Chapter 160: Micron Takeover

In 1986, the video game industry was undoubtedly entering a golden age filled with one masterpiece after another. But the semiconductor industry was having a much rougher time.

Ethan flipped through the bid quotations, clicking his tongue in disbelief. As of now, global DRAM prices had practically collapsed.

Memory chips that had once cost several dollars apiece had now plunged all the way down to just a few dozen cents.

As it turned out, Japan's price-war strategy had achieved massive success.

Large-scale investments from government and corporate had allowed Japanese manufacturers like Fujitsu and Hitachi to turn Japan into the world's largest producer of DRAM.

And the biggest victims of this whole affair were obviously DRAM manufacturers in other regions, especially companies that only made DRAM.

Micron Technology had unfortunately become a perfect victim. After its brief moment of glory in 1984, Micron had now fallen completely into dire straits. It was even worse off than the video game industry, that had been wrecked into a bloodbath by Atari.

More than half of its employees had been laid off, several production lines had been shut down, and even the most critical thing of all, its stock price, had fallen by 90 percent.

For Micron, which had already been pushed to the brink, the situation was practically the end of the world.

For Ethan, however, the situation was an unexpected opportunity. He had no reason to turn down favorable circumstances when Micron was already being pushed to the brink.

The United States government had a clear interest in maintaining a strong domestic semiconductor industry, especially as Japanese manufacturers continued to expand their share of the global DRAM market. With Micron struggling, any changes in trade policy or increased support for American semiconductor companies could give it a crucial chance to recover.

Ethan understood that the industry was approaching a turning point. If he moved at the right time, Micron could regain its footing, and he could establish himself in the semiconductor business alongside it.

Just last year, the United States had launched a Section 301 investigation into Japan's semiconductor industry.

Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the United States could take unilateral action against foreign legislation or administrative practices that violated agreements or harmed American interests.

In just a few more months, the United States and Japan would sign a major semiconductor trade agreement. The deal would address concerns over Japanese companies' access to the American market, as well as their practice of selling chips at unusually low prices.

The deal would significantly change the semiconductor market, giving American manufacturers like Micron an opportunity to recover some of the ground they had lost. And a year after that, there would be a sweeping movement to impose additional tariffs on Japanese semiconductors.

These developments created a narrow but valuable window for Ethan. The next two years could give Micron the breathing room it needed to recover and give him the perfect opportunity to establish himself in the semiconductor industry.

Since Sam had stealthily begun accumulating Micron shares, they had gradually acquired nearly 10 percent of the company, and surprisingly, this had cost them less than eight million dollars.

Whether viewed from the past or the future, a price like this was simply unimaginable. It was cheaper than dirt! It was practically being handed to them for free!

"It's already difficult to acquire enough shares through the secondary market. If we want to increase our holdings further, we'll have to negotiate with the other major shareholders."

Sam let out a long breath. This job had certainly been exciting, and he knew Ethan would definitely not be satisfied with just this small fraction of shares.

Ethan's words, "I want the entire Micron," were still ringing in his head.

"If we can convince any one of the founders to sell their shares, we'll be able to acquire nearly 30 percent of Micron. That amount is already enough to make you the largest shareholder."

Sam counted on his fingers as he calculated.

A 30-percent stake would certainly allow Ethan to become the shareholder who had the final say at Micron.

"Sam, whatever happens, we need to have absolute control."

Ethan shook his head, as this was the only acquisition window that would appear in decades.

Hearing this, Sam sighed and smiled helplessly, "I knew you'd say that."

With that, Sam turned around, pulled out a document from the filing cabinet, and said, "I've already obtained a letter of intent to sell from Joe, one of the founders. He's willing to sell all the shares he owns for eight million dollars."

"Ah? How did you pull that off?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow. Sam had actually managed to acquire one of the founder's shares at such a low price.

Seeing the obvious surprise in Ethan's eyes, Sam smirked.

"Joe is already forty, Ethan, and a midlife crisis isn't easy for anyone."

For a man nearing fifty who was already looking for a way out and searching for a successor, the choice was obvious. With a massive amount of cash within reach on one hand and government intervention that might not come for who knew how long on the other, there was little reason to hesitate.

...

Mid-August.

GAMENOVA spent more than ten million dollars to acquire a 40-percent stake, making it Micron's largest shareholder.

On the same day, Ethan became Micron's second-largest shareholder.

Legally speaking, Micron had officially fallen into GAMENOVA's hands, and the entire process had cost them less than 40 million dollars.

At the same time, GAMENOVA officially submitted a public tender offer to the SEC and in less than half a month, Ethan's actual controlling stake in Micron reached 90 percent.

In accordance with legal regulations, Ethan initiated a short-form merger and forcibly acquired all of the remaining shares at the tender offer price.

At this point, no matter how you looked at it, Micron was officially under Ethan's ownership as a wholly owned subsidiary of GAMENOVA.

...

September.

The US-Japan Semiconductor Agreement was officially signed.

During the same period, following Ethan's instructions, Sam officially began reaching out to Samsung Electronics, which was currently suffering enormous losses of as much as 300 million dollars.

...

Frank ran into the dorm room at full speed, clutching a brand-new issue of Electronic Games magazine rolled up in his hand.

"Bro, you guys have to come look at this. The full specs for the NovaXeno are out."

Ever since preordering NovaXeno console, Frank had been anxiously waiting for it every single day.

The console had cost him more than three hundred dollars, so pretending the purchase hadn't put a serious dent in his wallet would have been a lie.

"Haha, you're still thinking about that game console?"

"Don't put it like that, Aaron. Frank's already paid for it." Mike smiled helplessly.

He knew Aaron was different from him and Frank, Aaron was a hardcore PC gamer, and the only reason he had preordered Civilization, just like the two of them, was because of GAMENOVA's reputation. Anything they produced was practically guaranteed to be a masterpiece.

"Come on, Aaron, you have no idea how powerful the NX is. I'm telling you, once Christmas is over, those old 8-bit consoles are going to be history."

Frank hurried over to the two of them and opened the magazine to a page he'd deliberately folded down, showing it to them.

Mike immediately leaned in. As one of GAMENOVA's biggest fans in the dorm, rivaling even Frank, there was no way he was going to pass up the chance to see what all the excitement was about.

"Oh my God, a 16-bit Motorola processor."

The first thing he noticed was the "16-Bit" printed in large, bold letters next to the processor specifications.

"Forget about that, look over here! Look at the display performance!"

Hearing this, Mike's gaze moved downward. His eyes quickly swept past the specifications that were already enough to make him gasp before stopping at the display section.

"256 colors? A maximum of 256 colors on screen at a 512×478 resolution? Seriously, is this for real?"

Only then did Mike truly understand the practical meaning behind the abstract term "16-bit."

"That's not all. Look at the detailed specs here. With the brand-new VGA standard, the NovaXeno can deliver a much wider range of colors, with greater control over brightness and finer visual detail…"

"So basically, we're looking at more than a thousand colors on screen at the same time."