The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

While the Chinese automotive industry was booming, Nanshan Equipment held a very special internal confirmation meeting.

After years of heavy investment in research and development, the lithography machine has achieved a new breakthrough.

"President Jiang, based on the information we have collected, this lithography machine has reached the same level as Nikon and ASML's 0.8-micron process lithography machines."

"This marks that China's lithography technology has finally entered the nano era."

Lin Qiaosheng was extremely excited at this moment.

Although Intel and others have now made breakthroughs in 0.6-micron chip manufacturing processes and are even preparing to invest in a new 0.35-micron factory.

Nanshan Equipment's lithography technology still seems to have a long way to go.

However, considering that in the early 1980s, the gap was not what it is now.

At that time, the relevant departments abandoned the lithography machine project because they saw no hope at all.

It's different now.

Although there is still a gap, if we keep trying, we still have a chance to catch up.

"Old Zhang, you can speed up the construction of your new factory."

"This time, the new factories in Shanghai and Shenzhen started construction on the 0.8-micron process at the same time, which will increase production capacity."

"In the future, with the 0.8-micron process technology, the computer CPUs produced by Pearl River Technology will be able to achieve a significant performance improvement."

"In terms of memory, we can also aim for 16Mb and 64Mb."

BMW Group is not short of money right now.

Now that breakthroughs have been achieved in lithography technology, it is natural to turn that technology into production capacity as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, there is no way to catch up with the industry's advanced level as quickly as possible.

Seeing the moves made by Lingnan Semiconductor, other domestic manufacturers became more confident in purchasing equipment from Nanshan Equipment.

To date, most of Nanshan Equipment's products are sold externally.

As long as the money is right, you can buy from domestic manufacturers.

The same applies to lithography machines.

In recent years, the import of lithography equipment into China has been virtually zero.

This is why lithography machine manufacturers like ASML dislike Nanshan Technology so much.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

"President Jiang, rest assured, in our industrial parks in several locations, we start planning for the next factory as soon as we build the first one."

"The relevant land reserves were already in place long ago."

"We're starting construction now, and we expect to achieve mass production by the first half of next year."

Zhang Shaohua also came to Nanshan Equipment with Jiang Hui today.

As the head of Lingnan Semiconductor, Zhang Shaohua wields considerable influence in China's semiconductor industry.

Their company supplies not only BMW Group and Pearl River Technology, but also a large number of other users.

To a certain extent, the emergence of Lingnan Semiconductor has led to a significant decrease in China's chip imports.

"If Lingnan Semiconductor starts mass production of CPUs, will Intel's orders decrease in the future?"

Liu Donghui also came along today to check on the situation.

After all, Pearl River Technology is a major user of chips.

We are naturally very interested in the group's technological breakthroughs.

"As long as our CPUs are not sold to other companies, Intel's dissatisfaction should be kept within a certain range."

"After all, apart from the most advanced process, they now outsource the manufacturing of all other chips to TSMC and us."

"Unless they want to rely entirely on TSMC in the future, or go back to the old path of manufacturing on their own."

"Otherwise, kicking us out of the game won't do them any good."

Zhang Shaohua is now quite confident.

Although Intel is a major customer of Lingnan Semiconductor, it is not its only customer.

After years of development, Lingnan Semiconductor's business has become diversified.

The group's own business and OEM business are developing in parallel, and the number of OEM clients is constantly increasing.

These are all things Zhang Shaohua relies on.

"Regardless of Intel's opinion, we will definitely manufacture our own CPUs."

"Of course, we shouldn't sell to the public at the beginning; the main focus should be on meeting our own needs."

"In the next few years, the domestic computer industry will develop very rapidly, and our own needs will dominate the market demand."

In China's computer market, international brands, Pearl River Technology, and Lenovo now account for more than 90% of the market share.

International brands are unlikely to use CPUs manufactured by Lingnan Semiconductor in the short term.

Lenovo is most likely not going to consider it.

