In Tokyo, Japan, in the conference room of the headquarters of KHN Electronics, there was laughter.

The Japanese have always come across as suave and reserved, but once they go crazy, they get carried away more than anyone in any other country, and the executives of the Khn are already in a state of smugness.

After obtaining a $2 billion patent purchase fee from China's Hanhua Microelectronics Co., KHN sold all the patents of the third-generation industrial control chip to Hanhua, and then invested most of the money received in the research and development of the fourth-generation industrial control chip standard. Technical Director Mitsutsu Kawakami is really a bit desperate Saburo's energy, with a group of technicians who forget to sleep and eat, in a very short period of time to achieve a number of technological breakthroughs, and now, the fourth generation of industrial control chip standards proposed by KHN has been successfully completed.

When Mitsuhiro Kawakami finished the introduction of the four-generation standard in front of all the executives, the executives in the audience collectively stood up and applauded enthusiastically to applaud this brilliant achievement.

"Kawakami-kun, you have worked hard, and your efforts will bring KHN to a new level." Seinosuke Uno stepped forward and patted Mitsutsu Kawakami's shoulder affectionately and said.

"Hey!" Mitsutsu Kawakami bowed 90 degrees to Seinosuke Uno, "It's our duty to work for the company. ”

"In the past few years, we have been under the threat of competitors, and the introduction of this new standard will allow us to surpass our opponents again and be invincible. At a time when Japan's economy is in such a slump, it is exciting to be able to deliver such good news. Seinosuke Uno said in a relieved tone.

Yasuya Miyanishi grinned: "We just sold the third-generation standard to China Hanhua for a high price of $2 billion, and in just one year, we launched the fourth-generation standard. It is foreseeable that after the launch of the fourth generation of standards, all the world's mid-to-high-end industrial control systems will turn to our standards. Including the high-end CNC machine tools produced by Hanhua Heavy Industries. as well as their automatic control systems in the fields of chemical, petroleum, automotive, etc. I really want to see Lin Zhenhua's expression at this moment, I think it must be very exciting. ”

"Hahahaha!" The executives in the audience laughed together, and the impression of Lin Zhenhua in everyone's minds was really bad. Being able to see him deflated is really a great joy in life.

According to an analysis by KHN's intelligence unit, Hanwha spent a full $2 billion to buy the third-generation standard. It is undoubtedly in order to make itself no longer controlled by others in terms of industrial control chips, which is beneficial to the competition with European mechanical and electrical enterprises on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is also hoped that after obtaining the patent of the third generation standard, it can produce the third generation chip by itself and achieve import substitution.

However, it is estimated that it will take at least five years of continuous production for Hanhua to recoup the $2 billion investment it has made, so from Hanhua's point of view, the later the fourth-generation standard appears. The more beneficial it is for them.

However, contrary to expectations, KHN completed the development of the fourth-generation standard in one year. All of a sudden, Hanhua's wishful thinking was broken. The most enjoyable thing is. The reason why KHN's progress is so fast is precisely because of the third-generation standard patent purchase fee paid by GCA. This is called the way of the other. When Lin Zhenhua knew all this, why did he vomit three liters of blood in anger, right?

"Kawakami-kun, the formulation of standards is only the first step, and of course it is a very important step. Next, we will speed up the progress and strive to make the International Industrial Control Standards Committee accept our standards and make them truly international standards. Only in this way can the third-generation standards bought by Chinese be completely nullified. Seinosuke Uno said.

Kawakami Mitsutsu said confidently: "Chairman, you can rest assured about this matter, according to the information we retrieved, there is no second institution in the world to apply for the fourth generation of standards, and companies in the United States and Germany are slower than our progress in this regard, so the International Industrial Control Standards Committee will definitely accept our standards." ”…,

"I have no doubt about it." Seinosuke Uno said, "However, I still hope that the passage of this standard can be as soon as possible, and it will not leave time for Hanhua to recoup its investment." ”

Mitsumi Kawakami said: "It's very simple, I'll call Chairman Hunter of the International Committee for Industrial Control Standards right now and make an appointment with him." ”

In front of all the executives, Mitsutsu Kawakami took out his mobile phone, dialed the phone, and then said into the microphone in standard English: "Hello, Chairman Hunter?" I'm Mitsutsu Kawakami......"

