Rekindle 2003

Chapter 1085: Mr. Yanhuang Xiaoqing... is not a good person!

December 12 at 20 p.m.

Cao Xingchen, chairman of UMC, and Cai Mingjie, technical director of its subsidiary MTK, were driving to Pengcheng Guanlan Landscape Hotel.

They will meet and discuss with Qing Yun, Chairman of Yanhuang Group, on the next steps of cooperation between the two parties and the transfer of MTK's underlying technology.

On the way from the airport to the hotel, Cao Xingchen and Cai Mingjie had a secret conversation in the car.

Inside the car, the air was filled with an indescribable tension.

Cao Xingchen looked through the car window, gazing at the passing scenery outside. The blurry light and shadows seemed to reflect his inner struggle.

Cai Mingjie frowned and tapped his knees with his fingers, looking a little anxious.

"Chairman, I really don't understand why we have to discuss this technology transfer with Yanhuang Group."

Cai Mingjie's voice was filled with obvious dissatisfaction, "The underlying technology is our lifeblood. If we give it to them, what advantage do we have?
and……"

At this point, he paused and looked at Cao Xingchen's expressionless face, gritted his teeth, and continued,

"Chairman, think twice! Transferring technology to inland enterprises is bound to anger the Izu Island authorities!"

Cao Xingchen turned his head and looked at Cai Mingjie's face. His voice was very calm.

"Old Cai, the current situation is no longer something we can control. For me, I no longer have any choice. The authorities?"

He chuckled. "I don't care about the authorities or not."

Cai Mingjie frowned even more tightly. He didn't quite understand what was being said.

He didn't understand why Cao Xingchen said there was no choice.

After all, Yanhuang Group is a mainland enterprise, while UMC and MTK are Izuo Island enterprises. There is no substantive subordinate relationship between the mainland and Izuo Island.

Although the Yanhuang Group is extremely powerful on the mainland at the moment, its arms cannot reach Izu Island.

Thinking of this, he began to persuade, "Chairman, we are a company from Izu Island."

Cao Xingchen sighed. He knew that Cai Mingjie's worries were not unreasonable, but he had his own considerations.

Moreover, he was well aware that his old subordinate was good at executing tasks but not good at strategic thinking.

Although Cai Mingjie holds the position of chairman of MTK, he is still responsible for the actual operation of the company and does not understand the reason behind it.

Therefore, he could only patiently explain, "Mr. Cai, MTK is under great operating pressure right now, and the funds on the books are very tight."

Cai Mingjie is clear about this.

MTK's parent company, UMC, is now taking advantage of IMC's weakness to launch a major counterattack and continuously seize IMC's market share.

But all of this requires money as bullets.

Therefore, MTK will not receive financial support from UMC for quite some time in the future.

However, he also knew what was important and what was not. Obviously, the business war at the parent company was more important.

What's more, it was a feud between Cao Xingchen and Zhang Zhongmou that had lasted for many years. Anyone in the company who dared to ask Cao Xingchen to stop would be seeking death.

Even a wise man like Zhuge Liang did not dare to stop Liu Bei from attacking Wu.

A counselor like Fa Xiaozhi could only persuade Liu Bei not to lead the army in person, instead of denying the move to attack the rats in Jiangdong.

And Cao Xingchen felt really aggrieved towards Zhang Zhongmou.

In 1984, he asked someone to bring a plan for the wafer foundry model to Zhang Zhongmou, then president of America General Equipment Company.

Cao Xingcheng proposed to cooperate with Zhang Zhongmou, but received no response from the other party.

Unexpectedly, one year later, Zhang Zhongmou took the business plan given to him by Cao Xingchen, and returned to Izuo Island to find the authorities without changing it except to change his name. He established Ichip Semiconductor on the basis of ITRI, and directly claimed to be the "first wafer foundry model."

This fucking uncle can tolerate things that my aunt can’t.

As Cao Xingchen's old subordinate and close friend, Cai Mingjie understood and supported this decision and did not ask the parent company for funds.

but……

Cai Mingjie became even more confused after hearing this.

He knew that the company had a heavy production task in the coming year, as all of them were baseband chips pre-ordered by the Yanhuang Group and jointly designed and developed by them, and the production volume was very saturated.

According to the production volume agreed upon by both parties, MTK's machines would all be smoking.

However, the Yanhuang Group was also sincere enough. They proposed to deposit all the costs in advance into a joint account and settle the accounts regularly every month.

