America: My Time

Chapter 443 Crisis emerges
Chapter 443 Crisis Emerges

Will Japan's market share in memory chips end because of the Plaza Accord? No, that's impossible. The depreciation of the dollar and the appreciation of the yen cannot change Japan's position in memory chips. Next year, their market share will be even larger, exceeding 80%. The depreciation of the dollar does not bring new opportunities, but rather directly exposes the United States' technological shortcomings in many technology projects.

"Perhaps there really was an element of conspiracy behind Black Monday. The Americans realized that their products lacked technological sophistication and needed time to upgrade and replace them, which led to this storm. I also need to be prepared!"

After a conversation with Morgan Stanley, John also thought of this question: Americans are absolutely capable of using stock market crashes to reap global wealth. When they discover their own shortcomings and cannot stop the loss of their own companies' market share in a short period of time, a stock market crash is the best solution, killing two birds with one stone.

The US has no one to blame but itself for this situation. It never knows when the anti-monopoly and anti-disruption measures will come down and deal a fatal blow to companies. This is why John is hesitant to merge Nvidia and ASUS, and also hesitant to let either ASUS or Nvidia acquire hard drive companies.

Today, Dreamworld is a dominant player in the software industry, with its own servers, supercomputers, and professional workstations. If it weren't for IBM standing in its way, Dreamworld would probably be facing anti-monopoly and anti-monopoly measures. This is why John preferred to give the patent for the information machine to United Press International rather than to Dreamworld.

Don't be fooled by how kind those old guys seem now. If given the chance, they'll deliver a fatal blow. Dreamworld faces no less pressure than IBM. It's just that Dreamworld hasn't ventured into hardware, focusing only on high-end products and software. Even so, some in Silicon Valley think Dreamworld should be broken up!

In other words, his rapid expansion in Quantum Mining and Western Energy had attracted the attention of those old guys. By the time they realized what was happening, everything would have changed, and Dream World would need to be prepared for its dismantling. Although this was the worst-case scenario, John had to take it seriously. Those old guys were only temporarily fooled by him, which did not mean they would stay that way forever.

Whether it's Dream World or Nvidia, they may face anti-monopoly and anti-disruption measures. At this time, American semiconductor companies are all focused on Japan, believing that Japan has stolen their market share. They haven't realized that Nvidia also holds a significant share in the CPU and GPU market. Once these companies realize this, it's not impossible that they will wield the anti-monopoly and anti-disruption weapon.

Let those guys in Japan hold on a little longer, so I can have enough time to prepare! At this moment, John couldn't help but think of Japan, hoping that these guys could be strong and buy him more time to prepare, so that he wouldn't be caught off guard when danger strikes.

This is a crazy era. As long as the big stick of anti-monopoly and anti-monopoly is used, the company's market value will suffer huge losses. This is something that many shareholders do not want to see. Nowadays, the demands of the game world are getting more and more serious. Those game companies that rely on the game world platform for survival are increasingly dissatisfied with being harvested. This makes John have to pay attention.

At this point, the North American market was dominated by GameWorld, with almost all game companies using its platform. Those unwilling to join were eliminated, which was the biggest problem. Without competitors, the anti-monopoly and anti-monopoly measures would quickly be implemented.

Of course, this will also be the enemy's primary target for retaliation. The gaming world is too conspicuous these days, leaving no room for explanation. Not only is the North American market dominated, but the global market is too. Although Japanese game companies have avoided the gaming world's patents, they can't avoid the controller's proprietary technology. However, these companies aren't quite ready to wrest market share from the gaming world.

John had never let his guard down with the Japanese game companies and had been keeping a close eye on their development. When these guys circumvented the patents of the game world, competition would arise, and the game world would face pressure from Japan. One by one, the sheep that had been attached to the game world would run away.

"These Japanese guys are moving faster than I expected. I originally thought they wouldn't finish until the end of 1986, but these bastards pulled another trick, pooling resources from several companies to develop it together. It seems these bastards are determined to destroy us. As soon as their product hits the market, problems will soon arise in Asia. Those bastards will definitely use even lower prices to tie down Japanese game companies. If the US imposes anti-monopoly and anti-disruption measures at this time, the problem will be huge."

