Chapter 99

Li Xuan finally managed to勉强 convince the company management to agree to his plan. However, the specific cooperation plan with the mainland still needed to be discussed and agreed upon by Dongfang Electronics and the universities in Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong before it could be finalized. Li Xuan naturally would not personally participate, but would once again play the role of a hands-off boss.

The reason Han Peng hurriedly returned to Hong Kong was to prepare for a detailed discussion with Li Xuan about the possibility of acquiring the British company Acorn. Indeed, Acorn was the company that would later invent the ARM architecture. However, at the time, Acorn was just a small company that had been established for less than two years.

Before Han Peng went to the UK, Li Xuan had asked him to pay attention to this little-known company in the town of Cambridge. Initially, Han Peng did not take this matter too seriously. However, during a technology exhibition in London, he was surprised to discover Acorn's exhibit—the newly developed Atom personal computer.

The Atom was a keyboard-integrated machine that used the MOS6502 processor, had 2KB of memory, and came with a cassette tape drive. If it were just that, there would not have been much for Han Peng to be surprised about. After the release of Apple's computer, there were at least hundreds of different microcomputers developed by imitators worldwide.

What truly surprised Han Peng about Acorn's Atom computer was that they had developed a local area network. During the demonstration, Acorn's technicians connected 8 Atom computers together, allowing for seamless file sharing, remote desktop display, and remote keyboard input through a demonstration system.

The price of the Atom personal computer was also very low, with unassembled parts costing only 150 pounds and a fully assembled unit priced at 170 pounds. This meant that a fully assembled unit was equivalent to about 400 dollars, a very competitive price. If users found the memory insufficient, it could be expanded up to 12KB.

Li Xuan had a systematic plan for the computer products developed by Dongfang Electronics. Low-end machines were aimed at the educational computer market, with low price as the selling point. Mid-range machines targeted the business office market, with application software as the selling point. High-end machines were workstation computers, with high configuration and performance as the selling point.

In Li Xuan's view, Apple's computer was a low-end machine, despite its not-so-cheap price. The main customers for Apple computers, besides individual players, were the various primary and secondary schools across the United States. The Atom undoubtedly also met Li Xuan's requirements for a low-end computer.

Especially its local area network system, which was very suitable for school teaching. Teachers could operate students' computers through remote desktop display and remote keyboard input, making teaching work more efficient and easier.

"I have met with the two founders of Acorn, Chris Curry and Hermann Hauser. Regarding my proposal for Dongfang Electronics to acquire Acorn, Hauser was indifferent, while Curry directly rejected me," Han Peng detailed to Li Xuan the process of his meetings with the two partners of Acorn: "However, I noticed some details. Hauser and Curry have significant differences in the future direction of Acorn. Curry hopes that Acorn will focus on entering the general consumer market, while Hauser believes that Acorn should be a computer company dedicated to laboratory equipment!"

Li Xuan listened quietly to Han Peng's account. He did not know much about Acorn except for the famous ARM architecture. He only knew that the company was once known as "Britain's Apple" in its early days.

If the two founders were united, it would not be easy for Dongfang Electronics to make a move on Acorn. But since the two founders had significant differences, it gave Li Xuan the opportunity to divide and conquer.

"How much information have you gathered about this company? Which of the two is more supported within the company?" Li Xuan asked.

"Hauser! Before Acorn launched the Atom personal computer, their main product was a semi-professional computer system called Acorn System, aimed at engineering and laboratory users, from the initial System 1 to the current System 3!" Han Peng smiled and said, "The Atom personal computer project was initially developed by Curry and a friend in Curry's home. Later, after Curry resigned from another company and started working full-time at Acorn, he brought the unfinished Atom project to Acorn! However, most of the company's R&D personnel were dismissive of the Atom and preferred to continue developing the previous System computer system!"

Li Xuan also smiled. No wonder Han Peng felt that Dongfang Electronics had a good chance of acquiring Acorn. Hauser, who had the support of most of the company's employees, was not opposed to being acquired, while Curry, who had clearly rejected the acquisition, was in a difficult position within Acorn.

If Dongfang Electronics offered to support Curry's entry into the personal consumer computer market as a condition, it was likely that they could persuade him to accept the acquisition. Actually, developing a personal computer was not a very difficult task; it was more like a computer-building game.

Of course, it was not as simple as just building a computer and making money. The reasonableness of the machine's configuration and the cost would determine the success or failure of the product.

Dongfang Electronics was also developing its own personal computer using the 6502 processor as the CPU. However, if they acquired Acorn, they could directly obtain a mature product. More importantly, since Li Xuan knew that Acorn was called "Britain's Apple," it indicated that the company had its unique strengths in the 8-bit personal computer era.

The local area network system that Han Peng mentioned was undoubtedly a key selling point for the educational computer market. Another reason Li Xuan and Han Peng felt it was worth acquiring Acorn was that the company was currently a little-known small company. According to Han Peng's estimate, Dongfang Electronics could complete the acquisition for less than 2 million pounds, which was less than the cost of acquiring the copyright for "Pac-Man," and posed no pressure for Dongfang Electronics.

"I have decided to personally visit Cambridge to meet Mr. Curry!" Li Xuan said with determination. He was curious and eager to see what the company that developed ARM was like.

Since Li Xuan and Han Peng had decided to acquire Acorn, Li Ke instructed the branch in London to begin the preliminary preparations. Acquiring a company was not something that could be accomplished with just a few words.

Before meeting with Acorn's partners, Li Xuan needed to understand their personalities, their positions within the company, and their usual views and opinions. This would allow him to target their preferences and increase the chances of a successful persuasion.

It took a week for the London branch to provide Li Xuan with the necessary information. Li Xuan and Han Peng then formulated a detailed plan and boarded a flight to London.

Upon arriving in London, they only took a brief rest, without even waiting to adjust to the time difference, and then headed to the town of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire. Cambridge and Oxford are the most famous and important university towns in the UK.

"Silently I depart, as silently I came. I wave my sleeve, and take not a single cloud with me!" The Cambridge described by poet Xu Zhimo undoubtedly exudes a romantic beauty, but Li Xuan, an engineering student, clearly lacked literary cells. Even standing by the River Cam, he could not appreciate the poetic beauty in "the rosy reflections in the water." To Li Xuan, Cambridge was just a quiet British town with a strong academic atmosphere.

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