RBCT Chapter 1429 Goodbye, Robert (4k)
Chapter 1429 Goodbye, Robert (4k)
Chapter 1429 Goodbye, Robert (4k)
Intel's new CEO Robert came to China just for Yi Ke. Although he went to Beijing first, it was just a small and wise decision on the spur of the moment. His intention was to make Yi Ke's disadvantages more obvious and to give himself more initiative.
As expected, more signals came from Washington. No matter the spokesperson, BIS or USTR, they would not allow Yi Ke to dare to initiate such a challenge.
As for the final result, Robert didn't think there would be any surprises. No matter how strong Yi Ke was, he couldn't face the power of another level and could only act according to the rules.
Before taking over as CEO, he was Intel's CFO. He is extremely sensitive to company data and is particularly clear about what the US market means to Yike.
This is more than 30% of Yike’s revenue!
This is an important foundation for Yi Ke to become the leader of the three major families!
Robert's judgment is that if Mr. Fang dares to give up the American market, he will be cut off from Yike. If Yike dares to give up the American market, he will be cut off from the world!
Based on this expectation, Yike’s internal staff must be extremely anxious.
As for this brief communication in the middle, it really doesn't prove anything.
With such confidence, Robert arrived at the 23rd floor of Yike and met the person at the center of the vortex. He also met Yike’s American president Schroeder and co-founder Yu Hong.
He was very satisfied with this welcome, which proved that Yi Ke cared about Intel's negotiation again.
"Robert, please sit down. I've just made some coffee." Fang Zhuo asked the new Intel CEO to take a seat, and then said to Xiao Yu and Schroeder, "You guys go get busy."
Yu Hong and Schroeder nodded and just gave Robert a look. They really had nothing to say to him.
Just like in the general office meeting room before, although it was a bit strange for Schroeder, an American, to shout "Abandon illusions and prepare for struggle", but... even this American president shouted such a slogan, let alone others.
However, the US market still needs to be dealt with. Yike also has a very important R&D center in Silicon Valley, and the cooperation in multiple businesses also needs to be sorted out.
Robert witnessed the departure of the two Yike executives and felt a little embarrassed, but he quickly ignored it. This little accident would not affect today's visit.
He drank his coffee slowly, controlling the atmosphere of the conversation and exerting pressure silently.
"Okay, we've finished our coffee, Robert. We'll talk next time." Fang Zhuo said politely when he saw Intel's new CEO finished his coffee.
Robert, who was about to speak, looked at Mr. Fang in astonishment: "You, you... I, I, I haven't told you about the cooperation between Intel and Yike yet!"
"Didn't you make a phone call on the way here? Yike Optoelectronics cannot have in-depth cooperation with Intel, and Yike's Zhurong chip will not be divested. What else do we have to talk about?" Fang Zhuo asked.
"You, you...your Yike is in a very dangerous situation now!" Robert argued, "Samsung won't save you, Taiwan Semiconductor won't save you, UMC and GlobalFoundries don't have the process, only we Intel can save you! What are you doing?!"
Fang Zhuo simply said: "I don't trust Intel, nor do I trust the power of an interim CEO."
After the previous CEO Brian left, Intel let the CFO temporarily take over the position of CEO.
Robert stood up with a bang and glared at Mr. Fang who was sitting opposite him.
"Is there anything wrong with what I said?" Fang Zhuo asked directly after seeing this reaction.
"You, you are, you are humiliating me!" Robert was very angry.
"Does Intel really have no one left? They hired a stutterer as CEO." Fang Zhuo's words made Robert blush, and he continued, "Let me give you an example. This is humiliating."
Robert suddenly suppressed his anger, sat down again, and asked, "Has Yi Ke reached a consensus with Taiji or Samsung?"
Apart from this possibility, he couldn't imagine why Mr. Fang had the confidence to speak like this.
From the time he entered the office until now, the head of Yi Ke was not at all panicked as predicted, but rather very calm, which was undoubtedly abnormal.
"No, on the contrary, I have worse news." Fang Zhuo said.
Robert frowned and asked, "What news?"
Fang Zhuo said calmly: "I won't tell you."
Robert almost stuttered again in anger, but thinking of the "example" just now, he resisted the urge to speak.
In fact, Fang Zhuo did receive bad news, and it was related to Intel.
Intel CEO's itinerary to Shanghai is public, and he will not discuss other matters at this juncture.
