America: My Time

Chapter 496 Laying Out Southeast Asia

Chapter 496 Laying Out in Southeast Asia

The Japanese are shameless. The more John doesn't want to cooperate with them, the more they think John is the best partner, and the more they want to drag John into cooperation and building factories together. Toshiba is unwilling and rejects John, but Fujitsu has the same idea, but they are still rejected by John.

As ASUS accelerates its development and begins construction of its electronics factory, more and more people are frowning and wondering about ASUS's positioning. Originally, ASUS was just an OEM for Nvidia, but now ASUS is developing too fast, to an unbelievable degree. It already has its own personal computer brand, and now it is making a big push into electronics manufacturing, making people feel that ASUS is going to fully enter the OEM industry. It not only wants to become a giant in semiconductor OEM, but now it wants to go further in electronics OEM.

At this time, everyone overlooked the development of ASUS' own branded products, such as personal computers, keyboards, mice, power supplies, and fans. As ASUS personal computers were entering the US market, and because they were an independent brand, the profits were not small. Most importantly, due to the price, they occupied a significant market share.

John sighed at the development in Europe. Europeans are too frugal. It's too difficult to get them to replace their computers. As long as they can still use them, they are unwilling to replace them with new ones. Their pace of upgrading is far slower than that of the American market. Even their universities are like this. The only places with a fast pace of upgrading are research institutions and the financial market.

After initial sales, ASUS's growth in the European market quickly slowed down. John was frustrated but helpless, as he had no control over the situation; you can't force someone to buy if they don't want to. However, ASUS soon found a new market in China, launching its personal computers there and achieving considerable success.

Just when many people were wondering why John was staying in Taiwan for so long and seemed to be living a carefree life, John's salvage fleet and security company fleet arrived in Taiwan. Only then did John leave Taiwan, board the salvage fleet, and head towards Indonesia.

Adventure or treasure hunt? This moment left many people dumbfounded. John's behavior was even more unpredictable. Could it be that this guy had really let himself go? This thought once again surfaced in everyone's minds. The John they knew now was a stranger, no longer the guy who made them feel threatened!
“Jimmy, go find out what’s going on with John, what he’s going to do, why he suddenly made such a crazy decision to explore for shipwreck treasure off the coast of Indonesia. Is he crazy, or are we mistaken? How could those Indonesian guys agree to his request!”

"Boss, it's true. John has arrived in Indonesia, and as far as I know, his salvage fleet is expanding. He placed an order for two salvage ships in Taiwan, and the ship he built in Japan is now equipped with the most advanced salvage tools and various advanced instruments. It feels like he's really going to make a big splash. Not only Indonesia, but also Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines have signed agreements with John's salvage fleet."

"He's gone mad. It seems this guy has really gone insane. Isn't anyone going to stop him? Are his bosses just letting him go on like this? What is he thinking, making such a decision? Ignoring his own company and participating in this salvage operation?"

"From what I understand, John says this is his dream. He's always had this plan, but he hasn't implemented it because of concerns about pirate threats in Southeast Asia. Now, with the cooperation with the navy, he no longer needs to worry, so he's fully launched this crazy plan. As far as I know, he's invested a considerable amount of money, and Jaguar Security is recruiting more sailors. Some even think that this little fox is indirectly increasing Jaguar Security's power; he's expanding his own influence! Another theory is that John wants to explore Southeast Asia's maritime energy resources, after all, Western Energy has a significant presence in Southeast Asia."

In fact, John's actions had an even more important strategic purpose: the security of maritime transport. The Strait of Malacca is not a safe place. With the development of Quantum Mining and Western Energy, both companies will face the issue of maritime transport security. If they don't make arrangements in advance, any incident could affect their plans.

Of course, John was also interested in the shipwreck treasures in the Southeast Asian seas. This was an astonishing fortune and a good opportunity for Jaguar Security to hone its skills at sea. After all, with the deepening cooperation with the United States, Jaguar Security needed more resources. Moreover, the Middle Eastern tycoons also had the idea of ​​cooperation this time, so John needed to make some investment in this area. Salvaging shipwrecks became the best way to hone his skills.

