Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Faithful words are good for deeds!

What the ancestors said is absolutely true.

Although Cao Yang, a student, was more of a nominal name at Xiang Changle's side, he hadn't actually attended a few classes.

But both public and private, Xiang Changle hopes that Nanshan Group can develop better and avoid more pitfalls.

Now Cao Yangming knows that car-grade chips are a huge pit, but he still wants to continue jumping into the pit.

What Xiang Changle can do is to provide him with some suggestions to avoid pitfalls to the greatest extent.

One of his suggestions is not to bear the pressure alone, but to find more partners.

"Teacher, do you have any specific partner recommendations?"

Engaging in chips now is not a good business to make money.

Cao Yang naturally doesn't mind finding a few partners to do it together.

Of course, the premise is that this partner must be reliable, not a pig teammate.

Although Xiang Changle is not an expert in chip design, he is at least half an insider in the industry, and he obviously knows better than Cao Yang in this regard.

"If you want to talk about specific partners, this is really critical."

"I have heard more about Warwick in Shencheng. They have cooperated closely with our school in the past few years. They should have accumulated a lot of experience in semiconductors."

"However, they were doing it by themselves before. It's hard to say whether they are willing to cooperate with you."

Xiang Changle immediately said a name that Cao Yang was familiar with.

Huawei.

People are really serious about semiconductors.

Although more than ten years later, they will be targeted because they are too powerful.

But in the last ten years, it has been a very good partner.

And people have been engaged in semiconductors for many years. Nanshan used to be the leader, which was a good choice.

"I immediately arranged for someone to contact the people from Warwick. When I went to participate in the National Science and Technology Progress Award, I had a brief encounter with the other people."

Cao Yang accepted Xiang Changle's suggestion without much hesitation.

I can "take out" some powerful semiconductor-related technologies, but without a suitable platform, it is very difficult to realize those technologies.

Warwick's semiconductor department is obviously a very good platform.

It seems that their HiSilicon was established this year?

If the communication is good, it is really possible to become one of HiSilicon's shareholders now.

"In addition, I heard a piece of news, but I don't know if it's reliable or not."

Xiang Changle thought for a while, and then said: "It is said that BYD also intends to engage in semiconductors, and they are also Nanshan's partners."

"If you do it together, you can also reduce the risk to each other."

"I think you can have a good chat with their President Wang."

Reminding Changle like this, Cao Yang's heart is suddenly enlightened.

The semiconductor department of BYD in later generations is also relatively powerful.

High-end gadgets such as IGBTs can already be made by themselves.

But I didn't seem to have heard that BYD also had a semiconductor business department.

It seems that the other party should only start planning to enter the semiconductor business in the past two years.

"Teacher, your reminder is really timely. BYD is indeed a very good partner."

"They intend to produce electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, which require a lot of control components such as inverters, involving a lot of chips."

"If you want to master these core components and occupy a dominant position in the industry, it is a good choice to make semiconductors yourself."

"Tomorrow, I will personally go to BYD to visit their CEO Wang, and have a good chat with him."

Seeing that Cao Yang had completely listened to his suggestion, Xiang Changle was also in a good mood, and said: "Some teachers in our college study this area, and I will also see if anyone of them is interested in Nanshan's semiconductor project. Whether it’s cooperation, recruiting their graduate students, or asking them to help recommend talents, it should be able to play a role.”

"As a teacher, that's all I can help you with."

Naturally, Xiang Changle hoped that Nanshan Group could make car-grade chips.

This is good for him and Lingnan University of Technology, it is a great thing.

...

This is not the first time Cao Yang has been to BYD.

However, the purpose of coming this time is very different from the previous ones.

So when the other party got the discussion topic that Nanshan Group came to visit, an internal meeting was held immediately.

"Mr. Wang, the other party wants to come over and report to us that the chips used in the engine and transmission parts have been switched from Infineon to NXP or Texas Instruments. It is expected and nothing special."

"But in the second topic, it is mentioned that we cooperate with us in semiconductor research and development, which is a bit strange."

After Zhong Qiang received Nanshan's contact, he immediately reported to Wang Fu.

Although Cao Yang and Wang Fu can also communicate directly, if you always skip the people below when you do things, it is easy to cause dissatisfaction among the people below.

