America: My Time

Chapter 988 Neon's Purpose Gradually Emerges

Chapter 978 Neon's Purpose Gradually Emerges
“Mr. Morita, I actually advise you not to focus too much energy on Japan. Instead, focus on overseas investments. You'd be better off spending some time and energy taking control of Columbia Pictures first. At least that's much better than expanding in Japan. To be honest, unless you're planning to venture into new projects, it's best not to pay too much attention to developments in Japan!” John shook his head as he gave this advice. After offering this suggestion, John remained calmly looking at the other man, waiting for the old man Akio Morita's reply and the outcome.

"John, you really don't think much of the future development in Japan?" Akio Morita said with a wry smile, his eyes full of shock.

“I’m not optimistic. I don’t think you can change everything. The current situation is such that as long as you can’t solve your own problems, it will remain the same. Instead of wasting your energy on a hopeless path, you should focus on developing your overseas business. At least stabilize yourselves first. You mentioned that Sony was affected by the bursting of the real estate bubble, so what’s there to hesitate about? You know what the situation is like at Columbia Pictures. If it continues to deteriorate, I’m afraid even the profits from the North American market won’t be enough to cover their losses.” John paused, then shook his head and said, “And Disney, it’s also heavily indebted. Panasonic’s choice was also somewhat inappropriate. I don’t know what you were thinking. Columbia Pictures is alright; as long as they adjust themselves, the problems won’t be too big. But Disney, just from France alone, could ruin them. Even choosing MGM would be better than Disney; at least MGM wouldn’t suffer such heavy losses!”

Because of John's involvement, Disney is now in a terrible state. It is being targeted and hijacked in animation everywhere. Many animated films that should have belonged to Disney have been snatched by Legendary Entertainment, which has made Disney's situation worse and worse. Otherwise, how could it have fallen into Panasonic's hands?

Will these Japanese guys believe John's words and listen to his advice? It's difficult, very difficult, because the Japanese all have the blood of 'madmen' and are willing to gamble with luck. The reason why Sony suffered so much in the future was because they gambled all their hopes on luck. And now their situation is not very good. Even though they still have some decent assets, they still don't see what their real crisis is. So if they only gamble with luck, they will only face death.

With the advent of MP3 players and VCD players, Sony's own products have been significantly impacted. While the impact in Japan is not substantial, it has a huge influence overseas. Moreover, many patents are now in John's hands, so Sony's situation is worse than before. Even with financial support from internet cafe alliances, it's not enough to offset the enormous losses incurred in the real estate sector.

Seeing that the Japanese guys were still hesitant, John shook his head. No matter how hard they tried, it was useless. They never expected that the Great Hanshin Earthquake would hit their fragile washing machine again, making things even worse. However, in order to show his 'sincerity', John still had to make a gesture!
“Mr. Morita, if possible, I can acquire Venus Castle Shopping Center at its current market value. It is the only project I can afford. To be honest, if it weren’t for our relationship, I wouldn’t be acquiring such real estate at this time. After all, you know that the Eien Group has been split up, and it is difficult for such a luxury shopping center to change in a short period of time. You should be aware of this.”

"Sure, but are you really not planning to acquire other shopping malls? Those are all projects you've meticulously developed?"

"In the long run, even if Japan's economy stagnates, large projects like shopping malls can be considered high-quality assets. However, in the short term, it's unlikely. If the Japanese government can introduce policies that make full use of this, there is still a chance, especially in the tourism industry. If the tourism industry really develops, it can completely change the current situation and give those shopping malls some breathing room, especially the large ones. To be honest, my willingness to take over Venus Castle Shopping Center is only to maintain the popularity of those luxury brands in Japan."

Those who know how crazy John was when he withdrew from Japan understand the reason behind his words. Many luxury brands chose to sell their properties when Japanese real estate was at its peak. Now, those luxury brands no longer own many stores; most of them have short-term leases in shopping malls.
"Mr. John, are you so optimistic about tourism projects? As if Japan has no other choice but to follow this path, and that Japan's manufacturing industry really has no future?" Many people present were unwilling to accept John's statement. In their view, John was intentionally suppressing them and bullying them.

