Reinventing the Millennium

"Mr. Fang, you can't keep your word, right?"

Jiang Shangzhou stood in his ward and saw Mr. Fang's solemn expression, so he smiled and asked again.

What he meant by this was to reiterate that Ice Core had come to SMIC for help when it was unable to handle the risky trial production of 130nm.

At that time, Jiang Shangzhou and Zhang Rujing went to a dinner together. Faced with Mr. Fang’s unreasonable and unreasonable demands on the core technology, they learned for the first time that Professor Hu Zhengming had joined Bingxin. Finally, Mr. Fang asked, “How can others help me?” , I will help others as much as I can" and other words such as "I am very grateful" and agreed to help.

The expert team sent by SMIC during the Spring Festival was very effective in helping Bingxin complete the risk trial production of 130nm, giving this grassroots semiconductor company a foothold.

However, who would have thought that in just over two years, Ice Core, which had a sad face when facing 130nm, was already trying to mass produce 65nm, leaving SMIC behind.

When Jiang Shangzhou thought about it, he felt that time was both slow and fast, that things in this world were both real and bizarre, and that the ice core was really in the jade pot.

"Of course I, Fang Zhuo, can keep my word." Fang Zhuo took a breath and said dissatisfied, "But, I hope that on the day when I need to keep my word, we will all be sitting in a bright and spacious office, and you will ask Ice Core to send a team of experts for help. When engaging in risky mass production of 7nm, I took out Moutai on the spot and forced Mr. Zhang to toast me two glasses of wine before agreeing to it."

Jiang Shangzhou smiled after listening to these words and was fascinated: "7nm, hey, I'm afraid I won't see that day. I'll offer you two glasses of wine now, and I'll promise SMIC when the time comes."

Fang Zhuo was surprised: "Do you believe in ice cores so much?"

"Even if Bing Xin hasn't reached that point, it's still a good idea for me to grab two glasses of wine for now. Ever since I entered the hospital, the doctor won't let me touch a drop of wine or a cigarette!" Jiang Shangzhou complained with some annoyance.

Fang Zhuo looked at the hospital gown on his body and couldn't agree more: "You have to pay attention to your health, and you have to wait to see 7nm."

Jiang Shangzhou said leisurely: "This is not the first round of chemotherapy, and 99% of the time I won't be able to see it."

Fang Zhuo sighed: "I never heard that you have this disease before."

Jiang Shangzhou spread his hands: "I don't have the habit of telling everyone about it when I'm sick."

"Then let me do the math for you. This year we will do 65nm, next year we will do 40nm, next year we will do 28nm, in 2010 it will be 20nm, in 2011 it will be 14nm, in 2012 it will be 10nm, and in 2013 it will be 7nm." Fang Zhuo counted with his fingers, "2013 -2007, if you hold on for another 7 years, you will be able to see 7nm by then, how about it? Simple, right?"

Jiang Shangzhou was dumbfounded: "I'm a little confused whether it's easier to make a breakthrough every year or it's easier if I hold on for 7 years, or is it difficult to do both?"

The words sounded dejected, but the tone was calm.

Fang Zhuo didn't want to make jokes anymore.

Jiang Shangzhou was the man who was responsible for the introduction of SMIC into Shanghai and worked hard for the development of semiconductors. Before today, he had never known that this man had cancer. When he saw him this time, he could probably guess why, and he felt happy in his heart. Especially not the taste.

Both fell silent.

After a while, they all spoke at the same time.

"I heard that your mobile phone is pretty good?"

"What problems did SMIC encounter?"

Jiang Shangzhou shook his head slightly, signaling Fang Zhuo to speak first. He stood up, poured a glass of water for the guest, and walked slowly in the ward.

"Who did the secretary-general listen to? Aren't all the countries in the country optimistic about Yike's mobile phone? It doesn't have much impact yet, so it's just a living thing." Fang Zhuo said modestly proudly.

"I don't understand mobile phones, but I believe in you, Mr. Fang. You can pull up an ice core that is so difficult, let alone a mobile phone." Jiang Shangzhou said.

"Being able to make ice cores may not necessarily be able to make mobile phones. They are two different things, but...it's my fault." Fang Zhuo said with a smile, "So, it's really good."

