Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 345 There is conscience, but not much

Starting from June, Xu Shenxue ushered in the busiest time of the year, preparing stocks for the new generation of S16 series mobile phones and their subsequent launch and sales.

Given the importance of the S series, every year when the S series mobile phones complete their design and begin mass production, that is when Xu Shenxue is busiest.

On June 7, Xu Shenxue's private plane appeared in Ningcheng and inspected the local screen factory.

Four years ago, Huaxing Technology, which is controlled by Zhiyun Group, invested in and built a large screen factory in the local area, mainly producing advanced LCD screens. The LCD screens produced by this screen factory have always represented the highest level of LCD screens.

The customized high-end LCD screens used in this year's S16 and S16 Pro come from this factory.

Given the importance of the factory in the supply chain, Xu Shenxue also included an inspection of the factory in his itinerary.

After arriving at the factory, the head of the factory, a vice president of Huaxing Technology and general manager of the local factory, introduced Xu Shenxue to their production line and their latest product, which is the top-level LCD screen installed on the S16 Pro.

"The screen size is our commonly used 1080-inch screen, with 1920 x 400 pixels, and the pixel points are very dense, reaching an amazing PPI. This is the highest-definition LCD screen we have produced."

"The screen refresh rate reaches 60 frames, and the maximum screen brightness reaches 607 nits, which allows the phone to display content clearly even in a sunny outdoor environment."

"It has a DCI-P3-level wide-area display capability, which means the screen's color display level has reached the color standard of digital cinemas, and the overall display effect is excellent."

"It also has three-dimensional touch capabilities, which means that it can achieve a new way of interaction by sensing the time, force, area and other information of the user's finger pressing the screen."

"It also uses a new generation of anti-oil coating technology and uses Epistar's new generation of mobile phone glass, making the entire mobile phone screen more resistant to drop and wear!"

Epistar Technology is a domestic glass manufacturer supported by Zhiyun Group in the past few years. Zhiyun Group holds 23% of the shares and Wecoo Electronics holds 15%. It is a very typical Zhiyun supply chain manufacturer.

Like many domestic supply chain manufacturers, it first started with the low-end market, supplying a large number of mid- and low-end mobile phones represented by Weiku Electronics, then strengthened technology research and development, and finally launched feature glass that can meet the needs of Zhiyun Group's S series mobile phones.

At present, Epistar Technology's top flagship mobile phone glass has been widely used in various products under Zhiyun Group, especially the S series products. It is also widely supplied to other domestic mobile phone manufacturers, such as Weiku Electronics, Dami, OV and Lianxiang!
The company is the main supplier of various glass products for Zhiyun Group. In addition, there is another supplier, the overseas company Corning. However, Corning also set up its production line in China in accordance with Zhiyun's needs.

In order to win more orders from Zhiyun Group, Corning has worked very hard, using all kinds of advanced technologies, cooperating with Zhiyun Supply Chain to set up production lines in China and supply goods nearby, and cooperating with Zhiyun Group to carry out various technology research and development.

Corning is one of the few overseas supply chain manufacturers that can still maintain a considerable market share in Zhiyun's supply chain system... Their technology is indeed amazing, and they cooperate very well with Zhiyun.

Therefore, even after acquiring Epistar Technology, Zhiyun did not choose to completely abandon Corning, but continued to maintain cooperation with Corning.

Many of Zhiyun’s original overseas suppliers were either abandoned by Zhiyun because their technology and prices could not keep up, or because they were unwilling to set up production lines in China. Some were also abandoned due to conflicts of interest.

Another part chose to form joint ventures with Zhiyun Group, Liuhe Holdings and others to stay in the supply chain.

There are relatively few purely foreign-funded overseas companies that can still remain in Zhiyun's supply chain, and they cannot get a majority share.

After visiting the screen factory of Huaxing Technology in Ningcheng, Xu Shenxue's private plane took off again and then arrived in Tongcheng.

Here, Xu Shenxue saw the current top-level 12-nanometer process production line, the 12-nanometer process production line in the second factory of Zhiyun Microelectronics.

