For Lam, the biggest benefit of acquiring GCA is that it can finally start working with Dongfang Semiconductor. The technical level of the lithography machine directly determines the process level of the entire wafer factory.

However, the role of lithography machines is not infinite, for example, even if Deep-sea Microelectronics has the opportunity to import a state-of-the-art lithography machine, it may not be able to achieve a 1-micron process. In addition to the supporting upgrades of other equipment in the fab, this requires the continuous exploration and improvement of the production process of the semiconductor company itself.

In the previous life, the reason why Intel was able to beat TSMC, Samsung and other competitors forever in the process was that it was willing to spend money to update equipment, and the more important reason was its own strong technical background.

Of course, for Lam, the acquisition of GCA is a big step forward, greatly increasing its voice in the global semiconductor equipment field. In fact, the biggest obstacle to Lam's acquisition of GCA was not from GCA itself, but from the Sematech Industry Alliance.

This is a technology strategic alliance established last year by the U.S. government to encourage the research and development of its own semiconductor manufacturing technology, and specially allocated a financial budget subsidy of 1 billion US dollars to invite 14 local companies that are in the leading position in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

When the Sematech Alliance was established, the question of whether the two companies under the Oriental Group, Oriental Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor, could become core members of the alliance caused huge controversy. According to the articles of association, the U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies are not entitled to join the alliance. Therefore, after Hitachi's U.S. branch made an application, it was rejected at the first time.

But these two companies under the Oriental Group are very special, and Oriental Semiconductor has jumped to become the largest semiconductor company in the United States. Its monopoly in general-purpose microprocessors has yet to be unchallenged. Although the overall scale of Fairchild Semiconductor is slightly weaker now, it is the totem of the American semiconductor industry.

Without Fairchild, there would be no global semiconductor industry today. Without Dongfang Semiconductor, the entire North American semiconductor industry would have lost half of its country. But both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of foreign companies, which is a headache for the top management of the Sematech Alliance.

After repeated discussions, the Sematech Alliance finally decided to make an exception for Dongfang Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor, allowing them to become core members of the alliance.

As the most important lithography machine manufacturer in the United States, GCA is naturally a core member of the Sematech Alliance. But after it was annexed by Lam. This means that Lam Research can inherit the status of HCA and become the third company under the Eastern Group to join the industrial alliance.

You must know that the Sematech alliance only has a total of 14 core members, and the Eastern Bloc alone has three votes. Although the Sematech Alliance was formed for the purpose of technology sharing. Voting rights don't mean much. But it is also an indisputable fact that the Eastern Bloc has a growing voice in the Sematech Alliance.

As a result, there is a mediocre voice that worries about whether the Sematech alliance will eventually be reduced to the US government's contribution to the Eastern Bloc's research and development of technology. However, no matter how much some people advocate the "Eastern Bloc threat theory", it will not help, because the US semiconductor industry has gradually begun to be somewhat inseparable from the Eastern Bloc setting. So Lam Research eventually succeeded in replacing GCA. Become a core member of the Sematech Alliance.

According to the original historical trajectory, the ematech alliance has contributed an indelible and important role to the development of the semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry in the United States. Li Xuan remembers that in another time and space, three of the world's top five semiconductor equipment suppliers came from the United States, namely Applied Materials, Lam, and Kelei.

But none of these companies produce the most critical kind of semiconductor equipment, the lithography machine. After entering the 21st century, the two major lithography machine manufacturers in the United States, GCA and SVGL, have disappeared. The latter was acquired by ASML.

Naturally, there is a deep-seated internal reason for the complete collapse of US semiconductor equipment manufacturers in the field of lithography machines -- there is no specialized optical manufacturer in the United States. Optical technology is the most critical part of the lithography machine. Nikon and Canon were originally one of the world's leading optical manufacturers, while ASML used optical components from Carl Zeiss of Germany.

The world's well-known optical manufacturers are almost all concentrated in Japan and Germany, the former has Zeiss, Leica, Schneider, and the latter has Nikon, Canon, Olympus. Compared with Japan's developed semiconductor industry, Germany is more famous for its machinery manufacturing industry, and its voice in the global semiconductor industry is not high.

"As semiconductor manufacturing processes continue to shrink, the requirements for the optical performance of lithography machines are getting higher and higher! So the best way for Lam Research to remain competitive in lithography is to enlist the support of a German optical company.

