Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the morning of the 12th, at the Chip factory of OEM Zhongxin International, Gaoxin District, an ordinary domestic sedan was parked by the entrance to the factory. An old man alighted from the car with the support of his secretary. The old man was wearing a western-style business suit. His gaze was spirited and sharp. However, he looked very frail and old, as he was nearly 80. His hair was white at the temples and there were deep lines at the corners of his eyes. Beside him was the short-haired and bespectacled middle-aged man who was supporting him. He would look familiar to many if they took a closer look at him. Was he not the Executive Chairman of Hua Yao, Zhao Ming?
Looking at his highly respectful gaze as he helped the old man, the identity of the old man became clear in an instant. He was the founder of Hua Yao, Old Master Ren. The old master made a special trip to Shang Hai after getting wind of Zhongxin International’s success in the production techniques of the 7-nanometer. He wanted to visit the OEM factory production site of Zhongxin International.
Zhang Wei Jin agreed to the old master’s request. He was waiting at the door in an anti-dust suit and brought them into the factory for an observation.
Old Master Ren asked many questions that he was concerned about during the site visit. “How’s the production capabilities of this line? How many wafers can be processed and how many chips can be produced in a day?
“Under non-stop production, we can process 800 twelve-inch wafers every day. Theoretically, about 330 chips can be cut from each wafer. With this, we can produce 264,000 chips every day.”
His eyes brightened and he sighed in appreciation. “Chips are still the most profitable. Nowadays, the manufacturing cost of a twelve-inch wafer is less than $1,000, yet more than 300 chips can be cut from it, and each chip is worth hundreds. The profit margin is ten times or even a hundred times more than the production costs. Had I known that this industry was so profitable, Hua Yai would have entered into the OEM industry for wafer and chip production. We should have occupied a share of this industry. But it’s too late now.”
Zhang Wei Jin smiled. “It’s not too late even now. With Hua Yao’s capabilities, it would have made something of itself in the wafer OEM industry within 10 years at most. It can become a large OEM brand and dominate the market.”
The old man said with a wave of his hand, “Forget it. I’m almost 80. I would be dead after 10 years. We’ve already lost the advantage of being the first player on the scene. It would take a lot of money if we wanted to build ourselves in this industry to a level that is comparable to Zhongxin International. 50 billion might not even be enough… We won’t be joining this industry. One company like Zhongxin International is enough. ”
Zhang Wei Jin said humbly, “Chip production does not require complicated technologies. Chip designing is the most essential technology. The purpose of Zhongxin International is to provide OEM service to the various design companies. We’re merely earning a small fee for our hard work.”
The old man shook his head. “Ok, ok. President Zhang, there are hundreds of chip design companies, but only a few chip OEM companies. What’s easy to do and what’s difficult; I’ll stop talking about that now.” He was suddenly reminded of something and asked with concern, “President Zhang, what’s the yield of the 7-nanometer chip production of your company? If the production capacities are satisfactory, I will entrust a portion of Hua Yao’s Kirin chips to you. I hope that you won’t charge us a high price for the OEM fees. We can accept a price of up to 30% higher than Mossy Electrics’… Your breakthroughs are amazing, but we can only provide limited support.”
As he heard this, Zhang Wei Jin felt moisture at the corners of his eyes. “President Ren, please there is no need for that! We’ll accept the same price that you pay to Mossy Electrics. You don’t have to pay us a higher price. The only thing we need are orders. The more the better! Our second 7-nanometer chip production line is currently under construction. The yield of this production line has reached 86.4%. It can produce 228,000 high-quality chips every day. This production capacity is able to meet the OEM needs of all the high-end chips required by Hua Yao.”
After all, Hua Yao sold about 30 to 40 million high-end phones every year. It would be easy to meet the orders for a similar amount of high-quality chips.
The old man nodded. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide and he asked, “What did you say? An 80% yield? Didn’t you mention that it was not even 20% in that declaration of apology? Why are the numbers different now?” He asked with a serious gaze, “Did I mishear, or did you misspeak?”
“There was no misunderstanding. The yield that we announced to the public was merely a smokescreen. The actual yield is 86.4%. We’ve achieved the same yield as our competitors.”
“How is this possible?” The old master and Zhao Ming yelled at the same time.
Zhang Wei Jin began to explain the causes and the results in detail.
…
More than 2 hours later, Old Master Ren and Zhao Ming finally came out of their stupor. The virtual factory. The time needed for development could be shortened by 90% or more. Development costs could be reduced by 90% or more. With this kind of god-like equipment, it was not a fantasy to conquer the production techniques of the 7-nanometer chip in 8 months! With the possession of this gold-like equipment, it was no longer a mere dream to reduce the technological gap between Z country and other nations within 2 years when it would typically have taken them more than 20 years. The technological prowess of Xing Hai Technologies was stupefying.
