Reinventing the Millennium

SMIC is innocent.

This is what Fang Zhuo said after meeting Qiu Ciyun.

Qiu Ciyun has been in the United States recently and has been wandering around Washington and Texas. The former is to talk about the compliance of ice cores, and the latter is to inspect the establishment of the second overseas ice core factory.

After listening to his boss's description of the latest situation, he had similar but stronger thoughts.

SMIC is innocent!

No, SMIC has just recovered from the equity shock, so why is there a new accident risk?

You can’t get good things, but bad things will happen regularly, right?

Fortunately, Mr. Fang had no intention of adding fuel to the flames.

Qiu Ciyun observed carefully and confirmed that the boss did not mean this.

He calmed down the lingering thoughts in his mind and asked, "Will Washington Business really be shaken?"

Fang Zhuo nodded and shook his head: "I can't say, Austin's news may not be true and accurate, but Nvidia's voice does give our shadow shareholders a reason to help."

He used the term "shadow shareholders" without hesitation.

Qiu Ciyun didn't have any special reaction. He just muttered: "If we are more optimistic and they really work hard to turn things around, our situation will be better."

Fang Zhuo frowned, thought for a long time, and shook his head: "I don't know, let's see."

He stood up and walked around holding the tea cup, and sighed: "I really miss myself ten thousand years ago. At that time, I lived in a cave and was carefree and had a lot of fun playing in the sand."

Qiu Ciyun laughed. Now, ten thousand years later, playing in the sand does have a lot of troubles.

He added some tea for himself, thinking about his recent inspection in Texas, and said slowly: "Mr. Fang, Texas actually supports the implementation of our production line."

"Are you excited?" Fang Zhuo looked back.

"I was wondering if it would be better for us to get through this period if we put the factory in Texas." Qiu Ciyun considered.

"No." Fang Zhuo categorically rejected this idea, "In the next few years, we will definitely see more intense multi-level competition between the two sides, especially in the high-tech industry. It is impossible for the ice core to be built because of a building here. The factory is left alone, and simply restricting EUV during this period will not cut much of our flesh and blood."

The attitude he conveyed to the country is that he does not rule out the risk of further restrictions, hoping to stimulate stronger development momentum. If Ice Core decides to build a factory in Texas at this time, such a compromise stance will be difficult to please.

At present, the real judgment based on various information is that the ice core is limited at the tip. This is a good explanation in the context of the difficulty of producing 28nm ice core.

You know, Taiji has been mass-producing 28nm since last year, and this year it has begun to gradually introduce it to customers, giving it a huge lead.

Therefore, in the current public opinion forum, Fang Zhuo is also cooperating with others to help promote it. On the one hand, he advocates how advanced EUV is and how it can help the advanced manufacturing process of the wafer factory. On the other hand, he also advocates the absolute leadership of Taiwanese reporters.

The advancement of EUV is of course a fact, but at this current experimental stage, what it can bring to the wafer factory is more of technological accumulation rather than immediate combat effectiveness.

Similarly, as a leading company, Taiji is indeed in the absolute lead, but whether this leading distance is getting wider or smaller is a matter of two different situations.

In short, the media tells the truth, but the perception brought about by this partial fact...

Fang Zhuo thought it was a good deal.

In addition to the turmoil in public opinion, Fang Zhuo has also been looking for ways to solve problems or solve people.

However, when America proposed the "return" strategy, he also had many concerns about doing things. Even if he had some means, he could not use them at this time because the direction was too obvious.

After hearing the boss's decisive words, Qiu Ciyun gave up the idea of ​​temporarily leaving, and instead talked about a rare good news recently: "Huali's 65nm semi-domestic production line is making good progress, and this step is still exciting. "

Although it is only 65nm semi-domestic, it is already rare under the current circumstances.

Fang Zhuo showed a smile and had different attitudes towards different things: "Let's do it step by step, everyone is working overtime."

In order to rush into the risky trial production of 28nm and jump-start research and development of 14nm, Bingxin has been working in three shifts and is really working day and night. The alternative strategy surrounding Shanghai's "Huali Phase 1" has indeed made the selected companies work hard.

Semi-domestic production of 65nm is not easy. It is still mixed with European and American equipment, but it is very meaningful to have mass production capacity.

This also belongs to technology accumulation.

In comparison, the non-American model that can run is the mid-term goal, and the controllable national production is the long-term goal. As for whether it can be surpassed in the future, Fang Zhuo feels that he can see it, and Mr. Qiu will probably have to burn it for him.

