Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 193 Embarrassing Phone Case
Gan Wenshan continued to explain to Xu Shenxue through the A11 phone:

"For the fingerprint module, we did not use this year's latest fingerprint module, but continued to use the previous generation fingerprint recognition module used in last year's S10 mobile phone. This old fingerprint module is relatively cheaper and can effectively control costs!"

Xu Shenxue said: "We need to do a good job of cost control. After all, this is not an S series phone, so the cost cannot be too high!"

Gan Wenshan said: "The current fingerprint recognition module is still relatively expensive, and our A11 phone is positioned as a second-tier phone with a starting price of to yuan. Therefore, although it will be equipped with a fingerprint recognition module, the latest one will not be used. The old generation fingerprint recognition module from last year will not make much difference. The subtle technical difference is not noticeable to ordinary users under normal use conditions!"

In fact, this A11 phone not only uses old technology in the fingerprint module, but also has reduced configurations in many core components. Take the memory for example. It looks like 1GB of memory, which seems like a lot, but it actually uses DDR2 memory!

The S series, even last year's S10 phone, also uses DDR3 memory.

There is a huge difference in cost between DDR2 and DDR3, even though they have the same capacity!
The same is true for flash memory, also known as solid-state drives!

Solid-state drives are also divided into different technical standards. Zhiyun produces solid-state drives with several technical specifications at the same time. There are large differences in key indicators such as data reading and writing between different specifications, and the price difference is also large.

The S series phones all use top-level solid-state drives with excellent read and write performance, while the C series use mid-range products.

In order to control costs, the A11 also uses the previous generation of solid-state drives, which are the same as those used in the previous S9 and are relatively cheaper.

However, even this solid state drive is much better than the solid state drive of the new mobile phone C4!

As a mid-range mobile phone, the C series has never used any high-end components. Otherwise, how could it be sold to consumers for just over 2,000 yuan?

In addition to the core components mentioned above, many other inconspicuous components are actually top-level components of the C series, such as touch IC, acoustic components, camera modules, etc.

Basically, except for the SOC which is new and top-notch, the other core and non-core components are either from the previous generation S series or C series.

In this way, the final A11 phone with a -inch screen and fingerprint recognition was able to keep the cost within a relatively low range, and the selling price was around or yuan, while still maintaining a good gross profit.

Xu Shenxue is quite satisfied with this thing. The phone is very beautiful, feels good, and the glass body is relatively new. As for the problem of easy breakage... this is a fatal flaw of the glass body and there is no way to solve it for the time being, but the subsequent maintenance costs are controllable!

Zhiyun Technology provides warranty services of different specifications according to the laws of different countries. Of course, it also sets prices for different regions based on the cost of warranty service terms in different countries.

In short, you won't let yourself suffer any loss.

What’s more important is that quite a lot of people will use phone cases after purchasing Zhiyun phones...all kinds of phone cases.

I’m afraid it will break!

This is also very embarrassing... Zhiyun Technology and a large number of other mobile phone manufacturers, especially Zhiyun Technology itself, have used a lot of advanced technologies in pursuit of the ultimate thinness and lightness of mobile phones. Engineers have racked their brains to reduce it by one millimeter or even a few tenths of a millimeter.

Only in this way can we make an amazingly thin and light body!

And users like it very much...but many people put a phone case on it the same day after buying it.

Then the slim and beautiful Zhiyun S series mobile phone was turned into a bloated and ugly phone!

Some people even said: "Zhiyun spent countless R&D funds to reduce the thickness of the phone by one millimeter, but users use a phone case worth more than ten or twenty yuan to increase the thickness of the phone by several millimeters!"

"Zhiyun spent countless R&D funds to come up with stunning golden, pink and purple aluminum alloy colors, but a cheap phone case covered everything up!"

"The only thing that may make Zhiyun Technology feel relieved is that some Zhiyun phone users use transparent phone cases or hollow phone cases, so the Zhiyun white cloud logo can still be seen!"

----

After finalizing the overall design of A11, the subsequent R&D team will continue to conduct various tests on the phone and polish the details.

At the same time, we must start contacting suppliers in the supply chain.

In particular, we cooperate with Weiku Industrial in the research and development of the production line. If we want to produce a new mobile phone, especially a mobile phone with a glass back cover that Zhiyun has not mass-produced before, we also need special design in production and assembly. It is impossible to use the original production line directly without changing the original version. The production line needs to be adjusted.

The research and development and design of this production line requires the cooperation of a professional OEM factory such as Weiku Industrial.

At the same time, the supply chain department needs to contact various manufacturers in the supply chain and ask them to start trial production and stocking of spare parts, especially some special spare parts.

The subsequent testing and mass production of the entire A11 will be more troublesome than the existing S series and C series.

The S series and C series are both old series. Although they have been upgraded, they still have great technical extensibility. Many parts are actually used. Even if they cannot be used, the changes are not big. However, the A series is a new series, and it still uses a glass back cover. Many things are the first time for Zhiyun Technology, so it is relatively troublesome.

