Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 150 This chip has an unknown origin
Just then, several people came in.

One of them is Ram Hoch, the global CEO of the fruit company and the super boss.

When Hawke saw Malak, he hugged him warmly twice.

The two are on different tracks, one makes mobile phones, and the other makes cars and shoots big rockets, so there are not many opportunities for them to meet.

But as the saying goes, heroes appreciate heroes. The two big bosses, leaders in the global technology circle, still have to show mutual respect.

Of course, we don’t know whether the two of them respect each other in private.

Take Malak for example. Given his temper and personality, it is actually difficult for him to get along with Hawke.

Hawke shook Malak's hand again: "Mr. Malak, welcome."

Malak laughed and said, "It's an honor to visit such a cool fruit headquarters. I feel like everything here is glowing."

The two exchanged a few pleasantries and then got down to business.

There were four or five other people who came in with Hawke.

Two of them are engineers from the fruit company.

One is of Barat origin and the other has a distinctly East Asian look.

Hawke introduced them: "These are the best hardware engineers in our fruit company, Xingji, and Wu."

Malak also introduced Bell Rudison, whom he brought with him.

In fact, there is no need for introduction. Hawke has known Rudy Sheng for a long time. After all, the other party is a famous chip expert.

If Rudison was not Malak's man, I'm afraid Hawke would want to hire him to the fruit company immediately at a high price.

At this time, someone brought a few cups of coffee, one for each person, and they drank and chatted.

After finishing my coffee, it's time to get to work.

Malak said, "Mr. Hawke, can you introduce these mobile phones to us?"

Hawke said, "Let Mr. Michael introduce it."

"Michael?"

I saw a tall white man walking forward.

This man had been very low-key just now, wearing a black suit and with a stern face, making people think he was Hawke's bodyguard.

As soon as Hawke said it, Malak understood.

Michael is from the intelligence department and his rank is not low.

Michael said: "These mobile phones were brought over from China by our people. They are Huayao's latest P30 mobile phones."

Malak said, “I heard that this phone is hard to buy now.”

"Yes, it took us a lot of effort to get it."

Michael was embarrassed to say that these mobile phones were actually obtained with the help of Guo Zongzheng from the Red Sea Group.

However, there were a total of seven Huayao P30 mobile phones on the workbench, and Guo Zongzheng brought fifteen of them.

Several others were sent to other hardware studios and university labs.

Such important research cannot be left to the fruit companies alone.

However, the fruit company received seven Huayao P30s, which shows that this company has a very high status in the Beacon Country.

Malak clapped his hands. "Then let our talented engineers get to work."

Rudison, Wu and Xingji stood in front of the workbench.

Wu, whose full name is Wu Saiyi, is a second-generation Chinese immigrant. However, he can also speak Chinese and has no problem communicating in daily life.

Each of the three people was fiddling with a mobile phone and communicating.

Among the three, Rudy is the most famous and has the greatest reputation, so of course his voice carries the most weight.

Simply put, both Wu Saiyi and Xing Ji had to listen to him, Bell Rudy.

Rudy turned on the phone, used it for a while, and said, "It's very smooth and impressive. It seems to be no worse than an Apple phone."

Wu Saiyi shook his head: "Mr. Rudyson, new phones are all running smoothly, but the only ones that can keep running smoothly after using them for a while are our iPhones."

Rudy did not comment. He looked up at Wu Saiyi and said, "Aren't you Chinese? Don't you support your own country's mobile phone brand?"

Wu Saiyi was stunned for a moment, and immediately said: "Mr. Rudy, I am not Chinese, I am from the United States!"

Wu Saiyi's voice became louder, which startled Xingji who was standing next to him.

"Brother, keep your voice down, you scared me."

"Excuse me, sorry, sorry."

Rudison entered the "Settings" interface and checked the CPU logo.

【kylin990+】

"Incrustin, Kirin 990+, is this Huayao's latest flagship chip?"

Xingji said: "Oh, incredible, I thought Huayao was finished, I didn't expect they still have the ability to manufacture flagship chips."

Wu Saiyi waved his hands: "Impossible, Huayao can only design chips, not manufacture them."

Rudy asked: "Then how do you explain this chip? Who made it for Huayao?"