Therefore, it wouldn't make much sense for Lingnan Semiconductor to sell its CPUs to other domestic companies.

It would be better to be self-sufficient and reduce Intel's concerns in the short term.

After all, Intel's manufacturing orders are still quite lucrative.

This is very meaningful for Lingnan Semiconductor to continuously invest in new factories and absorb the related production capacity.

"Okay, then let's proceed in this direction for now."

"As long as Pearl River Technology develops fast enough, the needs within our group will keep Lingnan Semiconductor busy."

With Jiang Hui's clear instructions, Zhang Shaohua naturally knew exactly what to do next.

Within a few days, Lingnan Semiconductor's two new factories quietly began construction.

Of course, Lingnan Semiconductor is no longer some nobody on the street.

As China's largest semiconductor company, its every move is closely watched by many of its peers.

So even without any ceremony or media invitations, the news that Lingnan Semiconductor was building two new factories at the same time could not be kept secret.

Even the fact that these two new factories will use a 0.8-micron process cannot be completely concealed.

"Mr. Zhang, I've received news that Lingnan Semiconductor has made a breakthrough in the 0.8-micron process technology and has officially started construction on its new factory."

"Based on their past work efficiency, Lingnan Semiconductor will be able to officially mass-produce 0.8-micron process technology in the second half of next year."

"And at that time, they will likely start building new factories for 0.6-micron or 0.5-micron processes simultaneously."

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

Lingnan Semiconductor is now TSMC's main competitor.

Especially in the competition for foundry orders from customers such as Intel, Lingnan Semiconductor is almost TSMC's only competitor.

Therefore, Zeng Fanchen paid close attention to the movements of Lingnan Semiconductor.

"Their pace of development is not lagging behind at all."

"Even the time it takes for technology to evolve is getting faster and faster."

"If this trend continues, they will be able to catch up with the international mainstream level in about five years."

Zhang Zhongmou was naturally well aware of the impact that Lingnan Semiconductor's investment in the new factory would have on TSMC.

TSMC has actually developed very rapidly in recent years.

Especially with Lingnan Semiconductor closely following behind, they dared not relax their vigilance at all.

In some ways, TSMC's technological evolution is even faster than in the same period in history.

"Yes, this is a big problem. At this rate, they will catch up with us sooner or later, and even surpass us." "When that happens, they will have cost advantages and technological advantages, and our lives will be much more difficult."

Zeng Fanchen voiced his concerns directly.

As a star company in Taiwan, TSMC is actually quite successful now.

"Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment are developing too fast and have already threatened the global semiconductor industry landscape."

"I believe this is a situation that many manufacturers do not want to see."

"We must make full use of all kinds of occasions and opportunities to make everyone understand this threat."

"Only when more companies work together to find ways to deal with Lingnan Semiconductor and Nanshan Equipment in various fields can we ultimately achieve the effect of suppression."

Zhang Zhongmou no longer had the confidence to handle Lingnan Semiconductor on his own.

At this point, it's natural to get others involved in causing trouble.

In any case, TSMC is currently just a chip foundry, and its competitive relationship with other semiconductor companies is relatively weak.

"Yes, in recent years, Samsung Electronics in Korea has been very wary of Yeongnam Semiconductor."

"In particular, Lingnan Semiconductor is now making a big push into the memory field, and the memory used by its own companies is produced by itself."

"And it also sells various products in China, and will inevitably sell them abroad in the future."

"Under these circumstances, Samsung Electronics must really dislike Lingnan Semiconductor."

Zeng Fanchen immediately thought of Samsung Electronics, and then said, "ASML must also really dislike Nanshan equipment."

"Other lithography machine manufacturers are doing similar things."

"They would probably be willing to let them join in dealing with the Nanshan equipment."

Only by rallying together several companies to encircle and suppress Nanshan Equipment or Lingnan Semiconductor can we hope to win.

Zeng Fanchen was also well aware of the other party's status in the country.

