Chapter 897
What kind of chemical reaction will occur when these two are added together?
Zhang Zhongmou, Zhang Zhongmou, what do you really want?
At Texas Instruments, you are a vice president, an industry leader, and a spiritual leader followed by countless engineers.
Come to Intel, and I'm willing to step down as president for the next few years so you can stand at the pinnacle of the world's semiconductor industry.
But you refused. After refusing, you went to Hong Kong, a place where there was nothing.
I'm going to work with a young person who works in real estate, supermarkets, and finance.
Grove couldn't understand it; he really couldn't understand it.
Intel CEO Grove looked at the invitation on the table and at the two lines of signatures, and suddenly felt a pang of emotion.
What would the situation be like now if Zhang Zhongmou had agreed to join Intel?
He would sit in Intel's office, fighting alongside Grove against Motorola, against NEC, against all the semiconductor giants.
But now, that possibility is no longer possible.
“Zhang Zhongmou, I really hope you’re heading in the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) direction. I truly don’t want to be your enemy!” Grove sighed.
Since he couldn't be one of them, he didn't want Zhang Zhongmou to become his enemy either.
Zhang Zhongmou's influence in the industry is truly immense.
Grove never dared to underestimate Zhang Zhongmou, even now that the other party has moved to Hong Kong, a place considered the dead end for the semiconductor industry.
Intel has worked so hard to get to where it is today, and it absolutely cannot afford to make any strategic miscalculations that could lead to a wrong step.
As for Lin Haoran's holding of more than 7% of Intel's shares, since it had always been acquired secretly by Universal Investment Company through the secondary market, Grove and all of Intel's senior management were completely unaware that this young Chinese-American super-rich man and executive director of Citibank had become an important shareholder of Intel without anyone noticing.
If he knew, he would be even more worried.
Grove stood up and walked to the window.
Outside the window, night had completely fallen in Silicon Valley, and the distant lights outlined the silhouette of this technological mecca.
Intel's headquarters are located amidst these lights, witnessing the company's journey from its beginnings in memory to its dominance in microprocessors.
But every step was taken with extreme caution.
Ten years ago, when Japanese memory manufacturers entered the market, Intel almost went bankrupt.
Five years ago, he gritted his teeth and made a strategic transformation, cutting off the memory business that was the foundation of the company and going all in on microprocessors, betting the future of the entire company.
During that time, he couldn't sleep every night, repeatedly asking himself: What if I bet wrong?
Thankfully, the gamble paid off.
But Grove knew very well that there are no permanent winners in this industry.
Today you may be standing on the mountaintop, but tomorrow you could be kicked off.
Therefore, he never dared to underestimate anyone.
Not to mention Zhang Zhongmou.
The man who single-handedly supported the entire semiconductor business group at Texas Instruments for 23 years.
The person who, during the five years that Schaber drastically cut budgets, still managed to lead his team to create two industry standards.
The man who inspired all the engineers who worked with him to willingly follow him.
Such people, even if they go to Hong Kong and start from scratch, should never be underestimated.
Therefore, he had to go to Hong Kong to see for himself whether Oracle Semiconductor's future development direction was indeed contract manufacturing, and how big a game Zhang Zhongmou had planned.
"Reply to Hong Kong that Intel will send a representative to attend on March 21st," Grove told his assistant.
Who should we send?
Grove paused for a few seconds before replying, "I'll go myself."
The special assistant was taken aback.
Grove didn't turn around and continued, "I can't sleep if I don't see for myself what Zhang Zhongmou is up to at his press conference."
Similar scenes are playing out simultaneously in the offices of the heads of companies such as Motorola, Toshiba, Hitachi, NEC, Philips, Siemens, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, National Semiconductor, and AMD.
An invitation letter sent the entire semiconductor industry into an uproar.
Those bigwigs who are rarely seen on ordinary days have all made the same decision: to go to Hong Kong in person.
Go and see for yourself what Zhang Zhongmou, who was driven away by Xia Bai, is up to.
Go see for yourself just how much Lin Haoran, the man who had the Queen of England officiate his wedding, really is.
Go see for yourself what Oracle Semiconductor, starting from scratch, can actually accomplish.
……
Hong Kong, Kwun Tong, Oracle Building.
