industrial overlord

Chapter 698 Fourth Generation Standard

In Tokyo, Japan, the meeting room of the headquarters of KHN Electronics was full of laughter.

The Japanese have always given the impression that they are gentle, refined and restrained, but once they become crazy, they are more carried away than people from any other country. KHN executives have already entered a state of smugness at this time.

After obtaining the patent purchase fee of 20 billion US dollars paid by China Hanhua Microelectronics, KHN sold all the patents of the third-generation industrial control chip to Hanhua, and then invested most of the money received in the fourth-generation industrial control chip standard development.Kawakami Mitsukun, the technical director, is really a bit desperate, leading a group of technicians to sleep and forget to eat and sleep, and achieved several technological breakthroughs in a short period of time. Now, the fourth-generation industrial control chip standard proposed by KHN has been successfully completed. .

When Kawakami finished the introduction of the fourth-generation standard in front of all executives, all the executives stood up and applauded warmly, cheering for this brilliant achievement.

"Kawakami-kun, you have worked hard, and your efforts will bring KHN to a new level." Uno Seinosuke stepped forward, patted Kawakami Mitsuchan on the shoulder and said kindly.

"Hi!" Mitsukun Kawakami bowed 90 degrees to Uno Seinosuke, "It is our duty to work for the company."

"In the past few years, our KHN has been under the threat of our competitors. The introduction of this new standard will enable us to surpass our competitors again and remain invincible. In the current economic downturn in Japan, It is so exciting to be able to spread such good news." Seinosuke Uno said in a gratified tone.

Yasushi Miyanishi also grinned and said: "We just sold the third-generation standard to China Hanhua at a high price of 20 billion U.S. dollars. In just one year, we launched the fourth-generation standard. It is foreseeable that the first After the introduction of the fourth-generation standard, all mid-to-high-end industrial control systems in the world will turn to our standards, including the mid-to-high-end CNC machine tools produced by Hanhua Heavy Industry, as well as their automatic control systems in the fields of chemical industry, petroleum, and automobiles. I really want to Seeing Lin Zhenhua's expression at this moment, I think it must be very exciting."

"Hahahaha!" All the executives in the audience laughed together. The impression of Lin Zhenhua in everyone's mind is really terrible. It is really a great joy in life to see him deflated.

According to the analysis of the KHN intelligence department, Hanhua spent a full 20 ​​billion US dollars to buy the third-generation standard, no doubt to make itself no longer controlled by others in terms of industrial control chips. On the one hand, it is beneficial to competition with European electromechanical companies. On the one hand, it also hopes to be able to produce third-generation chips by itself after obtaining the patent of the third-generation standard to achieve import substitution.

However, it is estimated that Hanhua needs at least five years of continuous production before it can recover the investment of 20 billion U.S. dollars. Therefore, from the perspective of Hanhua, the later the fourth-generation standard appears, the more difficult it will be for them. advantageous.

However, contrary to expectations, KHN actually completed the research and development of the fourth-generation standard within one year, which broke Hanhua's wishful thinking at once.The most pleasant thing is that the progress of KHN can be so fast precisely because of the third-generation standard patent purchase fee paid by Hanhua.This is called the way of using the other to treat the other. When Lin Zhenhua knew all this, he would be so angry that he vomited blood for three liters, right?
"Mr. Kawakami, the establishment of the standard is only the first step. Of course, this is a very important step. Next, we will speed up the progress and strive for the International Industrial Control Standards Committee to accept our standard, making it a truly international standard. Standards. Only in this way can the third-generation standards bought by Chinese people be completely abolished." Said Uno Seinosuke.

Mitsukun Kawakami said confidently: "Chairman, don't worry about this matter. According to the information we retrieved, there is no second organization in the world that has applied for the fourth-generation standard. Companies in the United States and Germany In this regard, our progress is slower than ours, so the International Industrial Control Standards Committee will definitely accept our standards."

"I have no doubt about this." Uno Seinosuke said, "However, I still hope that the adoption of this standard can be passed as soon as possible, and Hanhua should not be left with time to recover its investment."

Kawakami said: "It's very simple. I will call Chairman Hunter of the International Industrial Control Standards Committee now and make an appointment with him."

In front of all the executives, Mitsukun Kawakami took out his mobile phone, dialed the number leisurely, and then said to the microphone in standard English: "Hello, Chairman Hunter? I'm Mitsukun Kawakami ..."

Logically speaking, if Mitsukun Kawakami wanted to make a phone call, he had to find a more private place. It would be impolite to make a call like this in full view, not to mention that it was still a time of executive meetings.But Mitsukun Kawakami knew that what he did would not cause dissatisfaction among the people, because it was a great thing, and everyone was waiting to share the joy.

"Chairman Hunter, when I met with you last year, I talked about KHN's fourth-generation industrial control system standards, do you still remember?" Kawakami said.

The voice of the other party came from the microphone, and Seinosuke Uno and Yasushi Miyanishi, who were sitting next to Mitsuken Kawakami, could faintly hear it. Yasushi Miyanishi listened and relayed the story to other executives around him.

