The Millennium Semiconductor Survival Guide.

Chapter 224 Technology Bonus (6.2k)

The audience of mobile phones is far more than that of music players, not to mention that mobile phones can also have built-in music playback functions.Therefore, Zhou Xin generously asked Apple to make ipod zero instead of using his own brand to make this very futuristic product.

For enterprises, products such as ipod zero can well build the brand recognition of users. When Xiaomi made the full screen of Xiaomi mix, it was the time when they had the most hope to gain a firm foothold in the high-end market, because the first generation of Xiaomi mix was the first This truly full-screen phone is amazing.

It’s just that Xiaomi’s later operations made the mix series playable and lost its characteristics, recognition and user recognition in Xiaomi’s various product lines.

After the release of ipod zero, sales increased rapidly, and Apple's stock price rose by 30.00% in just two weeks. Investment institutions began to pay attention to Apple again, and paid attention to this old company that was able to wrestle with Microsoft.

The current Apple is far from being a giant. Jobs actually wanted to make a smartphone similar to the Mphone, but he had no choice but to raise enough funds for Apple because of the first-generation ipod. Money from financial institutions is rare.

Zhou Xin’s shareholding accounts for 40%. If he goes to raise funds, only Zhou Xin is willing to pay. If he increases his holdings of Apple’s shares, he will approach the 51% control line, and other financial institutions will either offer harsh conditions. , or there is no way to give a price that satisfies Apple.

As a last resort, Apple will continue to develop along the road of music players, and the first generation of iPod cannot be said to be unsuccessful, but it does not bring Apple as much profit as Jobs expected.

The annual sales volume of the first-generation iPod was 80, and the price was 299 US dollars, which means that the annual revenue was 2.4 million US dollars. After excluding costs and marketing investment, the profit was limited.

The situation is different this year. After the launch of ipod zero, financial institutions quickly raised their expectations for Apple. They believe that the new generation of two ipod products can bring more than one billion US dollars in revenue to Apple.

Under such expectations, Apple's stock price has soared, becoming the fastest-growing company in the past two weeks. Zhou Xin, as Apple's largest shareholder, has also become the biggest beneficiary.

The rise in Apple’s market value alone has brought Zhou Xin about 5 million U.S. dollars in book profits. It’s so easy to get money from finance. No matter whether you are doing short-term or long-term transactions in the secondary market, it is faster than the industry. money.

The profit margin of real industries such as service industry and manufacturing industry is zero or even operating at a loss. In order to maintain the operation of the enterprise, experience or belief tells entrepreneurs that they will persevere if they can earn excess profits one day in the future.

Samsung expanded against the trend in the cycle of sharp decline in memory chips, further depressing the price of memory chips, forcing competitors to close down one after another, and finally obtained excess profits as they expected.

The most important thing for the real industry is to maintain the operation. As long as the operation can be maintained, any miracle is possible.And the old Apple employees who have persisted since 95 have a feeling of persevering to clear the clouds and see the fog.

If the old employees of Apple have a feeling of clearing the clouds and seeing the fog, then the employees of Xinxin (Hua Hong) feel that they have escaped from the sky.

In Hua Hong before, chip manufacturing was described as half-dead. The overall chip environment is too bad, especially for memory chips. The market price of memory chips has dropped by 90.00%.

A drop of 90.00% is not terrible, and a drop of 90.00% is not terrible. In such an environment, Samsung is expanding against the trend. Samsung was not afraid of the Asian financial crisis in 97, let alone now that the financial crisis has passed, Samsung maintains high capital. Expenditures continue to fight price wars in the field of memory chips.

The price of memory chips is even more exaggerated than diving. At this time, Neon Enterprise, which cooperates with Huahong, has spun off the memory chip business and joined hands with Hitachi to establish Elpida memory.

This is still the case with Neon Semiconductor, which Huahong relies on, let alone a son like Huahong NEC who is at best a halfway adopted son, and NEC can't take care of it at all.

