America: My Time

Chapter 620 The Old Man's Black Hand
Chapter 610 The Old Man's Black Hand
"John, what are your thoughts on Hong Kong now?" Upon seeing John, this young conglomerate tycoon, Old Master Huo couldn't help but sigh. This wasn't the question he wanted to ask, but rather his colleague from Hong Kong.

"Mr. Huo, this isn't what you want to ask, is it? It's what those people want to know. Actually, the reason Tianfan and I came here to visit you today is to explain something, so that no one will have any wild ideas. Standard Chartered Bank has no intention of acquiring them and will not make a move against them at this time. If Hong Kong is in turmoil, it will definitely affect Standard Chartered itself. They can rest assured that Standard Chartered Bank's focus will not be on Hong Kong in the future. Hong Kong is too small. There is an endless market overseas, and I think going north is a good choice. The huge population is the greatest value."

“That’s not what I wanted to ask. The fact that you made arrangements for Standard Chartered Bank as soon as you arrived in Hong Kong has made many people uneasy. Standard Chartered Bank’s strength in Hong Kong has now surpassed that of HSBC, which naturally makes them uneasy. After all, many people have business dealings with HSBC, and no matter what the possibility is, they are worried!”

“I understand, that’s why we took the initiative to visit you. We don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble. Standard Chartered Bank still needs to be based in Hong Kong, and we still need to deal with them to some extent!” Regarding the situation in Hong Kong, Standard Chartered’s business has clearly declined. Even after the stock market crash, Hong Kong’s bigwigs are more willing to side with HSBC and cooperate with HSBC rather than Standard Chartered. John is very clear about this, and so is Yuan Tianfan. Even though Standard Chartered’s actual strength now surpasses HSBC, these people still favor HSBC over Standard Chartered.

"That's good. With your words, I can give them a reply. However, there's a question I've always wanted to ask you. You don't seem to value Hong Kong's economy. Although you have considerable assets there, you seem to have more faith in the mainland and Taiwan. You don't seem to have any plans to build an industrial chain in Hong Kong?"

"I don't value Hong Kong's economy because Hong Kong is too small to support a large industry, even the semiconductor industry. Hong Kong lacks the necessary supporting facilities and the talent we need. Therefore, in our eyes, Hong Kong's potential is limited, while Taiwan and South Korea have good potential. As for China, it goes without saying. This is why we did not develop in Hong Kong after the stock market crash. We would rather invest in the north!"

The British never had a comprehensive development plan for Hong Kong. Hong Kong's pillar industry is real estate, but for John, real estate is only a part. Hong Kong doesn't have enough high-tech talent, so there is no potential for development. In contrast, South Korea and Taiwan have a good foundation.

Soon after the visit ended, John's conversation with Mr. Huo became known to the bigwigs in Hong Kong. Although John's words were infuriating and showed no concern for the Hong Kong market, the bigwigs were relieved, especially HSBC, which felt much more at ease after confirming that Standard Chartered's next target would be overseas.

In contrast to HSBC's expansion focused on the United States, Standard Chartered Bank abandoned the US and opted to establish a presence in Asia and Europe, prioritizing the Asian and European markets over the US market.

John's stay in Hong Kong was short, as there wasn't much to handle. The Mandarin Oriental Group had its own plans, and John only needed to follow them. Standard Chartered Bank had professionals to manage things, so John didn't need to worry about anything. In contrast, arrangements needed to be made on the Taiwanese side. The semiconductor industry strategy was crucial. Now that things had changed in the US, Taiwan had to be fully prepared to deal with any potential crises or conflicts.

John didn't believe those old guys would remain completely indifferent while holding an absolute advantage. Now, Taiwan needed its own production capacity, especially for mobile phones. Although Bell Labs had already licensed the data to ASUS in Taiwan, the big question was when they could fully digest the data and produce qualified mobile phones.

"Do you need a little more time?" John frowned upon learning about the situation. Time was running out. If ASUS's production couldn't keep up, it would definitely affect Global Online's development. The demand for mobile phones in the US was constantly rising, as was the demand for personal computers. Workstations, minicomputers, and servers were also in considerable demand. Although the stock market crash was over, the server outages during the crash made financial institutions wary and they were all upgrading their systems. Dream World naturally made another fortune, and ASUS, as the OEM, also benefited greatly. However, the mobile phone manufacturing was now in trouble, which worried John. After all, the mobile phone manufacturing plant in the US had been sold, making it easy for them to be held hostage.