Fang Zhuo also talked about something that is considered good news: "I heard that Samsung's 28nm will be released soon. This can also be mentioned in the media."

Taiwan Journal increases its lead in 28nm. Samsung is expected to launch 28nm within this year. However, ice core technology is difficult to produce and may even affect Yike's core products. It is clear at a glance which one is stronger and which one is weaker.

Qiu Ciyun looked a little weird when he heard the news: "Well, Samsung's front gate plan is going to compete with Taiji's rear gate plan."

According to the internal research in the ice core, the rear gate should be better.

Samsung's performance will also be a verification. However, the consequences of this mass production verification may be serious.

In addition, major customer Apple is having an affair with Taiwan journalists, and the technical duel adds to the excitement.

In addition, because of Taiwan's insufficient production capacity in the 28nm process, it is said that Qualcomm is considering transferring more orders to Samsung and UMC. In addition to Samsung's new news on 28nm this year, UMC of the Taiwanese duo may also confirm its production this year. working hours.

This will undoubtedly make the conflict between Samsung and Taiwanese journalists more acute.

"Samsung's technical strength is still very strong." Fang Zhuo thought in his mind. Since Samsung entered the foundry market, the combination of Apple's orders and its technology in the past few years has now cultivated a leading global competitor. But the further the process advances, the less room for error there is.

Qualcomm's quad-core processors have disclosed a lot of relevant information, and the Chinese translation of this series has been officially designated as "Snapdragon".

From dual-core to quad-core, the performance evolution of mobile phone processors is accelerating. The requirements for core technologies are getting higher and higher, and the competition among related manufacturers is becoming more and more intense.

"If EUV is restricted this time, the focus of moving forward may change." Qiu Ciyun predicted the long-term impact of the current situation.

EUV cannot be converted into immediate combat power, but it will be very important in the future. However, if it is really unobtainable, it will put forward high requirements for breakthroughs in ice core technology for quite some time.

The good news is that Intel has been using 193nm immersion lithography technology to expand wafer manufacturing nodes. At the LithoVision2010 conference, it announced that it would continue to use 193nm immersion lithography technology at the 22nm process node.

Moreover, Intel firmly believes that it has the ability to advance the process node to 10nm.

A major root cause of this situation is the slow commercialization of EUV lithography machines, which forced Intel to postpone the launch date of EUV technology and only conduct research based on existing technology.

A major priority after the Ice Core Microelectronics Center was launched was to conduct key research around double exposure, and it has now also explored the possibility of cooperation with Intel.

Qiu Ciyun chatted with Mr. Fang about the situation of the Microelectronics Center for a while, then suddenly sighed: "I'm really tired."

"Why, you start telling your boss that you're tired when you can't go public, right? Mr. Qiu, what do you mean?" Fang Zhuo deliberately joked.

Qiu Ciyun smiled helplessly: "Liang Mengsong is like a tireless machine. Mr. Fang, you are similar. He is in the technical field and you are in the commercial field."

"Then he is stronger. When I reach his age, I will have retired long ago." Fang Zhuo had to admit that he was inferior. The man who is sixty this year is still staying up late and working overtime...

Out of concern for his health, I have tried to persuade him many times but to no avail.

"The revolution has not yet succeeded." Qiu Ciyun rubbed his face vigorously.

Fang Zhuo continued: "Mr. Qiu still needs to work hard."

Qiu Ciyun stood up: "Mr. Fang cannot escape the efforts permeated with the spirit of revolutionary optimism."

Fang Zhuo showed a smile filled with revolutionary optimism.

…

On July 10, due to the recent differences between the semiconductor industry and Silicon Valley companies, American Business invited many people to hold a closed-door meeting.

If Fang Zhuo were here, he would find many familiar old friends here.

For example, Schmidt resigned as Google CEO but still serves as chairman.

For example, Jacobs, the head of Qualcomm, has a competitive and cooperative relationship with Yike.

For example, Nvidia head Jensen Huang, who just signed a GPU purchase cooperation agreement with Yike not long ago.

This is a closed-door meeting to solicit input on ice core policy.

In addition to high-tech companies, there were not only Business Secretary Capos, but also security consultant and Asian affairs expert Bader. The standards were quite high.

The meeting revealed differences of opinion from the start.

Although Apple's Cook declined the invitation to the meeting, Huang Renxun agreed with his point of view and gave a long speech on "not to easily stimulate the development of an ecosystem dominated by competitors."