Wu Saiyi was speechless for a moment.

After a while, Wu Saiyi said, "I think this chip is not the latest one from Huayao, but the old Kirin 990."

Xing Ji said: "That's impossible. Does Huayao still have so many Kirin 990s?"

Wu Saiyi said: "Have you forgotten? Some time ago we found that Huayao has a new version of Kirin 990."

Rudy asked: "You mean, there are still wafer manufacturers helping Huayao produce Kirin chips? Then it is normal to produce the latest flagship chips."

Wu Saiyi shook his head: "Mr. Rudyson, that's not what I meant. I personally think Huayao is collecting old mobile phones and repackaging old chips."

Rudy found it unbelievable. Why did Wu Saiyi think so?
Rudy knew that some time ago, the national scientific department had studied Huayao's Kirin 990 chips, some of which were obviously newly manufactured, and even the process was different from TSMC's.

Therefore, chip experts here generally believe that Huayao may have really found a chip foundry.

Of course, this is just speculation and there is no solid evidence yet.

It is said that the person in the Ministry of Commerce and the White House firmly believes that Huayao has a new source of chips.

Because intelligence personnel have been investigating, but still haven't found anything.

But now Huayao has quickly launched a new flagship phone, claiming to use the latest Kirin chip, so we have to check it out.

Is what Huayao said true?
Malak clapped his hands over there. "Okay, guys, I think you should take it apart and see what the chip inside is. I believe you are very knowledgeable about this."

Rudy nodded: "Okay, let's start dismantling it."

When it comes to disassembling mobile phones, that is Xingji's forte and he has a lot of experience.

Xingji pried open the cover of the phone in just three or five moves and took out the battery.

Wu Saiyi couldn't help but remind him: "Xingji, be careful? Don't damage the accessories."

Xingji laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's okay as long as you don't damage the CPU."

Wu Saiyi stared.

It's true that they only focus on the CPU, but they can't do their job so roughly.

Fortunately, Xingji achieved his goal.

He used various tools to clean the thermal silicone on the CPU chip, and then removed the CPU with tweezers.

The three of them checked the silk screen together.

【kylin990+】

Xing Ji said: "Yes, it is Kirin 990+, Huayao's latest flagship processor chip."

Wu Saiyi shook his head: "This is just a silk screen. We need to disassemble the package to see what the chip core is."

Rudyson did not object and said, "Okay, let's get to work. Let's peel off this damn Chinese chip and see what's inside!" So the three of them started to get busy again.

After they disassemble the chip's packaging shell, they will use optical scanning and electron beam scanning to draw a structural diagram of the chip.

In this way, no matter which wafer fab produced it, the marker can be found.

There are only a few wafer fabs, especially those that can produce wafers with processes below ten nanometers, and they can be counted on one hand.

All three are experts in this field, especially Rudison, who is familiar with the production processes of all advanced wafer fabs.

You should know that the production process of each wafer factory has extremely strong characteristics and can be identified.

Wu Saiyi is also an expert in this field, not inferior to Rudyson.

While the three engineers were busy, Malak and Hawke started chatting nearby.

Hawke asked: "Mr. Malak, do you think China really has mastered chip manufacturing capabilities?"

Malak replied: "China already has the ability to manufacture chips, but I don't think they can yet master the manufacture of advanced chips."

Hawke smiled slightly: "I think so too, and China's equipment was also purchased from Yasmaier. It cannot produce independently and has no ability to resist at all."

Malak said: "But we can't underestimate the Chinese. They are very smart. If we put all our efforts into research and development, we may have a chance to break through the limitations."

"Oh? Mr. Malak, how long do you think it will take them to make a breakthrough?"

Malak thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Hawke, it's hard to say. If it's fast, it will take at least five years. If you're unlucky, it will take ten years."

"Five years, ten years..."

Hawke laughed: "Mr. Malak has great confidence in them. It turns out that you are really fond of the Chinese."

Malak quickly waved his hands: "No, no, no, Mr. Hawke, you misunderstood. I just think we should not underestimate the Chinese. They are smart and hardworking, and they are a huge threat."

Malak spoke out what was on his mind.