"Our production line was officially put into full production in early June. After full production, except for necessary maintenance time, it entered a 7*24 hours production mode. The current monthly output can reach 703 pieces, which is enough to initially meet the demand for S chips!"

Fu Zhengyang said: "In addition, our 12-nanometer production line has a lot in common with the first-generation 14-nanometer production line. We are adjusting the production line of the 17th plant. After the adjustment, the plant will also have the mass production capacity of the second-generation 14-nanometer process, that is, the 12th-nanometer process!"

"We expect to increase the production capacity of the 12-nanometer process to 150,000 pieces per month by the end of this year, meeting the production needs of all chips designed based on the first-generation 14-nanometer process and the second-generation 14-nanometer process under the group!"

"At present, we have received production demands for this year's newly launched X86 chips, namely the WZ6000/U series, as well as the APO4500 chip, as well as the upgraded version of the AI5000 chip, the AI5500, and the mobile version of the discrete graphics card APO4700U!"

"In addition, our first-generation 14-nanometer process has also undertaken the production task of Huawei's 14-nanometer process chips, and we also have some 14-nanometer process chips from other domestic chip design companies."

"Our overseas customer AMD has also used part of our first-generation 14nm process capacity!"

"At present, we have received production orders for more than 50 different types of chips, covering many fields such as smartphones, smart terminals, computers, servers, automobiles, network equipment, etc. Most of the orders come from within our group, a small number of orders come from other domestic manufacturers, and a small number come from overseas manufacturers."

"These orders are enough to enable our 200,000-wafer-per-month 14nm process (12nm) capacity utilization rate to reach over 95 percent."

"At the same time, according to our observations, the market demand for the 14-nanometer process is still gradually increasing, and a large number of chip design companies have placed the process node of the advanced generation of chips at the 14-nanometer process node."

"We expect the market for the 14nm industrial node to expand further, so we are also expanding more 14nm process capacity!"

"At the same time, the current demand for the 3-nanometer process node has dropped significantly. This first-generation D transistor process node has a strong transitional nature. Therefore, apart from some of our old products that are still in production, there are very few chips designed for this process. We will upgrade the production capacity of the -nanometer process to the -nanometer process node in the future!"

"Combined with the newly expanded 14nm process capacity, we expect to increase the 14nm process node capacity to 330,000 wafers per month within two years!"

"The 14-nanometer process node has also become the main revenue source for our microelectronics, providing the company with a large amount of foundry revenue in the first half of this year, accounting for 40 percent of the logic chip foundry revenue." (Excluding storage chips).

"In addition, the market demand for the 28-nanometer process is also continuing to increase. Although the foundry price continues to decline and more 28-nanometer process capacity has appeared on the market, the market demand continues to increase. Our 28-nanometer process capacity utilization rate can still reach more than 80%!"

"We also have a 28-nanometer process factory under construction, which is expected to be put into production early next year. Although the factory is a 28-nanometer process, we use more advanced equipment and processes, which is enough to make this factory the top 28-nanometer process node wafer factory in the contemporary era. It is also equipped with an automotive-grade packaging factory, which can be used for the lithography and packaging of various automotive-grade chips and industrial-grade chips!"

"Smart electric vehicles are booming, and the demand for chips for assisted driving in electric vehicles has increased significantly. Among all types of automotive-grade chips, in addition to the central chip that bears the computing power core, which requires the top process nodes, there will also be a large number of automotive-grade chips with mature processes. We plan to start in this regard to further increase the revenue and gross profit of mature processes."

Xu Shenxue said: "The transformation of mature nodes towards automotive-grade, industrial-grade and other fields will enhance the competitiveness of products and obtain higher premiums. This is the right path."

"Mature technology can also be sold at a high price, and this requires us to continuously improve technology according to the market!"

“Technology is the most valuable!”

The foundry revenue of the 28-nanometer process node and the 14-nanometer process node accounts for about 67% of Zhiyun Microelectronics' (non-storage chip) foundry revenue, and is currently the main source of revenue for Zhiyun Microelectronics.

Then there is about 45 percent of the 40-nanometer process and about percent of the /-nanometer process.

As for the 65/55 nanometer process nodes, only percent of revenue remains.

At the 90-nanometer process node, it’s only about one percent.