It's just a little troublesome!
After all, this thing is a product based on the existing mature supply chain. As long as the integrated design is done well, it will be convenient for the supply chain to supply and it will be easy for the OEM factory to assemble it.

As the A11 mobile phone progressed steadily, Xu Shenxue was able to focus more on other aspects.

The mobile phone business is just one of Zhiyun Technology's businesses. Zhiyun Technology now has three major categories of smart mobile terminals: mobile phones, tablets, and notebooks.

Then there are the semiconductor business and software and Internet business.

Zhiyun Technology is just one of the companies in the industrial chain under Xu Shenxue. Xu Shenxue also has Yihai Interactive, a gaming company, HaiLan Auto, an electric car company, Xiaojiang, a drone company, and Nanmen Aerospace, a rocket company.

Finally, there are a large number of companies in the upstream semiconductor industry chain, the core of which is Gulf Microelectronics.

In mid-May, Xu Shenxue once again visited Gulf Technology Electronics Co., Ltd. and saw their latest model of KRF lithography machine.

In fact, Gulf Technology had already made this thing at the beginning of the year. After all, this thing is not a technological innovation. China already has a usable industrial chain and KRF lithography machines. It’s just that the KRF lithography machines developed by other domestic manufacturers cannot be sold due to technical and efficiency issues.

The KRF lithography machine made by Gulf Technology at that time was not mature enough and had many problems. It took several months of improvements before it was considered mature enough for commercial use.

After hearing the news, Xu Shenxue, who has always been very concerned about the progress in the field of lithography machines, came over to take a look, and brought people from Zhiyun Microelectronics with him.

Since the product has been made and is mature enough for commercial use, it is natural to use it... Don't expect to sell it, because other chip factories probably won't want it anyway... They have better imported products to choose from, so there is no need to use the ones from Gulf Technology.

Of course, this lithography machine is just a big cabinet, and Xu Shenxue couldn’t figure out anything about it, so he could only watch the fun.

Wang Daolin, the head of Gulf Technology, also knew that Xu Shenxue didn't understand this stuff, so he explained it in a simple and straightforward way: "Our lithography machine should be considered the third generation in the international technology route. Unlike our previous generation I-line lithography machine, which uses contact proximity exposure, our KRF lithography machine uses scanning projection exposure, which is also called a scanning lithography machine."

"And scanning exposure is also the exposure method used by more advanced DUV dry and even DUV immersion lithography machines. The technical principles are the same!"

"Through the development of this KRF lithography machine, in a sense we have already mastered some of the technologies of the DUV lithography machine!"

"As for the light source, we use a deep ultraviolet light source with a resolution of 248 nanometers, which can be used for chip production with a minimum process of 130 nanometers!"

"The development of this lithography machine has further strengthened our team's technical research and development capabilities, and also laid a solid foundation for the development of DUV dry lithography machines!"

"Our main task in the future is to further improve the existing lithography platform, integrate and develop the light source system, and strive to make the DUV dry lithography machine as soon as possible!"

"Our sister company Southern Optics has made relatively smooth progress in terms of light source. They have already conducted preliminary tests on the ARF light source and will most likely be able to come up with a preliminary ARF light source system next year. If we continue research and development, the complete system is expected to be ready by the end of next year!"

After hearing this, Xu Shenxue said: "Very good, keep working hard, I hope to see this DUV lithography machine by the end of next year!"

"As I said before, just work hard and don't worry about the funding. If there are any deficiencies in the supply chain, please report them and I will arrange for someone to handle them!"

"As long as the product is made, there is no need to worry about the lack of market. The group will provide sufficient orders!"

"Just like the previous I-line lithography machine and the current KRF lithography machine, as long as you come up with a more advanced DUV dry lithography machine, you don't have to worry about orders!"

At this time, Ding Chengjun, the general manager of Zhiyun Microelectronics who came with Xu Shenxue, also spoke up: "We have already placed orders for 33 I-line lithography machines in total. If your KRF lithography machine passes our technical acceptance and the price is suitable, we can give you an order for at least 20 machines this year!"

"We at Zhiyun Microelectronics have a huge demand for this KRF lithography machine. It is not only used in advanced production lines, but also in some eight-inch lines that produce products with a diameter of more than 100 nanometers!"

"If you can develop a DUV dry lithography machine, we will get more orders. The 65-nanometer and 90-nanometer processes are still our company's main processes, and the demand for DUV dry lithography machines is huge!"

"As for the DUC immersion lithography machine, you also need to speed up the process. This lithography machine is too expensive, costing tens of millions of US dollars each. The sooner you can get it done, the more we can save on purchasing costs!"

After hearing what Ding Chengjun said, Wang Daolin of Gulf Technology looked embarrassed!

Regarding the issues with lithography machines, they did not encounter any problems with I-line lithography machines and KRF lithography machines because the country already has a mature and available supply chain.

But if it comes to the DUV dry lithography machine, then the problem will be bigger. The ARF light source of this thing is not easy to make... But even if it is not easy to make, he still has some confidence that he can make it within the next two years.

As for the DUV immersion lithography machine, to be honest, Wang Daolin himself doesn't know what he can make.

(End of this chapter)