The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Accumulate but gain little.

Using this term to describe Lingnan Semiconductor is absolutely the right choice.

Starting with relatively outdated manufacturing processes, and after years of accumulation, Lingnan Semiconductor has finally made a new move.

"President Jiang, our new factory for 1-micron process technology can officially start production this week."

"As you instructed, we will not hold a production launch ceremony, nor will we conduct any publicity. We will keep a low profile."

Zhang Shaohua is now in high spirits.

Although the world's most advanced semiconductor companies are already mass-producing chips using a 0.5-micron process.

It can be said that it is two generations more advanced than Lingnan Semiconductor.

To catch up with this pace, we need to break through the intermediate threshold of 0.8 micrometers.

But Zhang Shaohua was already very satisfied.

The progress Lingnan Semiconductor has made in recent years is visible to the naked eye.

The key issue is that in the past, chip manufacturing technology was mastered by relying on various technological input methods.

In recent years, however, he has achieved breakthroughs entirely through his own efforts.

"After the 1-micron process chip factory in Shenzhen goes into production, a new factory can be built in Shanghai at the same time."

"At the same time, you need to consider the layout of the new 0.8-micron process factory in conjunction with the R&D progress of the lithography machine at Nanshan Equipment."

"The past few years have been a period of rapid development for the semiconductor industry, and we must keep up with the pace of the world."

Along with the rapid development of the computer and mobile phone industries, the semiconductor industry is also developing at an accelerated pace.

They've almost reached the point where they need to release a new generation of products every year.

This kind of rhythm is absolutely outrageous.

Fortunately, Lingnan Semiconductor has accumulated a lot of talent in recent years, otherwise it really wouldn't have been able to handle it.

"Yes, our company has a dedicated system for updating medium- and long-term plans."

"Not only are new factories for the current 1-micron process and the next 0.8-micron process already in the big plan."

“Even chip factories with future 0.5-micron or even 0.35-micron processes are already in the planning stages.”

"At the current rate of development, we can build a factory with a 0.8-micron process next year."

"A factory with a 0.5-micron process could be built the year after next or the year after that."

"At that time, we had the opportunity to narrow the gap with the most advanced level in the industry to the level of one generation."

"We aim to catch up with the mainstream industry level by 2000, ensuring that the technological level of our newest factory is on par with the most advanced level in the industry."

Zhang Shaohua's face was flushed when he reported the plan.

There was a time when China's semiconductor industry was vastly different from the rest of the world.

Now, however, we see hope of catching up.

Even if this plan cannot be fully implemented, China's semiconductor industry level is sufficient to meet basic domestic needs.

The significance of this matter is absolutely very different.

At Lingnan Semiconductor, not only are civilian semiconductor products being produced, but some completed projects are also in production.

Of course, this information will not be disclosed to the public.

"You also need to keep up with the talent pool in a timely manner,"

"Lingnan Semiconductor aims to expand its R&D staff to over 1 within the next three years."

"It expanded to more than 2 people, or even more than 3 people, before 2000."

For Jiang Hui, simply looking at the company's size is definitely not enough.

The quality of personnel is also crucial.

Having tens of thousands of workers is of little significance.

But if you have tens of thousands of R&D personnel, the significance is completely different.

Zhang Shaohua naturally had no objection to Jiang Hui's arrangement.

This is a good opportunity to further expand our influence and also a good opportunity to develop China's semiconductor industry.

……

"Mr. Zhang, we have received news that Lingnan Semiconductor's 1-micron process chip factory has officially started production."

Zeng Fanchen arrived at Zhang Zhongmou's office with a heavy heart.

TSMC's most advanced factory currently has a chip manufacturing process of 0.8 micrometers.

Although it is more advanced than Lingnan Semiconductor's 1-micron, it is really only slightly more advanced.

At this rate, they might master the 0.8-micron chip manufacturing process by next year.

Although TSMC's 0.6-micron process factory was about to start production at that time.

But the feeling of being relentlessly chased from behind is really awful.

"It seems that Lingnan Semiconductor has completely changed its publicity strategy. The 1-micron process, the most advanced technology in China, has been put into production, but there is not a single news about it."

