America: My Time

Chapter 617 Crazy Investment

Chapter 607 Crazy Investment

"If all investors were as easy to talk to as him, things would go much more smoothly. Unfortunately, such people are rare!" Many people sighed at John's approachable nature, noting that in 1980s China, investors were often arrogant and demanding, looking down on everything and asking for all sorts of benefits. John, however, was different. He only wanted fairness, and his investment projects were incredibly diverse, ranging from heavy industry to light industry, and even food processing—he accepted any investment opportunity.

Today, 7-Eleven convenience stores are ubiquitous in North America and continue to expand in Asia. It can be said that 7-Eleven itself needs a lot of goods every year. As a result, many investments, such as food factories in China, are expanding rapidly, and the profits are astonishing. After all, these are all export products, and since they originally belong to the same group, there are naturally no other problems. So even investments in food and light industry can generate profits that are unimaginable to others. At this point, as long as there are sales channels, it is possible to make money passively.

"You're overthinking it. This man is the richest man in the US and the world; he can't just have whatever he wants. However, his investments in China alone already account for a large portion of his overseas investments, and he's still continuing!"

"Yes, he has assets worth billions of dollars. I heard he's going to increase his investment in hotels, which is no small matter. Many cities are already looking forward to it." As John continues to invest in China, many people are amazed by this young man from the United States and by his extravagant spending.

Almost all industries are expanding across the board, especially food and clothing, which are expanding at an incredibly fast pace. Sales issues that many companies worry about are not an issue here, as the groups behind them have powerful sales channels. As long as there is a supply of goods, there is no fear of not being able to sell them. Moreover, food and other items can be traded with the Russians, even fruits. Anything the Russians lack can be bartered, and a trade can be made with the Russians.

Just as John and Hitomi Kuroki were about to head to the Liulichang antique market, Secretary Ava came running up to John and said, "Boss, we received a call from the White House. President Reagan told us to be cautious with our investments and to focus on the United States, not Asia and Europe!"

John frowned at this point. This was not good news. It was clear that someone at the White House was causing trouble, targeting him. The most likely culprits were the Taiwanese who were at odds with him, and those old guys. After all, the European plans had been exposed, causing them unease. Those old guys' semiconductor plans had been affected, especially in Europe, which had already made them somewhat uneasy.

"Was it President Reagan's own words, or a notification from those guys in the office?" John immediately grasped the crux of the matter. If it was President Reagan's own words, he would have to give him some face, after all, this guy is still the president now, and the next president is also Elephant. Although he has already made an agreement with Old Bush, Elephant's capabilities should not be underestimated, and he doesn't want those guys to be targeting him at a crucial moment.

"It's a call from the office!" Secretary Ava answered immediately without hesitation. It was clear that she had figured everything out and knew how much her boss valued the White House issue.

"Then ignore those guys. There are always powerful figures behind those bastards. If we listen to them, there's no point in investing, let alone making any plans. However, expedite the shipping company's process and get the remaining five lithography machines to China as quickly as possible. There can't be any mishaps. Find out how many lithography machines ASML has left and get them all to China as fast as possible. I believe it won't be long before those bastards target ASML, making it difficult for them to obtain ASML's lithography machines for their plans in China. Also, ask when the experts from Taiwan will arrive and tell them to speed things up!"

In an instant, John thought of the lithography machine issue. His investment in China was a complete upstream and downstream industrial chain, and he couldn't let those damned bastards ruin his plans and restrict him on lithography machines. John originally thought he had plenty of time to prepare, but now it seemed he was overthinking it. Those guys wouldn't give him the opportunity to continue expanding. If he couldn't complete his layout in China as quickly as possible, he would likely be affected soon.

John had already completed the filing for the lithography machine and obtained the White House's approval. Now it was clear that things were about to get complicated, and if they didn't hurry, they might miss their chance! No matter what those guys were thinking or scheming, as long as everything had started and the lithography machine was in place, nothing else mattered.

"How about we take a day off today?" At this point, Kuroki Hitomi was considering forgoing her shopping trip to Liulichang and instead giving John the time to handle matters in the US. After all, important business matters couldn't be delayed. "No need, we'll stick to the original plan. No changes are necessary!" John wasn't too concerned about the situation in the US. Even if the White House had any ideas, they needed time; they couldn't change their minds overnight. He could complete his plan by seizing this window of opportunity.

Soon, Ava returned. To John's surprise, ASML still had two lithography machines, originally intended for ASUS in Taiwan, which John intercepted and transferred to China. This allowed him to further refine his operations in China and have more room for maneuver, since many contract manufacturers were shifting their manufacturing from Taiwan to China.

ASML has made a qualitative breakthrough in the development of lithography machines. A prototype of the new lithography machine has been developed, but mass production will take a little longer. After all, this is an important force in its future semiconductor strategy. The frantic research and development of Bell Labs and ASML has propelled them to the forefront of the lithography field, surpassing Canon and Nikon. Bell Labs first perfected the eight-inch wafer technology, and Nvidia's next-generation chips have also yielded results. It can be said that there is nothing that can stop the development and expansion of this industry chain in the semiconductor field.

Although personal computers have developed rapidly, there is still a long way to go before John achieves what he wants. Although Nvidia has now surpassed Intel and reached the pinnacle of processor development, this is not the time to be complacent. Nvidia must now develop the next generation of processors as soon as possible.

Seagate is also accelerating its hard drive research and development because the current bottleneck for Dream World is the hard drive and processor issues. Once these issues are resolved, there will be a qualitative breakthrough in the personal computer field, and even in the workstation, minicomputer and server fields. John has never dared to underestimate the existence of IBM, this giant.

Although Dream World is constantly expanding and entering new software fields, its core operating system has not been neglected in its development; in fact, it has been accelerating its research and development, only constrained by hard drive and processor limitations. This is because modern software requires increasingly larger amounts of space, forcing Dream World to make changes.

Investing in a 6-inch wafer fab, along with investments in chip manufacturing and packaging, is extremely important for China. After all, this represents the most advanced technology. Although Bell Labs now has 8-inch wafer technology, 6-inch wafer fabs will remain the mainstream for a long time to come. Investing in such a wafer fab in China is crucial for John's semiconductor strategy and also for China's technological development.

Because such an investment plays a crucial role, China had already made a series of preparations when John made the investment request. The construction of the factory has now begun, production equipment has been delivered, and the progress is being made at a rapid pace. In addition, lithography machines are being shipped to China at an accelerated rate.

Everyone is racing against time to make numerous preparations. Although the United States and China are currently in a honeymoon period of cooperation, John is well aware that this period will not last long, so he is doing everything he can to make preparations.

Time is of the essence for John. He not only has to deal with numerous problems and pressures from the United States, but also has to be constantly on guard against sneak attacks from the Japanese. The Japanese economy is developing rapidly, and the more rapid it develops, the more serious the problems become. As their bubble inflates, they will become even more reckless, and all talk of cooperation will be a joke. These guys will then embark on a buying spree, and with Panasonic's entry, Hollywood will undergo new changes.

Although many major IPs have long been controlled by Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media, no one knows what direction Disney and Columbia Pictures will take. Moreover, the Hollywood writers' strike is still ongoing, which has seriously affected the development of Hollywood and caused some trouble for Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media.

Even though John was in China, he didn't give up on understanding Hollywood. Although Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media had already started production, and many other Hollywood studios had also started production, the conflict with the Writers Guild remained. Those guys were determined not to budge and were single-mindedly trying to take money out of everyone's pockets. This naturally made the conflict between the two sides more and more intense and the relationship between them more and more tense. Now, even within Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media, many people have already left their jobs.

(End of this chapter)