Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 974: The first half is about electrification, the second half is about chips
While Venustech was working quickly to constantly refresh everyone's cognition, Nanshan Semiconductor was also busy.

The smart cockpit chip and autonomous driving chip that used the 14-nanometer chip process have been released and have become the ones with the highest computing power in the industry.

Now Nanshan Semiconductor's 7-nanometer process technology has been developed, and four factories are under intensive construction.

Under such circumstances, Nanshan Automobile Group is naturally eager to cooperate with Nanshan Semiconductor to launch a new generation of high-computing power chips.

With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, various assisted driving and smart cockpit related functions have become an important part of what distinguishes new energy vehicles from traditional fuel vehicles.

In particular, with the addition of new car manufacturers, they continue to use some Internet thinking to promote various marketing of new energy vehicle projects, making the competition in the industry more intense.

If you use a NS8155 from Nanshan Semiconductor, the computing power is only 8TOPS.

Then I will use two NS8155s, and the computing power will be twice as much as yours.

Soon, a new product was announced to be equipped with 4 NS8155 chips, and the computing power soared to 32TOPS.

Although compared with the computing power of electric vehicles ten years later, 32TOPS is not particularly outstanding.

But in 2015, it was definitely the world's number one.

Even the S9 of Future Car currently only has two NS2 chips with a computing power of only 8155TOPS.

In this case, it is definitely necessary to upgrade as soon as possible.

"Mr. Cao, our new generation of NS9155 chips have been successfully developed and will start mass production at the end of this year along with the commissioning of the new Nanshan Semiconductor factory."

"Compared with NS8155, the computing power of this chip has soared from 8TOPS to 64TOPS, which completely exceeds the computing power level of the current mass-produced products and new products announced by other manufacturers."

"And with the increase in computing power, our energy consumption has not only not increased, but has dropped by more than half, which can reduce the power consumption of electric vehicles by one level."

"Under the same circumstances, the range of electric vehicles using these chips can be increased by at least 3%, and this impact can completely offset the increase in chip sales prices."

"After all, to improve battery life, the previous approach was to increase battery capacity, but this would lead to a significant increase in battery costs."

Zhang Jing, with a radiant face, personally reported to Cao Yang about the latest achievements of Nanshan Semiconductor.

Nanshan Semiconductor's foundation is becoming increasingly solid.

Not only is it ahead of its competitors in production capacity, but it has also completely surpassed them in technology.

This will have an extraordinary impact on Nanshan Semiconductor and the entire China.

As an academician, Zhang Jing's voice in the semiconductor industry has increased significantly in the past two years.

He has participated in various chip-related industry standards in recent years.

Even if he votes against it, the relevant standards will not be released.

He was invited several times by relevant departments to introduce chip knowledge to senior executives.

"If NS9155 doesn't come out soon, Zeng Tingting will probably be worried about you."

“When the S9 was released, they said their computing power was the best in the world, but a year later, it was surpassed by other new cars.”

“But now with NS9155, the situation is completely different.”

Cao Yang joked with a smile.

As a leading company in the domestic automobile industry, Nanshan Automobile Group certainly hopes to be ahead of the industry in computing power.

The publicity effect of this industry benchmark is actually very huge and difficult to measure with simple data.

Just like the several models of Tesla in later generations, any manufacturer of electric cars will definitely use Tesla's products for comparison and explanation before developing their own products.

They will not stop until they have proven that their equipment and performance in all aspects are no worse than others.

Invisibly, this can be regarded as a very good advertisement for Tesla.

Future Automobile's current position in the electric vehicle industry is a bit like Tesla's position in the industry in its previous life.

No wonder Zeng Tingting was so anxious.

“When we designed NS9155, we fully considered the compatibility with NS8155.”

"In extreme cases, you only need to remove the NS8155 chip, replace it with the NS9155, and then flash the software to complete the upgrade."

"This should be very attractive to some manufacturers."

"This can even be provided to some 4S stores in the aftermarket for optional upgrades."

Zhang Jing further introduced the advanced features of the NS9155 chip.

For car manufacturers, once a car is produced, it will normally take several years for it to be upgraded.

Otherwise, if you replace the model before all costs are recovered, the cost will be too high.

For example, the body structure will not be changed easily, because every change requires the corresponding parts to be re-molded.

A minimum of several million, a maximum of tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars were thrown in.

