Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 225: Sky-high Price AI Chip
Fu Zhengyang pointed to a chip PPT picture displayed on the screen:

"Look, Mr. Xu, this is the first generation of PC graphics card core we designed and developed. The overall hardware indicators are already able to keep up with the mainstream level."

"But in the field of hardware, we have a good accumulation of graphics processing chip technology. After all, mobile phone SOCs also have graphics card cores, which use the AP series architecture that Zhiyun has obtained technology authorization and developed independently."

"Our PC graphics core is also deeply improved and developed based on the AP graphics architecture."

“Although the AI ​​chips we designed and developed before are quite different from graphics processors, they still have a lot in common.”

“So we don’t have a big problem with hardware, but the ecosystem issue, mainly the game optimization issue, is very difficult to deal with!”

"All existing games are specially optimized for the two major foreign graphics cards. If such games are directly run on our graphics cards, it will be difficult to bring out the performance of our graphics cards. Whether a game runs smoothly on a graphics card, how high the frame rate is, and how the color performance is, in fact, has a lot to do with the game's optimization for the graphics card!"

"Games that have not been specially optimized will not perform as well as those of mature graphics cards when running on our graphics cards."

The reason why A cards and N cards have become the mainstream in the graphics card market is that most games begin to optimize the underlying graphics cards during the design and development stage, and the huge game market accumulated by this optimization is the moat of A cards and N cards.

It becomes difficult for other new graphics cards to enter the consumer graphics card market.

Anything involving ecology is extremely troublesome. However, Xu Shenxue said: "Don't worry about the ecological problem. You just need to make the product and do it well, and then the ecology will come naturally. At worst, we can slowly build up the ecology from the mid- and low-end markets first."

In the field of mid- and low-end graphics processing, things are not as complex and demanding as games. Zhiyun Technology was able to develop smart device GPUs with AP architecture cores because the requirements for GPUs in early smart devices were not high, and they only met some ordinary display requirements and light gaming needs.

In addition, Zhiyun phones are too strong in the smartphone market. If you want your game to be available on my Zhiyun APP mall channel, you naturally have to follow my rules and perform special optimization based on our Zhiyun's AP graphics processing framework.

For example, all the excellent games under Yihai Online Games, especially the several 3D action mobile games released before, are specially optimized for the AP architecture in the Zhiyun system.

Therefore, several large-scale 3D action mobile games of Yihai Network run more smoothly and have better picture performance on Zhiyun mobile phones, but are relatively worse when running on other mobile phones.

This is also the reason why the AP graphics processing architecture in Zhiyun Technology can grow and develop... Because of Zhiyun Technology's strength in the field of smartphones, it does not need to adapt to the so-called ecosystem, but instead lets the ecosystem adapt to it.

In addition, Zhiyun Semiconductor's AP graphics processing chip is not only installed on Zhiyun mobile phones. Since last year, it has also been widely installed on the full range of mobile phones under Weiku, a large number of domestic mobile phone manufacturers and even many foreign small and medium-sized mobile phone manufacturers.

Because this AP graphics processing core is directly mounted on the S100 series and S200 series chips, its export versions W400 series and W500 series have been widely exported.

In January, shipments of these two chips alone reached 20 million units.

Such a huge stock of mobile phone SOCs means that there are hundreds of millions of smart phone devices and platforms in the world that are using AP graphics processing cores. In the graphics processor market for mobile smart terminal devices alone, Zhiyun Semiconductor's AP core has undoubtedly become the second in the market, second only to Qualcomm's graphics processor chips.

This directly forces major mobile game manufacturers to optimize the Zhiyun AP framework specifically when developing mobile games.

This path to success can, to some extent, be transplanted to PCs, focusing first on the mid- and low-end graphics card market that does not require high game support, especially low-power ultra-thin notebooks. Zhiyun Technology still has certain advantages in this area.

Therefore, the ultra-thin notebooks under Zhiyun Technology are mainstream ultra-thin notebooks, and they are actively low-power. In the field of low-power consumption, Zhiyun Semiconductor actually has a relatively advantageous position.

Therefore, the current high-end PC graphics cards are just modified versions of AP graphics cards, which also retain a considerable number of low-power features. Although the power consumption is low and the support for large-scale games is not very good, it is quite powerful in graphics processing areas such as video processing and other office areas.

The AP graphics core used in tablet computers performs quite well in this field.

Therefore, the PC version of the graphics card is very suitable for use in ultra-thin notebooks, with strong graphics processing capabilities and low power consumption.

As for gaming performance?

No one will use an ultra-thin laptop to play games!
Even if someone uses it to play games, poor performance is within the normal range and will not cause too many negative comments from people.

If you dare to criticize Zhiyun laptops for not being able to play games, people will criticize you for not being smart enough... If you use Zhiyun ultra-thin laptops to play games, you are the one with a normal brain.

