Chapter 476
Tell me, will you eat this bait or not?
"Were we being targeted?" A hint of doubt flashed in Su Chen's eyes.
Logically speaking, the electronics industry cluster in Shenzhen should be welcoming a rising semiconductor giant like Xiamen Chip International, so why would it deliberately target it? Wouldn't that be turning its political achievements away?
Unless the park's management is completely brainless, or there's some shady business going on, the park wouldn't do something so foolish.
Seeing this, Ji Wenbo quickly recounted the whole story of what had happened after they arrived in Pengcheng.
It turns out that after arriving in Shenzhen, they immediately met with the leaders of the electronics industry cluster. When the leaders heard that Xiaxin International wanted to move into the park, they gave them a very warm welcome.
Without discussing any preferential treatment with Ji Wenbo and his group, they first took them on a tour of the entire park, discussing its future plans and layout. This gave Ji Wenbo a preliminary understanding of the electronics industry cluster and increased his anticipation for moving into the park.
After understanding the park's plan, Ji Wenbo became increasingly satisfied with this electronics industry cluster and planned to have a good talk with the park management the next day to try to maximize the benefits and incentives.
But to everyone's surprise, the park leaders' attitude completely reversed the next day.
The leader, who had been exceptionally enthusiastic before, suddenly became extremely cold, ignoring them and even refusing to talk to them on the phone. He would simply give a few perfunctory words and hang up, leaving Ji Wenbo and the team members completely bewildered.
To this end, Ji Wenbo put in a lot of effort, using his previous connections to contact a high-level executive within the park, and only then did he learn the whole story.
It turns out that on the evening they met with the park's senior management, the senior leaders were invited by senior executives of other semiconductor companies. During the meeting, the park leaders happened to talk about meeting with Xiaxin International and also revealed that Xiaxin International intended to move into the park.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this news, the semiconductor company's executives immediately relayed the information to their superiors. The company's executives even personally called the park's leaders, expressing their willingness to expand their investment in the park, with the condition that Xiaxin International would not be allowed to set up shop in the park.
This is why the park's attitude changed so drastically. After all, compared to a world-renowned semiconductor conglomerate, the park can still distinguish which is more important.
Of course... this is just what the leaders of the park think!
"It should be a foreign-invested enterprise, right? Which company is it?" Su Chen frowned slightly, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
As for why Su Chen said it was foreign capital, it's because domestic semiconductor companies don't have the strength or courage to do such a thing. Only those arrogant foreign companies would do something like that.
Ji Wenbo took a deep breath and whispered, "Sanxing Electronics, a subsidiary of the Li Group!"
Upon hearing the familiar name of the Li Group, Su Chen instantly understood what was going on. The reason they didn't want Xiaxin International to set up shop in Pengcheng's electronics industry cluster was to restrict Xiaxin International's development.
It's worth noting that the electronics industry cluster has attracted many well-known domestic technology companies. If Xiaxin International could set up shop there, it would make expanding into the semiconductor market in the future a breeze.
By cooperating with these well-known domestic and international companies, Xiaxin International's reputation will naturally improve quickly, and its market share in the semiconductor industry will expand rapidly!
The Li Group will certainly not miss this good opportunity to curb the development of Xiaxin International. If they wait until they successfully develop the crippled version of the 10nm chip, they can rely on this electronics industry cluster and the channels they have accumulated over the years to quickly occupy the domestic semiconductor market.
To be honest, the Li Group's move was quite insidious. By preventing them from having access to more potential customers and partners, they clearly wanted to nip Xiaxin International in the bud!
However… doesn’t the Li Group look down on Xiaxin International, or even on Su Chen himself? By restricting Su Chen from joining the electronics industry cluster in his home turf, doesn’t this sound a bit like going against the natural order?
"Heh~ The Li Group! I haven't even gone looking for trouble with them yet, and they've already provoked me. It seems their crippled version of the chip is almost finished!" Su Chen sneered, a cold glint flashing in his narrowed eyes!
After a moment of contemplation, Su Chen suddenly asked, "Besides Sanxing Electronics, which is under the Li Group, are there any other semiconductor companies in the park?"
Ji Wenbo was slightly taken aback. He didn't quite understand what Su Chen meant by asking this. After regaining his senses, he quickly replied, "Yes, but it's not a large-scale company. It mainly does packaging and testing and chip testing. It's considered an upstream and downstream enterprise in the chip industry. As for truly competitive chip manufacturing companies, Sanxing Electronics should be the only one!"
Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Su Chen's eyes. "I knew it! Why would the Li Group provoke me? They're just trying to dominate the industrial park!"
Ji Wenbo on the other end of the phone was taken aback, and instantly understood why Su Chen had asked him that question earlier!
It seems that Sanxing Electronics wants to monopolize the high-end semiconductor business in the industrial park, making other semiconductor companies their suppliers, stepping on those smaller companies to grow itself, and turning all chip-demanding companies into its partners. At that time, the entire industrial park may have to be mindful of the Li Group's attitude!
Su Chen stopped tapping, stood up from the recliner, walked to the edge of the pavilion, and looked at the continuous rain curtain. His gaze seemed to pierce through the rain curtain, pointing directly to Pengcheng, thousands of miles away!
"Wenbo, you should stay in Pengcheng. You can first build relationships with the upstream and downstream semiconductor companies in the park and see if there are any possibilities for investment or acquisition, so as to lay the foundation for our future expansion!"
"As for moving into the park..." Su Chen hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Don't worry about it for now. Someone will contact you later!"
"Understood, boss!" Ji Wenbo knew that his boss was about to make a big move, and his words were tinged with excitement.
After hanging up the phone, Su Chen stood by the pavilion, gazing at the rain. A cold smile suddenly appeared on his lips. He picked up his phone, found a familiar number, thought for a moment, and then dialed it.
The phone rang for about seven or eight seconds before the other party answered. Before Su Chen could even speak, a teasing voice came from the other end: "Old Su, you're such a busy man, yet you still think of calling me. I was in a meeting just now, and I'm back in my office now. So, what important instructions do you have?"
Upon hearing that familiar voice, Su Chen couldn't help but smile. The person on the other end of the phone was none other than his good friend Ye Feng.
"What instructions? I've run into a bit of trouble this time, so... I called you hoping you could help me out!"
"Hmm?" Ye Feng on the other end of the phone let out a long, questioning sound. "There's something that even you, Young Master Su, can't handle? Tell me, what is it that made you call me?"
"There's nothing I can do, it's your home turf after all!" Su Chen chuckled, then briefly explained the situation to Ye Feng.
After Su Chen finished speaking, Ye Feng on the other end of the phone fell silent. All he could think about now was Xia Xin International.
He had previously heard that a domestic company had independently developed a 10nm chip, but he just smiled and didn't take it too seriously. After all, China's semiconductor strength is undeniable. Let alone a 10nm chip, even a 12nm or 14nm chip being mass-produced is like a miracle.
Furthermore, given that Xiamen Chip International had limited production capacity at the time and was busy building the group's framework, it didn't engage in much publicity. This led many to believe it was another chip scam, a common occurrence in China. Every now and then, a company would step forward claiming to have independently developed some type of chip, causing many to become desensitized to such claims.
But since these words came from Su Chen's mouth, Ye Feng definitely believed them without a doubt!
"Did your company really independently develop a 10nm chip and achieve mass production?" Ye Feng asked again, still puzzled.
"Uh..." Su Chen was stunned upon hearing this, and immediately felt awkward. "No, didn't you know that one of my companies held a press conference before?"
"Ahem~" Ye Feng coughed awkwardly twice, muttering under his breath, "Who knew this company was yours? Besides... I've seen this kind of scam several times before, who knows if it's true or not!"
Su Chen listened to the voice coming from the phone. Although it was very soft, he could still hear it clearly. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. He still believed Ye Feng's words to some extent, since most of the chip scams in the past had happened in their area.
Su Chen understood the story of the boy who cried wolf.
"Alright, let's get down to business!" Su Chen didn't want to delve any further into this matter, so he immediately changed the subject, saying, "Can you handle things in Pengcheng? If you can, then I'll have to trouble you this time!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng became somewhat displeased. "What do you mean by 'can' or 'can'? It's just a matter of a word. Leave it to me. I'll call Pengcheng right away!"
"Don't just make phone calls, you're doing this..." Su Chen quickly explained his plan to Ye Feng. This time, he planned to make an example of someone to warn others and also put some pressure on the park's higher-ups to prevent them from using any underhanded tactics after Xiaxin International moved in.
Ye Feng clicked his tongue upon hearing this. He knew Su Chen was planning to leverage the power of their Ye Group. "Alright~ We'll do it your way! But..."