An ordinary plan really won't be able to kill them.

Even so, he still lacked confidence.

Regardless of whether we have confidence or not, the task must be done.

Otherwise, just letting the other party grow too big is not a normal way of doing things.

……

"President, Lingnan Semiconductor has achieved another breakthrough in chip manufacturing technology."

"Reports indicate that the two new factories recently built by the other party both use 0.8-micron process technology."

As the head of Samsung Electronics' marketing department, Kim Tae-hyun pays close attention to the activities of semiconductor companies around the world.

Especially their old rival, Lingnan Semiconductor, goes without saying.

"Investing in the construction of two factories in one go, the investment amount must have exceeded 2 million US dollars, right?"

"Is Lingnan Semiconductor really that crazy?"

“New factories are built every year, and more than one.”

Lee Geon-hee felt that Samsung's bet on semiconductors was already quite crazy.

Especially when memory prices were falling and selling memory was a losing business, Samsung did not give up investing.

I didn't expect Lingnan Semiconductor to be even more crazy.

This is really frustrating.

Should we follow or not?

"Lingnan Semiconductor is backed by BMW Group and has Zhujiang Technology, a major customer within the group, to help consume its chips."

"At the same time, many state-owned enterprises in China are also using their chips, so they are very confident."

"China's market size is much larger than Korea's, which is their advantage."

Kim Tae explained his understanding from the side.

However, this did not improve Li Jianxi's mood at all.

"Our other businesses have already entered the Chinese market. Do you think our semiconductor factory should also enter the Chinese market?"

A few years ago, Li Jianxi would never have considered placing an advanced semiconductor factory in China.

But the situation is different now.

With China's technological level catching up, placing the factory in China poses a very low risk of information leakage.

After all, he didn't put the most advanced factories in China.

"Since China began to fully open up a few years ago, its economy has experienced vigorous development."

"The changes in all industries are enormous, whether it is home appliances, mobile phones and computers, or other large products such as automobiles."

"The industry's growth rate is far higher than most people's expectations."

"I think the demand for chips will also experience explosive growth in the future."

“If our products are not manufactured in China, they will not be competitive in terms of cost.”

"And there will be no relevant local authorities to support us."

Although Jin Tai did not directly say that he wanted to build a factory in China, his meaning was very clear.

Samsung's room for development in Korea is still too small.

The Chinese market needs to be taken seriously.

"I will discuss your idea with my father."

After a moment of silence, Li Jianxi prepared to go back and talk to his father.

Let's see what he thinks.

……

"Are Nikon and Canon still unwilling to work with us to deal with Nanshan equipment?"

Schmidt stared at Christophe with a grim expression.

He already knew about the breakthrough Nanshan Equipment made in lithography technology with a 0.8-micron process.

This is definitely bad news for ASML.

In recent years, Nanshan Equipment has made several breakthroughs in lithography machines.

This means they have already conducted very in-depth research in the field of lithography machines, and will certainly continue to make breakthroughs in the future.

To exaggerate a bit, it's possible that Nanshan's equipment will surpass ASML's in the future.

"Nikon and Canon have accelerated their entry into the Chinese market in other areas."

"If the other party targets Nanshan Equipment in the field of lithography machines, Nanshan Equipment will likely use its parent company's strong influence in China to retaliate."

"Canon and Nikon will suffer huge losses in the end."

Christoph's words made Schmidt's expression even more unpleasant.

If this won't work and that won't work, how can we do the job?
Are we just going to stand by and watch Nanshan Equipment rise to prominence?

"We absolutely cannot allow Nanshan's equipment to surpass ours."

"The chip industry is an industry that the United States attaches great importance to. We must find a way to get them to join us in dealing with Nanshan equipment."

“They even resorted to some extreme measures to deal with Nanshan equipment.”

After a long silence, Schmidt finally uttered this sentence.

However, Christopher had absolutely no confidence that this statement would actually come to fruition. (End of Chapter)