Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
Taking BHP Mining on as an ally was definitely beneficial for Future Group. These veteran European aristocrats shouldn’t be underestimated in some areas. Even though they might not be able to defeat the financial conglomerates like Rockefeller and Morgan on Wall Street, they certainly could make a dent in fields such as commodities, automotive industry, etc…
After the ore supply negotiations, Jiang Chen personally put Luke on the plane. It was good news that BHP reached an agreement on mineral resource development on MLL Island for Future Heavy Industries with a sustained increase in production capacity.
The next day, just as Jiang Chen was going to return to Xin, Intel’s people came looking for him.
The person who came to visit was Bryant Kozic. Speaking of the “legendary” CEO, it was worth mentioning the prophecy he made three years ago. When he transitioned to being the CEO from COO, he was set to develop four core areas for Intel: PCs, data centers, mobiles, and chip manufacturing technology. He boldly predicted that after three years, major manufacturers would completely give up using their rival’s Qualcomm ARM architecture and switch to Intel architecture.
However, contrary to expectations, the Intel chip’s horrific overheating made it suffer in the mobile device market and repeated failures to deliver their promises made them lose the competitive advantage.
Intel also told investors it would develop SoCs (for both Modem and application processors) for low-, mid- and high-end smartphones and tablets, but Intel’s failure to bring them to market on time meant the project was ultimately stifled.
After billions of investments with ultimately no return, Intel tried to disguise the situation without providing investors with a proper explanation.
Future Heavy Industries’ breakthrough in graphene materials made Intel both alarmed but also presented Kozic with an opportunity to turn the situation around. If Intel could shift to using graphene, they would have a chance at winning back the mobile market.
“We look forward to receiving your company’s license for a total of 271 patents on semiconductor graphene and graphene transistors at a reasonable price!” At the meeting, Kozic provided his request straightforwardly.
He was ready to engage in “tug of war” negotiations with Future Group; he had packed five sets of clothes in his suitcase. Future Heavy Industries’ massive international purchasing spree naturally caught Intel’s attention. They were obviously preparing to enter the field of electronic equipment production!
From this perspective, Future Heavy Industries would inevitably become their competitor. Obviously, it wouldn’t be easy to reach an agreement in the licensing of patents.
But Kozic also had his own trump card.
If Future Heavy Industries intentionally refused to provide licensing rights, that would be a monopoly!
But to Kozic’s surprise again, Jiang Chen generously said, “No problem.”
“What?”
“I said no problem. We can discuss this. Was there anything wrong with my grammar?”
Kozic coughed.
“I apologize, my mind just slipped.”
“What price do you think is reasonable?” Jiang Chen didn’t mind and returned to the topic.
“One hundred million US Dollar?” Kozic proposed a number.
“We spent 2.1 billion US Dollar on the research of graphene. Isn’t it unreasonable for you to purchase this with just 100 million US Dollar?” Jiang Chen lied without breaking a sweat at all.
[2.1 billion my ass, the entire graphene production equipment cost a few hundred crystals at most.]
But since he was the only one who could travel between the two worlds, he set the exchange rate himself.
Kozic furrowed his brows because Jiang Chen gave him such a ridiculous price tag. However, there was nothing he could do since Future Group’s research team was the first one to make the breakthrough. Based on Intel’s research department, the completion of semiconductor-type graphene would least require two additional years at least.
“Then what’s your price?”
“400 million US Dollar.” Jiang Chen put up four fingers then he added, “Every year.”
“400 million each year! Are you crazy? Is your patent made out of diamonds?!” Kozic was enraged.
“Graphene is much more expensive than diamonds in terms of economic value, of course.” Jiang Chen smiled. “Think about it – how much did you spend on graphene research? How much money would you spend? Now, do you still think this licensing fee is expensive?”
“This means that in the next 20 years, Intel would pay you a total of 8 billion US Dollar!”
“So what? When Intel has annual profits of 20 billion, would they miss this money?” Jiang Chen shrugged. “Of course, it’s okay if you disagree with the proposal. Qualcomm will come to chat with us by tomorrow at the latest…”
Kozic, in pain, immediately said:
“Deal!”
Qualcomm was Intel’s rival. If Qualcomm got an advantage, it would be disastrous for Intel’s plan to conquer the mobile market! Kozic had to buy time for the Intel researchers, even if it was just a day. They had to develop a graphene chip based on Intel’s architecture ahead of Qualcomm and send a straight punch to Qualcomm’s mobile market shares.
Just as Jiang Chen said, 400 million was nothing for the enormous Intel.
Sponsored by UA’s largest Rockefeller Consortium, Intel was far richer than they appeared.
After the negotiation, with the licensing agreement in hand, Kozic boarded the plane to return home. The moment Kozic left the special district, Qualcomm’s representative arrived, planning to discuss the licensing agreement with Jiang Chen.
The negotiations with Qualcomm were completed on the same day. When Qualcomm’s representative heard that Intel’s representative was granted a patent license for 400 million US Dollar annually in patent fees, the representative didn’t even blink an eye and agreed immediately. Jiang Chen was crying pitifully in his mind; based on how fast they made their decisions, he could’ve given them an even higher price!
Xia Shiyu was shocked with how fast Jiang Chen ended negotiations, so she called to express her concern.
“If we want to enter the field of graphene chips, why not drag on the Intel and Qualcomm licensing negotiations for a few months? This would allow us to independently develop chips in the market to seize the first-mover advantage.”
“We’ve had the first opportunity for long enough; graphene chip samples and production line designs are now in the laboratory. Until the acquisition of the subsidiary is completed along with restructuring, we can’t start production. I believe that even without our patent licensing, they won’t stop borrowing our public information for technological research and development. After all, according to the anti-monopoly law, we have to provide licensing sooner or later. Since they won’t have graphene chips tomorrow, it makes no difference when we grant them licensing.”
Future Group would be ahead of them in the graphene chip race regardless.