John never underestimated the shamelessness of those old guys. Given the chance, these bastards would definitely target him and Global Online, since Global Online was now the largest mobile operator in the United States, with a well-developed communications network. As the mobile phone market continued to grow, many telecommunications companies joined the fray, and standing in their way was Global Online, this behemoth.

Currently, only Global Online, a mobile operator in the US, possesses a communication network covering all cities in the country—something other operators cannot do. Because of this comprehensive network, Global Online's profits are increasing, but this has also attracted the attention of those old-timers. "Yes, we need more time; our employee training needs time!" Employee training is ASUS's biggest problem. Facing new business, time is needed to train employees. However, their timeframe is a bit long, at least in John's view. Further delays will inevitably affect development in the US.

"Get the factory up and running as soon as possible. You're dealing not only with the US, but also with Europe. We also need to speed things up on the chip issue. If ASML's lithography machine project yields results, semiconductor chips will enter a new era. We must stay ahead and not let others catch up. Don't worry about the gaming world. Our focus has been on mobile communications, seizing the communications markets in Asia and Europe. We have an absolute cost advantage over them in this area."

Just as John was laying out his plans for semiconductors and mobile communications, trouble finally broke out in the United States. The gaming world had not completely rejected Nvidia chips before, but now they finally made a break. The next generation of gaming consoles abandoned all Nvidia chips and replaced them with Intel chips. At the same time, the contract manufacturing with Japan also officially came to an end.

When the news reached Taiwan, John's eyes flashed with a cold smile. Replacing Nvidia with Intel chips was something he had expected, but it all happened far too fast. John didn't believe those guys were prepared. Intel could supply the demands of the gaming world and take the next generation of consoles even further. If the next generation of consoles didn't achieve a qualitative leap, it would give Japan an opportunity to establish itself in the gaming market.

Following the announcement of the gaming world, Nvidia's stock price was immediately affected. The gaming world is Nvidia's main market share, and now that it has lost this market, many people are not optimistic about Nvidia and are instead focusing their attention on Intel. If it weren't for ASUS's amazing sales of personal computers in the United States and Europe, Nvidia's stock price would probably have fallen even more.

"Boss, it's Morgan on the phone, asking about Nvidia's response?" John had only known about the changes in the US for a short time when Morgan called to inquire about Nvidia.

"John, the gaming world has completely abandoned Nvidia's chips, which has already affected Nvidia's market value. What are your thoughts on this?" At this moment, the Morgan executive went straight to the point and asked John for his opinion. After all, Morgan held a significant number of Nvidia shares, and the decline in Nvidia's market value had a considerable impact on them!
"No need to rush, this was expected. Although it came a little faster than we anticipated, the impact isn't significant. Nvidia was well-prepared, and the rapid development of the personal computer industry is the best response. However, there's one thing I need Morgan to handle: I want to know the sales figures for their new generation of game consoles and the market reaction!"

Upon hearing this, Morgan's heart skipped a beat, and he said in a deep voice, "John, are you worried that their sales will have problems, that their game console won't be accepted by the market?"

“That’s right, I had the same thought. Intel’s R&D capabilities are no match for Nvidia. After all, almost all of their R&D staff have been poached. Under such circumstances, how could they possibly compare with Nvidia in the development of next-generation chips? They are even worse than AMD. Now they have completely abandoned Nvidia and are using Intel’s chips entirely. Moreover, they are also handling the production themselves. I have serious doubts about their quality.”

The same configuration would see a significant improvement in the hands of the Japanese, but in the hands of the Americans, it would be a complete downgrade. Moreover, now Game World has not only severed its cooperation with Nvidia, but also cut off its OEM relationship with Japan. Under these circumstances, how can John believe that the quality of Game World's game consoles will not be affected? And most importantly, Game World's internal game development has also run into problems, and in pursuit of profit, it has started to go back to its old ways!

(End of this chapter)