Chapter 895
Three years, I'll wait for you!
“Since we’re going to focus on semiconductor foundry services first, there’s no need for us to keep a low profile; we should announce it widely!” Lin Haoran said to Zhang Zhongmou with a smile after signing the papers.
Zhang Zhongmou nodded.
If they had focused on chip development or lithography machine development from the beginning, then they would indeed need to keep a low profile for the time being.
By the time the storm has passed, the foundation is solid, and the giants have realized what's happening, Oracle Semiconductor will have grown into an unshakeable tree.
But now that we've chosen to focus on foundry services first, with chip development and lithography machine development as the second phase, things are completely different.
What is OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing)?
Contract manufacturers are service providers and enablers; they are the least aggressive players in the entire semiconductor industry chain.
Intel needs contract manufacturing because their own production capacity is never enough.
Texas Instruments needs foundries because their wafer fabs are aging, and the board is unwilling to spend money on upgrades.
Japanese conglomerates need contract manufacturing because they want to enter the US market but dare not build factories in the US.
Europeans need contract manufacturing because their market size cannot support the most advanced technology nodes.
These people are all potential customers of Oracle Semiconductor.
These people wouldn't consider a contract manufacturer an enemy.
Therefore, Zhang Zhongmou had no need to hide.
He should stand in the spotlight so that all potential customers can see that Oracle Semiconductor has arrived, and Zhang Zhongmou has arrived.
Hong Kong now has a reliable OEM manufacturer.
“Haoran, that’s what I’m planning too. During this time, because we haven’t finalized the initial positioning of Oracle Semiconductor, I haven’t been able to spread the news that I’m in Hong Kong. Now that it’s been finalized, it’s time for us to announce the existence of Oracle Semiconductor to the world!” Zhang Zhongmou said solemnly.
Lin Haoran looked at him and suddenly asked, "Chairman Zhang, what do you think Oracle Semiconductor should be positioned as?"
Zhang Zhongmou did not answer immediately.
He gazed out the window at the sky after the rain, at the slowly turning crane at Kwun Tong Pier, and at the seagulls skimming across the water.
“Neutral,” he said.
"major."
"reliable."
He turned back and looked at Lin Haoran.
"It's not an Asian OEM, not a Hong Kong OEM, and not Zhang Zhongmou's OEM."
He paused.
"It is the most trusted partner in the global semiconductor industry."
Lin Haoran did not speak.
He looked at Zhang Zhongmou.
This 51-year-old man, who had served as a defender at Texas Instruments for 23 years, was now standing in his small office of just over 20 square meters in Hong Kong, and the words he spoke sounded like a declaration of war against the entire industry.
This is not a declaration of war.
It is an oath.
They declared the meaning of their existence.
They pledged their commitment to service.
They swore that they would not become anyone's vassal or anyone's enemy.
They simply do what others can't do, and do it to the best of their ability.
“Chairman Zhang,” Lin Haoran said, “how long will it take for the industry to accept this positioning?”
Zhang Zhongmou thought about it.
“Three years,” he said. “The first year is to let customers know our name; the second year is to get customers to give us trial orders; the third year is to make customers unable to live without us.”
He looked at Lin Haoran.
"Three years from now, the whole world will know that the term 'wafer foundry' was redefined starting in Hong Kong."
Lin Haoran nodded.
"Three years, I'll wait for you," he said with a smile.
Lin Haoran believed that Zhang Zhongmou could do it.
This is not blind trust.
This is based on a clear assessment of the person in front of me's twenty-three-year career.
When Zhang Zhongmou says three years, then it's three years.
He said he would redefine wafer foundry for the world, and he would definitely do it.
Once we can achieve the highest level in contract manufacturing, then chip development and lithography machine development will naturally be no problem!
Lin Haoran never doubted this.
“Alright,” Lin Haoran stood up. “Chairman Zhang, since we’re going to make this public, we can’t just release a press release.”
He walked to the window and stood side by side with Zhang Zhongmou.
"The three words you just mentioned—neutrality, professionalism, and reliability—cannot just be slogans; they must become the industry's consensus on Oracle Semiconductor."
