America: My Time

Chapter 997 Setting Sights on Zeiss
Chapter 987 Targeting Zeiss

He came in a hurry, and left in a hurry! After arranging things in Japan and reminding Kikuchi Momoko and the others of their safety, John didn't stay in Japan any longer and left Tokyo for Taiwan. The Japanese had barely begun their meticulously prepared plan when John left, completely thwarting their scheme!

"How could this be? Didn't you say that as long as you boosted real estate prices, you could keep that little fox John in Tokyo, in Japan? Why is he gone now, to Taiwan? Can you give me an explanation?"

"What's the use of saying all this now? Everything has already happened. No matter how dissatisfied or unwilling you are, it's useless. The person is gone, and the other party's acquisition has long since stopped. What we need to do now is stabilize the current housing prices, otherwise they will soon fall again, and all the money we invested will be wasted!"

"Hehe, I told you long ago not to play these petty tricks, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened, you're in trouble again and have wasted your precious funds. The commercial real estate held by the Mandarin Oriental Group is now on the list for sale. Do you still think he's buying at rock-bottom prices?"

The astute real estate companies held the Japanese officials in utter contempt. These guys were completely oblivious to the current situation, still indulging in wishful thinking. They were utterly oblivious to the methods employed by the Japanese central bank and the perilous state of Japan's financial market. They were still fussing over something as trivial as John. It was baffling; they had no idea what they were thinking. They didn't know if they'd lost their minds! To think they could outmaneuver John would require considerable skill. To think they could succeed with such petty tricks was a complete joke. Everything they had was under John's control!

"What do you mean by this? We're doing this for Japan's own good, so that you can get through this difficult time!"

"Ha, that's ridiculous. You say you're doing this for our own good? If you really cared, you wouldn't be targeting us. Don't treat us like fools. If it weren't for your madness, Japan wouldn't be in this state. Now you're happy, but not only has Japan's economy stagnated, but its manufacturing industry is also in trouble. All of this is your fault. I don't know where you get the confidence to be so arrogant and self-righteous, thinking that John is buying up assets at rock-bottom prices. I know many of you are studying him, thinking that because he bought up British assets in Hong Kong, he will also buy up assets in Japan. That's a joke, a huge joke! You're just being self-righteous!"

Good heavens, the reason these Japanese guys are re-entering the real estate market is because John once bought up assets in Hong Kong and England at rock-bottom prices. So when John wanted to complete the Akihabara project, these guys thought that John was going to buy up real estate in Japan at rock-bottom prices, especially since John was also acquiring some commercial real estate in Japan, which made them feel even more that their idea was right!

These guys are really too arrogant. John didn't intend to buy up Japanese real estate at rock-bottom prices. He just wanted to acquire some commercial real estate that would be useful to him and to have a good image in Japan so that he could make plans for the future. He just didn't expect that these guys in Japan would misunderstand him!
John would be very happy if he knew that these guys in the Japanese government had such thoughts, because it would mean that Japan's economy would fall into a bigger predicament. John would also be very happy to see these guys in trouble, after all, these bastards were plotting against him. Even if he was prepared, he would still be furious!

"Perhaps this is their scheme; they want to sell those commercial properties just to deceive us..."

Before the guy could finish speaking, someone angrily said, "Conspiracy? What conspiracy? You're just fooling yourselves. The Akihabara project was just John's experiment. It has nothing to do with buying up Japanese real estate at rock-bottom prices. He never had such an idea. He's more interested in Chinese investment."

Many people can see that John's biggest investment in Asia is China, and he cares more about his investments there than in Japan. His investments in Japan are not as important as people think.

John wasn't really that concerned about the investments in Japan. After all, it was just for making money, while the real foundation was in China, where the real money was. In fact, John's investments in Taiwan and South Korea were even greater than in Japan!

