Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

At the end of 2016, just when Boeing and Lockheed Martin were still struggling with how to deal with the rise of China, Venusstar Technology's Venusstar 777 cargo version was officially put into commercial operation.

Several express delivery companies purchased a total of 20 Venusstar 777s, which was considered a great support.

This made the mass production of the civil aviation passenger version of Venusstar 777 closer and closer.

The executives of Boeing and Airbus were worried about their hair turning white.

For Nanshan companies, it was not only Venusstar Technology that made major breakthroughs this year.

On the Nanshan Semiconductor side, Zhang Jing also came to report to Cao Yang on the research of the latest generation of chip technology.

"Mr. Cao, our 3-nanometer chip process has been successfully developed. Now we are starting to build a new factory, and it will be put into use at the beginning of the year after next."

"By then, our chip process will continue to be the world's leading state."

Zhang Jing is now in high spirits.

With the commissioning of four 7-nanometer process factories in Yangcheng, Shanghai, Beijing, and Chang'an, Nanshan Semiconductor's output has become the world's first.

The most important thing is that their technology is also the first.

China's annual chip import amount has dropped from the peak of hundreds of billions of dollars to tens of billions of dollars.

And a large part of these tens of billions of dollars of imports are imported by foreign-funded enterprises.

With the further expansion of China's semiconductor production capacity, it is estimated that the import amount of chips will fall to less than 10 billion US dollars in the future.

Of course, it is unlikely to be 100% domestically produced.

Unless you can drive all the foreign-funded component companies out of China.

Otherwise, they will eventually use manufacturers within their own system.

Just like Toyota, they will definitely give priority to using Renesas Electronics' semiconductors.

Denso will also give priority to purchasing chips from its own chip factories.

"What are the situations of Samsung, TSMC, and Intel in this regard?"

Now, there are only these three semiconductor companies that can compete with Nanshan Semiconductor in chip process.

Other companies have basically been left behind by a generation.

That's why Cao Yang is more concerned about this aspect.

"As the manufacturing process continues to approach the physical limit, every small step forward requires overcoming huge technical obstacles."

"In the 3-nanometer process, the transistor density of the chip has increased significantly, which has put forward extremely high requirements for lithography technology, etching process and material properties."

"Samsung may have encountered challenges in controlling the accuracy of lithography, and it is estimated that it may not be able to break through the 3-nanometer technology before 2020."

"And we can put it into use in 2018."

"As for TSMC and Intel, according to the information we have inquired, their progress may be half a beat slower than Samsung."

Zhang Jing's news is definitely great news.

Although Nanshan Semiconductor has already released new chip manufacturing process technology ahead of the industry, the degree of leading is not much.

But now it is different.

It is directly ahead of other international excellent manufacturers by two years, or even longer.

This is definitely a huge gap for the semiconductor industry.

It can be said that Nanshan Semiconductor has now completely established its advantages in the industry, and it is not easy for other manufacturers to surpass it.

"In this case, we should pay more attention to the investment in the new factory and strive to use the 3-nanometer process in our smartphones and autonomous driving as soon as possible."

After finally forming such an advantage, Cao Yang must be reluctant to give up.

If we don't take advantage of the other party's inability to react and quickly get rid of them, how long will we wait?

So the day after Zhang Jing reported to Cao Yang, Nanshan Semiconductor officially announced that it would first build a semiconductor factory with the world's first 3-nanometer process technology in Chang'an City.

And next year, the construction of factories in Yangcheng, Shanghai and Beijing will be started at the same time, and large-scale mass production will be formed between 2018 and 2019.

At the same time, Nanshan Semiconductor also stated that the company will increase its technology research and development in 2-nanometer process technology and strive to achieve technological breakthroughs in 2020.

After these news were announced, it was like an atomic bomb was dropped in the international semiconductor market.

"Pat, it has not been long since we made a breakthrough in our 7nm process technology, and Nanshan Semiconductor has already developed a 3nm process chip."

