343: Chapter 343 Great Wisdom: Freezing Transmission Assets

As they walked out of the conference room, Gustav said to Vice President Zhang Mingyuan, "You are very difficult opponents. Please tell your boss for me that we shouldn't have gotten involved in this matter."

Vice President Zhang Mingyuan smiled and replied, "This is essentially just a test by two thugs in the technology sector. When you chose to be the first to stick your neck out, you should have anticipated this consequence."

Gustav nodded and then quickly left the area.

Only Vice President Zhang Mingyuan and Li Qing remained in the hallway.

Li Qing asked, "Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming, how much exactly was this licensing fee?"

Supply Chain Director Zhou Ming glanced at him and said, "A little less than the price Nokia paid."

Li Qing did not ask again.

He knew that if it was slightly less than Nokia's, the price the other party paid was still substantial.

After returning to his hotel, Gustav sent an internal email to Ericsson headquarters from the business center.

"Settlement completed? The licensing fee Transsion paid us is within the standard licensing range and is acceptable."

After sending the email, he lingered there for a long time.

After all, Transsion had paid the patent fees, but they had paid much more; as the price for their malicious litigation, they had also given up an additional 4% of their shares.

At the same time, he was very angry. Why was Transsion's demand for compensation so peculiar, always asking for people's shares!

Just then, his phone rang; it was Nokia CEO Suri calling!

"I heard you settled?"

He could even hear Suri cracking melon seeds on the other end of the line. Gustav instantly realized that the other party was probing for information, or perhaps just enjoying the joke.

After all, the other party had warned him from the beginning that Transsion had a huge appetite and that they shouldn't wade into these muddy waters.

But the 30% order for 4G infrastructure in the United States was just too tempting, so in the end...

"Mr. Suri, I know what you are thinking, but we have signed a non-disclosure agreement, and the details are not convenient to reveal."

Suri chuckled. It seemed it was about the same as Nokia's situation—very humiliating, so humiliating that the other party didn't even want to mention it.

"I told you long ago that Transsion is not to be trifled with. But fortunately, you settled early; this was a very wise choice, otherwise, the losses would have been even greater."

Gustav thought about Nokia's outcome. In fact, it was true; Nokia had held out for so long, only to be extorted for even more shares.

Their 4% share was indeed less! By comparison, Ericsson had indeed won.

Suri added on the phone that if they had listened to them back then, they probably wouldn't have had to give up any shares.

Mentioning this made Gustav a bit angry.

This was extortion, naked extortion, but he couldn't vent this anger at Transsion, after all, they had the Chinese government behind them.

And Suri...

"The results are not the same. You are a mobile phone company; if you die, you die. Ericsson still has an equipment business, we didn't back down..."

Looking at the somewhat stubborn Gustav, Suri laughed again.

The last bit of stubbornness!

"The results are all the same. Transsion is not the Chinese company it used to be, and China is not the China of the past. There is only one outcome to fighting a patent war with them: you cannot win. I am not speaking from a single perspective; this is based on personal experience. And you and I are the best examples."

Gustav was so angry that he hung up the phone; he was truly furious.

Meanwhile, on the other side, at the US Department of Commerce.

When the news got out, Bryson immediately convened a meeting.

This was another major meeting.

In addition to Bryson, there were the heads of the Bureau of Industry and Security and several advisors from the White House.

The large screen displayed Transsion's recent developments: Ericsson's capitulation, the projected ramp-up of 14nm chips, and the countdown to the Transsion Smart Home launch event.

Ericsson's capitulation shocked Bryson greatly. They hadn't expected China to be so thuggish, having begun to directly threaten other legitimate businesses.

Isn't this just like them?

"Transsion has won again. Nokia, Ericsson—they fight one and win one, and the speed is getting faster and faster. What about our sanctions? Senators from agricultural states come to see me every day. Are the soybeans and corn still piled up?"

Some agricultural products have even started to rot after losing their biggest customer, China, and farmers are almost ready to plow them back into the ground.

This led the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture to call me for four minutes yesterday, asking me when China would lift its countermeasures.

I said I didn't know, and he told me to go find a way. So I would like to ask everyone here if we have any effective methods."

No one dared to answer, as they lacked the confidence to make China lift the sanctions.

Especially when they hadn't lifted their own countermeasures.

Since no one in the meeting room proposed a solution, Bryson called on them one by one.

Finally, when it was the turn of the head of the Bureau of Industry and Security, while others avoided it, he had no choice but to respond.

"Mr. Secretary, Transsion's current situation is that its mobile phone business is second in the world. Its semiconductor business is in the top five globally, and in terms of advanced technology, it is number one in the world. They are promoting smart homes, and everything is based on the Chinese supply chain."

In this regard, it is already very difficult for us to block them.

According to investigations, their semiconductor production lines should all be using domestic equipment. Although we don't know how they solved the issue of immersion DUVs, we can infer that the Lithography Machine is not from ASML."

So even if we continue to impose bans in this area, it won't cause any substantial impact on them."

After hearing this, Bryson tapped his fingers on the tabletop, the rhythm irregular.

He was very anxious; after all, the President had given him an order that he must achieve a major breakthrough within this year, otherwise... the senators from agricultural states and those farmers would turn him into a "Gundam."

After a moment, he finally said: "Then what should we do? Just watch them grow?"

The legal advisor adjusted his glasses and cautiously proposed a very bold plan.

"Mr. Secretary, I have a proposal. It might not be good, and it might cause a huge uproar, but at the moment, it may be the only method that can still produce results."

Upon hearing this, Bryson wanted to tell him to shut up immediately, as this answer might make him become a "Gundam" even faster, but he still, as if possessed, said: "Speak!"

Other senators hurriedly started coughing; they didn't really want to know the answer to this question, but just as they were covering their ears, the other party said:

"Freeze Transsion's assets in the United States. All assets, including those invested in by Huaxin Investment, and even relevant departmental laboratories can be given some reasons to prevent them from conducting research and development."

The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly froze; this was no ordinary level of boldness.

The President had already become the "best" president in the United States due to the stock market circuit breakers, but after this plan was launched, those records might not count for much. After all, it was only twice!

So Bryson played dumb: "What status does Transsion have in the United States? During the second round of sanctions, they sold off Motorola right at the beginning, and now they don't even have an office in the United States. What can we freeze?"

...

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