By then, the foundry revenue in the 130-250 nanometer process nodes, which are called backward process nodes, will be around %.

In fact, Zhiyun Microelectronics also has an equally large storage chip manufacturing business, which is the manufacturing business of various storage chips under Jiangcheng Semiconductor.

However, Jiangcheng Semiconductor's production capacity and revenue are generally not included, after all, there are huge differences between logic chips and storage chips.

Generally speaking, when we talk about the chip foundry market, it is assumed that the storage chip market is not included.

Jiangcheng Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Zhiyun Microelectronics, is also highly independent. Apart from technology sharing, the two parties do not have much connection in their daily operations.

After all, one is working on logic chips and the other is working on storage chips... They both seem to be using lithography machines to manufacture chips, but in fact they are not on the same track.

If Jiangcheng Semiconductor is included, the scale of Zhiyun Microelectronics as a whole is very large, with more than 20 advanced professional factories including various wafer fabs, packaging plants, etc.

Factories vary in size, and large ones may even have several production lines. A factory is a huge chip production base.

The 25th Factory currently under construction is such a comprehensive large-scale chip production base. It is designed with two production lines. The combined production capacity of the two production lines is 80,000 pieces per month. It also has a packaging plant.

The total investment in the project reached more than 10 billion US dollars, which is the largest single project investment since the establishment of Zhiyun Microelectronics and even Zhiyun Group.

This factory, with a total investment of more than 10 billion US dollars, is responsible for the mass production plan of Zhiyun Group's latest ambition, the "equivalent seven-nanometer process."

Since he was in Tongcheng, Xu Shenxue also went to see the 25th Factory which was under construction. All the buildings of the factory had been completed, and from the outside it seemed to be a complete factory with production capacity.

But in fact, the factory is currently just a facade... because the equipment has not yet arrived fully.

"Only four ASML NXT1980 lithography machines have been delivered so far for the first production line, and the remaining ones are expected to be delivered by the end of the year!"

"The second production line uses Haiwan Technology's HDUV-600 lithography machine. Currently, one lithography machine has arrived and is undergoing various tests. It is expected to be supplied to us in large quantities next month, and all will be delivered before the end of this year."

"That is to say, the lithography machines for our two production lines will all be delivered before the end of the year, and then we will start debugging the equipment, and conduct various tests and research and development for mass production of the equivalent 7-nanometer process and improving the yield."

"We optimistically estimate that we will be able to complete basic R&D work in the fourth quarter of next year, and then start preparations for production. We expect to start supplying the group in the first quarter of the following year and ramp up production capacity."

“In terms of overall progress, it’s still relatively fast!”

"At present, we have also used the lithography machine that has arrived to conduct technical verification, and we expect to complete the technical verification by the end of the year!"

The technical verification of the process node is just to verify the feasibility of the technology route and prove that the chip of the process node can be produced. However, after completing the technical verification, there are still a lot of problems. For example, improving the yield is a very huge problem, which often takes a long time to make gradual improvements. Zhiyun Microelectronics actually completed the technical verification of the 10-nanometer process in the first quarter of this year, but it still does not have the ability to mass produce... The yield is too low and the cost is too high, so it does not have the conditions for mass production.

The advancement of process nodes is very complex. In addition to the hardware facilities, that is, the parameters of the lithography machines and other types of core equipment must meet the standards, the technical parameters of various consumables must also be represented, such as photoresists, special gases, etc.

Then various processes also need to be designed to achieve the most ideal situation, increase production capacity and improve yield.

These cannot be achieved just by having a lithography machine; a lot of technical work is required.

Especially the equivalent seven-nanometer process, which directly targets the limit capabilities of existing lithography machines, is extremely difficult to implement.

After all, the HDUV-600 lithography machine or ASML's NXT1980 lithography machine are only capable of achieving the equivalent of a seven-nanometer process through quadruple exposure in theory.

However, reaching the limit of this theoretical design still requires tremendous efforts from the wafer fab.

It is not that easy to engage in craftsmanship.

