Chapter 1229 Continuous Fermentation (4k)

Olympus is in big trouble.

Sony is also in big trouble.

According to the news, there may be other big troubles, and the scope is limited to the investigation of Japanese companies.

Sony's chairman Stringer has announced his resignation and bowed to apologize.

Olympus's president Kikukawa Tsuyoshi also resigned and accepted the investigation, and also bowed to apologize.

But what the media is most interested in now is whether WikiLeaks' revelations will continue, and what the inside story of the joint investigation between Fobole and the SEC is like.

The leaked documents revealed by WikiLeaks are from these two departments.

There is no new corporate situation on the Internet for the time being, and many media have targeted Fobole and the SEC, asking about the storage mechanism of confidential documents and why financial fraud has not been disclosed.

Then...

Fobole: Hmm?

SEC: Hmm?

Where are the documents lost? When was the joint investigation action taken?

Wait!

Sony, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has financial fraud?

Olympus's situation is not so bad. It is listed in Tokyo. Overseas shareholders who suffered losses due to financial fraud have taken the path of class action lawsuits to try to obtain compensation. President Kikukawa Tsuyoshi and other company executives are also being investigated by relevant Japanese departments. But Sony is different. It is a company listed in both Tokyo and New York.

If Sony commits financial fraud, it will inevitably be investigated and punished more severely.

However, the SEC is also a bit confused and does not understand the situation. It plans to send a letter to Sony after the weekend and ask about the situation of Fobole and the internal situation.

Was the previous joint investigation too high? Too low? Because other factors were erased?

For two days over the weekend, the staff of the SEC were quite confused and ate melons, ready to wait until Monday to do a big job.

However, on Sunday night, a piece of news suddenly disrupted the attention of many people. Apple officially announced that the company's founder and chairman Steve Jobs had passed away due to illness.

"We are saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve's talent, passion and energy were the source of endless innovation, enriching and improving our lives. The world is infinitely better because of him."

Jobs rarely appeared after this year's Apple conference, and there were also reports that he was in poor health, but it still felt sudden when it really came.

Because of this news, many media's original headlines for Japanese companies were changed to Jobs' death.

The Economist commented: Jobs combined technology with humanity and pursued his inner intuition, thus achieving extraordinary achievements.

Forbes commented: Jobs' strong personality charm, foresight and extraordinary taste are unrepeatable, and there will never be another Jobs in the world.

In addition to the media, many celebrities and the public have expressed their condolences on various platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

For example, Xiao Ao, who lost the election for the president of Shiyihao this year, commented that Jobs was one of the greatest innovation leaders in the United States, with extraordinary courage to create unique things and change the world with a fearless spirit.

As an important competitor of Apple mobile phones, the words of Fang Zhuo, the head of Yike, have also become the headlines directly quoted by many media reports.

Fang Zhuo updated his tweet: Apple has lost its soul.

This tweet also caused dissatisfaction among some Apple fans, who believed that Yike’s president’s words at this time were destroying the image of Apple products, but many Yike fans also retorted, isn’t Jobs the soul of Apple?

Fang Zhuo ignored the small tidbits that appeared under his tweet.

He just experienced Schmidt’s cold style again.

Just when Fang Zhuo saw Schmidt’s mourning tweet on Twitter, "Jobs unprecedentedly combined the inspiration of artists and the vision of engineers to build...", before he even finished reading it, the phone call came.

"It’s a pity that Jobs died at this age." Schmidt expressed his attitude in one sentence, and then said, "What do you think Apple’s competitiveness will be in the future?"

Fang Zhuo pondered and said nothing.

"This is a good opportunity for the development of the Android camp." Schmidt said more bluntly, "Does Yi Ke turn a blind eye to this?"

"Schmidt, Google can do without you." Fang Zhuo frowned, "Apple's foundation for success has been laid, it just depends on how Cook performs."

Schmidt asked: "How will Yi Ke target Cook's performance?"

Fang Zhuo was a little helpless and asked back: "Will you ask how Samsung competes with Apple for territory?"