Jiang Shangzhou nodded and asked: "Isn't the mobile phone project very good at stimulating ice core? Is Qualcomm confirmed to cooperate? I think your ice core is a bit like Samsung, it's very vertical."

"The success or failure of mobile phones is really important to Ice Core." Fang Zhuo became serious. "Qualcomm has confirmed cooperation. It is a series of cooperation between us. At least the relationship in the past two years should be relatively close."

Jiang Shangzhou said sincerely: "It's all thanks to Mr. Fang that Bingxin can reach this point."

"Where is Mr. Qiu? Without Mr. Qiu, this factory cannot be built. Where is Professor Hu? Without Professor Hu's banner, many key talents would not come here. What about local support? Without full local support, many things will fail. It's not that convenient. What about the leadership's concern? What about the efforts of Bingxin employees?" Fang Zhuo said seriously, "I can't take advantage of this."

Jiang Shangzhou said with a smile: "We don't need to be so serious when we talk in private. I think you are not the first, but you are also the joint first."

Fang Zhuo took a sip of water. The ice core was indeed not the work of one person. Any missing link would cause countless difficulties.

"This time I said that I wanted to see Mr. Fang, there is actually nothing special. First, I am indeed worried about my health. This is an objective reality." Jiang Shangzhou said calmly, "Second, SMIC is currently in a lawsuit with Taiwanese journalists. Too optimistic, this is also an objective reality, so I just thought that if Mr. Fang has spare time in the future, he would also help look at the semiconductors in the mainland."

Since Taiji has a new leader, its litigation efforts in the United States have become much more intense.

Judging from the current situation, the situation cannot be considered optimistic.

However, the troubles facing SMIC are not limited to this. Prices in the global storage industry are falling rapidly. SMIC has suffered heavy losses in the DRAM business and is likely to suffer its largest loss since its establishment next year.

Considering that the downward trend is difficult to stop, the memory production line of the Beijing factory has begun to semi-stop production. SMIC is internally weighing whether to fully withdraw from the DRAM business to avoid being bled to death by this wound.

However, withdrawing from the DRAM business means the conversion of production lines and equipment upgrades. The investment in this area of ​​​​the Beijing factory is estimated to be more than 100 million US dollars.

These circumstances have led to great pressure from the company's capital shareholders. SMIC is facing a severe situation of storage losses, unfavorable expansion, and rising debt. It urgently needs to introduce new capital to revitalize the situation.

When Jiang Shangzhou talked about SMIC, he expressed regret in his words.

"Now an international consortium has approached SMIC, hoping to acquire equity. The Blackstone consortium with the strongest intention is the Blackstone consortium that acquired Freescale." Jiang Shangzhou stood up and added some water to Mr. Fang who was drinking water silently.

"Well, Blackstone Consortium." Fang Zhuo held the water glass thoughtfully, "What did Mr. Zhang say?"

Last year, Blackstone Group gathered a group of private equity funds to acquire Freescale for US$17.6 billion. Freescale was the semiconductor division spun off from Motorola in 2004 and is the ninth largest semiconductor company in the world.

This acquisition is also the largest semiconductor acquisition case in the world so far.

In fact, Blackstone contacted the MIGA Fund last year and valued Bingxin’s expert experience behind the MIGA Fund. After all, this was its first time getting involved in the semiconductor field, but neither Fang Zhuo nor Kong Yu were interested and simply rejected the offer. thing.

"Mr. Zhang is unwilling to accept the entry of the Blackstone consortium." Jiang Shangzhou shook his head, a little helpless, "Everyone feels that letting this group of private equity consortia come in while SMIC's stock price is depressed may make the situation even more chaotic."

He sighed: “There are no good people in private equity.”

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly: "Yes."

Jiang Shangzhou suddenly reacted: "I'm not talking about your private equity."

"It's okay, and he's not a good person." Fang Zhuo was very calm. "If Blackstone comes in at this time, they will have a say. They will definitely pursue operational gains, and they may split the business and promote mergers and acquisitions."

