novelslam Chapter 1405 Decisive (4k)
Chapter 1405 Decisive (4k)
Chapter 1405 Decisive (4k)
Zhang Rujing's work in Shanghai was not smooth at all.
For several days in a row, even though he had made his words very clear and even though he had conveyed the attitude that this was a good opportunity for domestic companies, several photoresist companies still hesitated.
In fact, Zhang Rujing also understands everyone’s considerations, one is a dream and the other is reality.
The reality is that there is a huge gap between domestic photoresists and the international advanced level. Not to mention ArF photoresists, even the self-sufficiency rate of g-line and I-line photoresists is less than 20%, and that of KrF photoresists is less than 5%.
Based on this situation, it is understandable that companies such as Nanjing University of Science and Technology Optoelectronics and Jingrui Electronic Materials are unwilling to invest more energy and resources and want to focus on g-line, I-line, and KrF photoresist.
But... looking at the research and development progress of "core materials" over the past two years, there is indeed a chance. Even if there may not be a breakthrough in the near future, there will be great achievements in the medium and long term.
The Yike system is not short of money, and once Amei's stress test comes, it will naturally set off a new round of research and development to find out the deficiencies and fill the gaps.
It would be a shame not to make good use of such an opportunity.
Of course, it would be best if there were a breakthrough in the near future, which would be of great help.
With this mood in mind, Zhang Rujing talked to each manufacturer and each person in charge, but until another meeting on March 3, he still couldn't get any positive response.
On the afternoon of the 5th, he received a call from Luzhou and was notified by the Wafer Manufacturing Alliance that he could go to Qindao.
In other words, the core material plan has been changed.
Zhang Rujing put down his phone and could only shake his head. He had contact with Mr. Fang and employees of Bingxin and Wafer Manufacturing Alliance. Mr. Fang was an optimistic person, but other people he had contact with were very serious and anxious recently.
The time for development and confrontation that Bingxin's 16nm process has bought it is extremely precious. At this time, if there is an opportunity to promote development in all aspects, it is difficult for it to stop and wait.
Now that things have come to this, let it go.
Zhang Rujing's next destination is Qindao, where he will supervise the connection between large silicon wafers and ice cores, which is also a raw material job.
At 4:30 in the evening, the core material company held another meeting as scheduled.
Zhang Rujing was much gentler when he walked into the conference room this time. He also listened with interest to a celebrity review from Douyin, who was Mr. Fang’s old friend Li Guoqing.
"Hey, let me be honest, I'm afraid Yi Ke will be in trouble this time. Mr. Fang is probably going through the biggest competition in his life."
"Yike did launch the world's best smartphone, Mars 8.8, last year, but that doesn't mean it can sit back and relax. On the contrary, competition in the consumer electronics market is extremely fierce, and Apple and Samsung, two of Yike's major global rivals, will not miss this great opportunity to fight back."
"Looking at China, can Alibaba, which has received huge sums of money and started spending like crazy since the beginning of the year, ignore such an opportunity? Can Penguin, which has lost its position as the leader in mobile communications, not take the opportunity to fight back? And Duji, which has been suppressed and weakened, can it not struggle to survive?"
"Let's not talk about the domestic mobile phone companies. As for the ones I mentioned, they are all strong players!"
"These powerful people probably don't need to communicate, they will also make a wave of changes based on their own interests. What is this? This is the whole world wanting to kill them!"
"But, Lao Li, to be honest, the interests are real and this is how business competition works."
"That means Yike has a lot of blood, and that means Mr. Fang is at a high level. Look, the money burned by taxi-hailing apps, is it more than what Mr. Fang loses in one day in the past two years?"
"However, no matter how thick Yi Ke's blood is, he still has a blood bar. No matter how high Mr. Fang's rank is, he is still at the top. I, Old Li, make a bold prediction. Well, let me first say that I am not hoping that Yi Ke will be in trouble. I predict based on the current situation that with the ice core restricted, it will be difficult for Mr. Fang to compromise. But if he does not compromise, Yi Ke will have to face a more severe situation."
"As for the future..."
“As Mr. Fang himself said, great companies always have to go through life and death.”
"Look, I have sent this sentence to him via Yixin, and he replied to me. Hey, I, Old Li, and Mr. Fang still have a competitive friendship. What is competitive friendship? It means competing with each other and appreciating each other..."
In the short video, Li Guoqing talks nonstop, makes analyses, and brags at the same time.
But everyone, including Zhang Rujing, watched it with great interest, and this short video received a lot of likes.