Lin Haoran has come to this industrial park again.
Today is March 10th.
"Haoran, I have some good news for you!" Zhang Zhongmou said to Lin Haoran with a hearty laugh.
"Oh? Good news as soon as you arrive? Tell me quickly." Lin Haoran casually pulled over a chair and sat down, asking curiously.
"We sent invitations to the heads of 12 semiconductor giants. Guess how many have already accepted?" He deliberately kept them in suspense.
Seeing the rare relaxed smile on his face, Lin Haoran already knew the answer, but still asked cooperatively, "How many?"
"All."
Zhang Zhongmou pushed the stack of replies on the table in front of Lin Haoran: "Twelve companies, all replied, and all of them attended in person."
Lin Haoran took the stack of replies and looked through them one by one.
Intel, with Andy Grove in attendance.
Motorola, Robert Galvin attended in person.
Koji Kobayashi personally attended NEC.
The president of Toshiba attended in person.
Hitachi's president personally attended the event.
The president of Fujitsu attended in person.
The president of Mitsubishi attended in person.
The president of Philips' semiconductor division personally attended the event.
Siemens, with members of its board of directors in attendance.
AMD's founder attended in person.
The CEO of National Semiconductor attended in person.
Also, Texas Instruments, represented by Schaper, was present in person.
When Lin Haoran saw the last name, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
Xia Bai, the one who ostracized Zhang Zhongmou for five years, the one who said semiconductors were a sunset industry, the one who thought Zhang Zhongmou had nowhere to go.
Now, he's coming to Hong Kong in person.
Come and see for yourself what kind of trouble the people he drove away can cause.
"Interesting." Lin Haoran put down the reply and looked up at Zhang Zhongmou. "Chairman Zhang, how do you feel right now?"
Zhang Zhongmou walked to the window and looked out at the view of Waitang Industrial Park.
There is no hustle and bustle of Dallas here, no lights of Silicon Valley, only rows of industrial buildings and busy docks.
But his back was more upright than Lin Haoran had ever seen.
"What do you feel?" Zhang Zhongmou said softly. "Twenty-three years. I've been with Texas Instruments for twenty-three years, and I've never received a reply like this before."
He turned around and looked at Lin Haoran.
“It’s not because I’m not worthy, but because at Texas Instruments, I represented Texas Instruments, and now I represent myself, Oracle Semiconductor, and a neutral, professional, and reliable option.”
Lin Haoran nodded.
He understood that feeling—the feeling of being seen, the feeling of being valued, and the feeling of being treated as oneself rather than as a representative of a company.
He replied with a smile, "With the heads of twelve major companies personally attending, the press conference on March 21st looks set to become the most important day in the history of the semiconductor industry."
Zhang Zhongmou took a deep breath and said, "This will be the most important day in the history of the global technology industry, not just in the semiconductor industry."
Both of them were looking forward to March 21st.
Since they initially focused on OEM manufacturing, they naturally weren't worried about these giants seeing them as competitors.
Zhang Zhongmou had previously predicted that many people would not come.
To everyone's surprise, all of those who were invited actually came.
"Chairman Zhang, this shows just how influential you are in the semiconductor industry!" Lin Haoran exclaimed sincerely.
Zhang Zhongmou waved his hand, but there was no hint of smugness on his face.
He crossed his arms and looked out the window, saying, "Haoran, you're wrong. They came not because of my intimidation, but because they're afraid."
"afraid?"
“What are you afraid of? Afraid of missing out.” Zhang Zhongmou walked back to his desk, his finger lightly tapping the stack of reply letters. “Think about it, if I, Zhang Zhongmou, were to open a semiconductor company in Hong Kong today, would they come?”
Lin Haoran thought for a moment and then shook his head.
"No, they'll just laugh it off and then go about their business."
Hong Kong is a technological wasteland. Although it was the world's first city to commercialize mobile communications, that technology was from Motorola and the United States. So this does not change the fact that Hong Kong is still a technological wasteland.
If it were just Zhang Zhongmou with his team, they wouldn't pose any threat at all.
“Yes,” Zhang Zhongmou said, “but if it were me, Zhang Zhongmou, plus you, Lin Haoran, the situation would be different.”