Jiang Shangzhou didn't know whether to praise Mr. Fang's expertise for a moment. He pondered for two seconds and nodded: "Mr. Zhang thought the same way, so we asked for domestic help. The leader helped contact three companies, Datang Telecom, Huaxia Electronics, and China Resources .”

Fang Zhuo frowned and thought about it.

Jiang Shangzhou asked: "Mr. Fang, which one do you think is suitable?"

"If you ask me, none of them are suitable. These three are all large state-owned enterprises." Fang Zhuo said slowly, "If you have to choose one of the three, China Electronics should be eliminated first. Its business is not suitable. Datang Telecom and China Resources. I choose China Resources."

Jiang Shangzhou praised this time: "Mr. Fang really understands the situation."

Huaxia Electronics was indeed the first to be excluded from SMIC's internal discussions. Some of its businesses are related to the military industry, which is really not suitable for SMIC, which is already relatively sensitive.

He continued: "However, China Resources requested that SMIC change its name, which is not acceptable to everyone."

Fang Zhuo was stunned. One of the requirements for China Resources to enter the game was to change its name? Change it to what? China Resources Integrated Circuit Manufacturing? Huaxin?

He thought for a moment and shook his head: "It seems that China Resources is reluctant. If we want to change our name today, we can't even imagine how strong we will be tomorrow. China Resources will show you its attitude first."

Jiang Shangzhou clapped his hands and praised: "As expected of Mr. Fang."

China Resources seems to be talking about changing the name, talking about something that is not that important, but in fact it is also a smart statement. This is a matter assigned by the leader, and I will do it. But if you want me to do it, then do it like this first. If you can accept it, Let's do that again. If you can even accept "do that", then move on to the next point.

SMIC does not want to accept the Blackstone consortium because it does not want to lose the initiative. Naturally, it cannot continue to talk with China Resources like this.

"Datang Telecom..." Fang Zhuo was a little hesitant about SMIC's choice of seemingly one of three, but actually one of three.

His recent impression of Datang Telecom is that it participated in the construction of the domestic 3G standard TD-SCDMA.

Jiang Shangzhou said: "Fortunately, Datang Telecom is pretty good, and I have some friendship with Mr. Zhou."

Fang Zhuo knew that the person he was talking about was Mr. Zhou. He was the head of Datang Telecom who resigned last year. However, he did not retire as rumored after leaving office, but became the chairman of Datang Mobile.

Of course Mr. Zhou has influence on Datang Telecom, and he is now also within Datang Telecom, but... where is the current head of Datang Telecom?

Fang Zhuo was the most sensitive to this kind of thing. He didn't hear the current name from Jiang Shangzhou, and he felt a little doubt in his heart.

But he didn't ask. He really didn't think the occasion in the ward today was suitable for talking about anything.

"That's good. Although it is a state-owned enterprise, it will be good if it can push SMIC to move forward." Fang Zhuo said.

Jiang Shangzhou nodded, this was a helpless choice.

He sighed: "The development of semiconductors is not easy. SMIC is afraid that it will have a two-year period of pain. Looking at it from this perspective, it is not easy for Bingxin to reach this point."

"Okay, don't sigh. There has just been some movement in the ice core." Fang Zhuo didn't want to make the atmosphere dull. He thought about it and asked, "How can Datang become a shareholder?"

Jiang Shangzhou replied: "We are still talking about it. It is about 200 million US dollars in exchange for about 16% of the shares."

Fang Zhuo was shocked: "200 million US dollars? 16%? This..."

He immediately went on to say: "Can shareholders agree to such a shrinkage and such dilution of equity?"

This means that SMIC's value is only US$1.25 billion.

But Zhang Rujing raised US$1 billion when it was founded in 2000, not to mention its vigorous development in recent years.

Almost... not almost, this will inevitably lead to a strong backlash from shareholders.

However, the current problem is that the storage business, which accounts for a large proportion of SMIC, has suffered huge losses, and the lawsuit with Taiwanese journalists has also cast a shadow on the development. Finding new investors is difficult.

Jiang Shangzhou pursed his lips: "We are still talking, everyone is helpless."

Fang Zhuo asked directly: "Then the Secretary-General wants to see me today. Does Mr. Zhang have something to say to me?"