John was somewhat familiar with the numerous shipwrecks in the waters off Southeast Asia, and he knew that many salvage companies in the US and UK were frantically searching for marine treasures. With the expansion of Jaguar Security, John had the same idea – not for the money, but for the treasures on the seabed. Why Indonesia as his primary target? Because of the famous Black Stone shipwreck, and because Indonesia was known for its aggressive pricing strategy; for the right price, they would agree to almost anything. Furthermore, Quantum Mining had a close partnership with Indonesia, so this small request wouldn't be a big deal for them.

“George, I hope you can thoroughly understand everything about the Southeast Asian waters in the coming days, and find out all the information about those pirates. Salvage is just the obvious thing. What you need to do is understand the situation of the entire Southeast Asian waters, understand the information about those pirates, and avoid problems with the transport fleets of Quantum Mining and Western Energy.”

"Boss, don't worry, I understand, I won't let you down!"

"That's good. There are quite a few shipwrecks here, and you have the most advanced equipment, so I'm sure you won't come away empty-handed. As long as you find the shipwreck treasure, you'll all receive an amazing reward. Let them work hard, and I hope you can bring me even more good luck!"

John knew how dangerous sea transport was, especially the Strait of Malacca, which was teeming with pirates and required constant vigilance. Although nothing had happened so far, John dared not entrust his safety to others; taking the initiative was paramount, and now was the best opportunity.

Expanding the security company's strength is the greatest protection for one's own safety. John never dares to be careless about security issues. Otherwise, Jaguar Security Company would not have such a strong force now, nor would it have expanded so quickly. It is precisely because of the existence of Jaguar Security Company that John has avoided a lot of trouble.

Unfortunately, John couldn't stay at sea forever. As the turmoil in the US gradually subsided and relations between the US and Japan returned to normal, John quietly returned to the US to handle some matters related to the integration of the Phoenix Group. After all, such important matters required John's personal involvement. However, John didn't stay in the US for long. Instead, he returned to Asia to continue his strategic planning there, leaving the situation in Europe to his own devices for the time being.

As time went on, while the major companies were developing smoothly, Hughes Aerospace was in a different situation, forcing John to confront Hughes Aerospace's major problems. With rapid development and the accelerated deployment of Hughes Aerospace's GPS system, the shortage of funds became Hughes Aerospace's biggest problem. Originally, John wanted to bring more people into the project, but the Japanese and Middle Eastern tycoons refused, unwilling to let more people know about and participate in the project.

Under these circumstances, John had no choice but to slow down Hughes Aerospace's development. However, the funding problem still needed to be solved, as the project was of great importance, involving much more than just global positioning. Therefore, John had to leave the United States and come to Tokyo to talk to the Japanese.

October in Tokyo is autumnal, with clear skies and crisp air, but John has no time to appreciate it. Instead, he's engaged in negotiations with the Japanese regarding Hughes Aerospace's GPS system. In fact, John isn't the only one troubled by Hughes Aerospace; the Japanese are too. Upon learning of the slowdown in Hughes Aerospace's development, they've become uneasy, even suspecting that US government intervention might have forced Hughes Aerospace to decelerate its progress.

These guys from Japan had always wanted to talk to John about this issue, but they never had the chance. This time, as soon as John arrived in Tokyo, before he could even contact them to discuss Hughes Aircraft, they came to him on their own initiative. Since they had already had several contacts, this time they didn't ask Akio Morita to introduce them, but came to him directly. In their view, such an important matter shouldn't be revealed to Akio Morita too much.

The more perfect the Global Positioning System becomes, the more attractive its functions become. The Japanese are eager to see it fully completed. Although they only have limited access, this does not deter them. Through repeated trials, they have witnessed the power of this satellite system and are naturally reluctant to give it up. However, the current slowdown in development could affect the final network deployment timeline, which is the biggest concern for the Japanese.

(End of this chapter)