It doesn’t matter if the sales are good, but if the sales are not ideal, it will be difficult to make money.

"Compatibility is indeed very important. In the future, all models will gradually have OTA upgrade functions."

"If the hardware cannot be coordinated with OTA, the effect of software upgrade alone will be much worse."

"It would be best if all the automotive-grade chips we develop in the future are compatible with the previous generation of chips."

Cao Yang is very satisfied with NS9155, which was moved to Nanshan.

With a computing power of 64TOPS, it is definitely the best in the world.

For most car models, only one chip is needed to meet the computing power requirements of the entire vehicle.

If two are carried, a lot of tasks can be accomplished.

Even if someone can develop L3 autonomous driving function in advance, it can basically meet the requirements.

Of course, Nanshan Semiconductor will certainly make further efforts in the future.

By then, the computing power of a chip will reach hundreds of TOPS or even thousands of TOPS, and the meaning will be even more different.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

"This time, I plan to hold a product recommendation meeting to show the excellent performance of NS9155 and invite various car companies to participate."

“Let everyone know the benefits of our NS9155 and stimulate competition among them.”

The selling price of an NS9155 is more than RMB 1000.

For such an expensive product, if there are no various incentive measures, only a small number of car companies will be willing to actively use it.

However, if everyone competes with each other and promotes chip computing power as a core competitive advantage of automobiles, the situation will be completely different.

"No problem, good things should be known to more people."

Cao Yang, who has always attached great importance to publicity work, would definitely not object to Zhang Jing's proposal.

However, as soon as the invitation letter for the NS9155 product recommendation meeting was released, various car companies were still expressing their feelings, but the international chip giants were anxious.

"Pat, Nanshan Semiconductor has made another major breakthrough in smart cockpit chips."

"It is said that the computing power has reached a groundbreaking 64TOPS, but our smart cockpit chip has not yet entered mass production."

"If things continue like this, it will be hard for us to succeed in our strategy of transforming into smart cockpit chips and autonomous driving chips."

After seeing the reports about the Nanshan Semiconductor Technology Exhibition, Otellini immediately called the technical director Pat over.

Although Intel is still the global leader in the computer CPU field, its position in the American chip industry is still relatively high.

However, this advantage is disappearing rapidly, and the company's prospects are becoming less clear.

For high-tech companies, having a story to tell in the future is very important and is also an important means to maintain the stock price at a relatively high level.

In line with the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, Intel is making a strategic adjustment by Otellini to enter the field of new products closely related to new energy vehicles, such as smart cockpit chips.

However, the threshold in this regard seems to be higher than he imagined.

"Otellini, you know that we have been focusing on computer chips before. Even for mobile phone chips, we are not the most advanced in the industry, not to mention automotive-grade chips that we have never been involved in before."

"A few years ago, automotive-grade chips were often synonymous with backward technology in the semiconductor industry, and various new technologies would definitely not be used in automotive-grade chips."

“Even the chips used in some home appliances are better than those used in cars.”

"However, as the computing power requirements for automotive-grade chips continue to increase, the chip process technology used is also constantly changing, and is gradually approaching the chip technology used in consumer electronics."

"But for us, the relevant chip development needs to start from scratch."

"We will not be able to launch the first generation of smart cockpit chips to the market until the second half of this year at the earliest."

Pat's words made O'Donnell very dissatisfied.

Other companies have already released their second-generation professional chips, but Intel hasn’t even released its first-generation products.

The most important thing is that according to the information Otellini had previously learned, even if Intel’s own smart cockpit chip goes into mass production this year, its computing power will only be 4TOPS.

This is still twice as much as Nanshan Semiconductor's NS8155, not to mention the latest NS9155.

Thinking of this, Ou Dening couldn't help but feel a little angry.

"Our new 14-nanometer process technology plant has also been put into production, and the 7-nanometer process technology will soon achieve a breakthrough."

"Under these circumstances, our automotive-grade chips should not be at the current level."

After hearing what Otellini said, Pat added, "Our automotive-grade chip development is relatively slow. In addition to our own reasons, it is also related to the fact that various OEMs are unwilling to actively cooperate with us in development."

"Even General Motors and Ford are more willing to cooperate with Texas Instruments, ON Semiconductor and Nvidia because they have more experience in related fields than us."

"Without the cooperation and use arrangements of the OEMs, even if our chips are developed, we will be in a rather embarrassing situation."

