Reborn Tokyo Golden Age

In addition to attending the Keidanren meeting today, Shirakawa Kaede also wanted to meet with several overseas visitors.

Most of these overseas visitors are old acquaintances of Bai Chuanfeng.

Apple CEO Sculley, IBM's Lewis, and Vanguard's Wood.

They came to Bai Chuanfeng for no other reason than to raise funds for SIC, and then run SIC to be listed in Mi.

SIC has been established for seven years and is now a well-known brand in Neon.

As far as the local market is concerned, more than 60% of the processor share in the computer field is taken by SIC.

The remaining small part, the processor chips used by Toshiba and Hitachi, are still products authorized by SIC.

In other words, basically Neon Computer's processor chips are almost all directly or indirectly related to SIC.

Because it has been specializing in the processor field from the beginning, after several years of painstaking efforts, SIC is well-deserved for the situation it has achieved today.

But why do these overseas visitors suddenly want to finance SIC now? That is also related to SIC's performance in the North American market this year.

Today in the global computer market, Neon’s local presence is not included. In addition to Apple Computer and Shirakawa Electric's own laptops, they use SIC chips.

Just this year, another North American computer manufacturer giant also became an important customer of SIC, which is Compaq Computer.

In the new generation of portable computers, Compaq used SIC's 32-bit chip 80381, and the sales of this portable computer exceeded 500,000 units by the end of the year.

With such performance, Compaq ranked third in sales in the North American computer market this year.

This is a very remarkable achievement, and therefore SIC has once again entered the field of vision of many computer manufacturers.

With successive applications from Apple, Compaq, and Shirakawa Electric, the performance of SIC has been recognized by the market.

As a result, HP, Wang An, and even Dell, which was just a few years old, began to frequently contact SIC to discuss the possibility of future cooperation.

After all, among all processor chip manufacturers in the world, SIC's products are the most cost-effective.

Although the yen has appreciated significantly, the initial pricing of SIC is much lower than that of its peers.

So even because of the exchange rate, the price has increased a lot. But compared with Intel and Motorola, SIC's chips are still very competitive.

The choice of the capital market has nothing to do with nationality. Whoever can create more profits will be chosen.

Pushing a step further, Compaq can choose SIC. In addition to performance reasons, it is also probably because of its cheap price.

Now, relying on Apple, Compaq and Shirakawa Electric, in the North American processor market, SIC has become the third largest processor in the market, following Motorola.

At first glance, Wall Street saw that this technology company from Neon was too young and had not yet gone public.

That's fine if it's not listed on the market. If a company wants to grow and develop, going public is an inevitable choice.

Especially if you want to mix in the global market, don't think about living alone.

When it comes to going public, that's what Wall Street does best.

So greedy capital began to carefully study everything about SIC, and soon they discovered that SIC's business model was very strange.

This is a pure design company. It does not have its own wafer factory and relies entirely on other semiconductor companies for foundry.

This is interesting, so some people become more interested and some people lose interest.

After all, as a technology manufacturing industry, without its own heavy assets, the value will be greatly reduced.

However, interested parties hold the opposite view. They believe that asset-light design companies have lower risks.

In addition, they discovered that SIC has licensed its designs to some semiconductor companies in North America.

This enlightened approach is very different from the traditional neon companies in their impression.

So in the end, after going around and around, Pioneer found Apple and wanted to talk to SIC about the possibility of financing through them.

Known as a ubiquitous pioneer in the asset management industry, the reason why he came to Apple.

In addition to Apple being one of SIC's customers, Pioneer Pilot is also a shareholder behind Apple.

IBM, who happened to get the news from nowhere, also had this idea, so everyone hit it off and formed a group to fly to Neon.

Faced with their temptation, Bai Chuanfeng did not refuse.

He knows that if SIC wants to have a place in the processor market in the future, it will definitely not work just behind closed doors in Neon.

As the center of the computer industry, Silicon Valley is the best stage.

But if we want to win the North American market, is it possible to rely solely on the current SIC itself?

In this regard, Bai Chuanfeng also had to be pessimistic.

Let’s not talk about other things, just look at the ending where Neon Semiconductor had to sign the "Miri Semiconductor Agreement" with tears.

It would be fine if SIC has always been a small and transparent company that thrives in China, but if it wants to enter overseas and capture a considerable market, then the fate of Neon DRAM chip companies is a lesson for it.

Therefore, if SIC is to become a pole of the future processor market, listing it is inevitable, and North America is the top priority.

However, despite the idea of ​​going public, everyone has the same goal.

But regarding SIC's business methods, Shirakawa Kaede had certain differences with IBM's Louis.

"Louis, I have to say it again. SIC will not give away chip design franchises to other chip manufacturers, especially in the computer field.

If IBM wants to obtain a stable supply chain and preferential prices, then SIC can sign an agreement with IBM and write this into the terms. "

Bai Chuanfeng has repeated this sentence several times, and he has no intention of letting up on this point.

