ca-book Chapter 303 The Limit?
Chapter 303 The Limit?
May has arrived in the blink of an eye.
In early summer, a great victory that thrilled the entire science and technology community of Southeast University was announced at Huaxin Technology's semiconductor industrial park, located between Nanjing and Xuzhou.
After more than half a year of relentless technology import and equipment debugging, Huaxin Technology's independently developed 20-nanometer process chips have achieved a stable yield rate of 90%.
This is a number that allows us to begin large-scale industrial production!
On the afternoon of the day he received the news, Li Feng's Rolls-Royce Phantom, escorted by a whole team of security guards, drove into the cleanroom building in Xuzhou.
"President Li! It's a success! We've really improved the yield rate of 20nm!" Old Chen exclaimed excitedly.
However, after inspecting the gleaming production line and entering the confidential office for further data analysis and discussions, the joy on Old Chen's face gradually faded.
"But...Mr. Li."
"This 20nm process... is probably the limit that Huaxin Technology can reach for a very long time to come!"
Li Feng frowned: "Limit? Mr. Chen, what do you mean? I've heard that Taiwan's integrated circuit manufacturing giants and American chip manufacturers have recently started trial production at the advanced 10nm process. Our thirty lithography machines are the most advanced available right now, how could they be stuck at 20nm?"
"Mr. Li, you don't know this," Old Chen said, rubbing his dry eyes.
"It's not that our equipment is inadequate, nor that our engineers aren't working hard enough."
"Technically speaking, given enough time, Huaxin is fully confident in overcoming the challenges of the 16nm design architecture."
"But the most crucial link... is the silicon wafer and the ArF photoresist!"
Pointing to the analysis of materials in the report, Mr. Chen pierced the crux of the problem that has hindered the development of China's domestic semiconductor industry:
"In advanced process steps below 20 nanometers, the requirements for silicon wafer purity and photoresist resolution are incredibly high!"
"Currently, the global market for large semiconductor silicon wafers and high-end photoresists is almost entirely monopolized by Sakura! Sakura's Shin-Etsu Chemical, JSR, and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, along with DuPont from the US, monopolize more than 80% of the global market share!"
"The most crucial high-end ArF photoresist is a two-man show between Shin-Etsu and JSR!" Old Chen gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.
"Right now, Shin-Etsu and JSR are holding back on selling high-purity silicon wafers and high-end photoresists to our Dongda University! They always prioritize supplying high-end raw materials to Europe, America, and Taiwan!"
"The quota allocated to Huaxin Technology is not only of poor quality, but the quantity is also less than 100,000 wafers a year! With such a small amount of material, how can we possibly tackle the technological challenges of 16 nanometers or even more advanced technologies?!"
Make bricks without straw.
Without top-notch chemical raw materials and silicon materials, even if you have the best lithography machine and design blueprints, you can only stand there helplessly.
This is the material encirclement and suppression of Tokyo University's high-tech industry by the Western world, Japan, and South Korea!
Li Feng stared at the report thoughtfully: "I understand. I'll figure out a way to handle the report."
……
On the way back to Jinling from Xuzhou.
The lighting in the back of the carriage was somewhat dim.
"Yu Xi," Li Feng suddenly spoke.
"Boss, what can I do for you?" Xiao Zhang, who was standing next to him, quickly responded.
What is the current market capitalization of Shin-Etsu Chemical, the company that's relatively new to the market?
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuxi, who had been following Li Feng for so long, naturally guessed what her boss wanted to do.
"Shin-Etsu Chemical is currently the absolute leader in global semiconductor materials and is also a nationally protected enterprise." Xiao Zhang quickly flipped through the data on his tablet.
"Its current market capitalization on the Tokyo Stock Exchange has surpassed the $400 billion mark!"
"Furthermore, considering the protections that the National Security Act provides for companies producing such sensitive semiconductor materials, the obstacles and risks of scrutiny associated with the acquisition will definitely be much greater than with Toei Animation last time!"
Having lived two lives, Li Feng was naturally aware of the sensitivity of the relevant industries, but he still couldn't give up and wanted to ask.
After confirming the enormous size of the $400 billion figure and the heavy policy barriers, Li Feng had an idea.
"Notify the investment department and have them come up with a feasible plan within three days. Whether it's using an offshore shell company in the British Virgin Islands or anonymous shareholding through a foreign brokerage firm..."
"I want to acquire about 5% of Shin-Etsu Chemical's shares on the secondary market without alerting the Ministry of Finance!"
……
Just as Li Feng was working to break through the bottlenecks in the chip industry, the domestic entertainment market experienced another surge in viewership thanks to a groundbreaking youth idol drama.
Produced entirely by Haofeng Film & Television, the youth idol drama "Love O2O," starring the most beautiful school beauty Chen Duling and Haofeng's own son Yang Yang, premiered on satellite TV just before the summer season.
The popularity of this drama has exceeded everyone's expectations.
Xiao Nai's invincible white-clad school heartthrob persona, coupled with Chen Duling's almost natural portrayal of a cool and aloof school beauty, instantly shattered the hearts of young men and women across the internet!
"Yang Yang! Yang Yang is so handsome! He's a true 360-degree flawless male god!"
"Xiao Nai, my senior! Oh my god, isn't this the first love I've always dreamed of meeting in college?!"
Amid this fervent wave of Amway promotion, Yang Yang's personal Weibo followers skyrocketed by hundreds of thousands every day, and his popularity experienced explosive growth in just half a month!
Data on various lists is soaring. On Weibo's top real-time popularity chart, Yang Yang's data has caught up with the man in second place!
People in the industry are secretly alarmed: if this trend continues, the ranking of these four top celebrities at the Weibo Night in June might really see a comeback by Haofeng, the number one star!
……
Just as the TV series version of "Love O2O" was becoming incredibly popular, raking in all the online traffic and discussion,...
As expected, their old rival, Tencent Video, once again displayed their traditional skills.
Similar to "My Sunshine," after discovering that Haofeng only held the television adaptation rights, Tencent quickly bought the film rights to "Love O2O," and launched a high-profile production team, once again challenging Haofeng in the film industry.
To be honest, Tencent Video has been incredibly accommodating to Huang Xiaoming, who has completely sided with them.
During the recent May Day holiday, the film adaptation of "Silent Separation," which Tencent Video invested hundreds of millions of yuan in, flopped at the box office due to the sudden scandal involving the female lead, Bai Baihe. It didn't even make a splash.
However, in order to find a new source of traffic for itself, Tencent Video chose to give the lead role of Bei Weiwei to Huang Xiaoming's wife, Angelababy, in the movie version of "Love O2O".
This move shows that Tencent's entertainment division is indeed in a panic after a series of scandals.
But it must be admitted that Baby's exquisite face, with its distinctly mixed-race features, is quite outstanding.
According to Tencent Video's evaluation report, Angelababy's looks are at least visually on par with Tang Yan and Liu Shishi, the two leading ladies from Haofeng's "Hometown Camp".
What's more, they have another trump card in their hand—Fan Xiaopang!
With Liu Yifei and Yang Mi retiring one after another, it's really hard to find any female artist in Haofeng's entire roster who can rival her in terms of looks.