"Mr. Zhang, tell me, will Mr. Fang let Yike cooperate with Taiji and Samsung?" Wu Yanjie of Jingrui Electronic Materials turned off the video, looked up and asked Zhang Rujing.
Zhang Rujing knew the answer, but he just said, "Sometimes it depends on whether the Taiwan News and Samsung are willing to cooperate."
Wu Yanjie was surprised and said: "Yi Ke has so many orders. As long as Yi Ke is willing, who can refuse Yi Ke?"
"We are in direct competition with Samsung in the mobile phone market. If you were Taiji, would you be willing to let Yike maintain its competitiveness and then provide blood transfusion to Bingxin? Moreover, it depends on whether Taiji has production capacity or lacks orders. It hasn't even released its 16nm yet, and when it goes into mass production, it will definitely give priority to old customers. Can Yike accept that?" Zhang Rujing said briefly.
Wu Yanjie wanted to ask more, but seeing that Mr. Zhang had no intention of talking about this, he tactfully stopped the conversation and prepared to continue listening to Mr. Zhang's long speech today.
However, to his and everyone else's surprise in the conference room, Mr. Zhang suddenly softened.
He did not talk about the previous rapid progress, R&D and factory construction, but only talked about the opportunities of photoresist in the domestic market and the replacement space for mid-to-high-end products.
"The situation Bingxin is facing this time is not an isolated case. It will only become more and more common in the future. In other words, Bingxin and SMIC are just the products of seizing a rare window of development. The situation our industry faces has never been easy." Zhang Rujing expressed his feelings after giving some encouragement. "Looking back over the past ten years, SMIC seized the opportunity in the first half, and Bingxin seized the opportunity in the second half. No matter what the future holds, with these two companies driving the development of the industry, everyone will have more opportunities."
"Our domestic ownership rate of photoresist is too low. We will develop g-line, I-line, KrF, ArF step by step."
"In fact, you are the real insiders, and I am an outsider, but I sincerely hope that everyone will get better and better."
"Okay, let's stop here. I'm really hungry now."
Zhang Rujing ended his conference speech in a different style.
Everyone in the conference room always felt that something was not right, but they couldn't put their finger on it for a moment. But since it was time for dinner, they decided to solve the problem of food and clothing first.
The group discussed for a few more sentences and then went to have dinner in groups of three or four.
Wu Yanjie of Jingrui Electric Materials felt more and more strange. He was cautious and did not go to eat immediately. Instead, he paid attention to Mr. Zhang's movements. When he saw Mr. Zhang's car arrived at the door, he immediately verified his guess and ran to stop Mr. Zhang.
"Hey, hey, Mr. Zhang, where are you going if you don't want to eat?" Wu Yanjie pulled the car door, his mood suddenly becoming anxious.
"I have to go to Qindao. My company is there," Zhang Rujing replied.
"Mr. Zhang, what are you doing... No, we haven't discussed this matter yet!" Wu Yanjie felt sweat on his forehead.
Zhang Rujing looked at the person in front of him. He was one of the R&D leaders seconded from Core Materials and also represented the position of Jingrui Electric Materials.
"Mr. Wu, we've already made a statement. If you all don't agree, then forget it." Zhang Rujing shook his head.
"No, Mr. Zhang, what do you mean by forget it? Where are the core materials? What about our next round of pilot tests? We still have to discuss the construction of the factory!" Wu Yanjie said in astonishment, "Why are you leaving in the middle of the negotiation?"
Zhang Rujing said seriously: "Mr. Wu, it is meaningless for me to be here. Bingxin has chosen a new partner and decided to conduct a new round of research and development of ArF photoresist. There is no need to discuss it anymore."
Wu Yanjie's eyes widened: "Boss Zhang, it's only been a few days! New partner, who... is this?"
It has only been a week since Mr. Zhang came here, and two days ago, representatives from major companies were still saying that they had to discuss it with the company. How could Bingxin make a decision so quickly on such a big matter? ?
This is unreasonable!
Zhang Rujing sighed, "Boss Wu, you are willing to wait, but Bingxin can't. Bingxin has always been the leader of core materials. Now they have decided to form a joint venture with Xinyang to become a subsidiary. Based on the current research and development of core materials, they will further promote the breakthrough of photoresist."
Wu Yanjie was stunned: "Xinyang? Shencheng Xinyang? They didn't say anything at all!"
Shencheng and Xinyang also have R&D personnel stationed in the core materials area, but they have not revealed any information in the past few days.
Zhang Rujing said, "They probably don't know either. The top leaders of both sides quickly reached an agreement. Maybe Luzhou has already started to lay the foundation. Mr. Wu, Bingxin can't wait any longer. In this case, everyone should do their work well. I believe Jingrui Electronic Materials can also find its own way in domestic photoresist."