After glancing at Apple's Scully, Shirakawa Kaede had to put down the coffee cup he had just picked up.

"Of course, the same is true for Apple. But Scully, the cooperation between SIC and Apple has always been pleasant, and you have always received preferential prices."

Sculley shrugged. Although he also favored SIC open licensing, Apple's willingness was not as strong as IBM's.

As for Wood, who was leading the way, he was the most laid-back. His goal is only to invest in SIC and manipulate its listing.

But Pioneer Pilot doesn't care about the specific business methods. All he cares about is profits.

Shirakawa Kaede knew why IBM wanted to open SIC to other chip manufacturers for licensing. It was simply because it wanted to always get stable supply and preferential prices.

The more semiconductor companies that can produce SIC chips, the more stable IBM's supply chain will be.

Even if SIC and IBM break up one day, those authorized manufacturers can continue to supply IBM without worrying about SIC getting in the way.

Even though IBM is currently using Intel chips, IBM is also worried about it in its heart.

Before talking to SIC, IBM also asked Intel to do the same, but the other party refused.

So at this time, Louis sat in front of Bai Chuanfeng and continued the negotiation.

"It's not that I don't believe you, Bai Chuan, but business is business, and we must consider the worst case scenario."

Louis obviously still hasn't given up on his idea. After all, IBM is indeed lacking in personal computer processors.

"Louis, since IBM has plans to raise funds for SIC, is it still worried about future supply issues?

Mr. Scully also asks you to think about it. As a shareholder of SIC, of ​​course we will give priority to ensuring the supply of Apple and IBM. "

Although Apple and IBM regarded each other as rivals two years ago, since the sudden rise of Compaq, as well as the intrusion of HP, Dell and even Shirakawa Electric.

At this time, the Beimi computer market has long been in chaos. Each other's market share is different, but there is no single company with overwhelming advantages.

To put it bluntly, the market is in everyone's hands. In fact, it is not much different, and no one can do anything about the other.

Because at this time Apple and IBM can sit together and discuss SIC financing with Bai Chuanfeng.

But think about what Bai Chuanfeng said does make sense. He has already become a shareholder, so do we still need to worry about supply issues?

"Okay, Louis, if SIC can be listed in the United States, it will definitely abide by the principle of internal priority, don't you think so, Mr. Shirakawa?"

Wood, who had been silent at this time, began to come forward to smooth things over.

Bai Chuanfeng nodded in approval, "Of course, Mr. Wood, please rest assured, SIC can guarantee this."

Lewis glanced at Wood and then at Sculley, who continued to shrug.

“Well, if that’s the case, then please ask SIC to write this into the terms.”

Louis heard the voice of Wood's words. At North America's home court, SIC will abide by the rules of Wall Street.

Bai Chuanfeng did not refute this, but readily agreed to Louis' request.

With Apple and IBM, SIC will have the possibility to continue to grow bigger and stronger in the North American market in the future.

At the same time, because of the background of MiFang Capital, the various "MiRi Semiconductor Agreements" will have nothing to do with SIC in the future.

Alas, if you want to be in the market, you still have to avoid some investment certificates.

However, today’s communication with Apple and IBM is just the first negotiation.

If you really want to go public in North America, SIC still has a lot to do.

In addition, considering the future home market, Shirakawa Kaede might have to recruit one or two neon allies.

Returning to the SIC building in Shibuya, Shirakawa Kaede immediately called for a meeting with several core personnel including Shima Masato, Matsumura Masaki, Yamazaki Hui, and Masu Kazuya.

Although SIC will not be listed immediately, everything has not been settled, and it will take two or three years to even complete the process.

But some things can already be arranged in advance, such as the detailed splitting of SIC's business.

First of all, the processor chip business will be reserved for SIC, which is its main business direction and what North America's capital is most concerned about.

In addition, regarding the research and development of graphics chips, which ranks second within SIC, Shirakawa Kaede plans to establish a separate IMG company to be responsible for the research and development and design of GPUs.

The remaining driver chips, flash memory chips under development, and other industrial ICs will be handed over to the newly established TSIC.

To put it simply, the SIC is divided into three.

Processor chips, graphics chips, flash memory and other auxiliary chips are operated by three different companies.

There is no doubt that the current core is still SIC itself, and its profits accounted for 95% of the previous net profit of SIC.

Therefore, even if some businesses are split, Apple and IBM will not have any objections.

In their eyes, it might even mean that they have gotten rid of the burden.

IMG, which is only responsible for GPU development, will hardly see prospects in five or six years.

On the other hand, TSIC, which has taken over the development of flash memory and auxiliary chips, may be able to make profits in a short period of time. After all, it has a certain foundation before.

And Shirakawa Kaede had just finished allocating the tasks here at SIC, and within two days, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry came to visit him again.