Otherwise, if ASML's lithography machines were sold everywhere, TSMC and Zhiyun Microelectronics would not be the only ones to directly launch the equivalent seven-nanometer process... The technology is too difficult, and the cost of manufacturing chips is also very high, which gives a feeling that the cost outweighs the gain.

Samsung and Intel are also working on an equivalent 7-nanometer process, but their progress is very slow and they will most likely lag behind Zhiyun Microelectronics and TSMC for some time.

After visiting the Tongcheng base, Xu Shenxue returned to Shenzhen and took the opportunity to take a look at the 10-nanometer production line in the Shenzhen base.

The 10-nanometer process production line is actually also a transitional process node. Among the many chip designs in Zhiyun Group, only mobile phone chips and AI chips, including automotive-grade computing chips and PC chips on computers, are ready to adopt this 10-nanometer process node.

As for other chip types, there is no plan for the time being.

Although the 10-nanometer process is a new process and the chips produced have better performance, the cost is also higher. The chip design cost is higher, the wafer production cost is higher, and the manufacturing cost is also high. Except for some high-end products, conventional products cannot afford this level of process.

At the same time, many chip types do not actually require a 12-nanometer process. A -nanometer process ( nanometers) is enough, such as a large number of various smart terminal chips, computer chips, mid- and low-end mobile phone chips, network equipment, automotive-grade chips, industrial chips, etc.

At least many of the chips within Zhiyun Group are designed based on the 14/12 nanometer process node.
Taking into account the issue of production capacity demand, Zhiyun Microelectronics has only planned a production capacity of 803 pieces in the -nanometer process node, which is only used to meet the production capacity demand of the S series chips, that is, the S chips next year.

After reading about the situation of Zhiyun Microelectronics, Xu Shenxue had some confidence in the follow-up.

This year, the 12nm process chip will be launched first and installed on the S16 mobile phone.

The S17 mobile phone and PC products are currently using the 10nm process.

The S18 mobile phone next year will use the 7nm process.

We will make continuous progress year by year to enhance the performance of S series phones and maintain their performance advantages.

As for the year after next, it is estimated that the 7nm process will continue to be used... because Zhiyun Microelectronics has not yet found any good solution for the equivalent 5nm process.

The existing HDUV-600 immersion lithography machine has reached its limit at seven nanometers, and cannot produce the equivalent of a five-nanometer process... This lithography machine is actually most suitable for producing ten-nanometer or fourteen/twelve-nanometer process nodes.

To achieve the equivalent of five nanometers, if a DUV immersion lithography machine is used for production, at least eight exposures must be used, and the requirement for overlay accuracy is very high, with the overlay accuracy having to be at least 1.5 nanometers.

The HDUV-700 lithography machine, which is currently under development and expected to be shipped in two years, has an overlay accuracy of only two nanometers, which does not meet the technical requirements at all.

As for the overlay accuracy of 1.5 nanometers, if we have this technology, we can just use an EUV lithography machine and it will be done. Why bother with a DUV immersion lithography machine?

After all, the first-generation EUV lithography machine currently under development at Gulf Technology has a planned overlay accuracy of only two nanometers; the second-generation EUV lithography machine, which is in the early stages of the project and whose completion date is unknown, has an overlay accuracy of only 1.5 nanometers.

The overlay accuracy is 1.5 nanometers, but it’s still too early.

This also means that after breaking through the equivalent seven-nanometer process, Zhiyun Microelectronics may not be able to make further breakthroughs in the process for several years and can only develop various improved versions of the seven-nanometer process.

This will happen in several years, so there is no point for Xu Shenxue to be anxious now. Anyway, Zhiyun Microelectronics will not be able to produce 5-nanometer products in a short period of time, and TSMC, Starlink, Intel and the likes cannot do it either... We all suffer together.

Anyway, Xu Shenxue's attitude has always been this: either everyone works hard together using the DUV immersion lithography machine, and then plays with the seven-nanometer process with quadruple exposure, or even continues to play with the equivalent five-nanometer process with eight-fold exposure.

Or we can all use better EUV lithography machines and work on seven nanometers or even five nanometers.

Anyway, I can't use EUV lithography machines, and you can't use EUV lithography machines either.

I want to abandon Zhiyun and run away secretly... There is no such a beautiful thing!