He paused. "What they're afraid of isn't me, what they're afraid of is you and me combined."
Lin Haoran remained silent for a few seconds.
He understood what Zhang Zhongmou meant.
Zhang Zhongmou's technology, combined with Lin Haoran's capital.
Zhang Zhongmou's industry prestige, combined with Lin Haoran's global resources.
Zhang Zhongmou's decades of accumulation, coupled with Lin Haoran, a super-rich man.
What kind of chemical reaction will occur when these two are combined?
no one knows.
They are afraid precisely because no one knows.
Now, everyone in the world knows that Lin Haoran is very rich!
Putting aside everything else, the wealth shown on that Hong Kong rich list alone is as high as HK$678 billion, which is more than US$10 billion!
This is only the wealth that is on the surface!
Nobody knows how much more is involved in the secret world.
More importantly, Lin Haoran is not just rich.
He is an executive director of Citibank, the owner of Hongkong Land Group, the owner of Hang Seng Group, the owner of Hutchison Whampoa, and the controller of Hong Kong Electric.
Even the Queen of England personally officiated at their wedding.
He has businesses in Hong Kong, connections in the UK, relationships in the US, and a presence in Japan.
He can invest money wherever he wants and mobilize any resources he desires.
What kind of chemical reaction will occur when someone like this is combined with someone like Zhang Zhongmou?
no one knows.
They are afraid precisely because no one knows.
"So they all came to see what we're up to," Lin Haoran said thoughtfully.
Zhang Zhongmou nodded: "Yes, let's see if we're really just doing OEM, let's see if we have any other ambitions, and let's see if we're worth cooperating with."
He looked at Lin Haoran and continued, "Haoran, on March 21st, we only have one chance, one chance to make everyone believe us, one chance to make everyone willing to cooperate with us."
One opportunity transformed Oracle Semiconductor into the most trusted name in the industry.
For now, we'll focus on small-scale development of our chips and lithography machines to meet our own needs. We'll work on these areas as long as our technology accumulates to a certain level, our production capacity becomes large enough, and our customers become more reliant on us!
By then, we'll reveal our second card; by then, they'll be inseparable from us; by then, even if they know we're also doing research and development, they'll have no choice but to accept it!
Switching to a different manufacturer would be too costly; recertifying a production line would take too long.
Most importantly, by then we had become an indispensable part of their supply chain.
Hearing these words, Lin Haoran's admiration for Zhang Zhongmou deepened even further.
This person is not just good at technology.
He understands human nature better, business better, and the rules of the game in this industry better.
His five years of patience at Texas Instruments were not out of cowardice, but rather a wait for the perfect opportunity.
Twenty-three years of experience were not for becoming a vice president at Texas Instruments.
It's so that one day, I can truly build a completely new system according to my own ideas.
No wonder they were able to create a global semiconductor foundry giant like TSMC later on.
Lin Haoran looked at the fifty-one-year-old man in front of him and a strange feeling welled up in his heart.
In his previous life, Zhang Zhongmou founded TSMC at the age of 56, eventually turning it into an indispensable cornerstone of the global semiconductor industry.
In this life, he was fifty-one years old, five years earlier than expected.
In this life, he has Lin Haoran's support, ample funds, a complete team, pre-established production lines, and the collective attention of global giants.
More importantly, there is Lin Haoran's promise that "there will be no upper limit on funding over the next ten years".
This path will be traversed faster than in my previous life.
Will.
“Haoran, I am grateful for your trust. Just wait, at least five years, at most ten years, I will make Oracle Semiconductor an indispensable part of the global semiconductor industry,” Zhang Zhongmou said solemnly.
He didn't even accept the position of president of a giant like Intel, not because he was arrogant, nor because he didn't know the significance of that position.
It's because he knows that no matter how high the position, he's still just a pawn on someone else's chessboard.
He'd had enough of that life at Texas Instruments.
Zhang Zhongmou knew that even if he went to Intel, he would still be subject to the control of the board of directors.
What he wanted was to be the player, draw the chessboard, and set the rules himself.
Lin Haoran gave him this opportunity, and he also had ample resources.
This is one of the biggest reasons why he was willing to accept Lin Haoran's invitation!
