Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 274: Carrying out Secretly

Of the two documents, the debt-to-equity aspect was relatively simple, and the heads of several semiconductor companies only glanced at them.

The second document containing the interest exchange plan is the focus of their observation.

"In three months at most, we will be able to have half of Xinghai's production capacity. This is a good condition. The company can produce more computers."

Tadahiro Sekimoto looked at the interest exchange plan in front of him. He didn't know whether others were satisfied or not, but he was very satisfied.

The company's additional wafer share in Xinghai Foundry can greatly alleviate its own wafer shortage problem.

“This is also good. The company can more easily develop new and useful mobile phones.”

The series of dazzling innovations of the Xinghai second-generation mobile phone have had a huge impact on the entire mobile communications industry.

For the first time, everyone discovered that mobile phones can be used in this way and can be so convenient.

As for the information on flash memory chips, he didn't pay much attention to it.

NEC has limited talent and cannot focus too much on this area. Competition in the memory chip market has already consumed too much of the company's energy.

Yes, the memory chip market is very competitive right now.

Especially the up-and-coming Samsung, which simply does not treat money as money and is frantically dumping memory chips at a loss.

In order to maintain their market share, companies such as NEC have no choice but to keep up.

In addition to market competition, technological competition in memory chips is equally fierce.

The United States cannot tolerate Japan's monopoly in the memory chip field, and has licensed the latest memory chip technology to South Korea almost free of charge.

South Korean companies quickly caught up with Japan's research and development progress in the field of memory chips.

Among them, Samsung performed the most fiercely.

Not only is it recruiting relevant engineers on a large scale in Silicon Valley, the United States, but it is also frantically poaching talent from Japan's five major semiconductor companies.

If double the salary is not enough, then triple it. If triple is not enough, then five or ten times.

Special driver, special secretary, professional chef...

As long as Japanese engineers are willing to work for Samsung, Samsung will do its best to satisfy everyone's desires.

Even if you don't want to leave, it doesn't matter. You can go to Samsung during your break, and Samsung will still welcome you. And in terms of salary, everything is still full.

Samsung's offensive was so fierce that a large number of Japanese chip researchers fled to South Korea.

Toshiba's performance was the most exaggerated, with the director of its research institute going to Samsung in South Korea.

Such a fierce and cruel competitive environment has left NEC with no energy to diversify its flash memory chip business.

Tadahiro Sekimoto mainly focused on wafer foundry and Star Ocean mobile phones, while Akio Morita paid more attention to Star Ocean investment.

He also knew that he had spent too much money on Columbia Pictures, causing the company to suffer serious losses in recent years.

The 2 million fund shares of Xinghai Investment may be able to make up for this part of the loss.

In addition to fund shares, Akio Morita's second priority was also Xinghai mobile phones.

He looked at the words agreeing to the technology authorization in front of him and couldn't help but recall the meeting scene that day.

When Sony got the second-generation Xinghai mobile phone, Akio Morita was immediately shocked by the innovation inside, and discussed the response strategy with the president Norio Ohga overnight.

"Ohga-san, how do you think our Sony mobile phones can compete?"

"We are simply not capable of competing right now. Let's wait for the next generation. We will imitate them completely and then compete with Xinghai Mobile."

"Is that so? Well, then we'll put our chips on the next generation."

Akio Morita's heart was filled with despair, and his previous question was just a subconscious action.

He knew clearly that the new mobile phone he developed was too different from the second-generation Xinghai mobile phone and they did not seem like products of the same era.

"So how do you think we should sell our new phone?"

"This is easy. We can handle it all through overseas agents."

"Xinghai Group's channel capabilities are still very weak. If we act decisively, it will be easy to deal with it."

The mobile phone industry is an incremental market. Sony can easily clear out its inventory as long as it does not sell its Xinghai mobile phones in Japan and the United States, where they have heavily advertised.

"No problem. I'll leave it to you."

"Hey, please rest assured, President."

Akio Morita quickly woke up from his memories and looked at several other pieces of content.

The foundry share is also good, but that’s about it.

Sony's demand for chips is huge, and Xinghai's 10% share is too small to meet the demand.

As for asking for more shares?
Absolutely 100% failure.

He had studied the Xinghai Group and was well aware of Masato Takeshita's style of doing things.

