America: My Time

Chapter 273 The Weakness of Neon

Chapter 273 The Weakness of Neon
"John, has the situation in the semiconductor industry really deteriorated to this point?" At this moment, Morgan frowned. Although it wasn't the first time he had heard John talk about this, he took it very seriously because he had come with a mission. After all, in his eyes, John was the best consultant in the semiconductor industry.

"If the White House didn't have so many reservations and acted directly against Japan at this time, perhaps those American companies would still have some hope, provided that they can increase their investment in research and development instead of just thinking about selling their outdated products. Moore's Law still makes sense. If they don't speed up their research and development, the gap will only widen."

"If that's the case, we still need to work together to put pressure on the White House and make them interfere with the development of neon semiconductors, so that they can't impact American companies."

"Heh, difficult, very difficult. Even if the White House intervenes now, do you think those American companies will increase their R&D investment? I don't think that will happen. Those guys will only become more unscrupulous and focus more on public relations than on R&D. If those guys could invest the money they spend on public relations directly into R&D, we wouldn't be in this situation today, and Japan wouldn't have been able to overtake the US in such a short time. Of course, if the White House can persuade Intel and other memory chip companies to focus on R&D and concentrate on memory chip development, they can still take everything back, after all, they still have the technology."

John would be happy if those bastards Intel and AMD could give up on CPU development, meaning Nvidia would have two fewer competitors. However, that won't be so easy. Although Nvidia entered the market earlier and dominated both the CPU and GPU chip markets, Intel and AMD won't give up easily.

While Nvidia's early entry limited their gains in CPU and GPU chips, they also failed to achieve significant success in memory chips. Similarly dominated by Japan and consistently at a disadvantage, both chip companies are facing difficulties.

"John, are you sure focusing on memory chips will allow them to regain market share?"

"Of course, if they invest heavily in research and development, they can certainly achieve this. If their memory chips can meet the requirements of Dream World, we will naturally not refuse. They don't even need to surpass Neon; as long as they can match them, Dream World will definitely purchase their memory chips, and even Game World will be no exception. You can tell those guys this, and you can tell the White House. This is the promise I can give them. As for whether they are willing to do it or not, that is their own choice, and I cannot interfere."

"This is indeed a difficult decision. Focusing on the research and development of memory chips and competing with Japan for the market will put considerable pressure on them. If they fail, they will be in big trouble."

"Heh, their pressure? Do you think Dream World isn't under pressure? Nvidia isn't under pressure? Everyone is under pressure. Faced with Japan's insane R&D investment, neither Dream World nor Nvidia dares to relax their vigilance in the slightest. Don't be fooled by Dream World's focus on software and the internet; the pressure is immense. Nvidia is even more so. They also face pressure from Japan in chip development. Chip development isn't easy. You all only see Nvidia's rapid chip development, but you haven't seen how astonishing their efforts are. If it weren't for the success of VCDs, Nvidia's pressure would be even more staggering. Relying solely on chip revenue is hardly enough to support Nvidia's development. And those Japanese companies have corresponding electronic products behind them—that's the biggest problem."

At this moment, John sneered, then continued, "To be honest, in my opinion, those guys have chosen the wrong target for their PR efforts. They haven't found the fatal weakness in Japan's semiconductor industry. Even if they wanted to persuade the White House to intervene, they shouldn't be targeting semiconductor production and R&D, but rather Japan's home appliances. Look at the US today; Japan has almost completely taken over the home appliance market. Japan has ten major home appliance companies, while what does the US have? It's precisely because Japan's semiconductor industry is backed by these massive home appliance companies that Japan has been able to grow so rapidly, meeting their market demand for semiconductors. If the White House can cripple Japan's home appliance companies, making it difficult for them to gain a foothold in the US market, what will their semiconductor industry rely on for development?"

"Hiss!" Morgan gasped when he heard John's words. He never expected that the American semiconductor companies would choose the wrong direction to suppress them. However, suppressing Japanese home appliance companies is not an easy task. Even the White House has to be handled with caution, after all, it is one of the pillars of the Japanese economy.

"John, do you think the White House can suppress Japanese home appliance companies? If they do, how will the US home appliance market choose its trading partners? We seem to have no alternative products." "Heh, now we realize we can't find alternatives in the home appliance market, but it's too late. Japan has already grown and thrived in the industry. Of course, we're not entirely without alternatives. Sampo from Taiwan is a good choice. Although there's still a significant gap compared to Japan, it's achievable with the White House's support. Besides, the US isn't without home appliance companies; we can conduct R&D in the US and manufacture in Taiwan, provided we have the White House's support. Otherwise, it's all just empty talk."

John's statement isn't entirely correct, but it makes sense. If Japan's expansion in the home appliance industry can be curbed, preventing them from continuing to penetrate the US home appliance market, wouldn't the semiconductor industry behind these home appliance companies be affected at all? Would they still have enough R&D funds? However, even the White House has to treat such a decision with caution.

“That makes sense, but it won’t be easy to do all this; it will take time.” Morgan nodded slightly, agreeing with John’s suggestion, but he knew all too well that it wouldn’t be easy to accomplish.

"Time? Unfortunately, American companies don't have that much time to wait. If the White House drags on for too long, before those guys in Japan are even affected, the US will break down first, at least that's the case with memory chips. They don't have that much time to wait. However, this has little to do with Dreamworld and Nvidia, we haven't even entered the memory chip industry!"

John had no intention of getting involved in memory chip development at this time, given that the costs and rewards were disproportionate. He lacked both the technology and the substantial funds to compete with Japan in the memory chip field. It would be better to focus on developing his own CPU and GPU chips and firmly grasp the market first.

"If those guys had your vision, we wouldn't have to worry about them. But that's a White House matter, we don't need to concern ourselves with it. However, what are your thoughts on communications? How much potential does Bell Labs have in mobile communications?" Morgan quickly changed the subject, focusing on Bell Labs' mobile communications patents, wanting to learn more about that area.

"It's too early to talk about potential now. After all, everything is just beginning, and we also have to face pressure from Europe. Europe is also developing mobile communications very vigorously, which will become our biggest competitor. It is precisely because of Europe's existence that I decided to cooperate with Japan, or even establish a joint venture, to take over the Japanese market first. We can consider other issues later. After all, Japan's economy is very good, and Taiwan is also a target of Global Communications. At least we can't let the Europeans take it away."

"John, what are your thoughts on this, America? I haven't noticed any expansion by Global Online. It seems that Global Online is focusing all its energy on the development of its television network and the internet?"

"Yes, it will happen. We haven't completed all the testing in Hong Kong yet, so we're not ready to expand in the US for the time being. We also don't have enough product reserves. This will take time. Our OEM manufacturing in Taiwan is already overwhelmed by the huge workload and is working overtime to expand. Once the situation in Taiwan stabilizes, we'll start our expansion in the US. This will require a large investment. Those bastards keep saying I haven't created jobs in the US, which is a huge joke. I have quite a few employees in the US."

"John, when will the testing in Hong Kong end? When will Global Online's expansion in the US begin? This isn't something I want to know, but rather something the White House wants to know. They've all been quite worried since they learned about your collaboration with Japan!"

"I think the people worried aren't the White House, but those old guys. They're afraid that Global Online will impact their interests and affect the splitting up of Bell Corporation! But they're overthinking it. For a long time, Global Online's mobile communications won't affect their interests, at least not now. Nobody can say for sure what will happen in the future!"

(End of this chapter)