"No." Jiang Shangzhou denied Mr. Fang's guess, "I just want to meet Mr. Fang and hear about the development of ice cores, that's all."

He rubbed his forehead and said: "They are all mainland semiconductors, whether they are SMIC or Ice Core. They can compete with world-class manufacturers. This is what I want to see. If I can live a few more years, I will still I really want to see if ice core can produce 14nm.”

"If you can't see it, when will the ice core be able to produce 14nm and the FinFET process be developed? One day, Mr. Fang will pour a glass of wine into the Huangpu River. I will be happy too."

Fang Zhuo frowned, thinking.

Jiang Shangzhou smiled and said: "I didn't even mention 7nm. Why don't you agree?"

Fang Zhuo sighed: "Okay, I know what you mean. Let me tell you, why don't you try to live a few more years and see it with your own eyes? Secretary-General, if you ask me what happened when you meet me, I will still say the same thing. , of course I keep my word."

He pondered for a while: "In this case, you and Datang will probably have to talk for a while. When you are almost done talking, I will let Bing Xin get a small portion as a signal."

"Mr. Fang, that's not what I meant." Jiang Shangzhou emphasized first, and then said, "But if it is really convenient for Mr. Fang..."

Fang Zhuo estimates that SMIC and Datang will have to talk about next year at least, and internal resistance alone will be very troublesome.

He said simply: "Let's put it this way, it's not easy to see you old man. When you get better, you can talk to Mr. Zhang first, and then I will talk to him. 5% of the shares means a lot."

Fang Zhuo did not expect that his fund's plan to make money and buy would start from SMIC. However, SMIC's price is really not expensive. Looking at the current situation, 5% is only tens of millions of dollars. Whether it is financial or attitudinal support, Let’s make a preliminary decision like this.

Jiang Shangzhou smiled, gave a thumbs up, and praised loudly: "Mr. Fang, you are so righteous!"

Since Fang Zhuo is willing to help, he doesn't mind helping a little more: "It may not be easy in the past two years. If SMIC's institutional shareholders have too much opposition and ask me to come to them in my name, I may be a bit thin-faced." Can do it."

Jiang Shangzhou gave two thumbs up: "I don't know President Xiao Fang in my life, so even if I call him a hero, it's in vain!"

"Since the secretary-general said so, heroes cherish heroes, you will take the lead in this matter, I will only recognize you and give you face, even if Mr. Zhang comes." Fang Zhuo found something for the old man to do, " When I came to see him, he was not that happy."

Jiang Shangzhou laughed loudly, knowing what Mr. Fang meant.

"Rest, I won't delay you to recharge your batteries before fighting again." Fang Zhuo drank the water in the cup and shook hands with Jiang Shangzhou.

Jiang Shangzhou sent Mr. Fang out of the ward.

Because the two were talking, even Jiang Shangzhou's family members were kicked out. Now that they were done talking, they quickly came over to help the old man.

"Let's just say this, come back to me if you need anything." Fang Zhuo said goodbye.

Jiang Shangzhou nodded with a smile, and suddenly said to his son who was supporting him: "From now on, Fang will always burn paper and let him line up in front."

"Ah? Dad, what are you talking about?" Jiang Shangzhou's son complained, "Everything is fine."

"Don't do anything. One day, I will never forget this old man. Live a few more years and see how I can compete with Taiwanese journalists." Fang Zhuo said, showing his confidence and goal.

Jiang Shangzhou laughed again: "Okay, then I'll watch."

Fang Zhuo greeted the Jiang family and signaled to help the secretary-general back to the ward.

But Jiang Shangzhou insisted on sending Mr. Fang out.

Fang Zhuo had no choice but to hurry up and get in the car, leaving only Jiang Shangzhou's son's phone number.

The car moved forward slowly, and the old man in the rearview mirror took a long time to get in.

"Xiao Liu, please help find doctors at home and abroad to see if they can help." Fang Zhuo knew that the medical conditions in Jiang Shangzhou were good, but he still wanted to do his part.

Secretary Liu Zonghong responded.

Fang Zhuo lowered the car window and saw the setting sun on the Huangpu River, with the Iron Horse Glacier in the wind.