Shane Freak
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Chapter 515 Contact (Part 2)
🕑 Added 2023-08-27 08:43:42 +0000 UTCTransformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List
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The corporation needed to replace its office building, and this matter was becoming urgent.
Due to the recent corporatization, Cybertron Technology had recruited a large number of new employees in a very short period of time.
Now, the total number of employees in the entire company had exceeded 2,700, and the count was steadily increasing.
The previous office location was already struggling to accommodate so many employees working simultaneously.
So, Sun Cheng and his team needed to quickly decide on a solution.
They could either lease another office building nearby for the four different subsidiary companies of the group to work separately, or they could choose a larger office building than the current one.
As for the acquisition of New Sea Technology, it was already a definite plan.
With more and more Cybertron Cloud Disk members receiving their ordered hard drives, the large-capacity portable hard drives branded with the "cybertron" logo had begun to make waves in the portable hard drive market, thanks to their two major advantages of "affordable price" and "excellent performance."
In just over a month, they had achieved sales of over a million units. In the fiercely competitive market of storage hardware consumption, this was undoubtedly a huge success.
Not only domestic storage device manufacturers had noticed the newly established Cybertron Storage Technology, but they had also sent representatives to contact Cybertron Storage for potential collaborations involving the patents related to portable hard drives.
Even some renowned international storage giants like Western Digital and Micron Technology hadn't shown any immediate reaction yet, but recent changes in the industry were noticeable if you paid attention to the tech news.
The globally renowned lithography machine giant ASML was under investigation by the European Union due to suspicions of exporting 14nm lithography machines to countries under the Bava Agreement.
The "Bava Agreement" referred to the Paris Coordination Committee and the Warsaw Pact, two major Western export control organizations. The former was established during the Cold War to control the export of advanced weapons, technology, and equipment from European and American developed countries to red countries led by the Soviet Union. The latter was established in the mid-to-late 1990s after the decline of the Soviet Union's power. It was a new export control organization led by the United States and NATO, aiming to suppress the rise of emerging military, political, and economic powers like the Summer Nation.
The Bava Agreement controlled the export of high-tech products and advanced weaponry and equipment. Semiconductor-related technologies and equipment fell within the scope of the Bava Agreement, and exports to the Summer Nation had been prohibited.
At present, the domestic industry had just mastered the manufacturing technology of 32nm DUV deep ultraviolet lithography machines. So, although ASML was said to have already developed production technology for 5-7nm EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, they only sold 32nm lithography machines and 28nm DUV deep ultraviolet lithography machines to the Summer Nation.
If the Summer Nation wanted to import more advanced 22nm EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography machines from ASML, it would require a substantial amount of foreign exchange and political resources.
The use of the mature 14nm technology in the Portable hard drives that Cybertron Storage was selling on a large scale would inevitably involve lithography machines.
Therefore, the EU's investigation into ASML was apparently triggered by someone delivering finished Cybertron hard drives to the two major control organizations.
Some suspected that ASML was selling high-precision lithography machines to countries under export controls.
Sun Cheng wasn't interested in the disputes between Europe and America; neither was he planning to export products abroad in the near future. Cybertron Group had just been established, and for at least the next three years, he had no intention or time to consider exporting products abroad.
Moreover, even if the company faced a ban in the future, he wasn't concerned. As the world's second-largest economy, the personal storage hard drive consumption market in the Summer Nation alone was nearly $20 billion. When factoring in enterprise-level storage, mobile storage, and emerging industries like cloud computing, the demand for storage products in the nation would likely exceed $100 billion within two to three years.
With such a massive market, even if Cybertron Group only captured half of it, they would still make significant profits.
Therefore, Cybertron Storage Technology was now considering having its own production facility.
As more attention was drawn to him, Sun Cheng couldn't continue relying solely on the virtual organization "P·C·F" to deflect all the attention. His frequent visits to Tiger King Ridge posed a risk of exposing Base One, which still lacked any defensive capabilities.
This made the acquisition of the well-established domestic storage company New Sea Technology imperative for Cybertron Storage. This move would address the gap of not having their own factory and production equipment.
Coincidentally, during this time, some figures from the investment community had set their sights on Cybertron Group and were attempting to invest in the company.
Sun Cheng had a strong desire for control. He had already consolidated his influence in Transformers Universe and had ample financial resources, so he had no intention of offering shares to outsiders.
This was the reason why he felt uncomfortable with people continuously observing him.
In addition, "P·C·F" also needed to gradually move into the public eye. Sun Cheng could take advantage of various channels to further invest in Cybertron Group through this virtual organization.
By reducing his visible shareholding and transferring more shares to "P·C·F," the holding company or fund under this virtual organization, he could divert the attention of those who were keeping an eye on him, at least for a while.
After a lengthy meeting that lasted the entire morning, Sun Cheng finally returned to his office after the meeting ended.
Before he could even sit down, his new assistant, Lin Qing, knocked on the office door.
"Come in!"
"Apologies for the interruption, Mr. Sun. During your meeting, there were several visitors from the 'State Control Bureau' who wished to have a conversation with you!"
In an instant, Sun Cheng, who had been feeling tired after hours of tedious meetings, suddenly became alert.
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 516 Contact (Complete)