Therefore, Fang Zhuo got the news from his American friends that the latest proposed measures were to require Yi Ke and Bing Xin to completely terminate their cooperation. Otherwise, even if other chip manufacturing suppliers were added, Yi Ke's products would still be subject to scrutiny.
"Complete interruption" means that Yi Ke cannot use the technology from Bingxin in any of its products. If Yi Ke reaches a cooperation with Intel and uses Intel's technology in the US market, while continuing to sell chips produced by Bingxin in its own country, this will not be allowed.
Fang Zhuo believes that this new information may not be a decision made in the near future. Perhaps a step-by-step tightening measure has been planned from the beginning.
Bingxin 16nm has taken the lead, Mars 8.8 has reached the top, and all contradictions are doomed.
Now Robert still wants to take away high-quality resources from Yike, but even if Intel signs the contract, can it resist the pressure from Washington?
It's simply impossible.
Giving up illusions does not mean giving up the illusion about Intel alone, but the illusion about the entire situation.
Robert stared at Mr. Fang for a long time and said, "Mr. Fang, I came here under great pressure this time. Because Intel and Yike have a good cooperation in the field of baseband chips, I am willing to represent the company to save Yike. Don't think that I am taking advantage of the situation."
Fang Zhuo said politely: "Thank you, would you like some more coffee?"
Robert had no choice but to persuade him earnestly: "Mr. Fang, you should consider the overall situation. Yi Ke's passive approach will not have good results! If we lose the United States, Yi Ke will lose 30% of its revenue!"
Fang Zhuo was surprised and said, "Even if they lose the United States, Yike still has 70% of its revenue."
Robert raised his voice and said more bluntly: "Mr. Fang, Yi Ke must surrender. USTR will never let Yi Ke go! Now BIS and USTR are ready to make a move, and even S&P has lowered its rating!"
Fang Zhuo smiled and raised the teacup.
Seeing that Mr. Fang was still smiling, Robert said angrily, "Fang Zhuo, what do you think I came here for? I just came to give you a chance to surrender! Without our cooperation, it will be difficult for you to surrender!"
Fang Zhuo sighed: "I haven't heard such arrogant and confident words for a long time, Robert, I'm too lazy to fuck you, please do as you please."
Robert stood up again and looked at Fang Zhuo. Seeing that he really didn't seem to be pretending, he shook his head and said, "Fang Zhuo, you will definitely regret this."
Fang Zhuo smiled slightly, too lazy to refute, and just pointed to the door of the president's office.
Robert felt humiliated again. It seemed like Mr. Fang didn't treat him as a human being... It was a bit uncomfortable.
He took one last look at the head of Yi Ke, turned around and left the office, quickly ending his main activity in China. He just wanted to see what the end of Yi Ke would be.
Fang Zhuo's meeting with Intel's new CEO lasted only half an hour. When he convened another general office meeting in the evening, he gave a basically complete description of the communication process between the two.
"In the morning, Schroeder said, abandon your illusions and prepare for struggle."
"This Robert from Intel came over and told me that he was here to save Yi Ke, to help me, and to give me a chance to surrender."
"At first glance, it seems to be true. Didn't BIS ask Yike to cut off cooperation with Bingxin? Couldn't Intel provide this legal vacancy? Didn't it just take our Zhurong chip?"
“Yi Ke paid a high price for it, but it helped Yi Ke solve the crisis that was imminent.”
"But, Intel has solved the problem this month, and BIS will issue another temporary regulation next month. What should we do? Will Robert come again and give me another chance to surrender? Should we sell cloud computing to him again?"
"The USTR even revealed the news of additional tariffs. What is Yi Ke going to sell?"
"In the afternoon, Mr. Pan Ben came to see me alone and told me that Zhurong could not be sold."
"He was afraid that I couldn't resist the temptation and that I would sell Zhurong. But before that, in the first two general office meetings, I saw that he was a little hesitant. So, it was good that Robert came this time. It was good that he asked us to surrender and give up the best things."
"Robert came here under the banner of helping Yi Ke. He is not the first and he will not be the last."
"He drank a cup of coffee from me, but I refused it without hesitation. Now he has left quickly. He has been stripped of his pretense of helping me, and his face turned hideous before he left. I sincerely hope that I will regret it."
"How can I regret this?"
