Reinventing the Millennium

As time enters mid-March, there is more news about Yike.

There was Intel before and GF after. Either the CEO posted a selfie on Twitter, or the shareholders publicly welcomed Yike’s investment. In addition, Yike’s previously announced dividend payment has been implemented, and there is also Yike’s upcoming split. stocks, their stock prices generally recovered amid shocks.

Bingxin International is indeed an important supplier of Yike, but judging from the current situation, Yike does have many choices, and Yike's management seems to just need to make one that is not so bad.

On March 20, Yike's stock officially split its shares 1:5, with an increase of more than 2% on this day. The stock price closed at US$115.23, and the market value once again stood at US$390 billion.

Also on the same day, Taiji's 16nm finally arrived, becoming the third wafer manufacturer in the world to provide commercial 14/16nm processes.

However, Yike's stock price has stabilized, while Bingxin's stock price has suffered a bit. In the two weeks since it was restricted, it has fallen to the stock price at the initial stage of listing, and its market value is currently US$18 billion.

Especially with the frequent rumors of Yike's ambiguous relationship with Intel and GlobalFoundries, Bingxin suffered a heavy blow this weekend. It is estimated that it will usher in a breakout moment when the market opens on Monday.

However……

Fang Zhuo did not receive any dissatisfaction from Bing Xin, and he probably knew that Yike was in a difficult situation. Moreover, Yike was indeed much larger than Bing Xin, so it was normal to choose him.

But Bingxin silently dealt with various problems. The head of AMD, who had seen various news from Yike in recent days, still couldn't sit still and called Fang Zhuo again.

She asked directly: "Mr. Fang, is Yike going to cooperate with Intel?"

"Still talking." Fang Zhuo gave an accurate answer.

"Then...will the cooperation between Intel and Yike involve Bingxin's OEM for AMD?" This is what Su Zifeng is most concerned about.

Fang Zhuo laughed: "How is that possible..."

Su Zifeng breathed a sigh of relief.

Fang Zhuo kept laughing: "How could it not be involved..."

Su Zifeng almost couldn't breathe.

She was stunned for a few seconds before asking again: "Then, then, how did we talk about it?"

"Brian asked Ice Core and AMD to terminate their cooperation." Fang Zhuo said.

Su Zifeng waited for two seconds, but did not hear the rest. She was a little helpless. Mr. Fang was really asking and answering questions. She continued to ask: "Mr. Fang, Intel is so shameless. We are a normal business cooperation."

The second half of this sentence was already spoken through gritted teeth.

It's not just a normal business cooperation, it's simply a cooperation where AMD pays for itself!

"Who says it isn't? I flatly rejected Brian on the spot. AMD is a customer of Bingxin, and Intel is here to discuss cooperation with Yike. How can it involve other companies' legitimate business in Yike's conference room?" Fang Zhuo Very upright and awe-inspiring.

Su Zifeng suddenly felt suspicious when he heard such aboveboard words. After being silent for a while, he asked, "Is it true?"

"If you don't believe it, I'll send you the recording." Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

Su Zifeng hesitated for two seconds, wondering if this was appropriate.

Fang Zhuo has already continued: "I'm just kidding, Mr. Su, since you called me, let me reiterate seriously that the cooperation between Ice Core and AMD will be very strong. I am very optimistic about AMD's use of Ice Core." The core manufacturing process completes the sublimation of the product.”

Su Zifeng hesitated even more.

She was silent for a while and then said: "Mr. Fang, you'd better send me the recording..."

"Okay, wait a moment." Fang Zhuo hung up the phone.

Su Zifeng didn't know what kind of mood she was waiting for. She was a little uneasy and felt a little ridiculous.

Five minutes later, she actually received an audio clip on her phone. When she opened it and listened, it was indeed a genuine recording, but it was not a negotiation with Intel, but an excerpt from the Yike meeting.

——The cooperation between Bingxin and AMD has just begun. The temporary license period is only 90 days, which itself may not last long.

——As long as the communication with Intel can reduce the conditions to just this one, oh, it can also add new models equipped with its chips, this is a more suitable cooperation. Intel acquires Broadcom and adjusts its mobile strategy, and it itself will also The mobile market needs to continue to be developed.