“The software technologies of Xing Hai Technologies has progressed to such a shocking extent?”
“The virtual factory has brought about an acceleration in technological developments in the industrial sector. This will lead to the creation of a power similar to the possession of the atomic bombs.”
“It’s lucky that this technology was birthed in Z country instead of other nations.”
“Xing Hai Technologies has been established for only three years and Hua Yao has been established for 30 years. How did they come up with so many shocking technologies?”
“Has the young man received blessings from aliens or what?”
Old Master Ren and Zhao Ming were ragging each other on as they discussed the matter. They were wearing bitter smiles. It was said that to constantly compare yourself to others would only cause more anger for yourself. But to constantly compare your company to another company would only hurt yourself more.
“Old Master, do you think that Hua Yao should agree to President Zhang’s suggestion and invitation? We are a large company. By joining the Star Alliance established by Xing Hai Technologies, we will form a strategic alliance in the field of hardware design and manufacturing. This means that we agree to avoid internal friction, jointly address external challenges, and occupy a larger market in the future.” Zhao Ming asked, “Are we really going to be allies with Xing Hai Technologies as the leader?”
Did Hua Yao company have to join an alliance with a company that had been established for less than three years as their leader? And they would have to obey the commands given by this little company?
“Of course we are joining!” The old man said, “The reason why President Zhang revealed so many top secrets to us is because he wants Hua Yao to join them. They are showing us their sincerity. Moreover, we have no choice. Although Xing Hai Technologies has only been established for a short time, its prowess cannot be underestimated. It would be great if Hua Yao could even come up with one of the products that they have launched. The smart robot, the intelligent learning machine, the Work Assistant, and the virtual factory; any one of those would be exceptional for us. But Xing Hai Technologies could produce them one after another… They seemed to have grasped the secret formula to the workings of this world by mastering the technology behind the intelligent learning machine. With that one learning machine, they seemed to have mastered all the technologies in this world. That company has ten times, no, a hundred times the potential of Hua Yao. Even if we don’t work with this company and reject joining their alliance, the Star Cloud system and the Star Alliance, including Purple Ray, Zhongxin, and other software and hardware manufacturers that make us this army will quickly sweep across this world. Even Hua Yao won’t be able to resist them. Although we have hundreds of thousands of patents in our possession as well as our own operating system, they are totally insufficient against someone who is the undisputed master of this industry. We can only go with the flow and join them. We have to work together, share our advantages and achieve a win-win situation instead of being beaten down. Hua Yao is an excellent company, but the future belongs to Xing Hai Alliance. Only by joining them can Hua Yao maintain its niche in the market. Otherwise, we’ll be reduced to an impoverished state.”
Hearing this, Zhao Ming nodded helplessly. A company that had been established for less than 3 years was about to become a hegemon. Even Hua Yao had no choice but to rely on it and be obedient or risk getting crushed in the future. He found it hard to accept this fact. But, it was a fact nevertheless.
…
On the 15th, at Xing Hai Technologies Headquarters, unknown to the public, Hua Yao and Xing Hai Technologies signed many contracts on strategic areas of collaboration. Included was Hua Yao joining the Star Alliance and to “aid the domestic chip production industry” together. They also agreed to “share advanced technologies and to build a close alliance” amongst others. In short, both parties agreed to work closely together, help each other, and create a wonderful future together.
Of course, these contracts on collaboration were signed in secret and would not be made public knowledge in the short-term. This was to prevent external forces from retaliating out of anxiety.
They completed the contract signing. Looking at Chen Jin, whom the old man thought was rather heroic yet ridiculously young, he said with an envious and jealous tone, “Young man, I can give you half of my company and you can give me half of your age. Then, we’ll have a chance to fight for dominance in this world!”
Chen Jin shook his head. “President Ren, I don’t want your company but I can give you half my age. Even so, I would still have a greater chance of winning. You should acknowledge this point.”
Zhao Ming harrumphed in annoyance. “What arrogance!”
“Hahaha!” The old man gave a hearty laugh. “In my life, I have won a great number of battles even when the odds were stacked against me. Young man, you shouldn’t be too arrogant with your words.” Even though he was nearing 80, he still hated to lose.
“That’s true too.” Chen Jin nodded with great admiration. It could be said that it was because of the existence of countless people like this old man that Z country’s scientific technologies were able to progress to an advanced level even without a “cheat sheet” that was Chen Jin. The spirit of those individuals who hated to lose and still gave their all even when the odds were against them was truly admirable. They saw their hopes of Z country surpassing the foreign countries being realized.
These people were worthy of respect.