[Chapter 687: Reshuffling]
The British started their fundraising journey, but things weren't going smoothly. Very few institutions believed they would win. It wasn't just William White who intended to take them down. Soros was just a pawn in a larger game, and he had a whole army behind him. With the Federal Reserve as his backing, what did the Brits have to fight with?
"Sir, Tom is here. Do you want to see him now or wait until this shot is done?"
"Go ahead and bring him in. It won't wrap up quickly here."
"Sure, sir."
William White was on set, and security was tight. He had ruffled quite a few feathers, and that's just how it was.
Wearing a baseball cap and jeans, if you didn't know him, you'd have trouble recognizing him. Of course, Tom didn't have that problem.
"Tom, is there a problem with the Japanese orders?"
"No, sir, but Commodore might need to file for bankruptcy protection. Apple is also struggling; if things keep going this way, they might be next."
"Is it still not good enough? I've helped as much as I can. Still..."
Though Tom wasn't entirely sure what the boss was talking about, he had a general idea.
"Tom, can't they just sell it off? Why go through the hassle of bankruptcy protection?"
"The company is too big for anyone to take over. IBM is barely holding on itself, and they probably aren't interested. It's unfortunate; if they acted sooner, the Japanese folks might have acquired it. They still holds a lot of patents."
"I got it. We've lost another user for our CPU."
"Yes, sir; Intel's P5 processor will launch by early next year at the latest."
"Understood, Tom. Apple will also drop us, so let's just pull out of the desktop platform altogether."
"Sir, aren't you considering the IBM's proposal?"
"Ah, it's too late for that. Where were they when we needed them? I've heard they want to launch a graphics processor too. Look at this, Tom, that's the thinking of a monopolistic company. They can't stand to see anyone else monopolizing."
Tom was at a loss for words in response to the boss's complaints. The Big Blue was acting so unpredictably; one moment they were chummy with Microsoft, and the next, they turned their backs. They were fully supporting Intel and then suddenly sold off their Intel stocks. With that kind of erratic behavior, who would want to collaborate?
Maybe someone would, but that person would have to be a second Bill Gates. Of course, people like him would listen when they were small and weak, but then the drama would ensue.
William White, though widely disliked, never found anyone refusing to work with him. In a way, the White System aimed to grow the pie rather than hoard it all for themselves.
Ending the development of the desktop CPU was a challenging decision. It had to be said that William White would face substantial resistance.
First off, Motorola wasn't without research and development capabilities. IBM was in poor shape, and if that company fell, just like Commodore, wouldn't that be ridiculous?
"Let's hold a board meeting if anyone still wants to participate. The chip department can be spun off. The desktop processor division could be sold for the right price."
"I understand, sir; this way, they won't have anything to say."
"Of course, if they can't sell, they just create problems all day long. Those who can backtrack should go ahead and do it. Alright, I need to shoot the next scene; you respond with that."
Tom couldn't believe it; the boss was far too reckless. While the entire IT industry faced a massive reshuffle, he was here making a movie.
The bombshell that the White System dropped sent IT tycoons reeling. Stating they were done was unprecedented behavior.
Whether the board would approve didn't seem to matter much. Being able to sell for money showed a certain audacity. From this perspective, William White was clearly not interested in the four-company battle anymore.
AMD, Cyrix, Intel -- play your game of cards, I'm out.
William White was very aware that starting with the P5, the gap among the three companies only widened. When MMX came out, AMD could just barely hold on while Cyrix was on its last legs. By the time the second Pentium was launched, AMD could only scrape by in DIY markets.
There was actually a problem; AMD's technology was not inferior; it even had slightly better production management. However, it just couldn't compete with Intel.
This was where Bill came into play. That seemingly mild-mannered guy was definitely up to no good. AMD was taken down by a united front of him and Intel.
Since the waters were this deep, why bother dipping in? What was so bad about industrial CPUs? If Intel didn't play nice, would they doubt that I could show them some black technology?
Honestly, any CPU was irrelevant. What's wrong with industrial use? There were plenty that were profitable. Motorola's eight-bit processors had their share of success.
Producing CPUs wasn't of much significance; real talent lay in design. Apple didn't make CPUs; they outsourced entirely. Qualcomm and Kirin had the same struggles.
Going head-to-head with Intel at this juncture was akin to stupidity. Intel and Microsoft were already scheming against AMD -- did AMD really think they were oblivious?
They often said it was hard to sing duets, while others might even be singing three-part harmonies. The companies that clashed the hardest hadn't even fallen, while Cyrix and Texas Instruments were laid to waste. Even the mighty IBM got burnt.
Truth be told, when Intel rolled out the Core, the outline of this three-part drama became quite evident. If those two continued to play this game, mobile CPUs might just surpass desktop ones; what was the point of that?
Did they truly believe Intel had no new toys in the toolkit?
Apple was in its own cyclical market, with ridiculously inflated prices; Intel and Microsoft certainly wouldn't care. If you focus on the mid-to-low-end market, the Taiwanese factories would swiftly launch some groundbreaking technology to sweep you away in one shot.
[T/N: In the original, it was tooth paste factories. I think it was referring to Taiwan.]
What can be said is that the shareholders behind these companies largely overlapped. As long as they weren't outpaced by other countries, they wouldn't be concerned.
AMD's profits were lacking? No biggie; wasn't there still Intel? After all, they were all in the same basket, so it didn't really matter. Did anyone truly believe Apple couldn't manufacture low-end products? That idea was merely a deliberate widening of the gap.
National-level monopolies operate on such unreasonable terms.
Well, later on, they got rushed by Kirin. Goodness, if they were successfully overtaken in the curve, the U.S. would be truly in trouble.
Of course, there was still one super weapon to consider. Post-2008, Americans started shedding their restraint. If they continued flooding the market with currency, a global inflation would inevitably hit.
Never overestimate American morality; the scene of them exiting the Bretton Woods system would inevitably replay.
When the U.S. unilaterally withdrew in 1971, did anything substantial happen? As long as you couldn't take them down, they remained untouchable.
Of course, following that, the global status of the dollar would certainly diminish. This meant if one planned to fleece the world, they could -- but it would be the last chance.
Let's hope that day comes as late as possible. The U.S. would be in a tough spot, although many would rejoice. Yet, when the currency in your hands also diminishes, you might not find it so funny anymore.
What? Gold?
Well, that would surely demand an exaggerated price. When the U.S. exited the Bretton system, gold was about thirty dollars an ounce; by 1979, in under ten years, it rose tenfold.
*****
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