Wu Yanjie: “…”
He couldn't accept it for a moment. It was too fast! Too fast!
"I have to catch a plane. Let's talk next time." Zhang Rujing was about to get in the car.
Wu Yanjie subconsciously grabbed Mr. Zhang's arm and said in an indescribable tone, "Mr. Zhang, we can't do this. We can still talk about it..."
"Mr. Wu, isn't this just what everyone wants?" Zhang Rujing asked back, pushed Wu Yanjie's arm away, and got into the car.
Wu Yanjie couldn't answer this question. He watched Mr. Zhang roll down the window, wave at him, and then drive to the airport.
Did you get what you wanted?
We will continue to steadily develop g-line, i-line, and KfR, while Bingxin is looking for people to tackle AfR...
He suddenly felt inexplicably depressed, but before he could regret it, he immediately took out his mobile phone to look for the latest news in the industry.
As expected, there are only so many people doing this in the industry, so I can still get some information.
Shencheng Xinyang has indeed planned a new factory in Luzhou. It is said that the site is located behind the Bingxin 1-3 factory area. The initial investment is 10 billion yuan, covering an area of 50 acres. It also needs to rebuild an ArF photoresist verification platform consisting of an ArF lithography machine and a coating and developing machine...
However, this new factory, this subsidiary, has no investment from Bingxin, and it will be funded and provided by large funds, local state-owned assets, and local administration...
This is probably to avoid problems in equipment procurement.
Wu Yanjie had such a guess in his mind, and walked back in a daze. ArF photoresist is very difficult... There are many uncertain factors... The industry foundation is very weak...
But, that is an ice core...
That really is the world's number one ice core...
At this moment, he suddenly realized that he had neglected a lot. He had been treating the ice core as an object of strict restrictions in the past few days. However, it was restricted precisely because of its powerful strength.
Moreover, the Yike Department is equally strong and Mr. Fang is determined.
Now, I have personally experienced Mr. Fang's knife-like determination...
"Hey, Mr. Wu, where is Old Zhang?" Li Yalei from Nanjing University of Optoelectronics, who had just finished his meal, came over and asked casually.
"He went to Qindao." Wu Yanjie answered woodenly.
"Huh? What's going on in Qindao? Isn't there a meeting tomorrow?" Li Yalei asked curiously.
Wu Yanjie was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Bingxin is going to start a new business. It is said that it has reached a cooperation with Xinyang on factory construction and R&D."
Li Yalei was so shocked by the news that he stood still. After a while, he said, "Ah? This..."
The two looked at each other, and until this moment, they both felt regretful. Perhaps, they should really try it with Bing Xin...
As Zhang Rujing was heading to the airport, he had no time to consider the mood of the core material manufacturers. While he was making phone calls to inquire about more situations, he was wondering whether this was a new example under the new circumstances.
Just like those people said, the research and development of ArF is very difficult. Since everyone thinks it is difficult and they all make excuses, then there is nothing to say. Bingxin will find someone to do it themselves.
In the past two years or so, we have indeed developed some things in core materials research, and it is just a matter of moving forward in the same direction.
The direction is right, whether it is tortuous or not, let's try it first.
Zhang Rujing knew that this was an optimistic yet helpless choice. He thought carefully and realized that there were too many things in the entire industry chain and Bingxin could not handle them all no matter what. In the next few years, it would probably focus on two directions. Either Bingxin would form a team itself, or manufacturers would seize the opportunity to become regular employees.
The car arrived at the airport and more information about the Xinyang subsidiary was conveyed to my ears.
As Zhang Rujing listened, he suddenly had a deeper thought.
In the past, Bingxin relied on the global market, mainland support, and supply chain division of labor, and convened well-known international investment institutions to share profits, so that it could seize the development window. The same is true for SMIC.
But this model is no longer viable. The more severe situation requires Bingxin to have a deeper bond. Therefore, the Xinyang subsidiary did not receive any money from foreign investment institutions this time, which is exactly what Mr. Fang was good at in the past.
Probably, the money from Bingxin or Yike will flow in through intervals, but the form has changed.
Zhang Rujing rubbed his face, put aside his involuntary thoughts, and turned his attention back to the work at hand. Now as Bingxin's consultant, this time it felt more like an imperial envoy.
I am evaluating myself, the Wafer Manufacturing Alliance is evaluating, Bingxin is evaluating, and Mr. Fang is also evaluating. Time is precious, and the decision has to be decisive and rough.
Core material is the first, but it will never be the last.
(End of this chapter)