Led by Zhang Zhongmou, the two visited the semiconductor R&D laboratory, which was beginning to show results.
The laboratory occupies five floors of the Oracle Building, each with strict access control and confidentiality levels.
This place will house the world's top R&D engineers in the future.
Each instrument is a state-of-the-art piece of equipment imported from the United States, Japan, and Europe.
From the most basic material analysis to the top-level design verification, a complete R&D chain is gradually taking shape.
Zhang Zhongmou walked ahead, introducing the functional layout, equipment configuration, and personnel arrangements of each floor to Lin Haoran as if reciting a familiar story.
"This floor is the materials analysis laboratory, which mainly conducts component testing and impurity analysis of silicon wafers, photoresists, and special gases. 80% of the equipment is in place, and commissioning will begin next week."
"This floor is the process R&D center, where six project teams are currently working in parallel: lithography, etching, deposition, ion implantation, CMP, and cleaning. Each project team is led by a senior engineer from Texas Instruments."
"This floor is the device physics laboratory, which mainly studies the device characteristics and model parameters under different process conditions. This is the core of our future technology iteration."
"The top two floors are the design verification center. We must be able to verify customers' design schemes and help them optimize manufacturability. This is a must for foundries and also lays a solid foundation for our future self-developed chip design."
Lin Haoran smiled upon hearing the last sentence.
"It laid a solid foundation," the words were phrased subtly, but he understood them.
Zhang Zhongmou was talking about a required course for foundries, but what he really wanted to say was that future self-developed chips will also require this capability.
Without design verification, there is no chip design.
Without manufacturability optimization, even the best design is just empty talk.
What we are doing now, on the surface, is serving customers, but in reality, it is paving the way for our future selves.
The two then took a stroll around the nearby industrial buildings.
Some of the production equipment inside is also being installed.
Of all the equipment here, production equipment is actually the easiest to obtain.
The most difficult thing to obtain is the most advanced research and development equipment in the world currently available in the laboratory.
Those things, even if you have money, you can't necessarily buy them.
Photolithography machines, testing equipment, applied materials deposition equipment, etching machines, and so on—these are not things you can just buy whenever you want. In the United States, for example, there are strict export controls on the export of these devices.
Especially for places like Hong Kong.
Although Hong Kong was a British colony, Americans felt it was too close to the mainland.
Therefore, in order to obtain these state-of-the-art R&D equipment, Zhang Zhongmou and Lin Haoran used all their connections and methods to overcome the obstacles in purchasing these equipment.
Therefore, it can truly be said that it was hard-won.
However, everything is difficult at the beginning, and the hardest step has already been taken.
Lin Haoran stood by the window, gazing at the factory under construction outside, a strange feeling welling up inside him.
In his past life, he had heard too many stories about being "strangled" by chip shortages.
In those stories, Chinese companies had to wait three, five, or even ten years to buy an advanced lithography machine.
We finally got it, but now we still have to depend on the whims of the US government.
Exports may be approved today, but licenses could be revoked tomorrow.
In those stories, it took Chinese companies ten years to train a qualified semiconductor engineer.
You finally manage to train them, only to have them poached by competitors with two or three times the salary.
In those stories, Chinese companies invested astronomical sums of money in order to catch up with advanced technologies.
When they finally caught up to the leader and were still three to five years behind, the leader pulled ahead again.
It feels like I can never catch up, I'm always stuck, and I can only ever follow behind others and eat their leftovers.
But now, things are different.
In this life, he has Zhang Zhongmou.
This person has been in the semiconductor industry for 23 years, knows all the key figures, is familiar with all the rules of the game, and knows how to bypass those overt and covert barriers.
In this life, he is an executive director of Citibank.
This status makes the U.S. Department of Commerce take a closer look when approving export licenses.
He would make CEOs of American companies willing to answer his calls.
It will make those purchases that were originally impossible possible.
In this life, he has plenty of money.
They have so much that they can buy the best equipment regardless of cost, poach the top talents regardless of cost, and invest in cutting-edge research and development regardless of time.
In this life, the development of semiconductors is still in its early stages, so it's not too late for him to enter the field.
If all these conditions combined still can't change anything, then there would truly be no justice. (End of Chapter)