America: My Time

Chapter 280 The Enemy's Probing

Chapter 280 The Enemy's Probing

After the fashion show, the women gathered together again. Although this wasn't their first meeting, this brief encounter still stirred something within them.

However, before they could meet up with John, Naoko and Akina ran into some Japanese friends, disrupting their original plans. The group of beauties found a place to sit down near Times Square, which was a rare moment of rest for them.

In contrast, Cherie Chung and Sally Yeh seemed somewhat puzzled by the enthusiasm of these Japanese beauties. After all, they didn't face the same pressure as Japanese idols, and a group of beautiful women naturally attracted a lot of attention. Fortunately, the American media weren't focused on them, but rather on John.

When those guys learned that John had appeared at the fashion show, they all perked up, eager to interview this business tycoon. Especially after the launch events of Dreamworld and Nvidia, more people wanted to know about the development of these two companies, and some even wanted to know about the cooperation between Bell Labs and Japan.

Although these guys had approached Anne Malcolm, the CEO of Bell Labs, they hadn't gotten any useful information. Her energy wasn't focused on the collaboration with Japan; Bell Labs had a lot of work to do.

"Mr. John, have you heard the voices of many companies in Silicon Valley? They all believe that your cooperation with Japan is wrong, and that such cooperation will affect US security. What are your thoughts on this?" Goodness, these guys immediately asked John this question the moment they grabbed him!

"My opinion is not important, and those guys' opinions are even less important. What's important is their own problem. How much potential does a company have that only focuses on other companies instead of putting its energy into its own development? Instead of worrying about other companies, they should focus their energy on their own research and development. As for the so-called security issues, that's just a joke. The authorities haven't said anything, yet they jump out to cause trouble. It's obvious that they're too selfish. Dream World, Nvidia, and Global Online won't pay any attention to them. Development won't stop because of their stupid ideas."

"Mr. John, some people hope that Dreamworld will open up its network system patents, which would benefit the world's development and the promotion of technology. What are your thoughts on this?"

"Opening up the patents is not impossible, but it takes time. Dream World has paid a considerable price for this network system and invested a lot of money. It is impossible to open up the technology patents without any results. We need time to recoup our costs. Once Dream World, NVIDIA, and Bell Labs have recouped their R&D investment, we will consider opening up the technology patents. Moreover, there is no need to open them up now. After all, today's personal computers are capable of supporting such a network system. There is also no need for enterprises and universities to open them up. Enterprises need to make money, and we are not a charity."

Although John was prepared, he knew that those bastards in the US semiconductor industry wouldn't give up easily. They would definitely cause trouble as soon as they found an opportunity. Perhaps those old guys were behind it all. Don't be fooled by the fact that these old guys got shares in Dreamworld and Nvidia from him. They won't be satisfied easily, especially after the official orders were rejected. These guys will definitely have other ideas.

"Mr. John, Bell Labs is collaborating with Japan on the most advanced mobile communication technology. Why didn't they promote it in the US first? Does this mean Global Online is abandoning its promotion in the US?"

"As the world's largest consumer market, how could we abandon our promotion efforts in the US? It's just that we're not ready yet. Everything must wait until we're fully prepared before we begin. Otherwise, rashly promoting new technology could lead to unimaginable costs for our companies if problems arise. We will only begin promotion in the US after the testing in Hong Kong is complete! Cooperating with Japan is mutually beneficial; it benefits both of us. I hope everyone will view this issue rationally and not jump to conclusions. I know many people don't want to see us make great strides, but trying to hinder our development in this way is simply foolish!"

"Mr. John, what about the advertisements around Times Square? Almost all of them are from Japanese companies. Isn't that a bit too much?"