Hua Hong Semiconductor can only let itself die. Obviously, the road of memory chips cannot go on, or we can't just take the road of memory chips.

The problem is that logic chips are not so easy. It is not difficult to transform the production line of memory chips into the production line of logic chips, and there are very few places that need to be changed.

The memory chip has a single function, just a stack of memory modules, which is easier to design and manufacture.This was around 2000. At that time, the chip manufacturing process was not as small as later, so the manufacturing of memory chips was easier. With the reduction of the manufacturing process, the difficulties of memory chips began to emerge.

Logic chips, on the other hand, involve various design rules, which make the design very complicated and the production is not so easy.

Huaguo lacks chip design companies, and there is even a lack of chip design companies that can match Hua Hong's semiconductor technology. For example, Hua Hong's most advanced 0.18-micron technology. At present, in addition to Xinxin Technology, there are also organizations that can design chips with this level of technology in Huaguo. Staying in the laboratory stage, there is still a long way to go for commercial use.

Laboratory products do not need to consider cost and market, and are relatively easier.

It is mentioned here that the production line of memory chips is converted to the production line of logic chips. When the mobile Internet broke out, Samsung did this, and did so in large numbers. They transformed a memory chip production line into a logic chip production line in the first quarter of 2012. Chip production line.And started to do it on a large scale in the second quarter of 2012.

And in the chip industry, newly-built chip factories generally start with memory, because this kind of product has a single variety, a huge quantity, complex processes, and a strong dependence on equipment, which is conducive to the rapid completion of the running-in of all links in the new production line.

Mature chip manufacturing companies, etc. After the memory has reached a certain level, the production line has been opened up, and the equipment is operating normally, they will gradually shift from logic chips to logic chips with complex designs and diverse varieties.

The core product designed by Xinxin Technology, the A1E chip, involves a more advanced process than Hua Hong's, or more cutting-edge, which has caused Hua Hong Semiconductor to fall into an embarrassing situation.

In the absence of a market, the production of memory chips at the current price is a loss of money.This is unacceptable for a state-owned enterprise. The more I produce, the more I lose money, so why should I still produce memory chips?

At that time, the managers of state-owned enterprises in the chip industry like Hua Hong lacked the thinking of expanding against the trend. They had not benefited from the expansion against the trend. It was difficult to have such an understanding after walking in the river.

From the perspective of God or just looking at the data, you will feel that doing so is justified. In a cyclical industry, you have to endure the losses caused by the down cycle to enjoy the dividends of the up cycle.

But when you really see that the losses on the books are getting bigger and bigger, and your competitors are still expanding production, and the rising cycle is nowhere in sight, few managers can have such determination and persistence.

Let alone a company of Hua Hong's nature, it's not up to the managers to decide. There are too many things to consider. One is that no one dares to take responsibility, and the other is that people who can decide can't manage it and want to manage it. Humans do not have this ability.

In the first quarter of 01, in just two months, the unit price of 128m memory chips dropped from US$18 to US$0.99, which is an exaggeration.

Even US$0.99 is not the bottom, but only a phased bottom. When the price of memory chips plummeted, Samsung continued to announce the expansion of the existing P-series foundries. Hong's chip production line suffered a huge loss in 128.

If it weren't for the sharp drop in chip prices, Xinxin Technology would not have been able to accept Motorola's two 8-inch chip production lines in Jinmen at an ultra-low price.

Of course, this is a good thing for consumer electronics companies and consumers. The plunge in memory chips has led to a drop in the foundry price of logic chips. If Mphone packages all chip production and screen production to Samsung, the manufacturing cost can drop to $150. the following.

It's just that Zhou Xin doesn't want to make Samsung bigger because of his own existence. With the support of unlimited low-interest funds, a model like Samsung can burst out with super potential. Zhou Xin doesn't want Samsung to be stronger than the original time and space.

Back to Hua Hong, Hua Hong completed the cooperation with Xinxin Technology at the end of the first quarter, and the joint venture Xinxin (Hua Hong) fell into full-load operation as soon as the commissioning was completed.