——AMD is a partner of Ice Core, and I can’t abandon it.

Three people's voices appeared in the recording. The first two were relatively unfamiliar, but the third one was Mr. Fang's reply.

Su Zifeng felt nervous before contacting Mr. Fang.

News about Yike has been coming out frequently this week, and the one that interests her the most is Intel, and the stock market obviously has a positive attitude towards the cooperation between Yike and Intel.

Although Taichi has developed very well in recent years, Intel's wafer manufacturing has always been better, but it does not OEM externally. Once Intel makes an exception for Yike, it will be a strong alliance.

If Mr. Fang's reply was that Bingxin would cancel its cooperation with AMD, Su Zifeng would not even feel that she had the confidence to angrily rebuke Mr. Fang. At most, she would just loudly mock him for his selfishness, but that was mostly to vent his anger.

Now... I can only praise him loudly.

"Mr. Fang, you deserve to be the best president in the world, you deserve to be the founder of a company like Yike, and you deserve to be the leader of China's semiconductor industry!"

Fang Zhuo answered Su Zifeng's call again, and after hearing her slightly gaffeful praise, he just smiled and said, "I don't agree with Intel's way of doing things. I made such a decision not because of AMD, but from myself."

Su Zifeng didn't know what specific plans Mr. Fang had, but she knew that it was inseparable from making money. Since AMD reached cooperation with Yike and Bingxin, the stock price has been growing, rising from US$1.5 to US$2.9.

This nearly double performance obviously has nothing to do with AMD's performance.

Moreover, the speed at which AMD obtained the temporary license from BIS this time was almost "secondary", which is likely to have the help of the stock gods on Capitol Hill.

If Yike and Bingxin weren't so outstanding, Mr. Fang's friends might be able to help him, but now...

Su Zifeng took a breath and couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Fang, will Yike reach a cooperation with Intel? If it does not agree to its interference in AMD, what are the other conditions?"

"We are still talking." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "Mr. Su, according to what you say, should I agree?"

"Of course not, I just..." Su Zifeng thought about Yike's situation and said, "I'm just worried about a rare challenge like Yike. Mr. Fang, you know, I was Yike eight years ago. A fan of the product.”

Eight years old fan Su Zifeng.

Fang Zhuo really didn't know this. He just replied: "We are indeed still talking about it. Intel is not the only option for Yike. GF's CEO Sanjie is already in Shanghai."

Su Zifeng said in a weird tone: "It's hard for me to imagine Sanjie's attitude towards Mr. Fang."

"I haven't met him yet. It is said that he has a very good attitude. GlobalFoundries' shareholders welcome me very much, and my friends in Saudi Arabia are very friendly." Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

Su Zifeng frowned. It was really hard to imagine the meeting between Sanjie and Mr. Fang.

GF CEO Sanjay Jia is Mr. Fang’s “old friend”. He once worked at Qualcomm and later went to Motorola, where he was selected by Mr. Fang as “one of the top ten failed CEOs in the world.”

Sanjay was very angry about this. He even appeared on a show to interact with Mr. Fang in person, but was so angry that he left the show. At the beginning of this year, GF hired him as CEO.

Su Zifeng once served as CEO of GlobalFoundries and had a very low opinion of it. Now she has an even lower opinion of the company's hiring of Sanjay as CEO.

She pondered for a moment and then continued to persuade: "There are many management problems within GF, and there are also many flaws in the technical process. Mr. Fang, I actually don't recommend that you cooperate with GF."

"Mr. Su, you told me last time, okay, then I can only fly to Shanghai immediately, promise Brian, kick out AMD, and fully embrace Intel." Fang Zhuo joked.

Su Zifeng said helplessly: "Then you should cooperate with GLOBALFOUNDRIES."

"Mr. Su, if we cooperate with GF, we may be able to export technology and let GF catch up. Then we can also welcome AMD and GF to continue their relationship. Wouldn't it be great?" Fang Zhuoxiao road.

Su Zifeng was speechless for a while.

She asked a question: "If GLOBALFOUNDRIES places a private placement, will the SEC get involved?"

The cooperation between Yike and GlobalFoundries seems to be quite good logically. Although GlobalFoundries is not as good as Intel, Taiji, and Samsung, it also has mid-to-upstream technology.