“This is just normal business practice. We have no reason to refuse advertising from Japanese companies, let alone the large advertising fees they offer. No, we haven't tried to sell advertising here to other companies; they just walked away as soon as they heard about the high fees, never giving us a chance to cooperate. Of all the companies, only Japanese companies have placed the greatest trust in us, which has led to this situation. It's not our fault; it's that other companies were unwilling to accept our advertising plan.” John's words sounded reasonable, but that wasn't entirely true. In this advertising campaign, Cultural Oriental Advertising Company hadn't even told other companies about the entire Times Square plan beforehand; they only mentioned the high advertising fees initially, which is why those companies refused immediately. If they had known about the Times Square advertising plan, things might have been different; instead, almost all the advertising space wouldn't be occupied by Japanese companies.

Perhaps after today, those companies that received invitations from Cultural Oriental Advertising Company will regret it, but that has nothing to do with John. Moreover, he can only get a little advertising revenue from them, but he can get more benefits from these guys in Japan. In this situation, is there any need to say more about which one to choose?
Although many people were dissatisfied with John's explanation, they couldn't find a reason to refute it. It wasn't that the advertising company didn't invite other companies, but rather that they directly refused. Only Japanese companies, with their "money and foolishness," were willing to accept, which led to the current situation.

After leaving the venue, John and Akio Morita and the other Japanese bigwigs found a quiet place to sit down: "Mr. Morita, as you all have seen, there are many people in the United States who can't stand to see me doing well and are boycotting your Japanese companies. If we hadn't acted quickly and held a press conference and signed a cooperation agreement earlier, there might have been another uproar!"

"The current situation in the United States is indeed very unfriendly to Japanese companies like ours. The exaggerated propaganda by those media outlets has greatly damaged our corporate image. It seems we need to increase our investment in this area and not let the enemy's conspiracy succeed. We also need the strong support of Legendary Entertainment!"

Having never personally experienced the unfriendly attitude of the United States, old guys like Akio Morita, while a little wary, wouldn't take any major action. But this time, seeing the behavior of those "meddling media" and the pressure John faced, they finally realized that the situation in the United States was more dangerous than they had imagined.

Although Japanese bigwigs like Akio Morita had learned about this in the previous days, it was only from their understanding of the American companies. They had not truly felt the pressure from the media. This time, they clearly felt it: almost 90% of the American media were on the opposing side of Japan and were boycotting Japanese companies!

For Japanese bigwigs like Akio Morita, this situation is extremely dangerous. If they don't take it seriously, Japan's reputation in the United States may be damaged before long, and it will be too difficult for them to turn things around then. It is precisely because they have seen and felt all of this that they feel a sense of urgency.

“Mr. Morita, I think this is just the beginning. It will get even crazier as time goes on. If you don’t handle this carefully, the trouble may get even bigger. This is not driven by one or two companies, but by almost all of the manufacturing and semiconductor companies in the United States. Even if Legendary Entertainment Group and Phoenix Group give their full support, they can’t stop those guys’ crazy actions. You need to increase your investment in advertising!”

For John, those guys' crazy actions gave him a perfect excuse to make Akio Morita and the other Japanese guys understand how much pressure Japanese companies face in the United States, and how much pressure he would have to endure to cooperate with them. He wanted them to complete the cooperation quickly so that those 'enemies' would not have a chance to cause trouble, and so that the US government would not have a chance to stop it.

If anyone had previously wanted to negotiate with John, Bell Labs, and Global Online to gain more benefits—after all, in their eyes, John was easy to talk to—now no one had such thoughts anymore. They all understood that if things dragged on any longer, the situation might change, leading to outcomes they didn't want to see.

"John, when will Japan Global Online start? We've already prepared the funding. If there are no issues with Global Online and Bell Labs, we hope to start our operations in Japan as soon as possible."

“Mr. Morita, you have agreed on the share distribution, which is no small matter. Once the cooperation begins, everyone must go all out. We can’t afford any setbacks. Not only will you be under pressure, but I am also under tremendous pressure. Therefore, from the very beginning of the cooperation, you need to devote all your efforts to the construction of network and communication base stations and complete this cooperation as quickly as possible so that the United States has no reason to stop it!”

"Don't worry, the shareholding issue is easy to resolve. I believe Japan has already reached an agreement. Now we are just waiting for technical support from Bell Labs and Global Online. As long as the products on the US side are fine, everything will be alright!"

(End of this chapter)