"Therefore, we need a press conference."
Zhang Zhongmou turned his head and looked at him.
"This isn't the kind of press conference you hold in a hotel banquet hall, where you read a prepared statement to dozens of reporters," Lin Haoran said. "It's a press conference that the entire industry has to pay attention to."
He paused.
"The location is Hong Kong, the time is set for half a month later, and the guest list should include Intel, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Toshiba, Philips, Siemens, etc., at least at the level of Asia-Pacific president, preferably their top executives in person."
Furthermore, mainstream media outlets in Europe, America, and Japan have also extended invitations. My popularity is considerable, and so is yours; I believe this will definitely make it impossible for them to leave.
Zhang Zhongmou nodded.
He certainly knew what Lin Haoran meant by "popularity".
The global media is still digesting the news of that wedding of the century that took place more than half a month ago.
With the Queen of England officiating the wedding, three top weekly magazines simultaneously bombarding the covers, and international political and business celebrities gathering, Lin Haoran's name is currently at the absolute center of global public opinion.
At that time, all the media hoped that Lin Haoran would accept their interviews, but after the wedding, these reporters couldn't find Lin Haoran at all.
This is something many journalists regret.
If at this point in time, Lin Haoran, in his capacity as an investor in Oracle Semiconductor, were to send out invitations to all mainstream media outlets...
That would be more than just an ordinary business letter.
That was a strategic debut that came under its own spotlight.
Zhang Zhongmou remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he said, "These people might not come."
“I know,” Lin Haoran smiled, “but the invitations still need to be sent out.”
"The purpose of sending out invitations is not to invite them to come, but to let them know that Oracle Semiconductor has officially entered the market. We want to announce to the world that there is an Oracle Semiconductor company in Hong Kong."
“Even if they don’t come, the moment they receive the invitation, they will start researching us, including our financial background, technical team, production capacity planning, and target customers.”
"The deeper they investigate, the more they will discover that this company is not here to steal their jobs."
"We're here to help."
"In this way, we will develop more smoothly and faster!"
Zhang Zhongmou remained silent for a moment.
Then he nodded slightly and said, "I will draft the invitation from the industry giant."
Lin Haoran praised, "Not only should you draft it, but you should also sign it. Your name is the best invitation. Of course, I will also write my name on it."
Today, Zhang Zhongmou is a highly regarded figure in the semiconductor industry.
It's not the kind of superficial fame that needs to be hyped up by the media.
It is a reputation that has been built up inch by inch over 23 years, through 12 generations of technology, 47 director-level technical backbones, and two industry standards.
At Intel, his former colleagues would personally oversee the invitation.
At Texas Instruments, engineers still struggling to keep DSG afloat would photocopy this letter and stick it on their workstation partitions.
In Japan, those technical leaders who had dealt with him would translate the letter into Japanese and circulate it internally.
In Europe, R&D directors who have heard his speeches will be reminded of the Chinese engineer who stood on the podium twenty years ago, explaining the prospects of CMOS technology in fluent English and French by this letter.
It can be said that Zhang Zhongmou has made a great deal of contribution to Texas Instruments' long-standing leadership in the semiconductor industry.
Therefore, his name is the best invitation.
Zhang Zhongmou didn't say anything more.
He turned and walked back to his desk, sat down, and took out a stack of blank letter paper from the drawer.
The pen tip landed on the paper and paused for a moment.
Then he started writing.
"Respected—"
Thirty-three years ago, I first encountered semiconductors at Harvard University.
I was 18 years old then, and had just arrived in the United States from Hong Kong. I only had two hundred dollars in my pocket, but I believed that I could conquer the whole world.
Twenty-four years ago, I joined Texas Instruments.
It was raining that day. I stood in front of the glass facade of the Dallas headquarters, thinking to myself: I want to work here for the rest of my life.
I didn't finish my whole life's work.
I passed away at the age of fifty-one.
I left not because I no longer love semiconductors.
On the contrary, it's because I love it so much that I can't bear to watch it be marginalized as a sunset industry.