"Gentlemen, think about what Microsoft did? He allowed the proliferation of pirated Windows in the Chinese market, and allowed its easily verifiable systems to run on a huge number of computers in China."

"If this were not the case, wouldn't it be possible for those in China to come up with a system that could replace Microsoft?"

"The best way to weaken our opponents' competitiveness is by no means blockade. This will only stimulate and accelerate the development of China's semiconductor industry chain. What we need to do is dumping, dumping, dumping!"

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is the largest international research institution in the United States. Allen, its senior adviser who attended the meeting, is the main force in trying to promote strict policies on ice cores.

After listening to Huang Renxun's excited speech, he said: "If the past policies had been effective, Ice Core would not be where it is today. There is also SMIC. These two companies that have obtained our equipment procurement license have appeared in the past ten years. In order to achieve strong development, facts have proven that we should not have opened this hole, and it is not too late to stop it now.”

"Not only the Netherlands, we must also take strong action!"

"Not only ice cores, but Yike's global mobile device sales are also challenging our security."

"We should also take measures against Yike!"

Allen made a further point that had not been made before.

The first time Huang Renxun heard that he was considering taking action against Yike, he was stunned.

What he thought about for a moment was not what happened to Yike, but the chain reaction that might be triggered. What emerged in his heart was disgust for this kind of interference.

Huang Renxun saw that many people frowned, and immediately said: "Yike is a listed company on Nasdaq, what do you want? Such a world-famous listed company, what do you want!"

He was close to questioning the think tank's senior adviser.

Today was a meeting to discuss ice cores, and the topic turned to Yike, who was unprepared. This made many people look at Allen with a somewhat unkind look.

Allen tilted his head, looked at Baidel, one of the conveners of the meeting, and shrugged: "I'm just expressing what I think is right."

Bader did not take a position.

At this time, Google's Schmidt said: "It's just a discussion. There is nothing about Yike that cannot be discussed. The mobile device itself also has a lot to do with it."

Huang Renxun looked at Schmidt, who was already working for the Pentagon, and said with some disdain: "Why is this discussion necessary? Isn't Yike supported by Google? Didn't your Google and T-Mobile claim to be the same as Yike before? Iron Triangle'?"

Qualcomm's Jacob suddenly felt a little confused, isn't it Google and me?

Schmidt noticed Huang Renxun's expression and said unceremoniously: "Mr. Huang's strong support for Yike today is nothing more than the cooperation between Yike and NVIDIA, and the cooperation between NVIDIA and Ice Core. Isn't that what it is?"

He questioned Huang Renxun’s position and attributes.

Huang Renxun retorted: "No wonder you were kicked out of the board of directors by Yike. Do you just hold a grudge like this?"

"That's when I left on my own initiative," Schmidt explained.

Huang Renxun continued: "No wonder you were kicked out of the board of directors at Apple. There is always a reason."

Schmidt looked a little confused and raised his voice: "What is eviction? It's a normal change in business, or I took the initiative. How can I call it eviction? Don't confuse things."

As the former CEO and current chairman of Google, he has received a bad reputation recently because he works for the Pentagon. Many Google employees are dissatisfied with Schmidt's current work content. There are protests against his attendance at events, and some mid-level and senior management statements. joint letter.

Qualcomm's Jacob also objected: "Let business be business, unlike Bingxin. There is no doubt about Yike's commercial attributes. Maintaining cooperation and strengthening competition is what we should do under the current situation."

Samsung has also recently been increasing the use of its own chips. He doesn't want to see Yike having problems at this time. Moreover, Allen's behavior is not in line with the rules, which is a disturbing sign.

If there is a problem with the ice core and Yike takes a chance and directly switches to fabless manufacturer, it may also be a trouble for Qualcomm.

Tate, vice president of Intel who participated in the meeting, said: "Yike does not belong to the scope of today's discussion. Regarding ice core, I do not think there should be so-called restrictions. It has had extensive investment in the United States and Europe since its establishment. Institutional participation is not just about serving China. Where the market is, there are factories. This so-called restriction will only lead to long-term consequences."

He had something to say before he said it. The muscles the bastard in front of him wanted to show off just looked powerful, and the long-term consequences would only be borne by the Silicon Valley companies present.

Huang Renxun understood the implication and glanced at Allen sitting across from him, intending to make it less closed-door after the meeting. (End of chapter)