Chapter 390 SMIC

On the way back in the car, Mr. Ni was still sighing.

"Mr. Qin, you are really generous. You have to invest hundreds of millions without blinking an eye. If you switch to other departments, you will not be able to achieve such high efficiency."

"Mr. Ni, you also said that there is Moore's Law in the chip industry. Eighteen months is a generation. If we dawdle, we will be on the verge of falling behind after introducing it. Therefore, we either don't do it, or we must do it. Be quick and decisive," Qin Tao said.

“Yes, our 908 project has just been approved and the factory has not been built yet. Even if it is built, it will definitely be behind the times.” When Mr. Ni mentioned this project, his face was full of regret.

 The cumbersome procedures and processes put this originally advanced plan into an embarrassing situation of being four or five generations behind others.

 At that time, when the country sees its failure, can it continue to invest in this area?

“Mr. Qin, I have no problem leading a team to engage in chip design, but if it comes to building a chip factory, I’m afraid I don’t have the ability. After all, I have never been exposed to advanced Western technology.” Mr. Ni became worried again.

“Mr. Ni, do you agree to leave L Xiang and join our Mingzhou Group?” Qin Tao asked with a smile.

"Mr. Qin, if you are willing to spend hundreds of millions to develop our chip industry, what else can I say? I must do this project, and after it is completed, we can use our production line to produce 0.35 micron The technology is the most advanced in the world at present.”

Like later generations, many companies can design chips, such as the most famous Huawei, but they do not have the production capacity to produce chips. Therefore, after the design is completed, they must be handed over to specialized foundries.

 There is no foundry of that kind yet, and chip companies go through the entire process themselves, which will be a huge test.

 So, when Qin Tao said that he would invite Mr. Ni to develop advanced processors, Mr. Ni was a little worried. But now, seeing that Qin Tao and Sanxing Electronics have reached a cooperation intention, why is there any hesitation and worry?

 After designing it, just hand it over to the electronics factory affiliated to Mingzhou Group for production!

 Furthermore, it is the most advanced technology!

Qin Tao smiled: "0.35 microns is nothing at all. It will not be long before the transition to 0.18 microns. After we build the factory, we must seize this hard-won precious opportunity and transition to 0.18 microns as soon as possible. on the craftsmanship.”

What?

Mr. Ni was shocked again. Mr. Qin’s ambition is so big?

 “A hard-won and precious opportunity?”

Qin Tao nodded: "Yes, while Batumi has been disbanded and a new organization has not yet been established, let's quickly develop the electronics industry during this window period."

Although Qin Tao is not very familiar with the electronics industry, he still knows the basic common sense.

During the Cold War, the West had one of the most famous Batumi organizations, which was used to restrict the export of high technologies to certain countries. With the collapse of the Red Empire, there was no need for the Batumi organization to exist. Therefore, in 1994, this The organization officially announced its dissolution.

 It is because this organization no longer exists that the country decided to implement Project 909 in 1995 to vigorously develop electronic technology.

 Why do people in the West have higher welfare? Can workers be paid such a high salary? It's because they occupy the top of the industrial chain, and they can make huge profits with just a little bit of activity.

Their high welfare is of course based on a group of low-end industrial chains in developing countries that tighten screws.

 If you want your motherland to develop and if you want workers in your country to enjoy high welfare, you have to stand at the top of the industrial chain!

 In the field of shipbuilding, Qin Tao has achieved this with his unremitting efforts.

 The most high-end natural gas carrier, Mingzhou Group has mastered the core technology. In the future, it will not have to hand over precious profits to patent companies, and it will only earn hard work.

 In the field of electronics, it is only the beginning.

Qin Tao's starting point is simple. For the sake of national defense, we must have advanced electronic capabilities. We can use the national defense industry to maintain the chip design and R&D team. When the performance of the chip is improved in the future, it can compete with the world's first-class products. Enter the civilian market.

This road is difficult to walk. Mingzhou Group has to invest a lot of money, but Qin Tao doesn't care. He can make money and spend money at the same time. When a person's wealth reaches a certain level, it is a new beginning.

 Some people take making money as fun and keep making money, but they never think about how to spend the money. Such a life is bound to be a failure.

Only when money is spent, and spent where it should be spent, can such a life be meaningful.

 At this time, Qin Tao's words made Mr. Ni a little nervous.

 “A new organization is to be established?”