It stands to reason that if Mitsutsu Kawakami wants to make a phone call, he has to find a more private place, and it is rude to call like this in front of everyone, not to mention that it is still in the time of an executive meeting. But Kawakami knew that he would not incur the displeasure of everyone by doing so, because it was a great thing, and everyone was waiting to share the joy.

"Chairman Hunter, when I met with you last year, I talked about the fourth generation industrial control system standard of KHN company, do you remember?" Mitsutsu Kawakami said.

The other party's voice came out of the microphone, and Seinosuke Uno and Yasu Miyanishi, who were sitting next to Mitsukan Kawakami, could faintly hear it, and Miyanishi Noyasu listened while relaying it to the other executives around him.

"Mr. Kawakami, I remember you mentioned that you were going to launch the fourth generation of the standard, but you originally expected the launch time to be in 2007, and now it's just the beginning of 2005, is your progress so fast?" Hunter, who was far away on the other side of the globe, asked.

Mitsutsu Kawakami's tone was smug: "Yes, yes, Mr. Hunt, I did say that we estimated the year 2007, and your memory is amazing. However, out of a responsible attitude towards the global industrial control field, we accelerated the entire research and development process, so that the development of the standard was completed two years ahead of schedule. We hope that the standards will be submitted to the Committee as soon as possible so that the performance of the global industrial control system can be improved as soon as possible. ”

"Great, Mr. Kawakami, I thank you for your hard work." Hunter replied, and in his tone there was a genuine sense of joy. Hunter is an authority of the older generation in the field of industrial control, and character is not said.

"That's what we're supposed to do." Hikaru Kawakami said. "Mr. Hunt. I hope to be able to visit you next week to formally submit the text of the standard to the Committee, do you think it would be appropriate? ”

"Absolutely. I look forward to seeing your texts soon. Hunter said.

"What we mean by Chairman Uno is that we hope that the committee can hold a review meeting as soon as possible, so that this standard can become an international industry standard as soon as possible." Hikaru Kawakami replied.

Hunter agreed, "No problem. We were also going to have a review meeting next month, but now that your standards are here, it's even better. There are two competing criteria, and I think the commissioners will be more interested. ”

"Yes, yes." Mitsuru Kawakami replied in confidence, and only after saying that he felt that something was wrong, "Wait, Mr. Hunt, what did you just say?" Two criteria? ”

"That's right. Our committee has already received a standard text, and I thought you KHN didn't want to be involved in the development of the fourth generation of standards. Hunter said with a smile.

Mitsutsu Kawakami's face turned jet black, and his speech began to stumble a little: "Mr. Hunt." Which company submitted the standard text before us? It is the Spiescher company of the United States. Or Siemens in Germany? ”

"Neither, these two companies haven't been involved in the development of the fourth-generation standard so far," Hunter said. The person who submitted the text to us was Hanhua Microelectronics in China. ”

"Hanhua!" Kawakami Mitsutsu shouted, because he was too surprised, he couldn't control the volume at once, and his voice suddenly rose an octave, and Hunter on the other end of the phone immediately felt a buzzing in his ears, so as not to scare the old man to death, and blurted out directly. …,

What did he say? GCA submitted the text of the fourth-generation standard to the International Industrial Control Standards Committee? Uno Seinosuke's eyes widened. This is simply a completely impossible thing, Hanhua has never revealed the meaning of participating in the battle of international industrial control standards, with the strength of Hanhua in the industrial control system, it is not possible to participate in the competition of standards, such a game, only manufacturers who have mastered the standards of previous generations are eligible to participate, and Hanhua ......

Wait, how can Hanwha not be a manufacturer that has mastered the previous generations of standards, it has indeed not participated in the preparation of the first three generations of standards, but it has obtained all the patents in the third generation of standards in the simplest way, which it bought from KHN for $2 billion.