"I plan to call tomorrow." Schmidt raised his voice slightly, "Whether it is Samsung or Yi Ke, I think they should seize the opportunity to further compete for the high-end market."

"Cook is capable." Fang Zhuo evaluated Cook again, and then said, "Jobs' illness was not concealed, and it was not very sudden today. Apple has this expectation."

He thought and said: "But I am also curious about Cook's planning and response to Apple. Yi Ke acquired a mobile phone company "Kesheng" in China this year. I plan to let it promote low-end products in the global market next year to squeeze Cook's response."

Yi Ke holds a controlling stake in Kesheng and plans to use this product line overseas.

This will definitely be interpreted by the outside world as an attempt by Yi Ke to explore the lower level, and will also be noticed by Apple, and we can then observe the changes.

Apple's corporate strategy is not static. It has also released a relatively cheap iPhone. If Fang Zhuo remembers correctly, it was an iPhone 5c with a full plastic body.

The product positioning is like upper, middle and lower. The competitive situation is different. If Apple, led by Cook, is shaken, then it will take advantage of the situation.

However, Fang Zhuo does not have much expectation for the subsequent competition with Apple, because as the scale increases, the controllable supply chain and the ice core that brings cost advantages are more worthy of attention.

But Schmidt is still very satisfied with Mr. Fang's answer. He likes the description of "squeeze a little". He knows that Mr. Fang is a difficult person in the business field.

Mr. Fang not only pesters his competitors, but also his teammates.

The ecological niche of Google GMS in China...

Schmidt promptly ended the idea that came to his mind.

Before hanging up, he asked another hot topic recently: "Mr. Fang, did you participate in the Sony fraud?"

"Hey, Schmidt, how can you say that? Didn't you see Stringer's press conference? He said there was no financial fraud." Fang Zhuo complained, "Also, what do you mean I participated? I just bought some shares of the Sony building, is this also called participation?"

Schmidt laughed and said, "Why buy shares of other people's buildings for no reason?"

Fang Zhuo was suddenly stunned by the question, this...

He thought for a few seconds: "I know Sony's situation is not good. I saw it from the predicament of Sony Ericsson mobile phones, but I didn't know it was so bad. It's really outrageous."

"It's hard to make up a reason, right? You can't just say it casually." Schmidt said, "You are an external director of Sony, and you don't know about it?"

Fang Zhuo asked back: "You were an external director of our Yike before. Did you play a role? Did you know the situation?"

Schmidt: "..."

It's not unreasonable for you to say that.

He expressed his feelings: "Sony is likely to be seriously injured this time. If Sony had come to our Android camp earlier, it might have replaced Samsung's position in Android today."

"It's very difficult." Fang Zhuo said objectively, "Nobuyuki Idei has messed up Sony. The factional situation within Sony is far more serious than it seems. No matter who sits in Stringer's position, they must spend a lot of energy to sort it out. Of course, if they make a decision earlier to bet on Android, the situation will be much better."

Schmidt mentioned a situation in the past: "Sony also acquired shares of Android with your Yike. It didn't come to do Android, and it really... deserved it."

"There's nothing to say. Stringer's situation will definitely be bad for some time in the future." Fang Zhuo sighed.

"Yes, that's it. I look forward to the competition between Yike and Apple." Schmidt was about to end the call, and finally added, "Mr. Fang, don't forget to see if you can get something more from Sony."

Fang Zhuo rolled his eyes. Schmidt... He always looks at things from the perspective of interests... It's too offensive.

Schmidt on the other side hung up the phone, held the phone, thought about the development of the Android camp, once again slightly regretted the death of Jobs, and then thought of Sony's bleakness, and suddenly called Mars' voice assistant.

"Siri, Siri, Sony is facing unprecedented huge losses. How do you think Sony can be saved?"

Schmidt awakened Siri's second mode.

Siri replied three seconds later: "Let Fang Zhuo be the CEO."

Schmidt was stunned and laughed. Good, good, you won't stop until Sony goes bankrupt, right?

He put down his phone, clicked on the favorites tab on the computer browser, refreshed the WikiLeaks interface, and was a little disappointed to see that there was no updated content.