"If we continue to develop at this pace, Intel will no longer be able to dominate the global chip field in the future."

Otellini anxiously communicated with Chief CTO Pat about the company's next-generation chip technology research and development.

Intel used to be the leader in the semiconductor industry, and many manufacturers were catching up with them.

Otellini did not expect that Intel would be left behind by a large margin one day.

"Nanshan Semiconductor, backed by Nanshan Equipment and a series of other local Chinese equipment manufacturers, has its own unique advantages in improving semiconductor chip processes."

"Advanced chip manufacturing is inseparable from high-precision and high-performance production equipment."

"We are facing the situation of equipment debugging failure in acquiring key production equipment, such as lithography machines. Delayed delivery of equipment or problems during installation and debugging may cause the production line to fail to start on time or run stably, thus affecting the chip R\u0026D and mass production plan."

"At the same time, the talent competition and technology accumulation of the R\u0026D team are also a potential influencing factor."

"In the semiconductor industry, the competition for top talents is extremely fierce. We have faced pressure from other competitors in attracting and retaining excellent R\u0026D talents, which has affected the stability and innovation ability of the R\u0026D team to a certain extent."

"In addition, compared with Nanshan Semiconductor, which has accumulated deep experience in the field of advanced processes, we at Intel may have a certain gap in technology accumulation and experience in recent years, and it will take more time to make up and catch up."

Anyway, it was a private communication, and Pat said what he wanted to say, and said all the problems Intel faced.

It's not a good thing to hide it.

"The process of manufacturing 3-nanometer chips involves extremely complex lithography, etching, deposition and other steps, which need to be carried out in a highly clean environment. I know this."

"But since Nanshan Semiconductor has announced that it has mastered the 3-nanometer process chip technology, it means that a breakthrough has been made in the equipment. Is it possible for us to purchase equipment directly from their equipment manufacturers?"

Otellini made a very bold proposal.

All along, Intel's lithography machines have been purchased from ASML, but the other party is not doing well now.

He is a little overwhelmed.

"Otellini, in fact, this is not just an equipment problem."

"As the manufacturing process size continues to shrink, it also brings a series of challenges, such as quantum effects, scattering effects and thermal effects. These require innovative solutions to ensure the stability and reliability of the chip."

"As the size of transistors shrinks, the migration distance of electrons in transistors becomes shorter, resulting in increased resistance, which generates more heat energy."

"This will lead to increased power consumption and heat dissipation problems. Solving this problem requires new low-power designs and new heat dissipation technologies."

Pat explained again.

Because he knew that purchasing lithography machines from Nanshan Equipment was simply an unrealistic problem.

The relevant departments of the United States will not approve it.

Any purchase of equipment or parts directly from Nanshan companies will not be possible now.

This is even more true for important and sensitive equipment such as lithography machines.

"What should we do then?"

"Are we just going to wait?"

Otellini stared at Pat with a bad look.

He has already felt the crisis and feels that if Intel cannot catch up with Nanshan Semiconductor this time, it may never have another chance in the future.

"I will communicate with the equipment manufacturer first to see how to compress the schedule for technology improvement."

Pat was helpless and could only express his attitude first and try his best.

Samsung Electronics is also as anxious as Intel.

This Korean company has had various teeth marks with Nanshan companies before.

Samsung's position as the global champion in mobile phone sales has also been taken away by Honor Technology since last year.

It is conceivable how deep the teeth marks of both parties are.

"President, Nanshan Semiconductor's technology is advancing too fast. If we don't take some special measures, it will be difficult to catch up with them."

Li Zairin didn't want to say such discouraging words, but he knew that if he didn't tell the truth at this time, then Samsung's semiconductor business would really have no way to compare with Nanshan Semiconductor.

He has been in China for such a long time, and he has a deep understanding of Nanshan's enterprises.

But no matter how much he understands, he feels a little confused, and the information is always changing.