The full load here is based on the full load of the current situation, not the full load of the production line itself. From the production of memory chips to the production of logic chips, there needs to be an adaptation time, whether it is the machine or the operator. .

The first batch of Bluetooth chip orders from Xinxin Technology is enough to ensure that the production line of Xinxin (Hua Hong) will be fully loaded for half a year.

After the release of ipod zero and ipod2, Xinxin Technology internally evaluated that Apple's Bluetooth chip order alone was enough for this production line of Xinxin (Huahong) to continue to produce until the entire production line equipment loss was calculated and lost.

Most of the annual cost of chip foundries lies in equipment wear and tear, and the book value of general equipment will be cleared after seven years.

"Master Zhao, I finally know why I say I'm too busy to be busy, and I'm so idle. Since I was taken over by Xinxin, I feel that I have done more work in a day than in the previous month." At lunch that day, Xiao Master Zhang and Zhao complained.

They used to have a lot of time to complain during the day, but now they almost only have time to chat during lunch.

As the technical director of Hua Hong, Master Zhao has much more to do than Xiao Zhang when the entire 8-inch production line is running at full capacity. Zhang said a few words.

"Isn't it good? Overtime pay is tripled, not to mention that after the merger of Yi and Xinxin, the wages have at least doubled.

Xinxin's management is indeed strict, but the treatment they offer is also real. "

Xiao Zhang said with emotion: "Boss Zhou really has a lot of money, I finally know how great it is to work in a foreign company, including overtime wages, the salary of our front-line engineers can be almost [-].

Almost all of them are at the same level as IBM Research Institute, even if we only count ordinary wages, we are also at the same level as Intel. "

Master Zhao asked curiously: "Come on, tell me about the treatment of companies like IBM and Intel in their offices in China?
I do have classmates in places like IBM and Microsoft, but none of them are fresh graduates. They have all worked for many years, and because of different situations and different treatment, they cannot be used as a reference factor.

In addition, to correct you, Xinxin is not a foreign company, but a pure Huaguo company. "

Xiao Zhang said stubbornly: "Why is it not considered a foreign company? Although Boss Zhou is from Huaguo, his money comes from American. From the source of funds, it is not too much to say that Xinxin is a foreign company.

Not to mention that most of their management are Chinese American and Chinese with green cards. "

Master Zhao waved his hand: "You don't understand."

Xiao Zhang saw that Master Zhao didn’t intend to argue with him, so he answered the question just mentioned by the other party: “Microsoft’s research institute in Yanjing can get a monthly salary of 8k, and IBM’s monthly salary is 5400. The commission is also linked to the number of business trip days, and the business trip commission can reach a level of 7 to 8k.

In addition, IBM's research institute can open more than 1, and Intel's is 7k, but Intel will pay double salary at the end of the year, but it seems that Intel only recruits graduate students, IBM recruits undergraduate students, and IBM Research Institute only recruits graduate students.

Microsoft Research recruits undergraduates. "

Master Zhao said: "You understand it quite clearly."

Xiao Zhang was a little embarrassed: "When I graduated from university, the female high school classmate I liked was about to graduate from Fudan University. She wanted to go to a foreign company, and then I inquired for her. It's a pity that she didn't get into these companies. My first Don't even think about those from the Second Industrial University.

But now the treatment of Xinxin is comparable to that of big companies like Intel and Microsoft. If it is now, I may not be able to come in yet. "

Master Zhao complained in his heart. If it were now, you would definitely not be able to get in. With Xinxin’s treatment, you can already recruit graduates at the level of Jiaotong University and Fudan University.

"So sometimes fate is very important, and some people are born with good luck, such as you Xiao Zhang."

The process of history is extremely important. Driven by Xinxin, the entire semiconductor industry in Huaguo showed signs of prosperity. In the first half of 2002 alone, the total investment in the Pudong Microelectronics Industry Belt planned by Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park was close to one hundred. million dollars.