Once young people come up with a plan, the general direction will basically not be changed.

NEC and Sony are satisfied, and Hitachi, Toshiba and Fujitsu also think the conditions are good.

After a few people looked at each other tacitly, Akio Morita spoke first.

"The conditions are excellent, and I have no objection to the company's debt-equity swap. The bank loan interest rate is too high, and Xinghai Semiconductor should really move forward with light luggage."

Then, several other responsible persons followed suit.

"Morita-san's opinion is the opinion of NEC Corporation."

“So do we at Toshiba.”

Since people have come here, it means they have tacitly accepted the equity-based debt of Xinghai Semiconductor.

As for how many shares Xinghai Group can increase after the debt-to-equity conversion.

These things will be handed over to subordinates for negotiation and have nothing to do with them.

Those in charge of large companies don't have much time to worry about details.

"Thank you, thank you very much for your understanding. I believe that after Xinghai Semiconductor is relieved of its debts, it will be able to develop more rapidly."

After completing the debt-to-equity restructuring, Masato Takeshita plans to invest US$20 billion to build two more state-of-the-art 8-inch wafer fabs.

At the same time, the existing four wafer fabs will also need to be expanded to a certain extent.

Because as time goes by, not only the outside world, but also Xinghai Semiconductor itself needs a large number of chips.

The current four wafer fabs cannot meet the needs of market development at all.

However, there is no need to tell this matter to several shareholders.

How Xinghai OEM develops is the business of Xinghai Group, and several shareholders are only allowed to observe.

"No, you are too polite, Takeshita-san. This is what we hope for."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Masato Takeshita tactfully took everyone to a high-end private club in Ginza.

However, in order to avoid spoiling everyone's fun, the young man only stayed for a short while, and the companionship work was mainly done by Lou Gerstner.

After all, Americans have more tricks when it comes to playing. Although the heads of the six companies have reached a consensus, they still spent more than 20 days to discuss the details before finally reaching an agreement.

Sony, Toshiba and other five companies will each cut their stake in Xinghai Semiconductor by half, or 2.5%.

Xinghai Group increased its stake by 12.5%.

Xinghai Group needs to pay the price of settling all loans of Xinghai Semiconductor and injecting another 500 billion yen into the company.

"Perfect cooperation. I wish Xinghai Semiconductor will develop better and better."

“I wish Xinghai Semiconductor will get better and better.”

After completing the signing, Xinghai Group, as the host, naturally had to host a banquet for everyone.

But there were more people this time, so the place we chose was more formal and there were fewer messy things.

"I heard that Xinghai Group is developing a PC operating system? As someone who has been through this, I think it would be better for Takeshita-san to give up early."

Speaking of operating systems, Tadahiro Sekimoto couldn't help feeling a little sad and angry. He really hoped that his company could have an independent operating system.

Unfortunately, with the United States around, it is basically impossible to realize this dream.

The United States has always had a strong desire to control cutting-edge technology, especially software capabilities.

"I know, so Xinghai Group never thought about developing the Tron operating system. Our company just gave Itamura-san a suggestion."

At the moment, Masato Takeshita also dares not offend the Americans.

He would only sponsor secretly and test the waters carefully.

"Is that so? I hope so. Japan can't stand any more disturbances."

Thinking of the current political situation, Tadahiro Sekimoto felt a little worried.

The entire upper class is filled with optimistic thoughts that the economic crisis can be easily resolved.

I feel that what is happening now is no different from the oil crisis in the 70s. In less than two years, Japan will be able to get rid of its current economic difficulties.

But through his understanding of Masato Takeshita and the compilation of relevant information from various industries in Japan, he discovered that Japan was really in big trouble this time.

Many companies have fallen into debt crisis due to stock speculation and land speculation. Most of the normally developing enterprises have also seen their production costs soar due to factors such as rising exchange rates and wage increases.

The key is that these costs are still difficult to reduce, especially the cost of raw materials, because under the pressure of the United States, Japan cannot carry out a large-scale currency devaluation.

"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid. It's really just a simple sponsorship. The operating system is the lifeblood of the United States. I won't touch the tiger's whiskers now."

Masato Takeshita does have the idea of developing a PC operating system, but not now. The United States is very wary of Japan's semiconductor industry and will suppress any disturbance.