"It's not that Japan's manufacturing industry has no future. You can only choose high-tech industries, those high-value-added manufacturing sectors, otherwise there's no future. Take the automotive industry, for example. No matter how hard you struggle, you can only rely on overseas markets. Japan's own market simply cannot support your development. Of all the car companies in Japan, I have the most faith in Toyota. As for shipbuilding, there's even less hope. The high costs are enough to make you lose the global shipbuilding market!" John's words pierced everyone's hearts like a sharp arrow, causing them a pang of heartache. Now, with the targeting of oil and gas capital, they have suffered a huge blow in the heavy industry sector, and the entire steel industry chain has been affected. Although they were unwilling to accept it, rational people understood that what John said was true. Currently, apart from Toyota, no Japanese car company is making money; they are all losing money. Toyota relies on the North American and domestic markets to profit. If it loses the North American market, it will also fall into losses. The shipbuilding industry has long been in trouble, not to mention now.

For the shipbuilding industry, South Korea's development is too fast, and Taiwan is also catching up, which has challenged Japan's shipbuilding industry. Originally, Taiwan's situation was also gradually declining, but now John has reached a cooperation agreement with Taiwan. With the acceleration of Taiwan's privatization process, after acquiring Taiwanese companies, John is also accelerating their transformation. Russian technology is rapidly changing Taiwan's shortcomings.

In shipbuilding alone, John has already reached the forefront of the industry. Most importantly, no one can compete with his shipyard on price, and John also has the backing of Middle Eastern tycoons. At least for now, these Middle Eastern tycoons are building their ships at John's shipyard, so profits are guaranteed—something many shipyards can't achieve. Although many are envious, there's nothing they can do; after all, they don't have such connections!
The Japanese, repeatedly humiliated by John's words, were reluctant to continue their conversation with this guy who had slapped them in the face. However, they couldn't do that, because they had come here today to find out John's true thoughts, to understand his views on Japan and its manufacturing industry. After all, Japan was facing a really tough time right now!
"Mr. John, I wonder what your views are on global shipping. Many people don't understand the changes in your shipping company. Everyone is very puzzled as to why you chose to adjust the company's ships, and why you chose to sell many ships. I heard that you plan to cut more than half of the ships."

"All of this is the result of considering our own interests. Only in this way can the company operate better. As transactions with Russia continue to decrease, Australian shipping needs to make changes, as you all know. The current fleet cannot meet the needs of future changes, so adjustments are necessary, and selling is the best option. Going forward, we will mainly accept freight from the Middle East. Tankers, bulk carriers, and container ships will be our mainstays. We will also need to adjust our older fleets, because we are responsible to our customers and cannot allow our own reasons to harm their interests."

When John once again used Middle Eastern tycoons as a shield, the Japanese were extremely jealous. However, many felt that John was hiding important information in his words, and that it was definitely not just for this reason. But they were powerless to do anything about it, since they couldn't force John, and their plans for the Japanese shipyards were destined to fail. It was impossible for them to get orders from John.

Originally, this was just a cocktail party for the media and entertainment industry, but now there's very little exchange related to entertainment. These guys from Japan are still stubbornly persisting in manufacturing. John understands this, and that's exactly the result he wants. If these guys don't continue to be so stubborn, how can he achieve his goals? If he doesn't let them continue their crazy ways, how can they keep going down the road of losses?

Asking John to help them is a joke. What John is doing now is taking advantage of the situation. However, Quantum Mining won't be at the forefront; everything will be spearheaded by Oil Capital. As long as those guys want to raise the price of iron ore, John will definitely agree. Only in this way can he continuously weaken the enemy's strength and gain a superior position.

Despite John's extensive discussions with these guys tonight, the Japanese won't give up their manufacturing industry, they won't compromise, they'll stubbornly persist until they're driven to desperation.

(End of this chapter)