In addition, Zhiyun Semiconductor is also currently working on domestic CPUs and PC operating systems, which can be directly integrated into the system to create a purely domestic PC.

And these are just relatively conventional markets. In fact, there is another market for graphics cards or computing cards that can be used to dilute the cost of AI chips.

That is mining in the field of digital currency!

Zhiyun Technology has no interest in mining itself. Even Xu Shenxue got lazy and stopped mining after earning hundreds of thousands of bitcoins in 09.

But although Xu Shenxue didn't pay attention to it, other people gradually paid attention to Bitcoin, and in 11 its price began to skyrocket.

By now, the price of Bitcoin has reached dozens of dollars and has attracted the attention of many people. Many people have begun to use professional equipment to mine.

The most core component of these professional mining equipment is the graphics card.

Graphics cards for mining do not require any ecological support, they only need corresponding supporting software and sufficient computing power, then a large number of mining machine owners will pay for it.

This will effectively dilute the cost of AI chips and thus the cost of AI training.

The foundation of current AI technology is the computing power provided by AI chips.

At present, AI chips are a very niche and special type of chip. Currently, only the Zhiyun Research Institute has purchased and used them. At the same time, we are also preparing to purchase some for special types of AI training with some special institutions.

However, in this early stage of AI development, the demand for AI chips is still too small. Small demand means small output, and small output means that many costs cannot be spread out, which ultimately leads to too high unit prices, further pushing up the cost of AI training.

If you want to dilute the cost of AI chips, you either have to wait many years for AI technology to gradually become popular. After a large number of companies start to play with AI, the market for AI chips will experience a super explosion, and then AI chips will become a very good business.

But it’s not possible now... The AI ​​model based on deep learning is still highly confidential to Zhiyun Technology and has become a restricted export technology.

Anyway, this thing can be kept secret as long as possible, and we should use this period of confidentiality to accumulate first-mover advantage as much as possible. When it can no longer be covered up, or similar AI models appear abroad, then it will be time to make it public on a large scale.

This means that...the market capacity for AI chips will be very small for a long time to come.

Therefore, Xu Shenxue set his sights on mining machines: "You can pay attention to the current digital currency field. Recently, many digital currencies have appeared, including Bitcoin and other types of digital currencies. By the way, I have also invested in a startup company in Silicon Valley, which is also engaged in digital currency."

"These digital currencies have a characteristic, which is that they require a lot of computing power to mine and obtain digital currencies, which creates a huge demand for high-computing graphics cards!"

“You can get involved in this field, release graphics cards, and then pair them with special mining support software. Those mining bosses don’t care whether these graphics cards can play large-scale games, they only care about computing power.”

"If this model is well made, it will have a considerable market, enough to cover the initial investment in graphics card research and development!"

"As for the consumer-grade civilian graphics card market, just take your time!" Xu Shenxue did not say too much. In fact, he had already received news that some policies were being formulated in the field of consumer-grade graphics cards.

AI models come from AI chips, and AI chips need to complement graphics cards in the early stages. At least before the era of large-scale AI is ushered in, it is actually difficult for them to survive independently because the cost is too high.

The AI2000 computing cards that Zhiyun supplies to special organizations cost as much as RMB each... The price is so high that even the other party's secret project leader couldn't help but complain, saying that Zhiyun Semiconductor is too shady.

I know you are engaged in high-end products, but you can't be so black. You are treating us as local landlords, but we are very poor. How can we have so much money?
One AI chip costs $120,000, and a large-scale AI training server array would require thousands of chips. How can we use this?

But Zhiyun Semiconductor is also helpless. This is actually the internal supply price, and the Intelligent Research Institute under Zhiyun Technology also purchases goods at this price.

If it were any cheaper, they would not have enough revenue and profit to sustain the iteration of the project.

Because current AI chips are too expensive. The reason for this is not only the high inherent cost, but also the small output of AI chips, and the inability to spread the R&D and production costs.

The idea of ​​supporting AI chips is to enable domestic companies and special research institutions to afford AI chips... You should know that a large number of secret research institutions are already preparing to launch AI projects one after another, and the demand for AI chips in the future will be huge!
But they definitely can’t afford an AI chip that costs 120,000 yuan per chip!

How to do?
They intend to save the country by taking a roundabout way. AI chips and graphics cards have great technical commonalities. Getting a Zhiyun graphics card is equivalent to getting a Zhiyun AI chip.

Anyway, the people from Zhiyun made it clear that these two things actually belong to the same big project, and the revenue and R&D funds are included together.

The reason why the policy is still in the making and has not been launched... is naturally because Zhiyun Semiconductor's PC consumer-grade graphics card has not yet been developed!

The domestic graphics card core has not yet been developed, so what is the point of supporting it?

Maybe we will have to wait until Zhiyun Semiconductor’s graphics card core is launched on the market, and then find a few partners to make finished graphics cards.