In two or three years, the United States will relax its supervision on Japan. That will be the best time for Xinghai Group to take action.

"That's fine, that's fine."

Tadahiro Sekimoto nodded with satisfaction, not wanting Japan to lose such an innovative entrepreneur.

Even if the two companies are competitors, even if the two companies are inimical in some areas.

But none of that matters.

Japan needs the stimulation of Xinghai Group, the catfish, to develop better.

Toshiba, once the pride of Japan, has fallen, and only Xinghai Group can take on this role.

Yes, the experienced Tadahiro Sekimoto has already sentenced Toshiba to a suspended death sentence.

The semiconductor industry is an emerging industry that is developing very rapidly. If we are not careful, we will be surpassed by up-and-coming companies.

For example, in the field of memory chips, Japan surpassed the former hegemon, the United States, in just over a decade. If Japan's progress slows down like the United States, it will also be surpassed by other countries.

Through careful observation, he discovered that South Korea's Samsung had potential in this area.

First, Samsung has the support of the American technology community and does not have to worry about its technology lagging behind Japan.

Second, Samsung's wages are lower, which can better reduce costs.

Third, Samsung employees are more willing to work overtime, even to the point of working themselves to death.

Most importantly, Samsung respects talent to a degree that even terrifies him.

In contrast, Toshiba has done very poorly in this regard.

As the second largest semiconductor giant in Japan after its own company, Toshiba does not value its own technical personnel at all. Among the semiconductor giants, it also has the largest number of technology talents leaving.

It can still rely on its old capital now, but it will definitely decline gradually in the future.

Although Masato Takeshita didn't know the reason why Tadahiro Sekimoto gave him a kind reminder, he was still happy to return the favor.

"President Sekimoto, I don't know if you have noticed the latest technological wave in the United States. I think it is better not to rely too much on Intel in the field of microprocessors. If possible, it is best to develop it yourself, or cooperate with companies such as Texas Instruments."

It would be very excessive if Intel monopolized the microprocessor, or CPU, market.

Companies that produce computers basically become Intel's hardware factories. If they want to make more money, they'd better have their own microprocessor division.

Anyway, the Japanese market environment is unique, and there is no shortage of software support, so there is no need to worry even if there are slight gaps in self-developed software.

After all, Intel's microprocessors are often not as advanced as Motorola's. But thanks to its cooperation with Microsoft and more software support, Intel's market share remains the highest.

Many times, it is not enough to just have advanced technology to occupy the market; it requires the support of enough partners.

"It's very difficult." Tadahiro Sekimoto shook his head and said bitterly: "We have already defeated the United States in the storage field. It is difficult to repeat the same story again."

If Japanese companies dare to develop the microprocessor field as they have developed the storage field, the United States will definitely be furious.

At this critical moment, it is extremely inappropriate to do this.

"This, okay."

Facing the oppression of the United States, Takeshita Masato is also powerless. Unless the company does not want to have a major global market in the future, it will only focus on its own business.

When one plan failed, Masato Takeshita thought of another thing.

"By the way, Mr. Sekimoto, what do you think of the personal computer industry?"

Tadahiro Sekimoto shook his glass and said slowly and seriously: "It's developing very fast, but there are still many areas that need to be corrected."

The young man nodded in understanding, and then said solemnly: "Mr. Guan Ben, I think personal computers will be the world of the future. If you want to develop in the computer hardware industry, it is best to move to personal computers."

The share prices of companies that focus on personal computers, except for Apple, which is in a mess, are rising. The share price of IBM, the dominant player in mainframe computers, is falling.

The market has shown the future development trend very well. Personal microcomputers are the future of the computer industry.

"Well, I'll consider it."

Tadahiro Sekimoto still took Masato Takeshita's words seriously. He planned to learn more about personal computers after returning. If it was true, he would increase investment in the personal computer department.

The two of them had a very pleasant chat, and Masato Takeshita revealed many secrets about the future.

For example, regarding memory chips, he suggested that Tadahiro Sekimoto reduce their service life.

The personal computer industry is developing too fast, and the service life is too high to be useful.

It would be better to produce chips with a useful life of about five years to further reduce costs.

(End of this chapter)