"Yes, think about it, there is only so much food. If we rise up and compete with others for food, will others watch helplessly? Those meat-eating people will definitely unite and block our way to eat meat. ." Qin Tao said: "We can only look for opportunities. Once there is a gap, we can quickly squeeze in and take a bite."

"Mr. Qin, back to the topic just now, we need to build the most advanced eight-inch wafer fab and develop 0.35 micron technology. We don't have relevant talents in the country at all. Those South Koreans may not treat us sincerely. , even if the equipment is provided and the factory is established, we may not be able to start the production line."

Qin Tao smiled: "That's for sure, so we definitely need professionals in related fields."

“Mr. Qin already has a candidate?”

“Yes, Mr. Ni, do you want to go to Texas with me?”

This Texas is of course not the Texas that sells braised chicken, but the Texas in the United States. Here, there is a famous semiconductor giant: Texas Instruments.

Many outsiders have never heard of this company, but in fact, for a long time, it has been the third largest semiconductor company in the world after Intel and Sanxing Electronics. It mainly develops, manufactures and sells semiconductors. and computer technology, for example, it is the world's largest DSP manufacturer. Even in the SHIELD system, many DSP chips are imported from Texas Instruments through special channels.

At this time, Qin Tao was going to take Mr. Ni to Dezhou, which made Mr. Ni immediately excited: "Are you going to poach people? Who?"

"you guess."

Mr. Ni shook his head, he didn't know.

"Zhang Rujin." Qin Tao said the name of this giant. It can be said that he is the key figure who single-handedly raised China's semiconductor manufacturing level to the world's first-class level.

At that time, Project 908 was in its seventh year and was four or five generations behind Western technology. They struggled repeatedly to achieve a monthly output of 800 pieces. Zhang Rujin was invited and it took several months to complete the project. The production line was completed and profits were finally achieved that year.

 Then, Zhang Rujin decided to build a chip factory in Huating, but no one had money or equipment.

There was no one, so he went around giving speeches and brought back more than a hundred Chinese in the United States. He returned to his home country and brought back more than 300 key personnel from the other side to support the factory.

With no money, he lobbied everywhere, emphasizing that his company was an international company and had nothing to do with the government. He took a fancy to Huating's labor cost advantage and the Eastern market to trick others into investing money. If you invest some money today, you will have a market of more than one billion people tomorrow!

So, within a year, he raised a billion dollars in funding, which was close to the 909 project that mobilized the entire country.

 There was no equipment, and Zhang Rujin did not compromise. He just relied on his own strength to pry a hole in the "Wassenaar Agreement".

Now, since Qin Tao has decided to enter this project, of course he has to invite the great **** Zhang Rujin over.

 I am not convincing on my own, so I have to take Mr. Ni with me.

When he heard the names mentioned by Qin Tao, Mr. Ni immediately became excited. They were all working in the same industry. Of course he was familiar with these people, but he couldn't believe that Qin Tao could put such people together. Hire people with high level.

"Mr. Qin, this Zhang Rujin is a master of factory construction. He understands all the processes of chip production. If he is here, as long as the factory is established and the equipment is installed, debugging can be completed and put into production in a month or two. Mr. Ni said: "But, are you sure you can bring him back?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But before that, we need to find someone."

"who?"

“Our mother of semiconductors in China, Mr. Xie, please write a letter to her.”

At that time, when the People's Republic of China was just founded and everything was waiting to be done, a large number of Chinese scientists overcame many obstacles and returned to the motherland. There were Qian Lao, Deng Lao, etc. whom everyone was familiar with. There were also some who were not very familiar, but they were in related fields. Made outstanding contributions.

For example, Ms. Xie, who was a PhD student at MIT at the time, returned to her motherland with semiconductor technology. There were many obstacles at the time. Her luggage was searched. Except for letters with her lover, there was nothing in it. All the knowledge was lost. In Mr. Xie's mind.

 After returning, she made outstanding contributions in the field of semiconductors, including the semiconductor textbooks used by universities, all written by Mr. Xie. A few years ago, she was the president of Huating University, the first president of a famous university in the motherland.

Mr. Xie has been contributing to the motherland’s semiconductor industry all his life. Now, Qin Tao and Mr. Ni are visiting Mr. Xie for the new development of the motherland’s semiconductor industry.