------

Xu Shenxue had a general understanding of the situation at Zhiyun Microelectronics. After inspecting a group of people, Xu Shenxue continued his inspection trip and went to Ancheng to inspect the production base of Weiku Electronics.

He then went to Sichuan to inspect the local production base.

In just one month, Xu Shenxue's private plane flew all over the country, inspecting the huge Zhiyun supply chain!

This is the world's largest supply chain with the largest number of employees and the highest output value: it brings together more than 220 production bases of various types and more than 1.5 million people work in this supply chain.

At the same time, this also represents the most technologically advanced smartphone supply chain in China, and even in the world, where every spare part product is among the most advanced at the moment.

From the phone's SOC, screen, battery, glass, lens glass, camera sensor and even flash, the MAX series' stainless steel middle frame body, back cover glass panel, and even the vibration motor, speaker, microphone, etc. ... all the spare parts represent the most advanced technology at the moment.

Each one taken individually is of world-class technical standard.

The Zhiyun S16 series of mobile phones, which are made up of many world-class components, have become the top smartphones at present.

Its advancement is not only reflected in the running score of the phone, but also in almost every detail!
Otherwise, it would be impossible to get so many consumers around the world to willingly pay for it!
The high-end nature of the Zhiyun S series is not just about its impressive running scores... Although its running scores are indeed very strong, this is not the main reason for consumers to buy it.

The more important reason is that the Zhiyun S series has achieved the limit in almost all details and gives people an overall perfect experience.

You can’t make a high-end mobile phone by simply improving the configuration!

A high-end mobile phone not only has high configuration, but also provides an all-round good experience, coupled with a good after-sales service system, content ecosystem, brand value, and some black technology innovation from time to time. All of these combined together can make a truly high-end mobile phone.

The Zhiyun S series is a mobile phone that meets all the above conditions to the extreme!

This is also the core reason why it was able to ship 250 million units last year.

This year, Zhiyun Group will launch a new generation of S16 series mobile phones to continue to defend its king status!
In addition to focusing on the core product S16, Xu Shenxue also looked at the production of VR glasses. However, the output of this product is not expected to be too large. After all, it is just a trial product and lacks ecological support. It would be great if the sales volume could reach hundreds of thousands of units.

In addition, in the headquarters park of Zhiyun Group, Xu Shenxue also saw a rather special product, or an accessory for a smart terminal.

A control device for smart phones, tablet computers, computers and other intelligent terminals developed specifically for people with physical disabilities.

This thing is very special. It is placed in the mouth and has braces similar to dentures. The upper part is a special touch panel that can be controlled with the tongue to move the mouse. The braces on both sides bite together to replace clicking and double-clicking.

And connect to smart devices via Bluetooth.

"One of our engineers has a sister who lost both hands after a car accident. He wanted to develop a control device for his sister that would allow her to use smartphones, tablets and even computers smoothly without using her hands."

"The project review committee took into account that there are a large number of disabled people around the world who need this kind of equipment. Based on ethical considerations, they still allocated funds to set up a project team!"

"The project team has now produced the finished product, and after testing, the effect is quite good."

Xu Shenxue looked at the strange control peripheral in front of him, and then tried it himself. Sure enough, he could really operate the phone by using the tongue and teeth... Although he was not very skilled in using it, it should not be a problem after some adaptation and training.

It looks strange, but it should indeed be able to bring a very good experience to people with clumsy hands, allowing them to use smartphones and other smart devices like ordinary people.

"This is great. Let's release it at the press conference. Make it cheaper and give special discounts to people with disabilities. We can't make money from this device anyway, so we might as well be generous and treat it as an advertising investment to enhance the group's brand!"

Hearing Xu Shenxue say this, Xie Jianyong on the side also breathed a sigh of relief!
It was obvious at first glance that this equipment was a money-losing product, and Xie Jianyong also supported this project at the time. He was also worried that Xu Shenxue would be dissatisfied with the project.

Now seeing Xu Shenxue’s statement, he feels a lot more relieved!

Although my boss is a ruthless person in many areas and sells things at extremely high prices.

But in special areas, there are still some consciences... although not many!
(End of this chapter)