Chapter 539 Supply Disruption Crisis, Unsolvable Problem

After dinner, Hu Yang was walking in the courtyard of the old bungalow when he suddenly received a call from Jiang Lixing.

"Mr. Hu, you have invisibly helped us a lot. ”

As soon as the phone was connected, Jiang Lixing's hearty laughter came from the receiver.

Next, he told Hu Yang that due to the change in the country's policy orientation, just as Ark Computer has become the biggest winner in this round of ZF procurement, Huaxin's general-purpose chips, which have been uncared for, have become fragrant overnight.

If you want to improve the localization rate of products, you can't bypass the general-purpose CPU in the computer.

At present, the general-purpose CPU that can be used in China, that is, Huaxin's Huaxin No. 1 series chip, although there is still a big gap between the performance and international giants such as Intel, it is enough to be applied to office computers.

The ideal computer that was robbed of a large piece of cake was painfully learned, and also found Huaxin to seek cooperation. No way, with the transformation of domestic ideas in some aspects, the localization rate of ZF procurement in the future is definitely a crucial indicator.

"Mr. Jiang, in fact, with or without the promotion of a few of us, this guidance will be issued, at most a few months to half a year late. So, you shouldn't thank me, but you should thank yourself, and thank Huaxin for your persistence and patience for so long. ”

Hu Yang is really emotional, Huaxin's obscure cultivation over the years, it is not easy to resist the restrictions of others externally, and to resist the slander of various rumors internally.

Patience until now, Huaxin finally ushered in a ray of light, and became the biggest winner in ZF procurement.

However, in order for enterprises to develop, it is not enough to rely on ZF procurement, or to open a larger commercial market as soon as possible.

"Hahaha, I can't talk to you, so I won't argue with you. Mr. Hu, in view of the large increase in the shipment of Huaxin chips, I think the cooperation between Huaxin and Xintong International should be on a higher level. I don't know if it's convenient for you to continue to expand the OEM scale for Huaxin?"

Huaxin's foundry has always been a problem, even if STMicroelectronics withstood the pressure of the United States and agreed to Huaxin foundry, the number and price of foundry were not satisfactory.

Now, Huaxin has a foundation for cooperation with Xintong International, so Jiang Lixing wants to increase the number of orders.

However, he is also very clear that some people in Europe and the United States have been obstructing the cooperation between Xintong International and Huaxin. For example, the international lithography equipment giant has set restrictive clauses for Xintong International in this regard.

The terms and conditions clearly state that AS& L's equipment, to Huaxin to do OEM.

"Foundry should not be a big problem, and the current production capacity of Xintong International is also sufficient. However, Mr. Jiang, what kind of process technology do you plan to use for your CPU? If it is an advanced process, you need to use AS& L's lithography equipment, things will be a little more troublesome. ”

Before Huaxin was not commercialized on a large scale, even if Xintong International quietly OEM some of the advanced process CPUs to the other party, it was not a big problem.

However, with the results of ZF procurement this time, coupled with the implementation of the "Guiding Opinions", Huaxin and Xintong International have been pushed into the spotlight.

At present, Modu Microelectronics Co., Ltd. has only recently delivered a 90nm lithography machine to Xintong International. If this kind of equipment is used to produce Huaxin's chips, of course, there is no problem.

But the problem is that the CPU that was previously used for Huaxin foundry has applied the 65nm process technology, and the next 40\45nm process may be used.

Blatant Violations and AS& The agreement signed by L still has very serious consequences, even if the restriction clause is an unfair clause.

"Mr. Hu, we are about to launch Huaxin No. 1 C chip in the coming year. I hope that the new product can apply 45nm process technology, which plays a very important role in improving the overall performance of the CPU and reducing energy consumption.

Of course, if it is inconvenient for Xintong International, we can also postpone the launch of this CPU. ”

Jiang Lixing also knew the difficulties of Xintong International, he did not force it, but still hoped to find a compromise solution.

"Mr. Jiang, I can't give you a positive answer now, I can only say that I will do my best. In this way, I am now in the magic capital, and I will discuss it with Mr. Meng and them when I go back, and give you an explanation as soon as possible. ”

Hu Yang didn't want to shirk, he wanted to take this opportunity to find a good way to solve it once and for all.

After hanging up, Hu Yang made a phone call to Meng Rusong and asked him to inform the company's senior management to hold a meeting at Xintong International tomorrow.

Following.

Hu Yang came to the administrative building of Xintong International on time in the morning, and when he walked into the conference room, everyone had already arrived.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you, but I didn't expect you to come to the meeting today. ”

Zhang Rulin's appearance in the conference room was indeed a bit unexpected by Hu Yang.