 Mr. Xie's mental state is not bad. She has retired and lives in the family courtyard of Huating University. When Qin Tao and Mr. Ni passed by, there were a group of chirping children in Mr. Xie's room.

“The parents of these children are all teachers in universities, and some have to do experiments in laboratories. If they can’t take care of their children, I will help take care of them.” Mr. Xie said with a smile.

“It’s really a blessing to have you as an enlightenment center for children. Among them, there will definitely be scientists in the future.” Qin Tao sighed with emotion.

“You two came to see me, what do you want?” Mr. Xie asked with a smile.

“Mr. prosper."

 After the country opened its doors, the country was surprised to find that its own semiconductor industry was considered a handicraft workshop. The country’s annual chip output was less than the monthly output of one company in the island country.

 When there is a gap, we start to catch up and make up for it. However, the gap becomes bigger and bigger.

 The situation is indeed somewhat similar to when Mr. Xie returned to China.

Hearing Qin Tao’s words, Mr. Xie’s expression became serious: “Can inviting one person back change the plight of our semiconductor industry?”

“Only one person is not enough, but a single spark can start a prairie fire. This person is the kindling.”

"Let me talk about it." Mr. Ni couldn't wait to tell Qin Tao's plan. When he heard that a Mingzhou group was going to invest 500 million US dollars to build an advanced semiconductor factory that would keep pace with the world, Mr. Xie's eyes were full of expectations.

"Okay, I can help write a letter. However, this letter is just an introduction. Whether this young man can come back depends on your persuasion. Also, if you contact him in private, it may attract the attention of some people. It’s better to go there openly.”

 Qin Tao nodded.

 One day later.

 Dallas is the third largest city in Texas.

There are tall buildings everywhere, and the light reflected from the glass curtain walls makes people’s eyes hurt. This city looks so dazzling and modern.

 Comparatively, Texas Instruments is inconspicuous. Its main building is just a long, six-story building. However, many advanced technologies were born here.

The first commercial transistor was produced in 1954, TI engineer Jack Kilby invented the first integrated circuit in 1958, the handheld electronic calculator was invented in 1967, the single-chip microcomputer was invented in 1971, and the single-chip commercial digital signal processor was launched in 1982, which is also famous. DSP, in 1996, it launched Timeline technology with 0.18 micron process, which can integrate 125 million transistors on a single chip.

 In the field of chips, this is a powerful company. Such a company cannot do without many technical experts.

 For example, Zhang Rujin.

Jingle Bell!

When the phone on the table rang, Zhang Rujin was staring at the world map on the wall in a daze. He picked up the phone and heard a voice coming from inside.

"Hey, Mist Zhang, there is an inspection group from the East who wants to inspect our electronics industry and intends to introduce technical cooperation. You can speak Chinese and understand technology and management. Are you willing to be their Receptionist? If you don’t want to..."

 “I do.” Zhang Rujin replied: “Where are they?”

“It will be here in fifteen minutes. You have just returned from a business trip, so the company notified you at short notice.”

"okay, got it."

 Fifteen minutes later, Zhang Rujin stood at the door of the company, looking at several people getting out of the car.

An old man and a young man, with several followers behind them. The old man looked familiar.

 “Lao Ni?”

 Zhang Rujin was pleasantly surprised: "A few years ago, you invented Hanka, which successfully enabled computers to input Chinese characters. You made a huge contribution to the popularization of computers in our country!"

 Qin Tao's mood suddenly relaxed. It seemed that it would be beneficial to trick Mr. Ni. As long as he made outstanding contributions to the country, he would always be remembered.

 Computers were invented by foreigners. At the same time, letters can be easily stored in computers. Therefore, the earliest computers were all in English.

If you want to popularize computers, you have to input the language of your country. As early as 1974, Mr. Ni, as a representative of the Institute of Computing, participated in the 748 Project Conference, the country's first Chinese character information processing project hosted by the Ministry of Electronics. In 1979, Mr. Ni He led the input team to develop the "Handwritten Character Recognition Machine" and the "111 Chinese Character Information Processing Experimental System". In 1985, the Institute of Computer Science established a computer company. As the chief engineer, Mr. Ni put Hanka technology into practical use and became Lxiang's flagship product.

(There are many articles slandering Mr. Ni. Hanka has become very easy. Many people have invented it. These articles deliberately omit the time. In 1985, L thought Hanka came out. Those in 1988, and even It only came out in 1990, how dare you say that you invented it yourself?)