In Malak's mind, besides the squids, the Chinese are the second ethnic group with great potential, and they may threaten his image as the great and glorious Iron Man.

However, Malak does not have any ill feelings towards China, and sometimes even wants to cooperate with this country.

Malak has only one goal, which is to make money by hyping things up, and occasionally launch a rocket to serve as a light for mankind.

But it is impossible to cooperate now. The Lighthouse Nation has put too much pressure on Malak, and he has to pay attention to his position.

Hawke asked again: "Mr. Malak, do you think Huayao's so-called new flagship chip exists?"

Malak was silent for a moment, then replied, "Probably not."

"So what do you think this is..."

"Maybe some kind of trick."

Hawke understood, and Malak also felt that the so-called Kirin 990+ was something Huayao repackaged using old chips.

Malak added: "We should know soon whether it is a donkey or a horse."

Hawke smiled and said, "I know the Chinese well. They are very good at this kind of trick."

It seemed Hawke and Malak agreed on this point.

They all think that Kirin 990+ does not exist.

In fact, most people think so. No one thinks that China can really produce advanced chip processes.

Even if someone said this, it would be seen as deliberately creating anxiety.

Westerners have always been very confident in their semiconductor technology, which is at the top of the planet and will not be shaken for at least ten years.

In fact, the purpose of calling Rudison here this time was to confirm this matter and then compile a credible report and send it to the White House.

A moment later, Rudison, Wu Saiyi and Xing Ji removed the central processing units (SOCs) from the seven mobile phones, and then used various tools to remove the packaging shells, preparing to scan them all with advanced equipment.

The photoelectric scanning of the first chip has begun.

[Scan completed]

[Generating the optoelectronic structure diagram...]

Everyone was looking at the information on the screen intently, and the atmosphere was a little tense.

Rudison said, "Let us see what is behind the veil."

Saiyi Wu said: "I am sure it must be TSMC's process technology."

Soon, the photoelectric scanning image was generated.

Rudison said, "Magnify it a thousand times."

Xingji made a great move and magnified the photoelectric scan image a thousand times.

Wow, the transistors, lines and textures on it are clearly visible.

The three engineers stared with their eyes wide open, looking at every detail very carefully, as if they were studying the lottery.

Malak also understands technology. Although he is not very good at chips, he can understand some of them.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand, just look at Rudy’s expression.

I saw Rudy's face gradually changing, from excitement, to surprise, then to astonishment, and now to astonishment.

Malak asked, "Did you see it, Bell? Which wafer factory produced this?"

Rudy stared at the photoelectric scanning diagram for a while, and finally shook his head: "I can't see it."

"Huh? What? Can't tell?"

"Yes, I can't tell."

“No TSMC process features?”

"No."

"No Sansang craftsmanship characteristics either?"

Rudisen looked at Malak and shook his head again: "No."

Malak's eyes widened in disbelief.

It’s neither TSMC nor Sansang, so which company made it?

Hawke asked: "Could it be the work of Sinochip International?"

Rudy shook his head: "Mr. Hawke, Huaxin International cannot have such technology, and Huaxin International cannot get advanced photoresist now, so it is impossible to make such a chip."

Hawke waved his hand: "Wait a minute, you mean to say that this chip is very advanced?"

"Yes, it is very advanced, at least at the level of seven nanometers, and may even exceed seven nanometers, close to the level of six nanometers."

These words stunned Hawke and Malak.

Especially Hawke, Huayao actually used a six-nanometer chip, how can we tolerate this!
Hawke stared and asked, "Who made this chip?"

Rudison shook his head.

Hawke looked at Wu Saiyi again.

Wu Saiyi was actually still looking at the photoelectric scan image carefully, his mouth wide open, as if he was still in shock.

This is not a good thing, it’s terrible!

Then, Rudison and three others performed photoelectric scanning on the other six chips one by one.

After some operations, the situation was exactly the same as the first chip.

The so-called Kirin 990+ process is incredibly stable, and the manufacturing process level is very high. It is not something that can be done casually.

At this point, Hawke was panicking.

Who made the Kirin 990+?

If the problem is not found out quickly, the market base of Apple mobile phones will be unstable.

(End of this chapter)