So for this visit, Cao Yang asked Zeng Tingting to contact Zhong Qiang, and coordinated the schedules of the bosses through the ministers of both parties.

"No, it's not surprising at all!"

"It's strange how the other party knew so quickly that we wanted to engage in semiconductors."

Zhong Qiang was taken aback by Wang Fu's answer, and said, "Mr. Wang, do we, BYD, also want to develop our own chips?"

Obviously, until now, Zhong Qiang didn't know that the company had this idea.

The establishment of the semiconductor division is still in the process of communication between Wang Fu and Liang Chuanqing, vice president of R\u0026D, and most people in the company don't know about it yet.

It has not yet been officially determined whether to engage in semiconductors or not.

In this case, Nanshan smelled it and touched it, so Wang Fu felt a little strange.

"The company is now considering launching electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, and the number of semiconductor components such as chips used on them will be much higher than the current F6."

"So I'm discussing with Mr. Liang whether to set up a semiconductor business department and produce control parts including components by ourselves in the future."

"So far, only very few people know the news, and they don't know where Nanshan got it from."

"He wants to come to discuss cooperation in this area, and I haven't made up my mind yet. It's just a matter of time for everyone to chat, and there is no harm."

Naturally, Wang Fu is also very aware of how difficult it is to make such things as chips.

So whether to do it or not, he is also a little tangled.

It seems like a good idea to have Nanshan help share the research and development costs.

"Nanshan was cheated by Infineon this time. Although several other chip manufacturers seem to be willing to sell chips to them, it must have made Mr. Cao very angry."

"Otherwise, the idea of ​​researching chips by myself wouldn't suddenly pop up."

Combined with the information he had, Zhong Qiang quickly made a judgment.

Basically, this is also a fact.

"Infineon stopped supplying chips to Nanshan, which can be regarded as a wake-up call for us."

"For the parts that need to be imported completely and cannot find any substitutes in China, we still need to consider developing them ourselves."

"Otherwise, if the company develops and grows in the future, if someone tricks it, the loss will be too great."

Wang Fu was also quite emotional.

The case of Nanshan Group can be regarded as a warning to everyone.

"Then we will normally agree to their chip switching plan at that time?"

"According to the current information, the chips of NXP and Texas Instruments can meet the requirements. It is said that the agent of the other party is also very active in getting orders from Nanshan, and there should be no supply problems."

Taking this opportunity, Zhong Qiang confirmed with Wang Fu about switching chips for the engine, gearbox and other parts.

After all, this is a relatively big change point for BYD.

"It can only be agreed!"

"In this case, if we don't agree, it will be worse, and it will not benefit anyone at that time."

Wang Fu was very clear and agreed without any hesitation.

Of course, the premise must be that the tests in Nanshan are all correct.

"Then Mr. Cao and his party will come to visit tomorrow, and I will call Mr. Liang and them?"

"Call them all!"

"Let's see how Mr. Cao wants to cooperate with us in the semiconductor business!"

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

Thinking of the rapid development of Nanshan Group in recent years, Wang Fu hoped that Cao Yang could surprise him.

...

"Mr. Cao, making chips is a very expensive and risky thing. Are you sure Nanshan wants to jump into this pit?"

In a conference room of BYD, Cao Yang led a group of senior executives from Nanshan to a closed-door meeting with senior executives from BYD.

Those little things in front are naturally not a problem.

Everyone communicated smoothly.

Now that we have entered into the cooperation of semiconductor projects, the teams of both parties have become much more energetic.

Wang Fu didn't ask Cao Yang how he knew that BYD was going to engage in semiconductors, and it didn't make much sense to ask.

Cao Yang must have his own channels to get some information.

Although BYD's semiconductor business has not yet officially launched, communication with some scientific research institutions and other matters are in progress.

It is not surprising that Nanshan can get some news.

"Mr. Wang, chips, especially car-grade chips, are indeed a big hole. If you jump into it, you may not be able to get up."

"But if no one jumps, the pit will get bigger and bigger, to the point where you don't even know how to fill it if you want to fill it in the future."

"At present, automotive chips have not received sufficient attention from various giants, and the manufacturing process is not advanced. Many chip giants are focusing on chips used in consumer electronics such as computer CPUs."