In addition, Yike itself will have a transitional period of cooperation with Bingxin. If it can help GF's process upgrade, it will almost be like the reincarnation of Bingxin.

"Normally speaking, GF does not need SEC approval to complete the increase, as long as it complies with its registration exemption regulations. Instead, California's 'Blue Sky Law' needs attention. However, this situation is uncertain now." Fang Zhuo He replied, "I am also taking it one step at a time."

The “Blue Sky Law” is a local regulation, commonly known as a former securities sales claim that “even the blue sky can be treated as real estate.” It aims to protect investors and supervise securities businesses.

Yike's investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES is a normal business behavior. It is reasonable to say that there is no problem, but if it is not reasonable, you don't know.

"Mr. Fang, as long as we have a license, AMD will be a strong ally of Ice Core." Su Zifeng turned her inner feelings into a personal statement.

"Mr. Su, thank you for your comfort." Fang Zhuo said.

When Su Zifeng hung up the phone, she suddenly realized that it was "comfort"... Mr. Fang took it as a consolation.

However, when she thought about it seriously, it was indeed better to hear this as comfort.

Geopolitical factors in business competition are amplified, which is really a headache.

Su Zifeng is still paying close attention to the movements of Yike and Bingxin. Although she has given up half of her heart, she still has half of her heart on Shencheng, for fear that a sudden phone call will directly lay off AMD.

But perhaps Intel and Yike have been unable to reach a consensus. There was no news from the two companies. She soon saw news from GlobalFoundries on Twitter.

Like Brian, Sanjay also posted a photo in Shanghai, and it was a photo of him and Mr. Fang shaking hands, with a caption.

——The handshake between the best CEO and the worst CEO in the world, we must keep improving.

Sanjay revealed the latest developments to the outside world in a self-deprecating tone.

Because of this tweet, many media got the latest photos of Mr. Fang.

Since the BSI action until now, Mr. Fang has never responded personally or personally. He is doing it in the name of Yike Company. His attitude can easily be interpreted as an emotion.

However, Mr. Fang in the photo is not as haggard as imagined. Instead, he is smiling and remains as charming as ever.

The Wall Street Journal called Sanjay directly to inquire about the cooperation between GlobalFoundries and Yike, and received an answer that they were “in close contact.”

With just such an answer, GlobalFoundries' stock price rose immediately.

Bingxin suffered a setback and Yike encountered a crisis, but this is indeed an opportunity for some companies.

On March 25, Fang Zhuo, who had a round of talks with GF in person, met Brian from Intel again. Compared to last time, Brian's attitude was much gentler.

"Mr. Fang, you don't have to use GlobalFoundries to force me like this." Brian came up and revealed Mr. Fang's intention.

"I'm not forcing you, I'm just trying to stabilize the interests of investors. Besides, we really can't just prepare a plan to cooperate with Intel." Fang Zhuo explained, "Because of this ice core emergency, we realized that Yike There are real problems with the supply chain.”

Brian used to be in charge of supply chain work at Intel. Hearing this, he immediately agreed: "It is true, Mr. Fang, Yike relies too much on ice cores for core components."

This is actually the norm in the industry.

However, Yike was still reluctant to let go after BIS took action on the ice core and still did not quickly promote cooperation with other manufacturers. This is very inappropriate.

"I founded Ice Core after all." Fang Zhuo said.

The more Brian heard what Mr. Fang said, the more certain he became that Yike was going to cut ice cores and speed up the stabilization of the supply chain. He nodded: "I can understand it, but you have to weigh the pros and cons, Mr. Fang." , everyone talked about it, and since Yike is not willing to sell WLS and Yike Optoelectronics, I don’t want to force it.”

"However, there is one thing that must be agreed upon. Ice Core cannot provide AMD with the 16nm manufacturing process. Mr. Fang, you must stop the cooperation between Ice Core and AMD."

"If this agreement can be negotiated, I will immediately go back and try my best to convince the board of directors to promote Intel's business in the wafer foundry field."

Brian gave the bottom line.

Fang Zhuo frowned.

Brian emphasized: "We cannot cooperate with Yike while watching Yike cultivate our competitors."

