Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 812 Mass Production Generation 1, Tape-out Generation 1, Pre-research Generation 1

"We also have to thank the country for introducing relevant policies to encourage the development of domestic semiconductor companies in the past two years, and the local government for providing many preferential policies such as land and taxation to support us in building factories and expanding production."

Currently, including R&D, production, and operations, Mianxin has a total of approximately 24,000 employees.

Research and development personnel account for 35% of the workforce, and most of them are here.
Production technicians make up 45% of the workforce, and they are evenly distributed across various wafer fabs.

When Lei Jun heard the production capacity data, he frowned with empathy—he knew better than anyone the feeling of being choked by production capacity.

Chen Mo's focus was on the fact that Mi'an Xinsheng's development far exceeded his expectations, growing to more than 2 people and nearly 20 factories.
Because he really didn't understand the industry, as long as the person was reliable and Lei Jun was overseeing things, he could just throw money into it every year like a nouveau riche. After five to ten years, things would eventually work out.

Who would have thought that in less than five years, he would feel that the gold ingot was about to grow.

When Zhang Rujing finished speaking, Liang Mengsong took the laser pointer.

The next moment, the huge screen displayed data on the current status of chip manufacturing processes.

"This year is a particularly crucial year for the competition in semiconductor process technology. TSMC and Samsung are competing fiercely in advanced processes (10nm and below). Currently, both companies have already achieved mass production of 10nm process and have entered the research and development of 7nm EUV."

Based on my speculation, it is expected that the 7nm chips of these two companies will be in mass production next year.

Our strategy of mass-producing one generation, tape-out one generation, and pre-researching one generation has begun to show results. Without considering the investment, we have narrowed the gap with the first two and are now only one generation behind. We expect to catch up in the next three years and compete with them in the same generation.

The Xuanjie O1 is our first self-designed 14nm process chip. Mass production began in Q4 of last year, and the yield rate is currently stable at over 85%, second only to TSMC's 90%. Compared to chips of the same specifications, our performance is close, but our power consumption is better optimized, and our cost is 15% lower.

At this point, Liang Mengsong spoke calmly, but a slight smile revealed his pride. "Moreover, we have a purely domestic supply chain—although the lithography machine is from ASML, all the supporting materials and EDA tools have been replaced with domestic alternatives."

"Mass production started in Q4 last year? Then why haven't we heard anything about it?" Chen Mo didn't ask Liang Mengsong this question, but turned to ask Lei Jun.

The latter smiled mysteriously, "Xiaomi has already secured all the Xuanjie O1 chips to build up production capacity for the Xiaomi X8 series phones in the second half of this year. After all, I'm tired of being criticized for playing games with consumers for years."

Liang Mengsong nodded in agreement, “40nm chips are used in medium and large home appliances, 28nm chips are used in small home appliances, and 14nm chips are used in mid-to-high-end mobile phones. We have made a horizontal comparison, and relatively speaking, our chips perform better. It’s time to go head-to-head with those chip giants in the market.”

"I don't know much about chips, Dr. Meng. Have you compared it with HiSilicon's Kirin chip? How does it perform?"

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but as soon as Chen Mo finished speaking, he saw a hint of self-deprecation in the other person's eyes.
"HiSilicon has two main chips, the Kirin 960 and the Kirin 970. In terms of process technology, the former is 16nm and the latter is 10nm. Although they are independently developed and designed, they are all manufactured by TSMC."

In fact, we have 10nm foundry capabilities that are in no way inferior to TSMC's. At that time, we also sent people to negotiate with them to see if we could take over the orders.

It's important to know that, according to TSMC's usual practice, 10nm capacity is prioritized for Apple's A11 and Samsung's, with the remainder going to other companies.

Even so, after careful evaluation, Huawei ultimately chose TSMC, citing the reason that our Mianxinsheng lacked experience in high-end chip manufacturing.

Therefore, they only released a batch of foundry orders for some low-end 28nm chips.

I recently received news from TSMC that HiSilicon seems to be jointly developing 7nm chips with them.

Therefore, Mr. Lei, please make sure Xiaomi delivers a beautiful first blow with the Xuanjie (mysterious ring)!

Lei Jun rarely makes such a guarantee: "All departments have already started preparations. I have made meticulous arrangements on my side, and I will definitely give everyone a surprise!"
Weapons only shine when they are in the hands of someone who can fully utilize their capabilities.

I believe Xiaomi is definitely the best choice for the Xuanjie.

However, thinking about the scene after the announcement, a lingering sense of unease still crept into his eyes.

"However, seeing Xiaomi achieve a major breakthrough in domestic production, those competitors will probably jump up and down again. They're not afraid of their brothers suffering, but they're afraid their brothers will drive Land Rovers. With that mentality, there will probably be no shortage of trouble."

"You forgot? I'm here. If they want to play the propaganda war, the other side is their ancestor." Chen Mo patted Xiao Lei on the shoulder, like an older brother protecting his younger brother.

"However, our chips need to be truly exceptional; I estimate that countless people will be using microscopes to disassemble Xiaomi phones and their chips."