"We are slowly developing some less difficult car-grade chips and increasing the localization rate of chips step by step. Although the risk is high, it is not impossible to succeed."

"Nanshan now invests 10% of its sales revenue in research and development every year. In the future, half of these research and development expenses will be invested in chip-related research."

"The key equipment of the chip, we are going to develop it ourselves."

"We are also planning to cooperate with various universities and enterprises to achieve 100% localization of some materials for chips."

"In the early stage, we only need to start the chip design work first, and then realize the intervention of the whole industry chain within ten years, and finally master the production of all car-level chips."

"The road must be difficult, but there is still hope."

Facing Wang Fu's question, Cao Yang gave a very positive answer.

There are many chips used in cars, and it is actually impossible for Nanshan to make all the chips by itself.

Whether it is cooperation with BYD or Huawei, they all want to get some of the chips.

The remaining key chips were researched by Nanshan himself.

Finally, the problem of Nanshan's chip being stuck in the neck was solved.

It even finally solved the problem of China's auto industry chip being stuck.

"I was still a little confused about whether to establish a semiconductor business department."

"After hearing what you said, Mr. Cao, I don't think there is any need to worry about it anymore."

"But I just don't know how you want to cooperate with Mr. Cao?"

"There are many types of automotive-grade chips, which ones do you plan to focus on?"

Wang Fu obviously already has the intention of cooperating with Nanshan.

Now the size difference between the two parties is not very big, and they can be regarded as equal partners.

The key is Nanshan's ability to develop new technologies, which BYD has already experienced.

In particular, Nanshan's strength in terms of equipment is unmatched by few domestic companies.

Wang Fu has a deep understanding of this.

"The two parties can jointly establish a semiconductor research company to conduct research on chip design first."

"At the beginning, you can start with some simple chips used in audio and instruments, or even start with PCB boards. After slowly improving, research some main control chips, and then build your own chip factory."

It is very sincere that Cao Yang came to discuss cooperation today.

Naturally, it will not go around in circles at this time.

So I just expressed my thoughts directly.

There are a lot of car-grade chips. We will cooperate with BYD to develop a batch, cooperate with Huawei to develop a batch, and Nanshan will develop a batch by itself.

In the end, Cao Yang is confident that he can solve the problem of the chip being stuck.

When the time comes to enter the era of new energy vehicles, the demand for chips will increase significantly.

The advantages of Nanshan can be further reflected.

Especially when chips are in short supply, this advantage is even more critical.

"How much money does Mr. Cao plan to invest first?"

Wang Fu is also a cheerful person.

After feeling Cao Yang's sincerity, he directly entered the next stage.

"Semiconductor research is a very expensive industry. In order to make the employees of the new company more confident, I think the initial investment should be more impactful."

"The company invested 1 billion yuan in the first phase, and BYD and Nanshan each contributed 500 million yuan, each occupying half of the shares."

"What does Mr. Wang think of this arrangement?"

When Cao Yang said this, Wang Fu was completely relieved.

It seems that Nanshan really wants to enter the semiconductor industry.

Otherwise, it would not be 500 million in one shot.

This is 500 million in 2004, and the lethality is still not small.

"Cao is always a cheerful person, so I won't be in ink anymore!"

"The new company will invest according to this ratio, and both parties will arrange a group of personnel to start the company."

"But for the name of the company, does Mr. Cao have any suggestions?"

Wang Fu seems to have given the naming rights to Cao Yang.

In fact, they want BYD to occupy an advantageous position.

After all, these companies are most likely BYD Nanshan or Nanshan BYD.

If Cao Yang were to propose it, it would be inappropriate for him to say "Nanshan BYD", right?

Sure enough, after hearing Wang Fu's words, Cao Yang said without much hesitation, "Let's call it BYD Nanshan Semiconductor Research Institute."

"Focus on the function of a research. After all, there will be no direct results in a short period of time. Don't put too much pressure on the company's employees."

"Of course, if you don't get results in three to five years, you have to consider a big change."