"Mr. Kawakami, I remember that you mentioned the issue of launching the fourth-generation standard, but you originally expected to launch it in 2007, and now it's just the beginning of 2005. Is your progress so fast?" Far Hunter on the other side of the world asked.

Kawakami's tone was full of pride: "Yes, yes, Mr. Hunter, I did say that our estimated time is in 2007, and your memory is amazing. However, due to your interest in the global industrial control field With a responsible attitude, we accelerated the entire R&D process, so we completed the preparation of the standard two years ahead of schedule. We hope to submit the standard to the committee as soon as possible, so that we can comprehensively improve the performance of global industrial control systems as soon as possible.”

"Great, Mr. Kawakami, I thank you for your hard work." Hunter replied, and from his tone, everyone could indeed feel a kind of sincere joy.Hunter is an authority of the older generation in the field of industrial control, and his character is not mentioned.

"This is what we should do." Mitsukun Kawakami said, "Mr. Hunter, I hope to visit you next week and formally submit the standard text to the committee. Do you think it is appropriate?"

"It's absolutely fine, I look forward to seeing your text as soon as possible." Hunter said.

"What our chairman Uno means is that we hope that the committee can hold a review meeting as soon as possible so that this standard can become an international industry standard as soon as possible." Kawakami Mitsuchan replied.

Hunter repeatedly agreed: "No problem, we planned to hold a fourth-generation standard review meeting next month. Now that your standard has arrived, it would be even better. There are two standards competing with each other. I think the committee members would be more interested."

"Yes, yes." Mitsukun Kawakami replied casually, and felt something was wrong after he finished speaking, "Wait, Mr. Hunter, what did you just say? Two standards?"

"That's right, our committee has received a standard text before, and I thought you KHN didn't want to participate in the formulation of the fourth-generation standard." Hunter said with a smile.

Kawakami's face turned black, and his speech began to stammer: "Mr. Hunter, which company submitted the standard text before us? Is it Spischer in the United States or Siemens in Germany? "

Hunter said: "Neither, these two companies have not been involved in the formulation of the fourth-generation standard so far. It is China's Hanhua Microelectronics Company that submitted the text to us."

"Hanhua!" Kawakami Mitsuchan shouted out loud, because he was too surprised, he couldn't control the volume all of a sudden, his voice suddenly increased by an octave, and Hunter on the other end of the phone immediately felt a buzzing in his ears, so he couldn't stop The old man was frightened to death, and the word "Shit" was blurted out directly.

"What did he say? Hanhua submitted the text of the fourth-generation standard to the International Industrial Control Standards Committee?" Uno Seinosuke's eyes widened.This is simply a completely impossible thing. Hanhua has never expressed the intention of participating in the international industrial control standard competition. With the strength of Hanhua in industrial control systems, it is impossible to participate in the standard competition. Such a game, Only manufacturers who have mastered the standards of previous generations are eligible to participate, and Hanhua...

Wait a minute, Hanhua is not a manufacturer that has mastered the previous generations of standards. It has indeed not participated in the preparation of the first three generations of standards, but it has obtained all the patents in the third generation of standards in the simplest way. These patents are It was bought from KHN for $20 billion.

"Understood, I understand everything!" Seinosuke Uno felt cold all over his body, and he thought through many things at once.

Hanhua spent US$20 billion to purchase all the patents of the third-generation standard from KHN, which was regarded as a stupid move by all KHN executives.Because once the international fourth-generation standard is launched, the third-generation standard bought by Hanhua will become a tasteless one, and it will not even have time to recover the investment.

However, the KHN executives never imagined that Hanhua's plan was not the third-generation standard at all, but directly aimed at the fourth-generation standard.The fourth-generation standard is launched on the basis of the third-generation standard. If Hanhua wants to compete for the fourth-generation standard, it will inevitably encounter the patent threshold of the third-generation standard.

In this case, Hanhua spent 20 billion to buy the third-generation standard patent in the hands of KHN, in fact, it was just to remove the obstacles to the fourth-generation standard.It spent 20 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to crossing the technical threshold accumulated by KHN and other Western chip manufacturers over more than ten years in one step, thus obtaining the qualification to compete on an equal footing with KHN.

It is extremely cheap to buy an entry pass for 20 billion.

"Chairman, Hanhua bought our patents not to produce third-generation standard chips, but to compete with us for the right to formulate fourth-generation standards. They have already regarded us as the next target of competition." Hikaru Kawakami Quan didn't know when he hung up the call to Hunter, and said to Uno Seinosuke in a daze.He also just figured out this question, and like Uno Seinosuke, he was completely stunned.

"Kawakami-kun, what do you mean? Since Hanhua wants to participate in the formulation of the fourth-generation standards, why does it still buy our patents?" Miyanishi Yeyasu asked in surprise, and some other executives also looked at him. I invested in Kawakami Mitsuchan, because not everyone can understand the connection between these two things.

Mitsukun Kawakami explained the matter with a mournful face, and a director named Fukino Ryohei went into a rage: "Mr. Kawakami, did you not expect that Hanhua had such an intention when they asked us to purchase patents? As a technical director, don't you even have a sense of self-protection?"

