Reborn Entrepreneurial Giant

The old and the young sit opposite each other, watching the flowers bloom and fall in front of the court, and the clouds rolling and relaxing in the sky.

The CEO of SMIC is Zhang Yujing, who is busy with litigation and improving advanced manufacturing processes. In short, there are many things, so it is Chairman Jiang who communicates with Qu Li.

In fact, the matter between Wuhan Xinxin and SMIC is not complicated. Although SMIC can purchase Wuhan Xinxin's 12-inch fab at the original price within three years, the current total investment of this fab is about 1.5 billion US dollars. Now there is basically no output, and SMIC itself is losing money. Where can I get the money to buy it?

SMIC did not invest in Wuhan Xinxin, so it later gave up this wafer factory after it got into trouble, and after a while, it became the world-famous Yangtze River Storage.

Qu Li and Jiang talked about the difficulties of developing Huahong and SMIC last week, while Qu Li talked about the hidden worries of Jumei and Glory.

"Oh, I remembered, someone from above suggested that Envision invest in SMIC, and you finally rejected it?" Jiang seemed to think of something last week.

"..." Qu Li was depressed. Is the timeline accurate? Didn't he refuse after Datang became the master of SMIC?

"Are you not optimistic about SMIC, or is there some other reason?" Director Jiang continued to ask

"I'm not very smart, and I don't understand the logic behind overtaking in curves. I believe in long-termism, and I firmly believe that doing the right thing is difficult..." Qu Li cautiously

"What does this have to do with SMIC?"

"..."

"Why are you a mother-in-law..."

"Isn't it obvious what I just said? In my eyes, the current SMIC is not a good company. There is nothing wrong with the size of the enterprise, and there is nothing wrong with the cash technology. But with good equipment and technical reserves, SMIC is able to Can the theoretical technology be converted into cash income? How big is the gap between the yield rate and TSMC? The advanced manufacturing process is not comparable, and the yield rate of mature manufacturing processes is not comparable. Where is the comparative advantage?" Qu Li said a lot in one breath

Jiang had heard a lot of good things last week, and at first he heard Qu Li's words, but he was not an ordinary person after all, and he knew that this was Qu Li's real thoughts, at least partially in line with the facts.

SMIC has developed rapidly in the past few years, and has realized the 45nm process. In January this year, it obtained the equipment export license for the 32nm process. In just a few years, we have five 8-inch chip factories and four 12-inch chip factories. Based on the investment of 800 million and 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, a total investment of 14 billion U.S. dollars is required, not counting other supporting and operating management costs. .

But SMIC's annual revenue is about 1 billion US dollars, and it is not worth so much money after selling SMIC. Why can't we calm down and play steadily.

"To make money, an enterprise that cannot achieve profitability in market competition does not have long-term value..." Qu Li and Chairman Jiang Zhou had a discussion

The patent lawsuit between TSMC and SMIC is very interesting. Basically, the market was passively beaten, and the lawyer was blindly optimistic. In an interview, he believed that the probability of winning was very high. In the end, he was defeated in the United States and had to settle with TSMC, paying a compensation of 200 million US dollars plus 10%. shares, and Zhang Yujing's departure.

Maybe the two communicated for a long time. SMIC CEO Zhang Yujing came to understand the situation. Qu Li talked about the lawyer's problem. If he was in charge, he would definitely find a way to drag the lawsuit for ten or eight years. For example, Oracle sued Google for Android infringement. The Java patent case lasted for ten years.

"Your lawyers are really incompetent. They don't pay attention to competitors' actions at all, and they don't pay attention to the social environment." Qu Li talked about the efforts behind Envision Investment's acquisition of Spansion Semiconductor and Spreadtrum's acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor. In the context of the situation, we must also find ways to keep their attention from focusing on sensitive directions.

"TSMC's lawyers used the two acquisitions of Envision and Spreadtrum to aggravate public opinion's concerns about the development of China Women's Technology, and put pressure on judges and jurors through the outside world..."

"Is there such a thing?" The two were shocked

"..." Qu Li was silent, his vision was not broad enough.

"It's not that we don't believe you, the main reason is that this incident has too much impact."

"If you are reluctant to spend money, delay this lawsuit, and change to a better lawyer, you may encounter extreme situations."

In history, Zhang Yujing publicly said in an interview that their lawyers misjudged the form. This is not Qu Li's nonsense, but SMIC's attorney.

"Yu Jing, why don't we change to another lawyer?" Chairman Jiang asked.

"It's a lawsuit, it's not good to change lawyers at this time, why don't they pay attention to this matter..."

"This is a matter of ability, or it may be a matter of attitude. As professionals, will they break the pot after being reminded by outsiders? I dare not use this kind of person a second time if they make a fatal mistake in a key position." Qu Li Persistence, I really don't want idealists to fail, the existence of SMIC is really commendable.

"Yeah, no matter what the reason, since something happened..." Chairman Jiang didn't know why, but at this moment he had an inexplicable trust in Qu Li

"Then what should we do?" Zhang Yujing is a "master of factory construction" and has management skills, but he is not a master of strategy.

"Look for a well-known law firm in the United States that is good at handling intellectual property cases, delay the matter, replace people, and spend money to lobby..." Qu Li said that the conventional plan costs money if it is not illegal.

The matter of the lawyer came to an end soon. SMIC has actually given up flash memory manufacturing and focused on other foundries such as DRAM. The matter of Wuhan Xinxin is not a big deal. Envision Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Spansion Semiconductor and the major shareholder of Infineon. It is obviously a big determination to invite a big cow like Yang Shining to join.

Speaking of the foundry industry, TSMC ranks first, UMC seems to have insufficient stamina, GlobalFoundries is aggressive, and SMIC's position as the world's third is difficult to guarantee.

"You have underestimated Samsung Semiconductor, they have a high probability of becoming the second in the world." Qu Li vaccinated

"Samsung's foundry business is not good, it is not as good as SMIC." Zhang Yujing is confident

"We never focus on the status quo when judging a matter, but look at the future. As long as Samsung wants to develop semiconductor foundry, it can import the most advanced technology and equipment, and can recruit the best talents in the world. We are eyeing a key TSMC. Technological talents are taken first by Samsung Semiconductor..." Qu Li boasted

"Who is it?"

"Hard to say."

"???"

"There are still market problems. Mobile phone chips need advanced manufacturing processes to achieve high performance and low power consumption. This trend has nothing to do with SMIC..." Qu Li's words are a bit harsh, but anyone who has been there knows that even low-end chips will use advanced technology. Process.

"In my opinion, instead of blindly pursuing advanced manufacturing processes, SMIC should find ways to make money for itself, do better than TSMC in the mature manufacturing process market, and then achieve a counterattack when it develops to a critical value..." Qu Li said According to the information he inquired, TSMC jumped directly from 40nm to 28nm, and then to 14nm. This can quickly occupy the high point of the advanced manufacturing process, but the transistor density and other indicators have not kept up.

What Qu Li said is not unreasonable. Before ASML's EUV lithography machine came out, many companies believed that the advanced process technology was about to reach its peak, and it was the EUV lithography machine that broke the upper limit. Let TSMC reach the apex first, and SMIC relies on lower costs and higher efficiency to defeat its opponents. This may not be a good way, perhaps the only realistic way.

But entrepreneurs may not be able to accept this so-called good method, and feel that Qu Li looks down on them. Some people don’t turn back until they hit the south wall, and some people don’t turn back after hitting the south wall. Very good entrepreneurs may be able to perform miracles time and time again, who knows?