Seeing that Cao Yang was so bright, Wang Fu had a lot of smiles on his face, and said: "No problem, I will arrange Liang Chuanqing and Mr. Liang to be in charge of the preparation work of BYD Nanshan Semiconductor Research Institute, and Mr. Cao at Nanshan will also arrange the personnel as soon as possible. arrange."

As soon as the company finalized the cooperation direction, Wang Fu couldn't wait to start practical work.

"no problem."

"The person in charge of semiconductor research in Nanshan, if there are no accidents, it will be determined the day after tomorrow."

Since Cao Yang wants to engage in semiconductors, he naturally needs to recruit a group of experts to help.

Otherwise, he would act as an "expert" every time, which is really suspicious.

Tools are always needed.

...

Warwick's integrated circuit design center started in 1991.

In 1993, the first digital ASIC was successfully developed.

In 1998, the first digital-analog hybrid ASIC was successfully developed

In 2002, the first COT chip was successfully developed.

At the end of 2003, the first 10-million-gate ASIC was successfully developed.

It can be said that they have many years of experience in the chip field.

While the main focus is on ASICs that themselves require heavy use, there are some things that are common in logic.

If the other party is willing to cooperate with him, then Nanshan can learn a lot.

"Minister Lian, please make arrangements for Mr. Wang and his party from Nanshan Group to come over the day after tomorrow. They probably want to discuss technical cooperation with us."

Xu Jun is the person in charge of IC Design Center and concurrently serves as the deputy general manager of the company.

Of course, he had already heard about the Nanshan Group in Yangcheng.

When he went to accept the awards, Cao Yang received three awards in one go.

It left a very deep impression on him.

In the past two years, although Nanshan's performance has not been so fierce, he still won the third prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award twice.

That's already pretty amazing.

Therefore, he still attaches great importance to Cao Yang's initiative to call himself to come and visit him.

"Mr. Xu, Nanshan Group is mainly engaged in auto parts and related equipment. It doesn't seem to have much intersection with us?"

Lian Zhitian had naturally heard of Nanshan Group.

After all, as the leader of private enterprises in Yangcheng, Nanshan Group's turnover in 2003 exceeded 30 billion.

It almost surpassed Huawei's 31.7 billion yuan.

And he heard that Nanshan will reach 50 billion in 2004, but this goal is even higher than that of Warwick.

If it is really achieved, then Nanshan Group will be the largest private enterprise in Lingnan Province.

"I also find it a bit strange. It stands to reason that we don't have much contact with each other. I usually don't pay much attention to the affairs of Nanshan Group. I just occasionally see some news about them when I surf the Internet."

"However, their business is so big, it's not surprising that they might have something to do with us, so please treat them well first."

Cao Yang did not directly tell Xu Jun on the phone that he wanted to cooperate with Huawei to develop chips.

After all, Huawei has been engaged in chips for more than ten years, unlike BYD and Nanshan, which only started this year.

If you mention cooperation hastily, it is estimated that it will be cold immediately.

...

"Mr. Cao, you mean that after I go to Nanshan, I will directly serve as the deputy general manager of BYD Nanshan Semiconductor Research Institute, and concurrently serve as the director of the semiconductor business department of Nanshan Research Institute?"

Accompanied by Xiang Changle, Cao Yang came to the office of Zhang Jing, a major in microelectronics, from Lingnan University of Technology.

Xiang Changle had already introduced Zhang Jing's situation to Cao Yang before, and the other party also knew the purpose of Cao Yang's visit.

Although some things have not been fully finalized, but the two parties can meet, it shows that they are both interesting.

"That's right, yesterday I went to BYD specifically, and confirmed with President Wang about the establishment of BYD's Nanshan Semiconductor Research Institute."

"At that time, BYD and Nanshan shareholders will each contribute 500 million yuan as the initial start-up capital of BYD Nanshan Semiconductor Research Institute..."

Cao Yang seriously introduced the company's situation to Zhang Jing.

Although domestic chip products are not very popular, it does not mean that there are no talents in this area.

Like Zhang Jing in front of me, after graduating from University of Science and Technology of China, he went to the University of California, Berkeley to study for a Ph.D. After graduation, he also worked at AMD for two years, and then came to Lingnan University of Technology attracted by the domestic talent introduction plan.

Now he is the youngest professor of microelectronics.