Of the tens of billions of dollars, about 20 billion were invested by Zhou Xin, and the rest included Huaguo's official capital, foreign capital, and a small amount of private capital.Gathered nearly a hundred chip research and development, design, manufacturing, packaging and testing companies, as well as semiconductor materials, equipment, devices and other supporting companies, the total investment accounted for half of the country's chip industry.

In addition to Xinxin, there are 1 companies with an investment of more than 11 million US dollars, including: SMIC, Grace, Huahong NEC, Intel, etc.

Pudong has become the main force of the chip industry in mainland China.The leap-forward development of Pudong's chip industry has improved the manufacturing level of China's chips and enabled the domestic related industries to initially have the ability to compete with global peers.At present, there are five 8-inch chip production lines in operation in mainland China, and three in Pudong.

But these five 5-inch production lines and the two 8-inch production lines in Jinmen are actually managed by Zhangjiang-based Shenhai Enterprise.

Driven by Zhou Xin, the cluster effect has gradually shown its effect. At the same time, the Bluetooth chip has also shown the chip practitioners in Huaguo the power of innovation.

"Is it possible for Hua Hong to build a model of Xinxin Technology? It is similar to Samsung's IDM vertical manufacturing. From design to manufacturing to packaging and testing of the chip industry, Hua Hong is fully contracted." This is Hua Guo's official investigation of Hua Hong. questions raised at the time.

Because the cooperation between Huahong and Xinxin Technology is the first time in China that a state-owned enterprise and a private enterprise cooperate to establish a subsidiary, and the subsidiary adopts a structure of different rights for the same share.

Hua Hong owns 80.00% of Xinxin (Hua Hong), but it can only enjoy dividends and supervision rights, and has no actual management rights.

In the first quarter after its establishment, that is, the second quarter of 2002, the data of Xinxin (Hua Hong) was quite impressive. In May, the production capacity exceeded 5 pieces, and in June, the production capacity reached 1 pieces. Under normal circumstances, the monthly production capacity can reach 6 pieces.

Later, TSMC set up an 8-inch factory in Shenhai, with two production lines, one with a monthly production capacity of 35000 pieces and the other with a monthly production capacity of 75000 pieces.

In fact, when the market was good, Hua Hong's monthly production capacity could reach 5 pieces, but that was memory chips, and the difficulty of logic chips was greater than that of memory chips.

The ex-factory price of the single-chip Bluetooth chip designed by Xinxin is 20 US dollars, which means that Xinxin receives the Bluetooth chip from Huahong at a unit price of 20 US dollars, and then sells it to Sony and Apple at a price of 50 US dollars.

In 2002, Cambridge Silicon Radio, the world's major Bluetooth chip manufacturer, had a factory price of their Bluetooth chips floating between $8 and $10.Before Xinxin Technology launched Bluetooth chips, the Bluetooth chips produced by Cambridge Silicon accounted for 50% of the market share.

Sony is also an investor in Cambridge Silicon.After the launch of the new chip's Bluetooth chip, the valuation of Cambridge Silicon plummeted by 70.00%, and several investors hoped to withdraw their capital from Cambridge Silicon, including Sony.

Xinxin Technology can exclusively enjoy the dividends brought about by the advancement of Bluetooth technology and enjoy a high premium.

When there is no way to enjoy the premium, you can still rely on technology licensing to collect technology licensing fees. This is the Qualcomm model.

If you simply start from the profit point of view, the Qualcomm model is actually a more efficient money-making model.

"In fact, Hua Hong has a chip design company. When the 909 project was launched, we designed it according to Samsung's IDM model." Hua Hong's representative replied.

"Then why did Hua Hong's chip design company not play its due role? Before cooperating with Xinxin, Hua Hong always proposed to adopt the chip foundry model, unable to achieve self-sufficiency, and carry out chip design by itself?" Hua Guo's official statement the researchers asked.

