Countercurrent 1982

Chapter 1288 Harsh Conditions
On the second day Duan Yun returned to Shenzhen, Wang Shi came to his company.

"ASML is unwilling to sell lithography machines?" After hearing the news from Wang Shi, Duan Yun was startled.

"It's like this. I have already contacted ASML in the Netherlands through an intermediary in Hong Kong. The other party said that because of some technically sensitive issues, their products are only sold to major chip manufacturers in Europe, the United States, and Japan. , There are no chip design and production companies in Hong Kong, so they cannot sell the machines to Hong Kong companies." Wang Shi said.

"But Hong Kong is governed by the British. Wouldn't ASML be willing to sell the British lithography machine?" Duan Yun frowned.

"As I said just now, they only sell to world-renowned chip manufacturers. There is no target company in Hong Kong, so they can't sell their own machines." Wang Shi shook his head and continued, "But..."

"But what?"

"According to the information brought back by the middleman in Hong Kong, ASML said that although it cannot be sold to Hong Kong companies at the normal market price, if you accept some of their company's conditions, they can consider selling the lithography machine Sell ​​it to Hong Kong." Wang Shi said again.

"That can still be sold!" Hearing this, Duan Yun breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked, "What conditions did the other party propose?"

"The other party said that if you really want to buy it, it must be 50% higher than the market price, and you must buy 4 units at a time, otherwise, their company will not sell their products." Wang Shi said.

"It's 50% higher than the market price, and you want to buy 4 units at once?"

"That's right, the person who received our intermediary this time was a high-level executive from ASML. The intermediary in Hong Kong spent a lot of effort before the other party expressed their willingness to sell the product with conditions." Wang Shi paused, then continued: "If you want me to say that they are rip-offs, seeing that we are eager to buy, and then just sit and raise the price, I have seen this kind of thing a lot, I don't think it should be..."

"As long as there is no problem with the performance parameters, I will take all 4 machines, and I will give them at the price they said!" Duan Yun interrupted Wang Shi's words.

"All!?" Wang Shi thought he heard it wrong, and said repeatedly: "Duan Yun, ASML's quotation this time is 150 million US dollars per lithography machine. This price sounds outrageous...".

"I said I want them all." Duan Yun frowned, and continued: "But I also have one condition..."

"What conditions?"

"If all the lithography machines can be shipped to China, ASML must provide relevant technical personnel to assemble them. If this cannot be done, then the business will be forgotten." Duan Yun said seriously.

In fact, Duan Yun also knew that ASML in the Netherlands should have known that these lithography machines were not sold to "normal customers" in European and American countries, otherwise, it would be impossible to charge such an outrageous price.

This is like the smuggling of five-axis CNC machine tools by Toshiba, but this time because the order is from a Hong Kong company, it is not within the scope of the Batumi embargo. company, so it is not a violation.

As for ASML's willingness to take the risk of selling lithography machines, the main reason is that in 1986, the American semiconductor company AMD, which had already booked half of ASML's order, tore up the contract at the last minute and let ASML create The recorded loss was more than $1400 million.

During the same period, the parent company ASM also encountered a crisis. In 1986 and 1987, it lost 2500 million US dollars and 2300 million US dollars respectively.

Moreover, the lithography machine industry has been very sluggish in the past two years, with low-price dumping and overcapacity. Asman had to cut prices to sell products, and profits were affected again, so that now the company can't even pay wages.

Therefore, when the executives of ASML had already guessed that there was a problem with the Hong Kong company that came to negotiate, they still decided to take the risk due to the company's current situation. As for the proposal to sell 4 lithography machines at a time, the main reason should be The small profit is not worth the risk. In addition, these 4 lithography machines should be spot lithography machines that were not sold in their company's inventory after AMD defaulted.

In addition, ASML at this time did not have the regulatory authority of the US government. ASML was actually supervised by the US after 1997. At that time, ASML was the first to understand the latest research and development results of US lithography machines, and also owned Priority use of the most advanced semiconductor technology materials, optics and precision manufacturing technologies, and in exchange, the US government has regulatory authority over ASML's production.

But at this time, ASML is still a truly independent company.

"Okay, I will contact the businessman in Hong Kong later." Wang Shi nodded, and then said: "But you have to think about it, this is not a small business, 4 lithography machines are a full 600 million yuan U.S. dollars, plus a commission of $250 million, the total adds up to $850 million..."

Obviously, in Wang Shi's view, the amount of this business is too large and the risk is too high. If any link in the middle goes wrong, the loss is simply unimaginable.

Moreover, Wang Shi has always believed that Tianyin Electronics Factory has been very successful. Whether it is a walkman or a video recorder, including the current repeater, the domestic sales are very high, and it can easily make a lot of money. There is no need to spend such a large price. Buy several so-called lithography machines.

"I will take out 600 million U.S. dollars as a payment guarantee in the Hong Kong bank. You can use the bank's guarantee to conduct transactions with ASML. In addition, I will give you a commission of 100 million U.S. dollars. If the follow-up equipment can be shipped to China, and If ASML experts come to assemble, I will hand over the remaining 150 million US dollars to you, what do you think?" Duan Yun said.

For overseas transactions involving millions of dollars, Duan Yun must find a bank as a guarantee. Although he knows that Wang Shi is a trustworthy person, he must be cautious and careful in the face of such a huge amount of business. minimum.

At present, there is no overseas offshore payment guarantee in China, but there are 6 companies in Hong Kong that have payment guarantee business. Although the handling fee is not cheap, at least it can avoid some unnecessary troubles.

"Okay, I'll deal with this matter later. If it involves payment guarantee, you may have to go to Hong Kong with me." Wang Shi said.

Wang Shi was very concerned about Duan Yun's deal. After all, Duan Yuan had promised her a commission of 50 US dollars, so no matter what, he had to do his best to help Duan Yun.

"Then thank you very much, Manager Wang!" Duan Yun said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)