Xiang Changle had some contact with him at work, so he had some understanding of Zhang Jing's situation.

Although Lingnan University of Technology is a top university in Lingnan Province, it is obviously very difficult to make great achievements in the semiconductor field.

After returning to China for a few years, Zhang Jing seemed a little tired of that kind of life.

Especially when I visited the University of California, Berkeley some time ago, it was rumored that the other party wanted to dig him back to become a tenured professor.

That's why Xiang Changle strongly recommended to Cao Yang, and at the same time did a lot of work for Zhang Jing alone.

"The capital needed by the semiconductor industry is huge. 1 billion seems like a lot, and it may be burned out in less than two years!"

Zhang Jing was a little moved.

If Cao Yang is serious about semiconductors, then the opportunity now is indeed very rare.

"Professor Zhang, 1 billion is just the start-up capital, and there will be regular capital injections every year in the future!"

"My goal is that one day all the chips on the vehicle can be localized."

"Whether it is produced in BYD Nanshan, the semiconductor division of Nanshan Research Institute, or other domestic manufacturers, it is acceptable."

"In addition, the 1 billion is the investment of the joint venture company, and Nanshan himself will invest at least the same amount of funds in the semiconductor business department every year."

When Cao Yang said this, Xiang Changle next to him couldn't bear it anymore, and said, "Mr. Cao, that's equivalent to an investment of 1 billion yuan per year, isn't it too radical?"

Although the cowhide that blows out is not responsible, it is too degrading.

Xiang Changle obviously didn't want Cao Yang to do such a degrading thing.

"Teacher, Nanshan's turnover this year can hit 50 billion yuan, and its annual net profit will be at least 5 billion yuan."

"If it's only 1 billion, we can afford it!"

"Tomorrow, I will go to Warwick to visit the person in charge of their semiconductor business department. Maybe in addition to BYD Nanshan Semiconductor Research Institute and Nanshan Research Institute Semiconductor Business Department, we will also establish a semiconductor cooperation project with Huawei."

Cao Yang once again dropped a blockbuster.

1 billion a year is not enough?

This is 1.5 billion?

Money is not spent like this, is it?

"Mr. Cao, Nanshan Group has laid out such a large semiconductor business all at once, and I can't do it alone."

Zhang Jing was obviously moved.

He felt that if he missed this opportunity, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Although his skills are very good, but from a global perspective, he is better than him, not to mention a lot, but his hands and feet are absolutely uncountable.

Under such circumstances, Cao Yang trusted him so much, which was also a great opportunity for him.

"This is natural!"

"We have already found a special headhunting company and contacted researchers from TSMC and Samsung, and we are also considering contacting some personnel from SMIC."

"My idea is that the joint venture company and Nanshan's own semiconductor business department should have research teams of at least 100 people each this year, and officially spread the work of chip research!"

When Cao Yang said this, Zhang Jing didn't hesitate any more.

"Mr. Cao, thank you for your trust. I am willing to witness the development of Huaxia's semiconductor industry with Nanshan Group."

"I used to have some classmates and colleagues in chip companies such as AMD in the United States. I will also contact them to see if anyone is willing to return to Yangcheng for development."

Zhang Jing soon began to enter the role.

Take Nanshan Group's semiconductor business as its own business.

As long as he can get this business started, he can definitely gain both fame and fortune.

"Then thank you, Professor Zhang!"

"In terms of remuneration, as long as you are a talent, everything is negotiable!"

Since it is decided to spend money on chips, it is natural to be willing to spend the money that should be spent.

The current financial report of Nanshan Group is simply too healthy.

All banks are looking for Nanshan, wanting to ask them to lend more money.

Even Mi Ying, the little secretary, was forced to be a lobbyist several times.

However, Nanshan is really not short of money now.

Whether it is a gearbox or an engine, the profit margin is not bad.

The unobtrusive Nanshan Special Steel is a cash cow.

Only one year into production, 100% of the production capacity has been utilized.

Regardless of the downturn in the entire steel industry, in terms of high-end special steel products, an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons is nothing at all.

It can be digested domestically without exporting.

Even Lingnan Province consumed 60 to 70 percent.

The cash in Nanshan Group's account has exceeded 5 billion for more than ten months in a row!