Pat directly pointed out the embarrassing situation Intel faces in the field of automotive-grade chips.

In fact, this is the difficulty that all semiconductor companies need to face if they want to enter the automotive-grade chip market.

Although most automotive-grade chips do not have very high requirements for process technology, they have very high requirements for chip stability. After all, once an accident occurs with the chips used in cars, it often causes loss of life.

Even if there is a problem with the chip on the mobile phone, all you have to do is restart it. Even if the worst result is that the phone is broken, we will provide you with free repairs.

But if the chip in the car suddenly breaks down, the car may lose control.

Therefore, every automobile company and parts company is cautious in choosing chips.

Generally speaking, car companies are reluctant to try new things.

Of course, now due to changes in the competitive environment, the situation is naturally changing slowly.

"I have discussed this issue with Exon from GM before, and he said that Intel has to develop the chip first, and then GM's R&D personnel will do some related testing before they know whether it can be used."

"But you said that no car manufacturers chose to use our chips, so the development speed is not very ideal."

"It's just a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. There's no point in getting hung up on it."

"You should bring out the product as soon as possible, and benchmark it against Nanshan Semiconductor's NS9155, and develop a new generation of products that are not inferior to them."

Otellini didn't want to listen to so many complaints.

He just wanted to know the result.

Once Intel develops the world's most advanced automotive-grade chip, he believes that there will definitely be manufacturers who will take the initiative to use it.

Even if Pat wanted to refute this, he didn't know how to do it.

After all, their performance in this area is indeed a bit disappointing.

……

Just when Intel received the NS9155, a new generation of smart cockpit chip developed by Nanshan Semiconductor, Nvidia, this special rival, has also been discussing this matter.

"Mr. Huang, the smart cockpit chip we just launched last year has reached the same level of performance as NS8155. Some Cadillac and Lincoln models have confirmed that they will use it, and it will officially start to be sold in the second half of this year."

“But now Nanshan Semiconductor has directly launched the NS9155, which is still very challenging for us.”

"To achieve 64TOPS computing power, it is basically determined that a 7-nanometer chip process is required."

"And the four 4-nanometer chip factories currently under construction in the world are all owned by Nanshan Semiconductor."

"Samsung, TSMC and Intel's 7-nanometer process technology is still under development and will not be ready until this year at the earliest."

"As a result, it will take until the end of next year or even the year after next for their chip factories to be able to manufacture 7-nanometer process chips."

As the person in charge of Nvidia's automotive-grade chips, Yang Fan naturally had to explain the situation to Huang Jiansheng at this time.

Especially since this time it involves the rather special opponent Nanshan Semiconductor, he pays more attention to it.

"I have already felt the unique advantages of Nanshan Semiconductor in technological innovation, but I didn't expect that they would completely overturn the industry landscape so quickly."

"This automotive-grade chip has a computing power of 64TOPS. In the past, no one would have thought that such a chip would be needed in cars."

"We are fast in transforming and developing automotive-grade chips, but the gap between us and Nanshan Semiconductor in this field is quite large."

Huang Jiansheng sighed and felt a little regretful.

Automotive-grade chips are so special.

You need skills, experience, and customers.

If any leg is missing, development will be bumpy.

For example, Nanshan Semiconductor has its own unique advantages.

On the one hand, Nanshan Semiconductor's chips are supplied in large quantities to Honor Technology. Whether they are chips used in mobile phones or computers, they have the highest requirements in the industry in terms of process technology.

This also gives Nanshan Semiconductor the motivation and pressure to constantly pursue the latest technology.

On the other hand, Nanshan Automobile Group, as the largest automobile company in China, needs to consume a large amount of automotive-grade chips every year.

More than 80% of these chips are produced by Nanshan Semiconductor.

With such a huge chip production scale, Nanshan Semiconductor must have accumulated rich experience in automotive-grade chips.

The combination of the two experiences has given Nanshan Semiconductor its own unique advantages in developing automotive-grade chips comparable to those used in consumer electronics.

"The market for smart cockpit chips is huge. Although Nanshan Semiconductor currently occupies a dominant position, it is impossible for them to take up the entire market alone."

"Especially in the United States, relevant departments do not allow various car companies to use Nanshan Semiconductor's chips."

"Similarly, Japan and Korea will most likely not use Nanshan Semiconductor's chips."

