America: My Time

Chapter 695 The Appearance of Akio Morita

Chapter 685 The Appearance of Akio Morita
It's a bit chaotic. ASUS has become somewhat disorganized. After all, making such a big change in such a short time is bound to cause some chaos. But this is all within John's acceptable range. What's needed now is to quickly establish a plan. Even a little chaos is acceptable. If the opportunity is missed, it will be difficult to make further progress.

Soon, the neon bubble will be punctured. Once the bubble bursts, a crisis will emerge for the entire neon industry. This is the time to poach talent, and it's the opportunity John has been waiting for. Whether it's semiconductors or other things, these are moments John has long anticipated.

However, there is also a significant problem. Although the current expansion is rapid, it is still far from enough to meet the needs of future production. Therefore, many things need to be transferred, otherwise it will inevitably affect its grand plan. After all, Taiwan's labor costs are still very high, and it is difficult to wage a price war.

John understood perfectly why Bentley Motors was able to quickly dominate the North American and British auto parts markets: it was all about price. The low labor costs at its auto parts factories in China forced competitors to back down, which is why Bentley was able to take the lead in retail and become one of the largest auto retailers in North America.

To seize other markets, the same approach is necessary, especially in the personal computer market, which requires even lower labor costs, something Taiwan is clearly not suitable for.

John demanded that ASUS accelerate its own transformation, as this was the only way to achieve his plan. High-end manufacturing would be handled by Taiwan, while low-end manufacturing would be transferred to China. After all, Taiwan had acquired the latest lithography machines, enabling it to produce the best chips with a high yield rate, thus better reducing costs.

Although ASUS is undergoing a transformation, it is under tremendous pressure. After all, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it takes time. Unfortunately, the time left for ASUS is not much, and many things need to be done here. At least in the United States, ASUS does not want to increase its own burden. There, the focus is on research and development, while production is still outsourced to contract manufacturers.

After John dealt with the issues with ASUS, as expected, the guys in Japan set their sights on 7-Eleven convenience stores. The sheer size of the privately owned stores shocked many people, who also discovered the enormous assets of 7-Eleven in Japan. Acquisition quickly occurred in Southern Group. Similarly, Akio Morita of Sony also took action, personally coming to Taiwan to meet with John.

When John saw Akio Morita appear, he sneered inwardly. These guys were indeed greedy to the extreme. None of them saw the huge trap behind this real estate. How big is Japan? Real estate prices have risen to such crazy levels. John was shocked. Now, John was selling any real estate that could be sold.

"Mr. Morita, you know how important 7-Eleven is to Phoenix Group. While I'm not opposed to an acquisition, there are many issues to resolve. First, there's the issue of Phoenix Group's relationship with Legendary Entertainment, specifically the sale of their records and magazines. Then there's 7-Eleven itself; we can't sell the brand, so the acquisition won't include it. We don't want such a sale to affect 7-Eleven's IPO. As you know, 7-Eleven is preparing for an IPO in the US, and selling 7-Eleven in Japan would inevitably impact the IPO process. Furthermore, selling the Japanese brand would also affect its market value."

Akio Morita naturally knew about the situation of 7-Eleven convenience stores and the idea of ​​going public, which is why he was in such a hurry to meet John, wanting to complete the acquisition of 7-Eleven in Japan and give Sony its own sales channels. Sales are king, and this was perfectly demonstrated in Phoenix Group and Legendary Entertainment, so now Akio Morita was tempted again.

“John, even if Sony completes the acquisition of 7-Eleven, it will ensure that the retail business of the two major media groups will not be affected. As for not selling the brand, we can accept that, and the price is negotiable. 7-Eleven went public to raise funds, and selling it will bring in more funds. Besides, you still have the ‘Dollar Tree’ brand in Japan, so the impact on you will not be too great!”

“Mr. Morita, you also know that there is a big gap between Dollar Tree and 7-Eleven. Moreover, the sale of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan means we need to renegotiate the listing with Morgan, which will have a significant impact. After all, I have been cooperating with Morgan for a long time and we have a very good relationship. Doing this suddenly is a bit too much and we have no way to explain it.”

