LightReader

Chapter 117 - Chapter 117 - Sell It or Not?

Chapter 117 - Sell It or Not?

After Su Yuanshan finished speaking, a heavy silence settled over the reception room.

The four guests were all experts in the semiconductor field. They weren't too familiar with the communications sector, but they certainly understood the numbers. Hundreds of megabits per second, even up to gigabit speeds — speeds even faster than the latest PCI bus bandwidths released that year. Even the fastest fiber optics currently available barely reached 2Gbps.

If it had been anyone else making these claims, the four would have dismissed it as pure fantasy.

But the person speaking was Su Yuanshan, and what was more, Yuanchip was already actively working toward those goals. That meant they had to believe it.

Making such predictions also implied something much deeper: Yuanchip wasn't just predicting the future of wireless communications. They were also forecasting the future of chips and the entire semiconductor industry.

Yuanchip's foresight and planning far surpassed even the most optimistic estimates held by experts in the West.

(Note: Mr. Zhu Yiwei's Fifty Years of Integrated Circuit Industry Review details this topic well. For those interested, it's worth reading. Also, Mr. Xie Zhifeng's The Heart of the Chip is rich in stories. Other works like The Road of Chips and How Chips Changed the World are also recommended.)

After a moment of silence, Zhao Kaidong suddenly smiled.

"Xiao Su, you know about the '85' Plan for the semiconductor industry, right?"

Su Yuanshan nodded. "I've read it.

Mainly about increasing production capacity and expanding independent manufacturing."

"Exactly," Zhao said. "Even today, China's chip production capacity is still less than 1% of the global total. It's... laughable, really."

Zhao was in his early forties and had the typical aura of someone who had risen through technical expertise. He paused, then continued,

"You mentioned that lithography machines have already entered the i-line UV era.

Actually, on the light source side, we have had technical reserves for a while.

If deep ultraviolet light sources were urgently needed, we could make it happen."

"KBBF crystals?" Su Yuanshan asked with a smile.

Zhao Kaidong was briefly stunned, looking at Su Yuanshan with surprise.

He hadn't expected Su Yuanshan to understand laser technology so well.

After a few seconds, Zhao chuckled,

"Yes.

Although currently it's mainly used for high-powered lasers, if needed, we could adapt it for lithography machines."

Su Yuanshan nodded knowingly.

He knew that KBBF — potassium beryllium borate fluoride crystal — had only been synthesized two years ago.

It was practically a product of sheer luck — a discovery that would later choke the Americans for fifteen years.

Its emergence had propelled China's laser weapon programs forward by leaps and bounds.

Once the strategic value was realized, it was banned from export.

Zhao continued, "But a lithography machine can't rely on the light source alone.

The lens module that follows is even more critical.

And once the light source shifts upward, the precision of every single component must improve exponentially.

The design difficulty increases geometrically."

Su Yuanshan laughed, "That's exactly why we're not pushing into deep ultraviolet yet.

We'll stick with i-line ultraviolet for now.

If we can achieve a 0.5-micron process with acceptable yields, we can mass-produce it and survive for quite a while.

After that, we can skip KrF and jump directly to ArF — wouldn't that allow us to catch up?

At least it wouldn't feel so hopeless."

"And as for design difficulty — by the end of this year at the latest, our mechanical CAD software will be launched.

Design work will become much easier."

Hearing him mention mechanical CAD, the experts' eyes lit up.

"Can it do simulations?" someone asked excitedly.

Su Yuanshan laughed, a bit helplessly,

"Uncles, our foundation is electronics and physics.

We have always had technical reserves in those fields.

With current semiconductor processes, tunneling effects aren't prominent yet, so chip simulation is feasible.

But mechanical simulation..."

"If you provide detailed data and models, then yes, we can do it," he said seriously.

Since Yuanchip had decided to dive into mechanical CAD, they would go all-in.

Simulation capabilities were inevitable.

But as he had said, Yuanchip had no background in mechanical engineering.

All the necessary data would have to be collected from users — and much of it was highly confidential.

How to solve that would require careful handling later.

