Rebirth 2004: I can make money by writing.

2011 year 6 month 27 day,

A seemingly ordinary day but full of mysteries.

The sky in Shenzhen is clear blue and the air is filled with the passion of early summer.

In this prosperous modern city, a carefully planned business game is quietly unfolding.

The business team of Gaotong Company, a group of nine people, arrived in Shenzhen exhausted.

Hao Qiang personally arranged for someone to receive him. On the surface, he seemed warm and thoughtful, but in fact, there was a hidden secret.

Hao Qiang personally met with the representatives of Gaotong Company. After a few greetings, he handed over the reception task to his business team.

Before the handover, Hao Qiang conveyed a clear yet subtle instruction to his negotiation team: delay as much as possible.

The negotiation team quickly understood the chairman's intentions and began a carefully choreographed "delaying tactic."

They crafted a well-crafted response to Gaotong's request:

Want to visit the factory?

Sorry, I'm afraid that won't work.

The factory is under maintenance, so if you want to see it, you have to wait for a while.

If you want to see the products, that’s fine, but you have to apply.

It cannot be approved internally within our company yet, because monocrystalline silicon is a high-tech product and still needs approval from local government departments.

The application process is relatively slow, as you know, the Chinese are relatively slow in their efficiency.

But I won’t tell you in advance.

Gaotong Company's business team must first look at the products and factories before proceeding to the next step of the process.

In fact, even if you see the product, there will definitely be no data.

If you want to get wafer samples, that’s definitely not possible.

The business team of Future Technology Group cleverly diverted the topic to other aspects, such as the customs and culture of Shenzhen or the local food specialties, in an attempt to distract the other party.

Throughout the entire process, the Future Technology Group team was courteous, enthusiastic, and thoughtful, demonstrating a genuine desire to raise funds while always maintaining a certain distance.

Instead of proactively initiating meetings or discussing core issues, they kept Gaotong's people busy with busy schedules and ever-changing arrangements.

Sometimes what you don’t say is more important than what you say, and what you don’t do is more effective than what you do.

one week later,

The Gaotong team gradually became confused and anxious.

They came here to obtain key information and advance cooperation, but found themselves in an environment that seemed welcoming but was actually alienating.

But it doesn't seem wrong.

I heard that Huaguo Company's work process is quite complicated.

Then on the weekend, everyone needs to rest, which is normal.

Time passed unnoticed and it was soon mid-July.

The total project progress of the EBL lithography machine has reached 95%.

Although only the last 5% remains, Hao Qiang does not think it is easy to conquer.

By this point in time, the model and parameters of the equipment have been basically determined.

The first EBL lithography machine model: EBL001

Process technology: 14nm (Future Technology Group's first generation)

The theoretical maximum production capacity of 14nm is 150WPH (Wafers Per Hour, which is the number of wafers that can be processed per hour).

In contrast, ASMLEUV's NXE:3400B was the first model to be mass-produced, with a production capacity of 135WPH. It was used until around 2020, when the second model, NXE:3600D, was developed, with a production capacity that could be increased to 160WPH.

The smaller the process, the higher the efficiency under the same production capacity.

Although the theoretical maximum production capacity of EBL001 is 150WPH, its working efficiency is several times faster than that of NXE:3400B.

This efficiency improvement is not only reflected in production speed, but also in chip performance and energy efficiency.

The charm of the EBL lithography machine lies not only in its current performance, but also in its potential.

Theoretically, it can even manufacture chips with a process technology of less than 1nm, which is a shocking number.

Of course, to achieve this goal, some key components need further upgrading and optimization.

At present, the theoretical minimum process technology of EBL lithography machine has reached an astonishing 7nm, which was unimaginable in 2011.

In 2012, the most advanced automotive chips mainly used 28nm-40nm process.

However, today, automotive chips using 14nm process are still not popular.

未来科技集团的青龙8124芯片采用14nm工艺，虽然在性能上还不及膏通公司2020年发布的8155（采用7nm工艺，应用于领克09等高端车型），但这已经是一个巨大的进步。

One of the characteristics of the chip industry is the astonishing speed of updates and replacements.

It is expected that only one year after Qinglong 8124 goes into mass production, Future Technology Group will be able to launch a new generation of 7nm process chips.

In order to master the cutting-edge technology of EBL lithography machine, Future Technology Group has invested huge manpower and material resources.

The R&D team alone has as many as 300 people, of which the core R&D team has about 100 people, including top talents such as electronic optics experts, precision mechanical engineers, vacuum system experts, control system engineers and software engineers.

The support team consists of approximately 150 people, including material experts, semiconductor process experts, testing engineers, quality engineers and system integration engineers.

In addition, there is an interdisciplinary technical team of about 30 people, as well as other supporting staff.

The total annual salary and benefits expenditure of this large team is about 100 million yuan, and this figure continues to rise as prices rise.

Considering that a high-tech project usually takes several years to produce results, the personnel costs alone will cost hundreds of millions.

