothing, and plastic flowers. In addition to the company's own development, it also requires government support in terms of policy and education.

Unfortunately, the Hong Kong government has always pursued a policy of positive non-intervention, maintaining a distant relationship with the industrial sector and failing to provide timely support. Although the government has institutions like the Trade Development Council and the Productivity Council to support industry,

the former mainly supports the textile industry, focusing on international trade quota negotiations and other macro policies. As for the Productivity Council, although it has an electronics industry research department, the policies it implements are often superficial and of little practical use to electronics factories.

In contrast, other regions' governments provide strong support for the electronics industry. I recently heard that the Singapore government is negotiating with IBM, offering tax incentives to attract IBM to set up a new factory in Singapore, thereby promoting the transfer of electronic technology."

Han Peng took a sip of the rich coffee and continued, "Actually, I admire you, Vincent, for having the courage to innovate and develop your own electronic game console. To achieve such success in just three months is a very inspiring and legendary business story!

When I was your age, I was only thinking about how to chase pretty girls and never considered starting my own business. Even now, at the age of thirty, I only think about when I can become the CEO of the company, never about starting my own business!"