For Mr. Swan, today was undoubtedly the darkest day since he became Intel's CEO.
No, to be precise, it was not just for him. Even for all of Intel, this was undoubtedly the most despairing day in half a century.
Even back when five Japanese semiconductor companies jointly established the Very Large-Scale Integrated Circuit Research Institute, driving chip prices down from 26 US Dollars to 5 US Dollars and rapidly capturing the North American market with cheap, reliable 64K chips, things had not felt this hopeless.
At least back then, they still had the strength to fight back.
And now, the technology they had once been so proud of, along with their brilliant achievements in carbon-based chips, was utterly insignificant before the wheels of the era.
Especially that old fox seated across the conference table. His tiny bean-sized eyes were filled with cunning, and Swan could no longer see even the slightest trace of anything pleasant in them.
Still, though the process had been difficult, when he walked out of the meeting room, he felt as though an eight-hundred-pound burden had been lifted from his shoulders. His whole body relaxed.
No matter what, they had at least avoided the outcome of filing for bankruptcy protection.
"How did it go?"
Seeing Swan emerge from the meeting room, Maybury, who had been pacing back and forth outside the door, immediately rushed over impatiently.
The current situation gave him no choice but to be anxious.
After all, this concerned whether he could continue working as CTO.
There was no doubt that he was a genuine expert in chips, and he had become chief technology officer through his own capabilities.
But with silicon-based chips facing complete replacement, that tiny bit of security and confidence was more fragile than paper...
"...I don't want to discuss