So I came to Hong Kong.
Many people might ask me: Why Hong Kong?
The answer is simple: because there's nothing here.
There is no ready-made industrial chain, no mature engineering team, and no historical heritage to rely on.
Nothing at all.
Therefore, anything can start from scratch.
Three months later, Oracle Semiconductor’s first wafer production line will be put into operation in the Kwun Tong Industrial Park in Hong Kong.
Six months from now, our packaging and testing plant will officially begin production in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong.
A year from now, I hope to provide your company with the first batch of engineering samples. Not to prove anything.
It's to give this industry more options.
A neutral, professional, and reliable option.
If you are interested, you are welcome to visit Hong Kong on March 21st.
If you don't have time right now, that's okay.
I will wait here.
Zhang Zhongmou
1982/3/7
In Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
He put down his pen and read the words on the letter from beginning to end.
Then he handed it to Lin Haoran.
Lin Haoran quickly finished reading it, then put down the letter and smiled, "Chairman Zhang, I estimate that this invitation will shock the global technology community!"
Zhang Zhongmou, the renowned semiconductor guru, mysteriously disappeared for nearly two weeks after leaving Texas Instruments. Now he has suddenly appeared in Hong Kong and announced the founding of Oracle Semiconductor.
This news alone is enough to make headlines in all technology media outlets worldwide.
Moreover, the invitation was signed by another name.
Lin Haoran.
The new king of Hong Kong who just conquered global public opinion with a wedding of the century.
The young tycoon whom Fortune magazine called the “builder of an invisible empire.”
That Eastern business leader whose wedding was officiated by the Queen of England.
The two names are written side by side.
Zhang Zhongmou, Lin Haoran.
Technology, capital.
More than 20 years of accumulated industry reputation.
It possesses immense financial resources, enough to shake the global financial market.
The moment this invitation was sent, it ceased to be an invitation.
It is a declaration.
"Chairman Zhang."
Lin Haoran put down the letter and said with a smile, "Once this letter is sent, there's no turning back."
Zhang Zhongmou looked at him and said without the slightest hesitation, "Haoran, actually, from the day you appeared in Dallas, when I told you I needed to think about it, there was no turning back."
He paused, then continued, "It's not that it only started disappearing recently."
Lin Haoran felt even more relieved upon hearing this.
This top expert in the semiconductor industry is definitely going to work with him to create a business.
With Zhang Zhongmou's full commitment, Oracle Semiconductor has found its most reliable helmsman.
What he had to do was ensure that the ship's fuel never ran out.
“Chairman Zhang,” Lin Haoran stood up, “then it’s settled. Oracle Semiconductor will make its first public appearance in Hong Kong on March 21.”
He paused.
"I will personally attend this press conference and, as an investor, announce to the global technology community: my financial support for Oracle Semiconductor over the next ten years will have no upper limit."
Zhang Zhongmou looked at him.
The phrase "no upper limit" is likely an exaggeration if uttered by anyone.
But when Lin Haoran said it, it wasn't like that.
This is a promise.
As for Lin Haoran, he certainly had the confidence to do so.
He knew, of course, that the semiconductor industry was a bottomless pit.
Why was China held back in this region in the previous world?
It's because the semiconductor industry requires such a huge investment that no single company, or even any country, can independently support the entire industrial chain.
An advanced wafer production line can easily cost billions of dollars.
An advanced lithography machine research and development center requires hundreds of top PhDs in optics, mechanics, and materials science to spend ten years developing.
A mature process node requires thousands of experiments and tens of thousands of wafers to achieve the trial and error costs.
This isn't about burning money.
This is like swimming in a pile of money.
The most terrifying thing is that even if you swim to the other side, you may not win, because you may have developed in the wrong direction, and then all your previous investments will be wasted.
It took Intel ten years to transition from memory to CPU.
It took TSMC ten years to become number one in the industry.
It took ASML twenty years to beat Nikon and Canon.
There are no shortcuts in this industry.
All you need is time, money, talent, and most importantly, patience.
Lin Haoran has that patience.