"John, what are your thoughts?" Faced with John's willingness to cooperate yet numerous concerns, Akio Morita was quite helpless. Unfortunately, John's worries were all valid, leaving him speechless.

“You know that not all 7-Eleven stores in Japan are owned by the company. Some are franchisees, and some are leased by us. We can’t sell these, and the headquarters also needs to retain some staff. How about we reorganize the situation in Japan and only sell the stores owned by 7-Eleven in Japan?” John’s suggestion surprised Akio Morita. He knew the situation of 7-Eleven in Japan very well. He had read the detailed report more than once and naturally knew how many stores 7-Eleven owned. It could be said that they occupied all the major cities in Japan, and the locations were all the best. That was why this old guy Akio Morita was so interested.

However, while such an acquisition will have an impact on 7-Eleven convenience stores, the overall problem is not too big. It will only reduce the number of stores by 11% and will take some time to reorganize. As for Sony, it will quickly gain control of a large number of stores and retail, and with the rapid growth of real estate, Sony's market value will also increase significantly.

John, who had made preparations long ago, and the layout of 7-Eleven convenience stores, how could he not have considered the issues of acquisition and sale? The brand was retained, and only the self-owned stores were sold off. Although this would severely damage 7-Eleven convenience stores, it would bring the most profit. Now, the number of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan has increased many times over.

Is John really going to keep these 7-Eleven stores and let 7-Eleven convenience stores continue to operate in Japan? This made Akio Morita frown and think about this question. If it were such an acquisition, it would still have an impact on Sony.

“John, we can pay a little more for the price, but I can’t accept your request. We want a complete 7-Eleven. This kind of splitting up is likely to cause all sorts of problems, which is not good for either of us!”

“I know the downsides of doing this, but the 7-Eleven IPO cannot be affected. If we sell off all the stores in Japan, the IPO will inevitably be affected. Moreover, losing the convenience stores in Japan will affect the convenience store plans throughout Asia, which will cause resentment from Morgan and will also affect the overall interests of 7-Eleven!”

“I understand your difficulties. Actually, I think we have another way to solve this problem. If you don’t want to give up the 7-Eleven brand and want to continue operating it, you can acquire another convenience store brand. This will not affect 7-Eleven’s listing, and it can be considered a win-win situation!”

“If that’s the case, there’s no need for me to sell the existing 7-Eleven stores. After all, reacquiring them would take time, and real estate prices in Japan are skyrocketing, which is not conducive to development. As you know, since last year, 7-Eleven in Japan has only focused on franchising and has stopped expanding its own stores, entirely due to the high land prices. How about I take another step back and let them choose for themselves: whether to continue with 7-Eleven or be taken over by you?”

Upon hearing John's idea, Akio Morita nodded and said, "That's a good idea. Let them choose for themselves. Even if there are problems later, they can't blame anyone else."

John nodded and said, "Okay, that's for the best. But I also need some management personnel at headquarters. Don't worry, they can choose for themselves; there won't be too many requirements!"

John and Akio Morita quickly reached an agreement on the acquisition of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan. How many stores would ultimately be retained was uncertain, but John didn't care about the outcome. This was merely a tactic to mislead them; only in this way would they not suspect his motives for selling 7-Eleven. It wasn't that he wanted to sell; it was Akio Morita of Sony who insisted on the acquisition, ensuring that any problems that arose later would have nothing to do with him.

Akio Morita was quite satisfied with the result. After all, once the acquisition was completed, Sony would take another step forward. However, he was still a little disappointed that he did not get all of the 7-Eleven convenience stores. This also shows that John, the little fox, was optimistic about convenience stores, and that there was no conspiracy involved in this transaction.

Akio Morita dared not be careless with John. He kept a close eye on John from the beginning, trying to understand his true thoughts to avoid being deceived. However, Morita was wrong. When John proactively offered to acquire Japan's 7-Eleven convenience stores, he was already in the game. With the skyrocketing prices of Japanese real estate and as these guys set their sights on 7-Eleven, they had already stepped into John's trap! Morita thought John's entanglement with him over convenience store franchisees was a sign of confidence in the convenience store business. In fact, this was a strategy; otherwise, how could they reassure Morita and get him to invest heavily?

(End of this chapter)