"I happened to be in the magic capital during this time, and I heard that Mr. Hu was going to hold a meeting, of course I wanted to come and listen. You sit here, you don't have to push around. ”

Zhang Rulin smiled, he didn't sit in the main seat originally.

When Hu Yang saw him say this, he was not hypocritical, so he sat down on the main seat.

"Dong Zhang, Mr. Meng, and everyone...... There are a number of things that need to be discussed at this meeting today. Before that, let's talk about the company's recent operations. ”

Populus euphratica didn't talk nonsense and went straight to the agenda of the meeting.

Meng Rusong glanced at Zhang Rulin, Zhang Rulin smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he had nothing to say.

Meng Rusong then opened his mouth and said:

"Dong Zhang, Mr. Hu, everyone. At present, the company's production and operation are normal. Since last year, the company's order book has risen steadily, mainly thanks to the development of 3G and the rise of smartphones.

The company's transformation of existing equipment and the research and development of new processes have been preliminarily completed so far, and the next step is to carry out risk mass production.

Of course, in the case of a good form, we have also ushered in unprecedented challenges.

We just received AS& Company L's notice that the local authorities have not continued to issue the sales license for the next year, and we are likely to face the risk of cutting off the supply of high-end lithography equipment. ”

The use of advanced technology and equipment modification to promote the development of the process can only be said to be a stopgap measure. Because after the 10nm node, high-end lithography equipment will have a fundamental change.

For example, the current high-end lithography equipment uses a deep violet light source.

After the 10nm node, high-end lithography equipment will use extreme violet (EUV) light sources.

Therefore, after the 10nm process, it is impossible to continue production only by renovating the existing equipment and improving the process.

This is equivalent to saying that Xintong International was actually stuck in the neck.

If domestic high-end lithography equipment cannot form an effective replacement, then the development of Xintong International will stop at the node of 10nm process, and enterprises will gradually be eliminated by the market.

This is a major event, which is related to the life and death of Xintong International.

The problem is that the conundrum seems unsolvable.

After Meng Rusong finished speaking, there was silence in the conference room, and the atmosphere of the scene made everyone feel very depressed.

"Ahem, then I'll just say a few words. ”

At this time, Hu Yang cleared his voice and said:

"I convened everyone to a meeting today to discuss with you about Huaxin, which plans to significantly increase CPU orders. Mr. Meng, unlike before, due to the fact that in this round of ZF procurement, Ark Computer stood out, and the number of CPU orders for Huaxin surged.

Therefore, we can't quietly produce as before, and such a large number of Huaxin CPUs are on sale, and we can't hide it from others. So. Here comes the problem, the company and AS& What about the restrictive clauses in the agreement signed by ML?"

When Meng Rusong heard this question, he smiled instead:

"Mr. Hu, we have just completed a technological breakthrough, and we haven't had time to report to you yet. We have successfully achieved the verification and production of the 45nm process by using the modified domestic 90nm lithography machine, coupled with advanced technology and secondary exposure technology. ”

"Oh, that's big news. Mr. Meng, so with this new technology and new process, can you use the transformed domestic equipment to help Huaxin foundry?"

This was the best news Hu Yang had heard today, and he couldn't help but sit up straight and look at Meng Rusong with anticipation.

"It's not impossible, it's just that we haven't found a way to reduce costs yet. The chips produced by using new technologies and new processes have increased by 3% to 5% compared with the past, and the market competitiveness of the chips produced is not strong. ”

Actually, direct application from AS & The imported 45nm lithography machine is the most economical and cost-effective for Huaxin foundry. However, due to the existence of restrictive clauses, this is a clear violation of the agreement and will bring many troubles.

With the use of secondary exposure technology, after all, an additional process is added, and it is understandable that the cost has risen before the production process is greatly optimized.

At this time, Zhang Rulin, who had been sitting there and kept his mouth shut, suddenly said:

"Mr. Meng, is there a way to control the increase in production costs within 3 percent? If it can be controlled within 3 percent, with the expansion of the scale of mass production, especially the improvement of the yield rate, there is still hope that the production cost will be reduced to within the normal range. ”

Hu Yang thought about it and felt that Zhang Rulin's statement was very reasonable.

Meng Rusong nodded and said, "That's it, try to reduce costs in production." Mr. Hu, let's reply to Huaxin like this, if the other party has no opinion, sign the contract. ”

After several discussions, it was finally decided to continue to manufacture CPU chips for Huaxin. After the contract is signed, it can enter the stage of risk mass production.

"Okay, that's it for the time being. Now let's discuss the previous question of Mr. Meng, if AS& If we don't supply it, what will we do after the 10nm process?"

The problem is back to square one, and it seems to be an unsolvable problem.