Schneider has always lived in the shadow of Carl Zeiss and Leica, so it can be ruled out first. For the remaining two companies, ZEISS has already cooperated with ASML in the Netherlands, so our best bet is to cooperate with Leica!

Due to the impact of digital cameras, Leica has begun to have a hard time in recent years! If it is still barely able to compete with Japanese companies in optical lenses, then it is not known how many streets it has been thrown out of the field of digital technology by its Japanese counterparts!

And we at the Oriental Group can complement Carlisle in the digital field, so if we can acquire this German company, we can not only make up for our shortcomings in the field of lithography machines, but also enter the field of digital cameras!" Li Xuan put forward his own suggestions for the next development of Lam.

The only impression that the Leica camera gave Li Xuan was that it was expensive. In his opinion. Those who choose to buy a Leica camera are nothing more than two cases. The perpetrators are either burners with a lot of money, or suffer from a serious "literary and youth disease".

Lin Jieping nodded: "The camera has become a fast-moving consumer goods, and the most important thing is to carry out large-scale production to reduce costs!

Leica's concept of excellence is not suitable for the development of today's large-scale industry, but it can bring sufficient quality assurance to the lithography machine! However, as one of the most important suppliers of optical instruments in Germany, it is not easy for Leica to acquire it!"

Li Xuan smiled: "I am only responsible for providing ideas, how to do it is your own business!"

"Li Shengsheng moved his mouth, we broke our legs!" said another person on the plane.

The distance from Dallas to Austin is 300 kilometers, and it takes more than 3 hours by car. But the aviation industry in the United States is very developed, and airports are everywhere. So Li Xuan simply rented a small luxury business jet with eight seats, and it only took half an hour to count the take-off and landing time.

In addition to Li Xuan and Lin Jieping on the plane, there was also Zhang Zhongmou, chairman of Dongfang Semiconductor Company, who had just returned from Taiwan.

"The acquisition of Leica can be considered in the long run, and for Lam, the top priority now is to start a comprehensive cooperation with Dongfang Semiconductor as soon as possible and strive to overcome 0 as soon as possible. 8 micron process!

As far as I know, Nikon's next-generation lithography machine is likely to be available before the end of next year, and Lam Research is already half a step behind!" Lin Jieping shook his head lightly before he said sincerely to Zhang Zhongmou.

"Dongfang Semiconductor will fully support Lam's technology research and development, in fact, we can use the power of the Sematech alliance to strive for more alliances to join the research and development process!"

Texas is the home of Deyi, and when I talked to Mr. Joankins before, he was very interested in collaborative research and development. And Deyi is actively making strategic adjustments, and as far as I know, they are interested in divesting their photomask business!" Zhang Zhongmou immediately replied.

The Joankins in his mouth was originally the president and CEO of Deyi, and he just succeeded the retired Mr. Shepard half a month ago as the new chairman of Deyi.

Photomask is one of the most critical bridging processes in the wafer preparation process. Photomask manufacturing is not only the most expensive part of the entire wafer production process, but also one of the bottlenecks that limit the minimum line width. The acquisition of Deyi's photomask division would be an important addition to Lam's technology accumulation.

Next, Lin Jieping and Zhang Zhongmou began to discuss some matters related to the cooperation between Lam Research and Oriental Semiconductor Company, and Li Xuan, who was sitting on the side, listened quietly and was not ready to interject.

The most important reason why Lam Research chose Austin for its new factory and R&D center is that Dongfang Semiconductor's new factory is located here. In the next period of time, Dongfang Semiconductor's production capacity expansion in the United States will be settled in the Austin area. Since Lam Research intends to strengthen cooperation with Dongfang Semiconductor, it naturally needs to take the initiative to lean forward.

As semiconductor manufacturing processes continue to shrink, R&D investment in semiconductor equipment, including lithography machines, is increasing. If Deyi Company can be pulled in to share the risk, it will be a good thing for Lin Jieping and Zhang Zhongmou.

Of course, there must be a premise for this cooperation, that is, there was no fierce competition between the Eastern Group and Deyi before. Oriental Group's semiconductor focus is mainly on microprocessors, and in the future it will also include DSPs (Digital Signal Processors) acquired from Deyi. Although Deyi also has microprocessor products, it is not without fierce competition between the two series of ERM and MIPS processors under the Oriental Group. (To be continued.) )

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