"Europe will not use it on a large scale either, so there is still a lot of room for us to play."

At this time, Yang Fan must draw a beautiful blueprint for the project he is responsible for.

Otherwise, if the boss has no confidence in the future, how can things be done?
The project might even be cancelled outright.

In European and American companies, when a project is canceled, the people involved in the project are often fired.

Yang Fan is still very optimistic about NVIDIA's future and does not want to be fired by the company.

"You are not wrong, but the gap between our automotive-grade chip technology and Nanshan Semiconductor is objectively real."

"If we want to completely seize the market, we must make our technology level close to that of Nanshan Semiconductor."

"Their 64TOPS chips are out, and we have to research them as quickly as possible."

"Even if we can't mass-produce it in the short term, at least we have completed the research and development."

"This way, we can have more content to talk about during the promotion."

After Huang Jiansheng said this, Yang Fan couldn't help but nodded.

At least for early stage technology research and development, the difficulty is much smaller.

Anyway, it’s just a product in the laboratory stage, and if things go well, it can be released this year.

……

Nanshan Semiconductor's NS9155 briefing was very successful.

Although traditional car companies are not particularly enthusiastic, they feel that current chips are basically sufficient.

However, the enthusiasm of the new car-making forces is completely different.

For example, Qiantu Motors has already arranged personnel to come to Nanshan Semiconductor to discuss the supply of NS9155.

"Mr. Zhang, as long as Nanshan Semiconductor delivers the first mass-produced NS9155 to Qiantu Motors, we can accept the sales price and related conditions proposed by your company."

As the general manager of Qiantu Motors, Lu Bing came personally to discuss the NS9155 with Zhang Jing.

As a talent from the Internet industry, he is well aware of the significance of NS9155 to Qiantu Automobile.

Although among the new forces in car manufacturing, Qiantu Motors has developed relatively well.

But compared with future cars, there is still a big gap.

Lu Bing really hopes that there will be some more eye-catching topics, preferably ones related to technological advancement.

"Mr. Lu, I'm sure you know that Future Auto is our sister company. In the past, all our new products were first delivered to Future Auto for use, and then sold to other customers."

"The advanced nature of NS9155 is beyond doubt. If I were to reject Future Auto's request, I would have to have a good reason."

For Zhang Jing, Qiantu Motors' conditions were not completely unsatisfactory.

After all, the first chip was given to Qiantu Motors, so they can certainly make good use of this in their publicity.

But in the end, it will not have much impact on the installation of NS9155 in future cars.

Even Qiantu Motors has spent a lot of effort to promote NS9155, so Future Motors will have to spend less time and effort by then.

"All our models will be equipped with NS9155, and the models that have already been sold will also have their smart cockpit chips upgraded."

"As a result, the purchase quantity next year alone is expected to exceed 20."

Lu Bing knew that simply citing price as an argument would not be very convincing.

After all, if the purchase quantity is very low, even if the price is very high, it will not be of much significance to Nanshan Semiconductor.

So he started talking about the purchase quantity.

After all, the greater the number, the more motivated Nanshan Semiconductor will be.

"Then I can promise that in the next five years, all of Qiantu Motors' smart cockpit and autonomous driving chips will be sourced from Nanshan Semiconductor."

Lu Bing's condition is quite sincere.

Zhang Jing could naturally understand this.

"Mr. Lu, happy cooperation!"

It is meaningless for the bosses to haggle over details. As long as the general direction can be agreed upon, the details can be left to the people below to discuss.

So the negotiations between Zhang Jing and Lu Bing ended quickly.

The next step was for both parties to go to Nanshan Semiconductor's laboratory together to discuss some more practical things.

Of course, after the negotiation ended, Zhang Jing quickly shared the relevant information with Zeng Tingting.

Letting future cars know some things in advance can help avoid being caught off guard in the future.

Zeng Tingting certainly had some opinions about Nanshan Semiconductor's sale of the first batch of NS9155 chips to Qiantu Motors.

However, each company will consider issues from the perspective of maximizing its own interests, and she has no way of blaming anything.

Fortunately, the chip upgrades for various models of Future Auto can be quickly carried out after the mass production of NS9155, and the actual speed will not be slower than that of Qiantu Auto.

At most, in terms of publicity, Future Auto cannot compete with Qiantu Auto for the title of being the first to be equipped with the NS9155 advanced cockpit chip.

(End of this chapter)