Hua Hong’s representative found that the higher-level researchers did not understand Hua Hong’s business at all, and he explained: “Hua Hong has always been engaged in chip design business.

Including last year, we cooperated with Huawei and Neon Fujitsu to jointly develop Huaguo's first communication chip.

Hua Hong provided the process technology and a complete set of front-end and back-end design libraries, Huawei completed the front-end system, code design, synthesis, and simulation, and Fujitsu completed the package design and test program development.

But it has no market, because the cost performance is not high, the performance does not have advantages, and there is no room for survival in a fully competitive market environment.

At present, only Huawei's communication equipment is purchasing this communication chip in small quantities.In addition, we are also developing chips for the U-Shield.

Since its inception, Hua Hong has never given up its exploration in the field of chip design, but the chips we designed can only be said to be usable, and it lacks technical advantages, and even less market-level advantages.

Xinxin Technology has a large number of mature engineers, excellent talents and mature R&D mechanism, and they are more mature than us in all aspects.

Xinxin Technology can recruit people from Silicon Valley, Neon, Korea, etc. They can recruit people from all over the world, and they can put R&D centers in Silicon Valley, Lion City, Tokyo, and London. We can't do it.

We can only poach people from the Lion City, the Wanwan area, and even now, we are facing poaching from the Lion City.

More and more chip design companies have gathered in the Lion City. Last year, the Lion City established a special business incubation center for chip design.

The treatment in Lion City is similar to that of American, and the overall cultural environment is similar to that of Huaguo. Many engineers who come back from Silicon Valley choose to go to Lion City after their actual work.

Lack of funds, backward technology, disconnection between product thinking and market competition are all problems we face in reality. "

There are very few Huaguo semiconductor companies that can offer engineers a monthly salary of 3000 yuan like Xinxin. For example, the salary of SMIC is only more than 4000 yuan, and it is only [-] yuan including overtime pay.

And Lion City also has a salary of 3000 yuan, but the unit is lion yuan, which is equivalent to 15000 yuan.

Since its establishment, SMIC alone has faced the crisis of poaching people in Lion City.

Not to mention that the treatment is not as good as SMIC's Hua Hong.

For a salary of 3000 yuan, it is simply unrealistic for employees to create a value of 3000 million yuan.

The researchers asked: "Is there any way we can avoid this phenomenon?
I have heard that the brain drain of these domestic chip companies is very serious, and they often go abroad or go to foreign companies after two or three years of training.

Can we avoid similar risks by signing a non-compete agreement? "

Representative of Huahong smiled wryly: "We have thought about it, but signing a non-compete agreement also requires additional costs, and signing a non-compete agreement requires payment of non-compete compensation.

It is also impossible for us to sign this agreement with every engineer, unless it is a technician in a key position, we will sign a non-employment agreement with him.

This year, due to the poor overall environment of the chip industry, the phenomenon of poaching has improved.

For the engineer group, they will think that going out to work is gold-plated, and it is easier to get promoted and raise their salary after returning.

For enterprises, the chip industry attaches great importance to work experience. Generally, it takes 2 to 3 years to master the job content. For example, engineers in the front line of chip manufacturing need to work for 2 to 3 years to ensure a relatively high yield rate.

During these 2 to 3 years, it is actually a free training period.

Therefore, we are also exploring how to manage employees to avoid cultivating one and poaching the other. "

Hua Hong's representative also knew that the best and most effective way was to add money, and there was no problem that couldn't be solved by adding money.

None of the Huahong employees who were recruited by Xinxin wanted to leave.

The researcher then asked: "Has Huahong ever thought about benchmarking against Xinxin Technology in chip design and learning from them?

For example, assign front-line R&D personnel to study at Xinxin Technology?Based on our good cooperative relationship with Xinxin, it should be possible to send a few people to Xinxin Technology to study. "

　The 6k promised yesterday, and 200 more words today!
　　There are no pigeons today.

　　Last night, half of the calls were withdrawn. Crow, as a perennial keyboard political observer, could no longer understand what was going on.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)