MTK does not need to worry about advance payments, purchasing raw materials and project-related labor costs during the chip manufacturing process, as it can all be done through the co-managed account.

This is extremely rare in the industry and is full of sincerity.

In other words, there is no possibility of MTK’s funds being occupied, so where is the operational pressure?

If there is any real pressure, it is that MTK needs to expand reproduction.

But the parent company, UMC...

Cai Mingjie also didn't want to cause trouble for Cao Xingchen. He planned to wait until the production and sales cooperation with Yanhuang Group was successful, and then use the profits to expand production little by little.

So, he looked at Cao Xingcheng puzzledly, "Chairman, according to the cooperation model, we don't need to worry about funding issues."

Cao Xingchen smiled bitterly upon hearing this, "Yes, the Yanhuang Group is indeed sincere. But... Lao Cai, have you ever thought about why they do this?
In this model, we are in a buying and selling relationship, so why should he cover our production costs?"

Cai Mingjie looked at him in confusion. He thought this was not a problem.
"Because these mobile phone baseband chips were jointly developed and designed by MTK and Yanhuang Group.

The chip IP is in our hands, and no other manufacturer can produce it except MTK. Qingyun prepaid so much money in advance in order to lock in our production capacity.

Chairman, I admit that this is rare in the industry, but it does make sense.”

Inside the car, Cao Xingchen's sigh seemed to carry a thousand pounds of weight.

There was a hint of helplessness in his eyes. He looked at Cai Mingjie and said in a low voice,
"Mr. Cai, you are wrong. This order from Yanhuang Group will prevent MTK from doing anything else in the next 12 months."

Cai Mingjie was stunned for a moment, then said eagerly: "Isn't this a good thing? Chairman, the production schedule is so full, we should be happy."

Cao Xingchen shook his head, his eyes showing a hint of sharpness, "Old Cai, you only see the surface.

If Yanhuang Group's mobile phone business succeeds and grows bigger, our production capacity will also expand accordingly.

This seems to be a good and win-win situation, but everything has two sides.

You have to understand that this part of our production capacity can only be used to produce chips needed by Yanhuang Group.

Without the middleware system developed by Yanhuang Group, our mobile phone baseband chips would be like a fish out of water.

Because Yanhuang Group has participated in the design of our baseband chip, this design is only for their middleware system.

At the same time, because they are already involved, that is, these chips, because they partially adopt their designs, they also have some rights to claim. "

Cao Xingchen unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, took a few sips, and continued,

"With the support of the Chinese government, there is no possibility of failure in the development of Yanhuang Group. The mobile phone business will expand rapidly, and the production capacity of MTK will also expand accordingly.

However, these chips are exclusively supplied to the Yanhuang Group. Within three years, we will actually become the Yanhuang Group's OEM factory.

Because this production capacity can only be used by Yanhuang Group, other manufacturers cannot use it.

If the Yanhuang Group suddenly does something bad and says they don’t want our chips anymore, MTK will go bankrupt in less than 72 hours.”

At this point, Cao Xingcheng shrugged his shoulders and said, "This is the tyranny of the chain leader companies. If we come to negotiate at that time, we will be like meat on the chopping board."

Cai Mingjie's face changed drastically when he heard this. He said hurriedly: "Then we can't agree to transfer the underlying technology!"

After saying that, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, "Chairman...how about we overturn the table now! At worst we won't play anymore!" Cao Xingchen's sigh echoed in the car, his brows full of helplessness.

After a while, he looked at Cai Mingjie seriously, his voice low but firm,

"Lao Cai, first of all, I am a businessman, and making money is my primary goal. Yanhuang Group can make us money, why should I refuse?"

His words revealed a businessman's shrewdness and realism.

Cai Mingjie was confused by Cao Xingchen's words. He asked puzzledly, "Then...what should we do?"

Cao Xingchen patted Cai Mingjie's knee, his face full of bitterness.
"Old Cai, I will not hide it from you. I have political considerations behind this move.

You also know that A-Bian has always had a prejudice against me and he supports Chang Chung-mou.

Therefore, leaving a way out on the mainland may be the best option for us.”

Cai Mingjie fell silent upon hearing this.

He understood that what Cao Xingchen said made sense.

The current situation on the island was indeed very unfavorable to Cao Xingchen. After UMC gained the upper hand in the business war with ICE Semiconductor, Ah Bian would jump out to cause trouble for UMC every now and then.

The atmosphere in the car became heavier, and both of them fell into silence.

The scenery outside the car window was rapidly receding, but their minds had already flown to the upcoming meeting.