He had already accumulated enough capital by the time he traveled to this era.
Moreover, his capital will continue to flow in in the future.
Putting aside other factors, during Japan's economic bubble period, he was able to amass enough capital to support this long expedition.
Even the Plaza Accord in Japan is still three years away from being signed, so he has plenty of time to make strategic plans in Japan.
After the Plaza Accord is signed, the yen will appreciate rapidly, and the Japanese stock and real estate markets will expand wildly like a behemoth injected with stimulants.
The land value in Tokyo could buy the entire United States.
The Nikkei index has a price-to-earnings ratio as high as 60.
Everyone will celebrate.
The assets that Lin Haoran has made large-scale investments in advance will appreciate at an astonishing rate.
The best time for him to reap the rewards was before the economic bubble burst. He planned to withdraw from the Japanese market on a large scale and return to Hong Kong with the substantial profits he had earned in Japan.
Therefore, Lin Haoran is not afraid of not having funds at all!
Moreover, in addition to his presence in Japan, he also has extensive investments in Europe, America, and Hong Kong.
Therefore, Lin Haoran, whether now or in the future, has no worries about lacking funds.
He knew that semiconductors were difficult to develop and that money alone could not guarantee their success.
But without money, you don't even have the right to develop.
In the previous world, China's semiconductor industry was held back, not because the Chinese people were not smart enough, not because there was a lack of technical talent, and not because there was a lack of strategic patience.
It's because we started too late, invested too little, and accumulated too little experience.
By the time you want to catch up, others have already been running away for twenty years.
Twenty years.
It's enough for Intel to make the x86 architecture an impenetrable fortress.
This is enough for TSMC to dig its moat in the wafer foundry business to a depth of thirty meters.
This is enough for ASML to make its lithography machine a world-class national treasure.
What he wants to do is to ensure that Oracle Semiconductor, and the entire industrial chain built around it, does not fall behind by twenty years in this world.
Instead, we aim to lead the world!
For Lin Haoran, money has gradually become just a monotonous number.
Given this, there must be other pursuits.
Being the world's richest man is not a big challenge for him at all.
The real challenge is to change the fate of an industry, to make the East no longer look up to the West on this track.
Of course, this is just one of Lin Haoran's pursuits.
He never puts all his eggs in one basket, nor does he stake the meaning of his life on a single goal.
He needs to expand his business empire, perfect his industrial landscape, and pass on his family wealth. These are all things he needs to do.
But there is another layer above that.
He wanted to prove that Chinese entrepreneurs can not only make money, hold weddings, and appear on the cover of three major financial magazines.
They can also carve out a path through technology and perseverance in the most hardcore, expensive, and Western-monopolized fields.
This is what truly makes him feel emotional when he's alone at night.
With great power comes great responsibility.
Lin Haoran has always agreed with this statement.
Since he now has the ability to change the future of China's semiconductor industry, why doesn't he do it?
This is not self-pity, not moral blackmail, not any lofty declaration that needs to be spoken.
This is just what he wants to do.
Just like 33 years ago, when 18-year-old Zhang Zhongmou stood at San Francisco Airport with two hundred dollars in his pocket, believing that he could conquer the whole world.
There is no reason.
I just want to do it.
At this moment, dusk is gradually falling outside the window.
Lin Haoran watched as Zhang Zhongmou carefully copied the twelfth invitation letter, neatly stacked the stack of letters on the table, and looked up to rub his slightly sore wrists.
Zhang Zhongmou breathed a sigh of relief and said, "These are the twelve companies that are most likely to establish cooperative relationships. I have some connections among these industry giants."
He paused, then continued, "Intel, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Toshiba, Hitachi, NEC, Philips, Siemens, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, National Semiconductor, AMD."
Lin Haoran looked at the stack of letters.
At the end of each letter, two names were signed side by side.
These 12 companies are all leaders in the semiconductor industry today.
Zhang Zhongmou has connections in all these giants.
It's easy to see how wise his decision was in inviting Zhang Zhongmou to join Oracle Semiconductor! (End of Chapter)