"I remember they handled it just as discreetly last time, didn't they?"

Although Zhang Zhongmou was also in a bad mood, these things had been foreshadowed, so they didn't completely disrupt his plans.

In recent years, the competition between TSMC and Lingnan Semiconductor has been fierce.

The price war is particularly fierce in the competition for Intel's manufacturing orders.

Although TSMC has a slight edge in technology, it needs to do a better job in foundry services.

However, due to the price war, the profit margin is not very high.

This put Zhang Zhongmou under tremendous pressure.

"It should be like this."

"They probably don't want to provoke ASML or other semiconductor companies."

"Furthermore, their new technology products are often first applied at Pearl River Technology, and people outside may not know about them."

"It's because we tried so many ways to find out information that we didn't know anything."

Upon hearing Zeng Fanchen's words, Zhang Zhongmou nodded.

That is indeed the case.

"We need to accelerate the construction of the new factory for the 0.6-micron process, conducting research and development while building, and shortening the development cycle."

Normally speaking, doing things this way carries a great risk.

Once some equipment has been invested in, it becomes very troublesome to modify it later.

But time was of the essence, and Zhang Zhongmou had no choice but to take this risk.

"I will convene a meeting with the relevant departments later to see how to ensure that the factory with the 0.6-micron process will be put into production next year."

Zeng Fanchen could naturally understand the difficulties involved.

We've been competing for so many years.

Whatever tricks they had, they would have used them already.

Lingnan Semiconductor continues to achieve various technological breakthroughs.

So, besides relying on yourself, there's no other way for the time being.

……

In recent years, when it comes to the fastest-growing semiconductor companies, Lingnan Semiconductor, TSMC, and Samsung Electronics are definitely among the top contenders.

Unlike TSMC, Lingnan Semiconductor not only manufactures chips but also produces its own.

Lingnan Semiconductor is involved in both CPUs and memory.

This naturally created a competitive relationship with Samsung Electronics.

Especially in the area of ​​memory, Zhujiang Technology has successfully used the memory produced by Lingnan Semiconductor in its mobile phones and computers.

This is something Samsung Electronics cannot tolerate.

Therefore, they also assigned a lot of people to keep an eye on Lingnan Semiconductor's movements. Samsung Electronics naturally received the news that Lingnan Semiconductor's 1-micron process chip factory was now in mass production.

"President, we have received information that Lingnan Semiconductor is using the latest 1-micron process technology to mass-produce 8Mb DRAM."

"If this pace continues, it is very likely that next year they will be able to produce 16Mb DRAM based on 0.8-micron process technology."

"This puts us in direct competition with the 16Mb DRAM that we are currently mass-producing."

Kim Tae, as the head of Samsung Electronics' marketing department, is also very anxious.

Samsung, on the other hand, focuses on the memory field, with DRAM being their primary concern.

Compared to Japanese manufacturers Toshiba and NEC, they still have an advantage in process technology, but Samsung is gradually narrowing the gap through large-scale investment.

If Lingnan Semiconductor adopts this approach, Samsung Electronics will face serious difficulties.

If Samsung Electronics can't compete with Japanese manufacturers in the high-end market and can't beat Lingnan Semiconductor in the low-end market, its future looks bleak.

"We are actively developing 64Mb and 256Mb DRAM, and we hope to bring the 64Mb product out next year."

"Otherwise, we won't be able to gain a technological advantage, and it will be very difficult for us to compete with others in terms of cost."

In recent years, Samsung Electronics has been betting heavily on the memory sector, but it hasn't actually made any money.

After all, if a company wants to seize market share from Japanese manufacturers and cannot compete with them technologically, it can only lower prices to gain market share.

However, if prices drop too much while R&D investment remains high, profit margins will be very small.

In other words, other businesses can make up for the impact of this, otherwise things would be even more difficult.

"Lingnan Semiconductor's technological progress is too fast. We have only just broken through the 0.8-micron process technology. Compared with their 1-micron process technology that they have just started mass production, our advantage is very slight."