Mr. Ni had a smile on his face: "These are what I should do. By the way, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Qin of Mingzhou Group. He came to Texas Instruments for inspection and wanted to introduce advanced electronic technology from here. Build an electronics factory.”

 Mingzhou Group, Mr. Qin?

Zhang Rujin thought about it for a long time, but did not think of any electronic technology in this Mingzhou Group. It seems that it is not in this industry, right?

“Excuse me, Mr. Qin, what electronic products do you produce?”

"Mr. Zhang, you are really straightforward and did not say that you have long admired the name." Qin Tao said with a smile: "We are a shipbuilder. Now the group is diversified and wants to become a modern group with multiple industries and fields like the Sanhang Group. A large integrated group.”

 Shipbuilder!

Zhang Rujin looked at Qin Tao with a somewhat complicated look.

“Mr. Qin, this industry is different from shipbuilding. It is high-tech. If you don’t have experience, it is easy to lose everything after investing a huge amount of money.”

"Yes, we know it is high technology, so we will set out in this field. Only in this way can our group develop and grow and become our new profit growth point. We are already the strongest in the field of shipbuilding. There has to be a new challenge.”

 “Are you the strongest?”

Zhang Rujin is a bit incredible. Isn’t this bragging?

"Yes, in terms of warships, we can build aircraft carriers. In terms of civilian ships, we can build natural gas ships. We will build whatever is difficult. In the future, when we get involved in the semiconductor industry, we will also become the strongest in this field."

 Can both aircraft carriers and natural gas ships be built?

  Want to become the strongest in the semiconductor industry?

Zhang Rujin opened his eyes wide in surprise and looked at Qin Tao.

“Let’s go and take a look at your production line first. By the way, are there any good Chinese restaurants nearby? I’m not used to Western food.”

“Of course, I will take you there after the inspection is completed.”

After that, Qin Tao and Mr. Ni were like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden. They felt fresh and curious about everything here. Even Mr. Ni had never seen many of the equipment. When he saw a technician holding up a 12-inch When I saw the silicon wafer, I was even more shocked by its size.

 This is how the one-day inspection ended.

 That evening, Little Bear Sichuan Restaurant.

“This restaurant is very famous. It was even featured in the Wall Street Journal in the past. Although many of the dishes have been adapted to local customs, the taste of Husband and Wife Fei Slices and Mapo Tofu are still relatively authentic.”

Zhang Rujin pointed to the dishes on the table and introduced them with a smile.

“No matter how good the food here is, it’s still not from my hometown. Mr. Zhang, do you want to eat pure Chinese food every day?” Qin Tao asked.

 Zhang Rujin’s hand stopped.

Qin Tao's words obviously had ulterior motives.

“Mr. Zhang, I have a letter here. I’m sorry that handing it to you here may affect your mood while eating.”

 “Who wrote the letter?” Zhang Rujin’s breathing quickened.

 “The mother of semiconductors in the motherland.”

 Zhang Rujin took the letter solemnly and read it carefully from front to back.

 When he finished reading it once, he went back to read it a second time, and then he read it a third time before putting it down.

“Mr. Qin, the domestic semiconductor industry is indeed quite backward. Even if you are willing to invest, there will still be many problems waiting, especially the problem of talent.”

"The talent issue is all pinned on Mr. Zhang." Qin Tao said: "You have a great influence in the Chinese circle. Therefore, we hope that you can call on a group of Chinese experts to return to China to jointly develop our country." The motherland’s semiconductor industry.”

"Currently, we are negotiating with Sanxing Electronics and plan to introduce an eight-inch wafer production line and a 0.35 micron production process to produce 64 MB memory. This is just the beginning of our business. In the future, our branch will become an important OEM, producing chips for chip design companies around the world." Qin Tao said: "Today, I told you that we want to be the strongest in this field. I am not lying. Your technology and our financial resources will This is enough to support us in carrying out this project. Moreover, I have already thought of the name of this company, it is called SMIC."

 China's chips are taking an international route. The four words SMIC have a profound meaning.

Zhang Rujin had a thought in his mind when he heard the name, but he still couldn't nod his head immediately.

“It is impossible to connect with the world and become the strongest in this field. When the company becomes strong, it will face the siege of technology giants.”

 In this regard, Zhang Rujin is still very sober.

 (End of this chapter)