Su Yuanshan planned to assign the task to Xi Xiaoding — after all, he was preparing to build a physics lab and math software anyway.

"No problem.

We've been collecting data for a long time," Zheng Zhenchuan said, stepping forward.

"Structure, frequency, vibration, stress — we have lots of parameters.

Although some models haven't been fully established yet, or haven't been fully validated."

Su Yuanshan nodded. "Then please send a group of experts upstairs to find Qu Hui."

"Understood," Zheng Zhenchuan agreed.

He hesitated a little, glanced at the others, then finally said,

"But this will put huge financial pressure on us."

Su Yuanshan couldn't help smiling to himself.

Finally, they had gotten to the real issue: money.

But he wasn't planning to talk numbers today.

So he smiled and said,

"Why not sell the lithography machine you just built?

Uncle Zhou, is Huajing interested?"

Zhou Boguang chuckled,

"Can't afford it.

Process yield isn't there, and we're losing money every day."

"Then let Yuanchip buy it," Su Yuanshan said, still smiling.

Zheng Zhenchuan shook his head.

"The institute decided not to sell."

Su Yuanshan's eyebrows lifted.

Facing Su Yuanshan's surprise, Zheng Zhenchuan gave a bitter smile,

"The institute considers this lithography machine to have major significance.

It will serve as a foundational piece for future research, and as a benchmark for process improvements.

So, they decided not to sell it."

Su Yuanshan's raised eyebrows slowly settled back down.

He could understand Chengguang's thinking.

After all, this was a prototype machine — full of blood, sweat, and pride.

But he also knew that his team's contributions had been crucial to making the machine work.

After thinking for a few seconds, Su Yuanshan gave a half-smile and said,

"Uncle Zheng, if the institute won't sell, then how do we account for Yuanchip's contributions?"

"Until this model reaches sufficient process standards, it's clearly unmarketable.

Even for a gambler like me, I wouldn't dare bet on this machine achieving reliable yields — not to mention all the supply chain issues."

Zheng Zhenchuan's expression grew even more bitter.

"After passing inspection, the state will issue a reward."

"How much?"

"Around..." Zheng Zhenchuan opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to say the number.

He and Yuanchip were too familiar with each other.

They all knew that Yuanchip's technical contributions were incomparable — not to mention the help designing systems, chips, circuit boards, and programs.

A company as technically capable as Yuanchip — just the chip designs alone were invaluable.

Seeing Zheng Zhenchuan's hesitation, Su Yuanshan suddenly understood why, despite the high-level visitors today, only Zheng himself had come to negotiate.

In terms of rank, Xie Kaiyun was equivalent to a deputy director, and even Chengguang Institute's own deputy director hadn't come.

Clearly, the institute's leadership was too embarrassed to face Yuanchip directly.

"Uncle Zheng," Su Yuanshan said,

"since the institute is short of funds, stop hugging the results to your chest.

Let's price the lithography machine at 18 million yuan, and Yuanchip's technological contributions at 5 million."

"Keep the remaining 13 million as your operating fund —

if I recall correctly, the entire investment into this machine didn't even reach 10 million, right?"

When Zheng Zhenchuan heard the price of 18 million, his spirits lifted visibly.

The other three experts were also visibly surprised.

In fact, they had privately discussed the option of selling.

But realistically, this prototype machine couldn't be mass-produced and was mainly suitable for research and exhibition purposes.

Especially considering that Yuanchip had made huge contributions to getting it working — it would be inappropriate to demand too high a price.

Thus, the safest approach had been to refuse to sell — they could always claim it was a "national project" exempt from commercialization.

But hearing Su Yuanshan offer a price comparable to foreign second-hand machines of the same process generation, they couldn't help but be a little shocked.

"Really 13 million left over?" Zheng Zhenchuan repeated.

"Why would I joke about that?" Su Yuanshan said with a big grin.

"Uncles, hurry up and get the machine inspected and certified.

Brag a little to the higher-ups.

Then ship the machine over to our tech park's high-grade cleanroom."

"And after that," he said, smiling broadly,

"we'll talk about our next collaboration."

Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.

Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1

 

 

More Chapters