John had no idea about the situation in Japan. He was already in Taiwan and didn't care about Japan at all!
"How's it going? Can the new product quickly enter mass production? When can the production line be fully operational?" Upon arriving at the contract manufacturer, John inquired about the GPS navigator. With the mass production of the new chip, the navigator also needed an upgrade. The latest product was John's primary concern; only when it entered mass production in Taiwan could they deliver a fatal blow to the enemy. "It's already in mass production. However, it will take a little time to fully operate the production line; some minor adjustments are needed. But it won't be long, just a few days!" The contract manufacturer answered John's question without hesitation. John was very pleased with this answer; it was exactly the result he wanted!
"Okay, speed things up. From now on, Taiwan will only produce the latest products. Previous orders will be handed over to China. The production capacity here will be fully supplied to Bentley Motors Group's luxury cars."

Compared to the production of navigation devices, ASML's lithography machines will require a little more time to resume production, but not too long. However, this factory relocation has had some impact on ASML. Nevertheless, compared to its investment in Taiwan and future development, this is not a major issue. ASML's arrival means that Taiwan no longer needs to wait, and chip factories can obtain the latest lithography machines much faster.

Of course, ASML has a lot of orders now, including many from Taiwan and South Korea. However, there are no orders from Japan, as Canon and Nikon are catching up frantically and want to catch up with ASML as quickly as possible to continue competing with ASML for the lithography machine market.

As John's investments in Taiwan have increased, Taiwan has also become more attentive to the industry. ASML is now fully operational in Taiwan, which has had a significant impact on the country, accelerating its development in semiconductor chips. Most importantly, ASML's departure has left Europeans stunned, plunging them into difficulties in the field of lithography. Especially now, with the continuous improvement of optical lenses in Taiwan, they no longer need lenses from Germany, which has had a considerable impact on Zeiss. After all, ASML was an important customer for them, and now that their customer has left, how can they not have a headache?

Entering the 1990s, Zeiss's situation was extremely dire. Competition with Japan directly plunged them into huge losses, and they were steadily defeated by Nikon and Canon. Even now, with Japan's manufacturing industry struggling, Zeiss's situation is even worse, bordering on bankruptcy.

"Boss, are you serious? We want to acquire Zeiss. Do you think they'll agree?" When ASML in Taiwan heard John's idea, they were incredibly shocked. Zeiss was an industry giant to them.

“If they don’t agree, they’ll go bankrupt and be liquidated. At that time, we can acquire them at a lower price. Don’t think that Zeiss is so powerful now. They have been defeated by Nikon and Canon and are already in trouble in the camera market. If they don’t accept our acquisition, they will only face death.”

"I'm afraid the European side won't agree to our acquisition, especially at this time. It would be like slapping them in the face!"

"It's not a big deal if they disagree. After all, we got everything we wanted from East Germany before German reunification. A successful acquisition will save us some trouble and allow us to directly access Zeiss's most advanced technology, which will speed up the improvement of our cameras. As for optical lenses, Taiwan can already produce them itself, which can still meet ASML's needs. So now it's not us who are in a hurry, but Zeiss. Without our orders, their situation will be even more difficult. Unless they want to go bankrupt and liquidate, they will have no choice but to agree to our acquisition and make Zeiss our optical lens manufacturing plant!"

"Boss, don't worry. I will contact Zeiss and hope they will accept our acquisition offer. The only problem is that our offer may not be responded to, or even that someone may try to stop it. Zeiss is a German optical giant. Even if they are in dire straits, they may not be willing to compromise with us. After all, they can seek help from other European companies, or even get help from the German government. They will not watch Zeiss fall!"

Although many people don't see the acquisition of Zeiss, the engineers who came to Taiwan are all very satisfied with their lives here. It's much better than in Europe, with lower living costs and their salaries not decreasing, so their quality of life has naturally improved. Therefore, ASML is doing very well now, and people are very stable!
John shook his head and said, "Alright, you guys handle this. I won't get involved much. Germany won't last long. Since there aren't too many problems in Taiwan, I'll leave in a few days to check on things in South Korea. We need to finish the Samsung order as soon as possible. We can't give those guys in Japan a chance. After all, Samsung is one of our important clients!"

(End of this chapter)