Graphics card manufacturers and even game manufacturers will be surprised to find that there are inexplicable support policies...

But few people know that games and graphics cards are not actually the targets of support. Not to mention in the past, even now many people think that playing games is a waste of time.

However, graphics cards and AI chips are highly related, so there is nothing we can do about it.

In this way, domestic gamers in the future may be happier. Maybe many years later, gamers will be able to buy the Zhiyun version of 4090 smoothly... Of course, the price will still be over yuan!
By that time, the AI ​​market is estimated to have exploded. Stimulated by the demand for AI chips, graphics cards will inevitably increase in price across the board. By then, domestic graphics cards at the 4090 level will still be priced sky-high.

Want to buy a cheap 4090, haha, the dream is good, but don’t dream it during the day.

----

For Zhiyun's AI chip project, not only people inside Zhiyun Semiconductor are worried about it, but many people outside are also worried about it!
The main reason was that the AI ​​created by Xu Shenxue was too scary, and his PPT was also extremely scary. After that demonstration, many people dreamed of scenes of overwhelming drones and robot dogs appearing on the battlefield!

They used to think that these were just things in science fiction novels, but Xu Shenxue took out an AI and told them that this is not science fiction, but reality!

I have already made it for you to use as a proof. Although this AI is still a little stupid now, it will only require a little bit of resource investment in the future, and it will soon become smart, and will bring about changes in countless fields.

We have to do this!
----

Now that he had come to Zhiyun Semiconductor, after looking at the key AI chip projects and the graphics card projects that were attached to the AI ​​chip projects, Xu Shenxue naturally would not just go home. Instead, he took a look at some other chip projects.

The main project is still the mobile phone SOC project.

These are mainly the S300 series mobile phone chips that have been successfully taped out. Among them, the S304 chip, which is the tablet-specific version, will be installed on the YunPad released this spring, becoming the first Zhiyun third-generation chip to enter the market.

With dual-core 1.8GHZ main frequency and four AP70 framework GPU cores, the frequency reaches 450MHZ. The performance of this chip is extremely powerful, enough to provide the new generation of YunPad with powerful mobile office performance, including graphics processing performance.

Similarly, this chip will also be used in next year’s S12 mobile phone!
As for SOC chips for smart devices, Zhiyun Semiconductor can be said to have caught up with the current first-class level in the design field, and the speed of technological iteration is very fast. The performance level of the S300 series chips it has created today has been greatly improved in all aspects compared with last year's S200 series chips.

Although they both seem to be dual-core chips, in fact, their architectures are different and their performance has been greatly improved.

At the same time, the S300 series chips have a very special feature, that is, they will be equipped with a 4G communication baseband.

Zhiyun Group will fully promote the 4G strategy next year, launching 4G mobile phones and 4G tablets to the market, preparing to lead the trend once again!
Well, in fact, it's not just Zhiyun Technology. Many other mobile phone manufacturers have also launched 4G projects. The next generation of mobile phones from Apple and StarHub are basically planned to be 4G.

But without exception, they all use Qualcomm 4 dual-network baseband, so they only support FDD-LTE 4G network and do not support mobile TD-LTE.

Currently, only Zhiyun Technology has developed the TD-LTE mobile 4G communication baseband, while other communication baseband manufacturers are still a little bit behind.

However, Zhiyun Technology will obviously not sell its exclusive three-network 4G communication baseband to its main competitor.

Domestic manufacturers can purchase communication basebands, but the price of the three-network communication baseband is very expensive. Even the price of a single TD-LTE communication baseband is not cheap. Anyway, few domestic manufacturers can afford it now.

Zhiyun Technology never engages in low-price dumping...

A typical example is the CDMA2000 communication baseband. Zhiyun Semiconductor and Qualcomm are the same, selling products at extremely high prices, which makes people wonder if they are colluding to raise the prices together.

Well, it’s not collusion, but there is real tacit understanding!

Globally, there are only these two companies that have CDMA2000 communication baseband, and you can only choose one of them.

Then they sell them in packages, and also sell their own SOC. If you want to buy a CDMA2000 communication baseband alone, it is actually possible, but the price is super expensive.

This is also the reason why a number of domestic mobile phone manufacturers purchase a large number of Zhiyun SOCs...buying them in packages is cheaper and design integration is simpler.

The reason why Zhiyun makes its own 4G TD-LTE communication baseband so expensive is that no other manufacturer has yet made a breakthrough in this technology, and even if they did, it would not be very good.

However, here comes the key point. Currently, FDD-LTE has not been approved in China, only TD-LTE has been approved.

what does this mean?
This means that next year, only Zhiyun phones will be able to use the domestic 4G network!

No other phones will work!
This is a very important opportunity for Zhiyun to further increase its penetration in the domestic market!

Two chapters, 9K each, that’s all for today.

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(End of this chapter)