Cao Xingchen looked out the window again, and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes.

He knew that this meeting might be a good opportunity for him to find a new way of survival for UMC and MTK.

Cai Mingjie lowered his head, tapping his knees with his fingers, his heart filled with anxiety.

He knew that Cao Xingchen's decision would affect the future development of the entire company and would also affect his future.

Do you really want to come to mainland China?
Cai Mingjie was filled with confusion.

The car continued to speed on the highway, and the outline of Guanlan Landscape Hotel was already faintly visible.

Although the conversation between Cao Xingchen and Cai Mingjie has come to a temporary end, the waves in their hearts are far from subsiding.

"But, Chairman, we can't just passively accept this."

Cai Mingjie's voice broke the silence, his eyes flashing with thought, "We must take action. We cannot let the Yanhuang Group completely control our future."

Cao Xingchen nodded, he knew that Cai Mingjie was right.

They need to develop a strategy that can meet the needs of Yanhuang Group while ensuring MTK's independence and future development.

"Chairman, don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Cai Mingjie suggested, “We can maintain cooperation with Yanhuang Group while actively expanding into other markets and maintaining our independence.”

Cao Xingchen didn't comment when he heard this, "Continue."

Cai Mingjie took a deep breath and said, "We can increase our investment in research and development to develop more competitive products.

In this way, even if Yanhuang Group no longer needs our chips one day, we will have other customers to rely on.

And... Chairman, in this case, why don't we invite a few domestic Chinese companies to copy the model of the Yanhuang Group.

This will both spread the risk and increase our market share.”

Cao Xingchen nodded slightly, "Old Cai, your ideas are good, but too idealistic.

We can indeed provide technology licensing and even establish joint ventures, which will allow us to maintain our technological advantages and expand our influence.

but……"

At this point, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "But do you think that Mr. Xiaoqing of the Yanhuang Group would give us this opportunity?

Old Cai, don't forget that Xiao Qing is not an easy person to deal with.

The reason why he has gotten to where he is today is not because of the forces behind him, but because of his keen business sense and decisive approach.

Qingyun does business by playing the big game, and he won't let us use these tricks."

Cai Mingjie frowned, he knew that what Cao Xingchen said was true.

Yanhuang Xiaoqing always...

Not only does he have a strong background, he also has unique business strategies and decisiveness.

The young man who dared to make Zhang Zhongmou kneel down and embarrass himself on the spot is not a good person.

Cao Xingchen smiled and continued, “However, we are not without a chance.

Although Qing Yun is smart, he also has his weaknesses.

He is too young and sometimes too confident, which may cause him to underestimate his opponents at times.

Your plan is fine, we just need to hide it deep enough."

Cai Mingjie nodded. He began to understand what Cao Xingchen meant.
“So, our strategy should be to maintain cooperation while quietly making arrangements so as not to make him feel threatened.

We can take advantage of his confidence and allow him to leave space for us without us noticing.”

Cao Xingchen nodded, a sly look flashing in his eyes.
“That’s right. We can show enough sincerity in our cooperation to make him believe that we are his most reliable partner.

At the same time, we must quietly develop our own technology and expand our own market behind the scenes.

One day, when we are strong enough, even if he realizes our threat, it will be too late."

Cai Mingjie blinked and understood.

Jumping back and forth...

By the way, this old friend of mine is best at this trick.

Cao Xingchen patted Cai Mingjie on the shoulder and said, "Old Cai, this is the path we should take.

We need to grow through cooperation, but we also need to be prepared at all times. Once an opportunity arises, we must quickly seize it and achieve our own leap forward.”

After that, he smiled and said, "Remember, we are businessmen. Everything is based on profit.

Cooperation with Yanhuang Group is a challenge, but also an opportunity for us to quickly expand our market share.”

The two continued their discussion in the car.

They began to plan in detail how to implement this strategy, including how to cooperate with domestic companies, how to protect their own technological secrets, and how to find new business opportunities in the international market.

Cao Xingchen knew very well that this was a long game.

What is needed is patience, patience and more patience.

But he is ready to earn his place in the game.

As the discussion deepened, smiles gradually appeared on their faces.

They began to see that although the challenges ahead were huge, MTK's future was still full of hope as long as they had the right strategy.

The car slowly drove into the hotel's driveway. Looking at the tall young man standing at the door of the lobby, Cao Xingchen and Cai Mingjie both unconsciously straightened their clothes, preparing to meet the upcoming challenge.

They knew that this meeting would be the most important negotiation in their lives.

……

(End of this chapter)