Fang Zhuo said a little helplessly: "AMD is just a small company, Brian. It is not worthy of being included in our cooperation discussions."

"No, I don't think so. Intel should maintain a strong defense against AMD." Brian said firmly, "Mr. Fang, now the initiative of cooperation is given to you. If you are willing to be responsible for Yi Ke, then make a decision. You If you don’t want to, then…”

He shrugged.

Fang Zhuo asked: "Can you convince Intel's board of directors to break the rules?"

Intel has always been a vertically integrated IDM model, and breaking the rules is not easy.

Brian said confidently: "I have worked for Intel for 33 years, and I have this ability."

"Then I need to think about it carefully." Fang Zhuo didn't expect Brian to be so determined. If you look at it this way, maybe...

He ended his meeting with Brian and put Intel's latest attitude on the conference table for discussion.

Almost everyone agrees to abandon AMD and believes that cooperation with Intel will effectively support the competitiveness of Yike's products.

Fang Zhuo was almost ready to abandon his partners.

However, an extremely bizarre news came, which left him speechless and the general office helpless.

Els, the representative of Intel's board of directors, called directly over Brian and informed the CEO to stop all negotiations with Yi Ke.

Fang Zhuo thought that BIS had interfered and asked the other party for the reason.

"The board of directors is investigating Brian, and his current negotiations and subsequent commitments will not be within the board's authorization framework." Els said solemnly.

Fang Zhuo was shocked: "Why?"

Ells replied: "Brian may be suspected of violating the company's non-association policy and having an impermissible relationship with an employee. He must be investigated."

"What about the foundry cooperation between Yike and Intel?" Fang Zhuo almost suspected that Intel was looking for an excuse.

"This needs to wait for the investigation to be released." Els only revealed this, "It's better to be late than before, Mr. Fang, we should all be patient."

After Fang Zhuo answered this incredible phone call, he immediately called Brian to inquire about the situation.

Brian was silent for a long time and replied: "I need to fly back to California immediately, Mr. Fang. In principle, I am still willing to vigorously promote the cooperation between Intel and Yike."

"Are you... what Els said is true?" Fang Zhuo was surprised.

Brian sighed: "People will always encounter different situations in their lives, just like Yike now, Mr. Fang, I'm sorry, I hope Intel's 'Yike Moment' will have a good ending."

If the cooperation with Yike cannot be promoted, it seems to mean that the cooperation between Bingxin and AMD will continue to advance.

Perhaps, this may also be a kind of "Yike moment".

Fang Zhuo never expected that the negotiations with Intel would end like this, but he still gave Brian his blessing.

According to the serious situation of Intel's board of directors, Brian was afraid that if he went back, he would not come back again.

Isn't this really an excuse?

There was still doubt in his mind.

But not long after, Intel's CFO Robert flew in instead of Brian and restarted negotiations with Yi Ke. Unlike Brian's concession, Robert believed that Yi Ke must be sincere enough to obtain Intel's foundry.

"Ice core has lost its competitiveness, Mr. Fang. Only Intel can help you. You must clearly realize this." Robert was much more arrogant.

Fang Zhuo put AMD back in the position of strategic partner, and let Yu Hong negotiate with Robert on his behalf.

On March 31, the last day of this month, Yike's wafer foundry manufacturer was not determined, but the company announced a move that made people think about it.

- Yike plans to issue overseas listed foreign shares (H shares) in April and apply for listing on the main board of Hong Kong United Exchange Co., Ltd.

In other words, Yike will be listed in Hong Kong for the second time.

What does it mean?

In Yike's announcement, it explained that it was "the best business choice to conform to the current situation and market expectations and ensure the interests of investors."

The mainstream media interpreted this as Yike being pessimistic about the future and intending to avoid some policy risks.

Some Wall Street analysts seriously discussed the actions of Yike, Bingxin and Mr. Fang, and finally made some ridiculing speculations.

"Yi Ke's secondary listing sends an extremely disturbing signal, as if it is preparing for the worst."

"Does Mr. Fang really want to take the risk of insisting on the cooperation between Yi Ke and Bing Xin?"

"No, he is not crazy, I would rather be crazy."

"On my own behalf, I would like to call for business to be business and politics to be politics!"