"This can't go on."

Hearing Jin Tai say that, Li Jianxi was also a little unhappy.

"You can't just raise questions, what about solutions?"

"You need to present me with solutions to choose from."

Leaders often dislike subordinates who only raise questions but don't offer solutions.

When I'm in a good mood, I can even listen to your questions.

If I'm in a bad mood, I'm going to yell at you.

Clearly, Li Jianxi was in a bad mood today.

"Why don't we talk to Lingnan Semiconductor and agree on a market price so that the price of low-end products isn't driven down too much?"

Kim Tae reluctantly offered his own solution.

This means that Samsung Electronics has to compromise with Lingnan Semiconductor.

Li Jianxi clearly couldn't accept it.

"impossible!"

"We will not back down unless the other party takes the initiative to communicate with us about this issue."

"And I don't think the other party will agree to this proposal."

How many new factories has Lingnan Semiconductor built over the years?

"If we look at chip production capacity alone, they are much larger than us."

Li Jianxi's view is clearly reasonable.

But Kim Tae didn't know what proposal he should make.

If a problem is discovered but not reported, it will be his responsibility later.

However, since there was no good solution after the report, it was still his responsibility.

This position is tough.

……

"Christopher, news has come from Samsung Electronics and TSMC that Lingnan Semiconductor has started mass production of 1-micron process chips."

"This means that they purchased lithography equipment from Nanshan Equipment that can meet the 1-micron process technology, which is a very dangerous signal."

Schmidt, as ASML's general manager, has been under a lot of pressure in recent years.

Today, ASML does not have an advantage in scale compared to Japanese giants like Nikon and Canon.

Although they have caught up in recent years, they are now on par with Nikon and Canon.

However, it does not have an absolute leading advantage.

Unfortunately, there's another lithography machine manufacturer from China, Nanshan Equipment, desperately trying to catch up.

In recent years, judging from the procurement volume of single-shot lithography machines, the scale of the Chinese market is absolutely not to be underestimated.

ASML originally intended to develop the Chinese market as a growth driver.

However, due to the limitations of Nanshan's equipment, this market has essentially no connection with them.

"Nanshan equipment is truly an anomaly; it actually managed to upgrade the technology of lithography machines using only China's own resources."

"Although their overall technology still lags behind ours, they are catching up very quickly."

"This is indeed a big problem."

Christopher didn't know what to say.

Schmidt would talk to him about similar topics several times a year.

At first, they would have some countermeasures.

But now I'm a little unsure what to do.

This situation is similar to that of TSMC and Samsung Electronics.

“We need to find a way to reduce costs by 30%, otherwise we will be completely uncompetitive in the market compared with Nanshan equipment.”

"If the price is only slightly higher than Nanshan's equipment, then some manufacturers in China will probably still consider ours."

"If the differences are too great, it will be quite troublesome."

Schmidt is clearly still reluctant to completely abandon the Chinese market.

It would be such a waste to give up such a big piece of cake.

"Reducing costs by 30% is probably not that easy."

"This requires all the supporting suppliers to lower their prices, and we also need to consider reducing our own R&D expenses."

Christopher wasn't trying to dampen the spirits.

Achieving a 30% price reduction is indeed a bit too difficult.

Unless production increases significantly, but that's difficult.

"Either we reduce costs, or we wait for Lingnan Semiconductor's technology to catch up and then they will eat up our market."

“Those suppliers also need to think this through.”

"Otherwise, it will definitely not be enough for us to resist the pressure from Nanshan equipment alone."

"As for the previous proposal to allow customers to invest in our company, I think we can make some concessions."

"We can consider agreeing to the demands of Samsung Electronics and TSMC."

"We can also restart negotiations with Intel."

ASML had previously considered giving up a portion of its shares to allow customers such as TSMC to invest.

However, the negotiations did not go very smoothly.

The two sides have significant differences, and the client also has other options.

However, the situation would be different if ASML were willing to make some concessions.

Schmidt felt that the plan still had hope.

Christopher had no objection to this.

As long as the shareholders agree, that's fine. (End of Chapter)