It can only be said that the speed of the other party's progress is really too fast, so fast that people can't keep up and can't catch up.

"They officially announced that they have mastered the technology of 3-nanometer process technology. Do you think this is a tactic, or have they really made the technology mature?"

Till now, Li Zairong can't believe that Nanshan Semiconductor has mastered the chip technology of 3-nanometer process technology so many years earlier than Samsung.

This gap is too big.

To a certain extent, this has suppressed Li Zairong's confidence.

"From the past work style of Nanshan Group companies, what they officially announced to the outside world is true and reliable."

"Even if everyone had some doubts at the beginning, they were proven to be correct in the end."

After Li Zairin said this, Li Zairong's face became even more pessimistic.

Samsung Electronics is considered the most critical company in the Samsung Group.

But now it is facing huge challenges. If it is not careful, Samsung Electronics may be reduced to a second-rate company.

This is something that Li Zairong absolutely cannot accept.

"Then what is the special method you mentioned?"

At this time, as long as it can solve the problem, no matter what method it is, Li Zairong is willing to try it.

"First, let's confirm with ASML to see when their new generation of lithography technology can be broken through."

"Secondly, we can look for China's Modu Microelectronics and SMIC to purchase some lithography machines and etching machines for the packaging and testing section. They are all equipment suppliers for Nanshan Semiconductor, and their products are already being exported."

"Finally, we should consider easing relations with Nanshan Equipment and Nanshan Semiconductor to see if we can purchase some equipment from Nanshan Equipment."

"As long as the equipment problem is solved, the process problem will be half solved."

"With our accumulated technology, I think it is possible to achieve technological breakthroughs a few years earlier and catch up with Nanshan Semiconductor as soon as possible."

When Li Zairin said this, Li Zairong was immediately silenced.

This is not the result he wanted to hear.

However, he also knew that this plan was actually a good plan.

The premise is that Samsung is willing to implement this plan, and the other party is willing to cooperate.

But Li Zairong felt that it might be a bit difficult, so for a while, he did not dare to make a decision easily.

But whether they make a decision or not, Samsung Electronics will definitely arrange someone to communicate with ASML.

"Peter, in just a few days, several customers have urged us to speed up the development of a new generation of lithography machines."

"Give me a definite answer. When can we develop a lithography machine that can produce a 3-nanometer process technology?"

Christopher didn't sleep well last night and kept thinking about this question.

Due to the rise of Nanshan Equipment, ASML's days are far less glorious than in the same period of history.

Now it is facing another life-and-death challenge.

It would be strange if he could still sleep well every day.

"According to the current situation, we have to wait until 2019 to deliver a new generation of lithography machines at the earliest."

Peter's answer made Christopher feel cold.

China has already mastered the technology now, but they still need a few years to break through?

When did their technical level become so different from China?

This is totally unacceptable.

"Are you sure you are right?"

Christopher's face turned cold and he stared at Peter with a bad look.

"The 3-nanometer process lithography machine and the 7-nanometer process are completely different equipment."

"Although the structures of various equipment have no essential differences, the components inside are almost all newly developed."

"This requires many manufacturers to cooperate with us to develop together."

"You also know that many suppliers in Europe are very slow in doing things."

"What Huaxia can complete in three months, they may not have completed in a year."

"In this way, the speed of upgrading our lithography machines will naturally slow down."

To be frank, Pete told all the situations he knew.

"What if we can urge suppliers to increase their cooperation?"

Christopher didn't want to fight, but he had to fight.

That's why he said this.

"That won't be much faster. At least we have to wait until 2018 for the relevant equipment to come off the line."

Pitt's words basically broke the hope of Samsung, TSMC and Intel to develop 3-nanometer process chip technology in advance.

The equipment can't be handled, which is something they can hardly help with.

Even if they all arranged engineers to help ASML, it might not be very effective.

In the end, several chip giants could only watch the overall rise of Nanshan Semiconductor.