John sighed and shook his head, trying to clear his mind of these chaotic thoughts, but it was all in vain. The success of the neon game had already triggered a crisis in the game world. Although these guys couldn't threaten the game world yet, it wouldn't be long before they affected its interests.

"Let's put these things aside for now and deal with things in New York first. We can think about the crisis that Game World, Dream World, and Nvidia will face when we get back to San Francisco. Since it's inevitable, we have to complete our transformation with the least cost. We can't give the enemy a chance; what needs to be sacrificed must be sacrificed."

John quickly snapped out of his daze and realized that his priority was to handle things in New York. Things couldn't go wrong there, or it would affect the entire group's development. "I won't be involved in directing this Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. You'll handle everything yourselves. We still need to offer some incentives to Japan to increase Victoria's Secret's market share there. Sales in Japan have been great in the past year; we need to keep up the good work and go even further. Have you gotten your hands on the Top Gun flight suits yet? That's a significant deal." Although John was the boss, he let his subordinates negotiate these minor matters themselves and didn't interfere.

After Top Gun was released, the flight jacket became incredibly popular. John had reminded Andrea Chung about it early on and was prepared. If it weren't for the agreement, John would have preferred to postpone the release date to coincide with his clothing sales. Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking; such a project couldn't afford any mishaps.

"We've already secured the apparel segment, but will it really be a huge hit? Top Gun is a summer blockbuster."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Our priority is to ensure the film's success. Only if the film is successful can the merchandise sell well!" John understood the impact of the summer season on clothing sales, but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't change the summer release date because of merchandise sales. Merchandise sales were good, but the film was still the most important thing.

"Boss, a lot of people want to participate in this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. If we let them be guest performers, they won't ask for a single penny; they might even pay us for the publicity!"

"If it's Michael, that's fine, but we'll refuse everyone else. We can't let them ruin the Victoria's Secret stage. What we want are classics, not to save a little money. You should know how much Victoria's Secret is worth now. Just based on that, we can't cut corners in this area. We should let Universal Music come up with suitable music!"

Although he knew the boss would refuse, he still had to say it. From the company's perspective, accepting performers from outside Universal Music wasn't impossible, but this wasn't an ordinary performance. If they opened that door, the problems would be huge. Victoria's Secret had countless people coming to them asking for gigs. Perhaps before long, the whole operation would collapse.

With her keen eye, Andrea Chung could naturally see the hidden dangers behind this, but some people in Victoria's Secret only saw the immediate benefits and were unwilling to give up the advantages they had gained. So Andrea Chung had to report this problem to her boss.

"Is there someone inside the company who thinks this is a good way to make money? How much money can they make? I want them to give up this ridiculous idea. Regardless of whether there are any benefits involved, I don't want to hear this again. If anyone doesn't agree, let him go. Victoria's Secret can't tolerate a god like him!" John quickly realized the hidden danger behind this and had to remind Andrea Chung to be prepared.

Perhaps the development of the past two years has made those guys at Victoria's Secret forget who the real boss is, and they've become a bit arrogant. John will not allow this to happen. He will deal with them one by one without any mercy.

"No matter what those guys at Victoria's Secret are thinking, they can't deviate from the group's big plan. If anyone dares to cause trouble, let them go. You can have someone investigate whether they have any connections with those music companies. If so, ask them to leave directly. We don't need any moles!"

This is just the beginning for Victoria's Secret, and some people are already having crooked ideas. This forces John to take it seriously, as this is no small matter. The slightest carelessness could put Victoria's Secret in dire straits.

"Boss, I'm afraid this isn't a good idea. After all, many designers and management staff have dealings with some artists. If we make such a big fuss, it will cause unnecessary trouble and may even affect the development of Victoria's Secret."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Now that we've discovered the problem, we need to solve it as quickly as possible. Even if it causes short-term pain, it's worth it. We can't let these guys ruin Victoria's Secret's image and let the situation slide into an even more terrible abyss. Once that happens, the Victoria's Secret brand will be finished!"

(End of this chapter)