Upon hearing this, Liang Mengsong's eyes gleamed with determination, and his tone was firm and resolute: "President Chen, you can rest assured on this point. Our chips are by no means 'reference designs in shells' like those from MediaTek and Qualcomm. From chip definition and logic design to architecture integration, from functional optimization to the formulation of process libraries and design rules, every step is the culmination of our independent research and development."

He paused briefly, looked around, and continued, "In such a superior R&D environment, with such an outstanding team and ample hardware investment, coupled with our integration of the advanced experience of TSMC and Samsung, as well as the technological advantages accumulated from previous collaborations with Nvidia and AMD—a chip developed by combining the strengths of many—if I, Liang Mengsong, who has dedicated most of my life to chip development, fail this time, I can be fired!"

At this point, his tone turned regretful: "The only drawback is that the O1 CPU core is still limited by the ARM architecture specification. However, we are accelerating the 'de-ARMization' process, and have already started the independent research and development of the 'Xuanwu Framework,' striving to completely break free from external dependence in terms of technology."

"Xuanwu?" Chen Mo mused. "I remember Xiaomi phones also have that name in their architecture."

Lei Jun, standing to the side, smiled shyly: "Actually, I named them all." "Please proceed to the R&D center; I will give you a detailed introduction to the latest developments of the Xuanjie O2 chip."

Liang Mengsong made an inviting gesture.

After passing through several security gates, the group arrived at the brightly lit research and development center.

Through the clean glass curtain wall, you can see hundreds of engineers intently debugging the testing equipment, with complex data streams constantly appearing on the large screen.

“O2 is our first 10nm project. It has been completed and is currently being verified.”

As he spoke, Liang Mengsong pulled up a set of data, "If all goes well, we can start small-scale production in Q4 this year to ramp up the yield rate, and we expect to be able to put it on flagship models in Q2 next year."

His gaze shifted to another work area: "That's our pre-research team. For cost-effectiveness reasons, we chose to focus on the 8nm process first—its performance is close to 7nm, but its development difficulty and cost are more advantageous, making it more suitable for a follower like us."

Chen Mo suddenly posed a pointed question: "What are our plans if we encounter a shortage of equipment and materials?"

Zhang Rujing calmly replied, "This is precisely the original intention behind our commitment to the localization strategy. We have already established a dual supply chain system for key equipment and materials."

He paused, his tone growing increasingly firm: "Even in the worst-case scenario, we have backup plans—increasing R&D investment and concentrating our superior resources to tackle key challenges. Chips are ultimately made by humans; there are no insurmountable difficulties."

External blockades can only trap us temporarily, but they can never trap us forever!
Our country's pioneering researchers have set an example for this countless times.

"Should we consider integrating an AI module into the O2 chip? Beyond Technology can provide relevant technical support," Chen Mo suggested.

Liang Mengsong's eyes lit up: "This suggestion is very valuable, but its feasibility needs further evaluation."

"I will have Dr. Lu Qi connect with you. Regardless of the outcome, AI will be an important direction for the future."

"Completely agree!"

Subsequently, Liang Mengsong provided a detailed explanation of the O2 chip's test data and patiently answered various technical questions raised by the two entrepreneurs.

Eventually, the group returned to the original meeting room.

Discussions were held regarding the subsequent financing and listing of Mianxinsheng. It was ultimately decided to conduct two rounds of refinancing, excluding foreign capital from the scope of financing institutions. Since Mianxinsheng and Xiaomi are not short of funds, the target for future development was state-owned capital, such as the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund and relevant industry funds of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The company has set a short-term goal for Mianxinsheng: to become the world's third-largest semiconductor manufacturer within three years, and then proceed with its IPO.

In order to strengthen self-reliance and control, avoid increasingly delicate international relations, and deal with the potential risk of being "strangled", Zhang Rujing listened to Chen Mo's advice and finally decided to list Mianxin on the A-share market.

In the evening, when Lei Jun and Chen Mo came out of the park, only Zhang, Meng Qiu and an assistant saw them off.

To be honest, given their current public profile, if they walked down the street, they would probably cause a bigger sensation than celebrities.

Even so, during their visit to Mi'an Xinsheng today, the engineers and employees did not ignore them, but simply maintained basic courtesy.

This made the two of them secretly sigh, realizing that people who get things done really don't have the time or inclination to chase after celebrities.

As the convoy drove away from the park, the setting sun bathed the Mi'an Xinsheng park in a golden glow.

A striking slogan scrolled across the main building's electronic screen: "Let the world use Chinese chips!"

This is the sentiment of everyone at the inception of Mianxinsheng, and it is also the goal that all Mianxinsheng employees have been striving for day after day for years.

That evening, after the two finished dinner, Chen Mo did not choose to go home, but instead went to Xiaomi's headquarters with Lei Jun to work overtime for a while.

He plans to take a look at the Xiaomi X8 prototype.

After receiving the prototype, Chen Mo played with it for a while and couldn't put it down.

The color of the back panel, in particular, looks very high-end.
"This is."

"Oh, the color of this phone was carefully selected; it took us a lot of effort and went through an extremely complex process. Don't you think it looks very high-end?"

Could it be that the paint used in their car manufacturing was different from that of their competitors, and that started from this point?

Chen Mo stood there, stunned.
(End of this chapter)