"Do you regret founding a world-renowned company like Yike, or do you regret that Yike's cooperation with Bingxin actually launched the world's number one product?"
"BIS restricted Bingxin, SEC investigated Yike, public opinion threw mud at me, and USTR threatened us with tariffs, but all this suddenly reminded me of my old friend Zhang Rujing."
In the general office meeting room, Fang Zhuo said this and motioned to his secretary Liu Zonghong to hand over the newspaper in his hand. He flipped through these old newspapers and passed them around.
"When Mr. Zhang had to leave SMIC, I took these newspapers to comfort him, but I found that he was in a good mood, so I didn't use them. But later on, they comforted me."
"In the past, some people said that China couldn't make shield machines, high-speed railways, aircraft carriers, or satellite navigation. Later... Later, there were not many jewels in the industrial crown."
The newspapers circulated in the conference room contained reports of public opinion assertions and technological breakthroughs in the past few years. The contrast between the two was particularly obvious.
This was intended to encourage Zhang Rujing who had encountered setbacks. As a result, he was still determined to make large silicon wafers, so Liu Zonghong quietly put these away, but took them out recently.
"The situation that Yi Ke encountered this year seemed accidental, as if there would be no shock if the recording had not been leaked, and as if new space could be created through negotiation, but in fact it was an inevitable contradiction."
"They can't surrender, they can't mediate, and it's useless to persuade them. It's wishful thinking to hope that they will show kindness!"
"What lies ahead of Yi Ke is only struggle. He may fail, but if he continues to struggle and fails again, he will struggle again and accumulate experience. By accumulating experience from failure and struggle, he will surely succeed in the end!"
Fang Zhuo said firmly: "Without such cognition, without such determination, Yi Ke would never have made it to the end!"
There was a solemn atmosphere in the general office meeting room.
After a moment, Fang Zhuo softened his tone and said, "Perhaps, some people still have doubts, but we must also allow for different ideas at this stage and respect their thinking process. The facts are here, and I personally have absolute confidence that Yike will continue to make progress."
The general office meeting attended by all members ended.
Fang Zhuo did not go home, but continued to work overtime, considering the content of an open letter to Yike employees. Given the current situation, he had to have a more open attitude and a more transparent position.
At 11 o'clock in the evening, Liu Zonghong received two calls and immediately reported the latest news to his boss: "Mr. Fang, I heard that Mr. Su from AMD flew to Taiwan to report."
Fang Zhuo frowned.
Yu Hong had previously warmed up the cooperation with AMD at the autumn press conference. Yike and it have in-depth joint research and development on the Zen architecture this year, and Bingxin has also given priority to the most advanced production capacity...
The only reason Su Zifeng flew to Taiwan was for OEM cooperation.
This is understandable. The dispute between Bingxin and Yike is getting bigger and bigger. As the CEO of a company, he must be thinking about diversifying risks, and Taiji's technology and process are also very advanced.
Fang Zhuo concentrated on thinking.
Liu Zonghong asked for advice: "Mr. Fang, how should we deal with this?"
The current situation is complicated, and the boss proposed at the evening meeting that different ideas should be allowed and respected.
"Call Kong Yu and ask him to find an organization to put pressure on him. If that doesn't work, replace him." Fang Zhuo picked up the pen again and made his attitude clear. "This is a boat you are not allowed to get off once you get on it."
Since AMD cooperated with Yike, a lot of funds have gradually entered the market. Even though there were fluctuations caused by the restrictions on IceCore, the former's stock price continued to rise.
Today, Lisa Su is still an unpopular female CEO in Silicon Valley, and she must respect the funds and ideas of new shareholders.
Liu Zonghong: “…”
Yeah, I got it.
He immediately went out to call Mr. Kong, telling him that he needed to persuade his neighbor to change his mind as soon as possible. Maybe he had not changed his mind, but at this critical juncture, he should not do anything that would cause misunderstanding.
Although Yike's relationship with Washington has cooled, the MIGA fund still has a lot of initiative in the disposal and operation of funds, which is earned by its long-term reputation for making money.
Su Zifeng, who had just been inspecting the company for half a day, soon received a call from one of the top ten new shareholders and felt the pressure quite directly.
She quickly dismissed some of the ideas and had already realized the impact of AMD's current shareholder situation and Yi Ke's existence.
Risks are risks, although they are greater than expected, but... everyone has their own force majeure, so we should understand and respect each other.
(End of this chapter)