Adding other expenses such as equipment investment, material consumption, and experimental costs, the total investment is likely to exceed 1 billion yuan.

You know, without technological accumulation and a clear R&D direction, even if you invest 10 billion yuan, you may not be able to achieve a breakthrough, not to mention it will take several years of precious time.

In this context, it is not difficult to understand why the cost for ASML to manufacture an EUV lithography machine may be less than 10 million US dollars, but the selling price is as high as hundreds of millions of US dollars.

This seemingly high price actually reflects the huge R&D investment and technological value behind it.

If it were Hao Qiang, considering the huge investment and risks, he might also adopt a similar pricing strategy.

Some people criticized the high price of Future Cars and believed that Hao Qiang was "evil-hearted".

However, when you understand the R&D investment and risks behind high-tech products, you will understand that this pricing is reasonable.

The price of high-end technology products not only reflects the production cost, but also reflects the long-term R&D investment, the value of intellectual property rights and the reality of market competition.

In this era of rapid change, only companies that continue to innovate and dare to invest can remain invincible in the fierce market competition.

A few days later,

The Gaotong team felt that the financing negotiations were progressing too slowly and wanted to speed up the process.

But they are looking for help, and the negotiation team of Future Technology Group has no worries about bargaining.

Hao Qiang gave them the task of delaying the work for a month before they would be considered qualified.

But I have to say, the offer is quite tempting: $100 billion for 51% of the wafer fab's shares and related technologies.

Of course, investing in a high-end wafer fab requires a huge amount of capital.

Generally speaking, the investment in a modern, large-scale, high-end wafer fab (such as a 12-inch wafer fab) is usually several billion US dollars, which is of course much cheaper in China.

If the lithography machines used to produce chips are included, the investment amount will rise to US$20 billion.

Imagine that an EUV lithography machine costs about 1 million to 1.5 million US dollars, and a large chip manufacturing plant has at least dozens of EUV lithography machines.

Of Hao Qiang's 800 billion yuan investment plan, he plans to invest 500 billion yuan in the semiconductor industry, including the EBL lithography machine project.

The wafer factory has invested over 10 billion yuan.

Gaotong Company valued Future Technology Group's wafer fab and technology at approximately US$200 billion, equivalent to 1350 billion yuan, which is actually a very low offer.

As long as we produce top-notch technological achievements and put them into mass production, the cost is only 10 times of the original investment, which is of course too low.

This is a factory that has already started mass production, and it does more than just produce results!

Hao Qiang's first-phase requirement is to produce 10 wafers per month, or 115 million wafers per year.

With further investment in equipment, the annual output can reach 200 million high-end wafers.

No matter how much is produced, the world cannot absorb so many high-end chips.

In 2011, the global monthly production capacity of 12-inch wafer fabs was approximately 300 million wafers, with approximately 20% used for high-end chips.

You should know that around 2023, the price of wafers with advanced processes (such as 5nm and 3nm) will be the highest, possibly reaching US$15000-20000 per piece or even higher.

The price of wafers with mature processes (such as 28nm and 14nm) is relatively low, possibly between US$3000 and US$8000.

But in 2011, the wafers produced by Future Technology Group were the most advanced wafers in the world, and it was reasonable to sell them at $2 per piece.

It can manufacture chips with a process technology of 3nm and below, as long as the technical level is sufficient.

Of course, this price is only for the wafer stage, not the finished chip.

The surface area of ​​a 12-inch wafer is approximately 70659 square millimeters.

As for chips, let’s take the Kirin 9905G produced by Huawei ten years later as an example. Its chip area is 113.31 square millimeters. If it is 100% utilized, 700 chips can be produced.

Of course, it’s actually not that much, just around 600 yuan.

Taking the yield rate into consideration, it is estimated to be around three or four hundred chips.

If a wafer sells for $20,000, the average wafer cost of each high-end chip will be $70 to $80, which is reasonable.

If we take into account the cost of the mask, etching, doping, metallization and other processes, testing and packaging costs, and then add up all the above costs, the total cost of a high-end mobile phone chip may exceed US$200.

So, Hao Qiang’s wafer company can have an annual output value of 400 billion US dollars!

The high-end industry has extremely high profits. If sales are good, annual profits will definitely exceed US$150 billion.

Gaotong Company is only valued at US$200 billion?

Think beautifully.

Of course, Gaotong Company said it would help Future Technology Group solve chip problems and even sell wafers.

If foreigners restrict Future Technology Group, most wafers and chips can only be sold domestically.

Not to mention other countries, the Hua country alone is enough to feed the Future Technology Group.

In fact, for Hao Qiang, no matter what, it is impossible for him to transfer his shares in the wafer factory.

Let the business team take their time.

With such huge profits at stake, I guess Gaotong Company's business team can afford it.

Make the other person think, what if it really succeeds?

Acquisitions of large companies usually take several months, or even a year or two, to complete.