Schmidt was also very curious about the document leak this time. Forbo and the SEC actually investigated a group of Japanese companies. Even Sony and Olympus have big problems. Could there be a lot of fraud in the future?

Schmidt is very concerned about this matter. He also has some thoughts on the financial credibility and corporate governance mechanism of Japanese companies. He thinks that this situation may subvert everyone's cognition at this level.

…

On Monday, the news of the death of the founder of Apple was all over the screen, and below this news was the reaction of the secondary market to the stock prices of Sony and Olympus.

Bowing and apologizing cannot boost market confidence, but instead accelerates the exit.

Especially for Olympus, Kikukawa Tsuyoshi and others are under investigation for fraud for 20 years, which is likely to lead to the company being forced to delist.

In just one day, Olympus's stock price plummeted 29%!

Compared with half a month ago, its market value has evaporated by more than half!

Sony's situation is better, but it also plummeted 9.4%, and urgently needs a solution to face public doubts.

That night, Olympus's new president Shuichi Takayama held a press conference in Tokyo, representing the company to once again officially admit that it has been making controversial acquisitions since the 1980s to cover up losses in securities investments.

He pushed the responsibility to former chairman Kikukawa Tsuyoshi and other company executives, saying that although he took over as CEO, he had only just learned about this situation.

Finally, Shuichi Takayama expressed his confidence in working hard to manage and reverse the company's image, and to lead Olympus out of the trough.

There were also many bows and apologies at this press conference, and Shuichi Takayama looked even more sincere than Tsuyoshi Kikukawa.

Fang Zhuo has been active on Twitter recently. He first led the evaluation of CEOs in the last decade, then paid attention to the situation of Woodford, the former CEO of Olympus, and then expressed his regret for the death of Jobs.

He evaluated the situation of Olympus the next day and posted the latest reaction of the secondary market.

Olympus continued to fall, and Sony also continued to fall.

"The market does not believe in bowing. Everyone is waiting for the handling of the Japanese securities regulator. Such a 20-year fraud is rare. I think the Japanese side should come up with a plan as soon as possible to restore market confidence."

As the head of a world-renowned company, Fang Zhuo's tweets are very popular.

Because of this, his evaluation was attacked by many Japanese netizens.

Fang Zhuo wanted to respond, but then he saw a comment and felt that it was really difficult to respond.

"Mr. Fang, take a look at your stock market."

Fang Zhuo actually looked at the country. The 3,000 defense battle had failed and was diving down.

The truth is...

Fang Zhuo could only "not hurt" and give up the line with some netizens.

On October 10, just as Sony was being put under a microscope to review its business situation, WikiLeaks, which was thought to be silent, was updated again, naming the Japanese company Takata for falsifying airbag data.

As early as 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received complaints that some models using Takata airbags would splash fragments when the airbags were deployed.

In 2004, staff within Takata admitted that they had manipulated the test data of ammonium nitrate gas generators.

In 2008, Honda recalled more than 4,000 vehicles equipped with Takata airbags. In the following three years, Takata airbags have successively appeared in the United States. Airbag fragments cut throats.

WikiLeaks listed Takata's situation in the past decade, presented data tests, and also described how to modify data in the tone of internal employees.

As the world's second largest airbag manufacturer, Takata provides products to many car brands.

The new Wiki revelations were released, which were related to driving safety and quickly became a hot search.

Takata responded quickly, denying the contents of Wikileaks on Twitter, strongly criticizing the smearing, and claiming that the company's airbags and seat belts meet the standards.

Many people, including Fang Zhuo, found a problem...

Hmm? That's not right, Wikileaks didn't mention seat belts...

For a while, public opinion was in an uproar... and again in an uproar...

From Olympus to Sony to Takata, involving different manufacturers in different fields, what happened to these Japanese companies?

Later, Fang Zhuo received a call from Sony, inviting him, an external director, to attend a telephone meeting of Sony's board of directors. Putting aside the Japanese companies, Stringer's resignation has not been accepted, and Sony is in a mess.