The name Hanhua Heavy Industries is a terrifying name for all KHN executives.They all knew how Nihong Heavy Industry and Xihu Company fell under the hands of this opponent, and everyone was deeply worried that Hanhua would point the finger at KHN one day.

Previously, the third-generation standard was sold to Hanhua at a price of 20 billion U.S. dollars. Everyone thought that this set of standards could tie Hanhua, and when KHN’s fourth-generation standard came out, Hanhua would be able to Hua then set aside more than ten years.Unexpectedly, everyone saw the beginning, but did not guess the end. Who would have thought that when Hanhua took out the 20 billion US dollars, it was already showing the butcher's knife to KHN. Pity everyone is still happily counting the money.

"How could I have imagined that Hanhua would dare to get involved in the fourth-generation standard?" Mitsukun Kawakami complained, "The Chinese have never participated in the formulation of such standards. They have a technology gap of more than 10 years with us. I How could you have thought that they would have such a plan?"

"If we don't sell them the third-generation standard, is it possible for them to develop a fourth-generation standard?" Ryohei Fukano asked.

Kawakami said: "They can independently develop the fourth-generation standard based on various open technologies, but this is meaningless to them. Because if they do not have the patents needed to support the fourth-generation standard, then There is simply no way to benefit from the development of standards.”

The value of standard disputes in the technical field lies in the various patents bundled with standards.Enterprises that formulate standards can control all kinds of patents related to the standards in their own hands. If other manufacturers want to follow this standard, they must use related patents. In this way, the standard-setting parties can earn high patent fees.

Hanhua bought the third-generation standard patents for US$20 billion, which means that it is free to further develop these patents and benefit from them.No matter how much Hanhua gains from the development of these patents, KHN has no right to interfere and will not get any money, because all the intellectual property rights of these patents have been sold to Hanhua.

It is precisely because of the support of these third-generation standard patents that it is possible for Hanhua to compete with KHN for the fourth-generation standard.Hanhua's intervention made KHN face an unprecedented crisis.If the standard committee accepts Hanhua's standard, it means that the fourth-generation standard that KHN spent a lot of money to develop has become a pile of waste paper, and this loss is completely unbearable for KHN.

Of course, the ideal situation is that the standard committee rejects Hanhua's standard and accepts KHN's standard, so that Hanhua will suffer losses.However, as a newcomer, even if Hanhua fails, it can be said that it is a glorious defeat. This opportunity of equal competition can allow Hanhua to learn a lot. Can't it kill it again?
KHN sold the third-generation standard to Hanhua, which actually cultivated a strong competitor for itself.

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Just now everyone felt that they had slapped Lin Zhenhua, but unexpectedly, this slap hit KHN himself on the face, which was very painful.

"Kawakami-kun, do you think Hanhua's standards...can be more competitive than ours?" Miyanishi Yeyasu asked cautiously.

Mitsukun Kawakami took a peek at Uno Seinosuke, and also timidly replied: "In terms of technology accumulation, there has always been a big gap between Hanhua and us. Just bought our third-generation standard, and Can't fill the gap. So, I don't think Hanhua's standards can match ours. But..."

"Any enterprise that underestimates Hanhua's competitiveness has now been stuffed into the trash can of history." Uno Seinosuke interjected in a dark voice, "Lin Zhenhua is a scheming man, since he dares to provoke Conflict with our standards must be prepared. This can be seen from the fact that he did not hesitate to spend $20 billion to buy our patents to clear the way."

"Then let's fight for strength." Ryohei Fukano said, "I suggest that we concentrate all our financial resources and defeat Hanhua Heavy Industries. Can Hanhua Heavy Industries' strength compare with our KHN?"

Yasushi Miyanishi glanced at Fukino Ryohei with a contemptuous look, and said, "Mr. Fukino, the strength of Hanhua Heavy Industries is already far above that of our KHN. In the past two years, the price of global mineral products has skyrocketed, and Hanhua Heavy Industries holds There are more than a dozen iron mines, including the Mutong Iron Mine with amazing reserves, in addition to several copper mines and other mines. It is estimated that its annual income from the mining industry alone can reach more than [-] billion U.S. dollars. Do you think our KHN can compete with Hanhua?"

"This... How could this company develop to such a scale without knowing it?" Fukino Ryohei muttered, "How did they do it?"

"It's all because of our inaction." Uno Seinosuke slumped on the chair like a deflated ball, "Europeans have long seen the horror of Hanhua and want to pull us to contain it, but it's a pity Ah, we were blindsided by the measly $20 billion order and missed this opportunity. Now it seems that this may be... the last chance."

"No!" Kawakami shouted, "Chairman, we will not fail. I will bring my technicians to improve this standard comprehensively. I believe that we will be able to do better than the Chinese. "

"If this is the case, then please Kawakami-kun." Uno Seinosuke stood up and bowed deeply to Kawakami Mitsuchan, "I hope you can defeat Hanhua in this competition and win a few more years for KHN time."

(End of this chapter)