"Old Su, do you think we could collaborate on semiconductors?" Ye Feng's voice carried a hint of anticipation.
Hearing this, Su Chen's lips curled up slightly. See, the fish has taken the bait!
"Hmm..." Su Chen pretended to think for a moment before saying, "Cooperation is not out of the question. You don't need to worry about things in China. They're all in my pot. You wouldn't reach for them with your chopsticks, would you?"
"How about this... I'll hand over the entire agency rights for the European region to your Ye Group. What do you think?"
Ye Feng on the other end of the phone was visibly taken aback for a moment, then burst into a hearty laugh, "Old Su, you son of a bitch, you've got a real scheme up your sleeve! Everyone knows the European market is completely monopolized by semiconductor giants like Intel and TSMC. Are you trying to get our Ye Group to pave the way for you?"
Su Chen smiled knowingly, but his tone was serious: "What, the young master of the Ye family doesn't even have this much courage? I'm not bragging, but the performance of our 10nm chips is unparalleled. Even Intel and TSMC at the same level are slightly inferior to us!"
This isn't just Su Chen boasting; anything produced by the system is guaranteed to be top-notch. Coupled with a lithography machine that far surpasses ASML's, how could the chips manufactured not be the most advanced in the world? This is also why they didn't notice anything unusual when trading the downgraded 10nm chips with the Li Group before.
"Moreover, our costs are only 70% or 80% of theirs. With the Ye Group's years of experience in developing the European market, shouldn't we have a place for you? Besides... shouldn't we have even more advanced, iterative chips?"
Finally, Su Chen skillfully threw out another bait!
"Gulp!" Ye Feng's hand holding the phone trembled slightly. He even wondered if he was hallucinating. "Old Su, what did you mean by that last sentence? Could it be... could it be that you've developed the 7..."
Ye Feng stopped abruptly. Realizing he had lost his composure, he calmed himself down and asked slowly in a low voice, "Old Su, you're not joking, are you? 7nm? You guys really achieved a breakthrough?"
He was still processing the bait of the 10nm chip when Su Chen threw out another huge bait, leaving him no time to process it.
Having 10nm chips is enough to create a giant company like TSMC with hundreds of billions of dollars. If you master the world's only 7nm chip technology, wouldn't it be possible to become the biggest giant in the world's semiconductor industry in the future?
"Hehe~" Su Chen chuckled, not answering directly, but instead pretending to talk to himself, saying, "I remember the World Semiconductor Expo is next month, which will be held in the capital. Semiconductor companies from all over the world will participate. Don't you think such a huge event should have something exciting to show everyone!"
Ye Feng's rapid breathing came from the other end of the phone. If he couldn't even understand the meaning behind those words, then he wouldn't deserve to be called a young master!
After a moment, Ye Feng's voice became unusually firm: "Alright! Our Ye Group will take the European market! I'll handle things in Pengcheng myself! As for the Li Group... what are you planning to do? Should I..."
"No need! Just proceed according to plan!" A cold glint flashed in Su Chen's eyes. "Give them some hope for now, and when the Expo arrives, at their happiest moment, let them experience what despair truly means!"
Having said all that, Ye Feng knew he didn't need to worry about the Li Group's affairs. "Alright, since you've said that, I won't get involved. Send me the phone number of the person in charge of Xiaxin International later, so I can contact them when I get to Pengcheng!"
Upon hearing this, Su Chen nodded in response, "Okay~ I'll send it to you on Green Bubble later! By the way, are you coming to the capital in a couple of days?"
"Coming to the capital?" Ye Feng was taken aback for a moment before reacting. "You mean Old Master Xiao's birthday? Sigh~ I wanted to come too, but Old Master Xiao wouldn't allow it. We can't just come uninvited, what would others think!"
Su Chen naturally understood the implication, so he didn't continue the conversation on the matter. "Alright~ I'll leave the Pengcheng matter to you!"
After exchanging a few more pleasantries and discussing the industry in Miandian, Su Chen hung up the phone.
After thinking for a moment, I sent Ji Wenbo a message, telling him that someone would contact him later and that he should treat him with respect.
"The Li Group really doesn't learn their lesson easily. Looks like we'll have to teach them a real lesson this time!" Su Chen put his phone on the table and lay back down in his recliner. (End of Chapter)