"Got it, I got it all!" Uno Seinosuke only felt cold all over his body, and he thought through many things at once.

GCA spent $2 billion to buy all of the patents for the third-generation standard from KHN, a move that was seen as a fool's move by all KHN executives. Because once the international fourth-generation standard is launched, the third-generation standard that Hanwha bought will become a piece of chicken ribs, and it will not even have time to recoup these investments.

But KHN's executives never imagined that what Hanhua was planning was not a third-generation standard at all, but a direct target of the fourth-generation standard. The fourth-generation standard is launched on the basis of the third-generation standard, and if GCA wants to compete for the fourth-generation standard, it will inevitably encounter the patent threshold on the third-generation standard.

In this case, Hanhua spent 2 billion yuan to buy the third-generation standard patent in the hands of KHN, in fact, it was just to remove the obstacles to the impact of the fourth-generation standard. It spent $2 billion, which is equivalent to crossing the technical threshold accumulated by KHN and other Western chip manufacturers for more than ten years in one step, so as to obtain the qualification to compete with KHN on an equal footing.

Using 2 billion to buy an entrance permit is really cheap to the extreme.

"Chairman, Hanhua bought our patents, not to produce third-generation standard chips, but to compete with us for the right to formulate fourth-generation standards, and they have already regarded us as the next competitive target." Mitsutsu Kawakami hung up the phone to Hunter at some point and said to Seinosuke Uno in a daze. He had just figured out this question, and like Uno Seinosuke, he was completely stunned.

"Kawakami-kun, what do you mean? If GCA wants to participate in the formulation of the fourth generation of standards, why does it still buy our patents? Miyanishino asked in surprise, and some of the other executives also looked at Mitsutsu Kawakami, because not all of them could understand the connection between the two events.

Mitsutsu Kawakami explained the matter with a sad face, and a director named Ryohei Fukano said, "Kawakami-kun, didn't you even think that Hanhua had such intentions when they asked us to buy patents?" As a technical director, don't you even have the slightest sense of self-protection? ”

The name of Hanhua Heavy Industries is for all the executives of KHN. It's all a scary name. They all know how Nihon Heavy Industries and Xihu Company were planted under this opponent's hands. Everyone was also deeply worried that one day Hanhua would point the finger at KHN.

Previously, the third-generation standard was sold to Hanhua at a price of 2 billion US dollars, and everyone thought that they had a plan, thinking that this set of standards could tie Hanhua to it. As soon as the fourth-generation standard of KHN comes out, it will be able to throw Hanhua off for more than ten years. Who knew that everyone saw the beginning, but did not guess the end. Who would have thought that when Hanhua took out the $2 billion, he had already shown the butcher's knife to Khn, but everyone was still counting the money happily.

"How could I have thought that Hanhua would dare to touch the fourth-generation standard?" "The Chinese have never participated in the formulation of such standards, and they have a technical gap of more than 10 years with us, how can I think that they still have such calculations?" "If we don't sell them the third-generation standard, is it possible for them to develop the fourth-generation standard?" Ryohei Fukano asked.

"They can independently develop fourth-generation standards based on various disclosed technologies, but that doesn't make any sense to them," Kawakami says. Because if they don't have the patents they need to support the fourth-generation standards. Then there is no way to benefit from the development of standards at all. ”

The value of the battle for standards in the field of technology lies in the various patents that are tied to the standards. Enterprises that set standards can control all kinds of patents related to standards in their own hands, and other manufacturers should follow this standard. It is necessary to use the relevant patents. In this way, standard-setters can earn high royalties.

GCA spent $2 billion to buy the patents for the third-generation standard, which means that it is free to further develop these patents. and profit from it. No matter how much GCA benefits from the development of these patents, KHN has no right to interfere and will not receive a penny, because the intellectual property rights of these patents have already been sold to GCA.

It is precisely because of the patents of these third-generation standards that it is possible for Hanhua to compete with KHN for the fourth-generation standards. The intervention of Hanhua has made KHN face an unprecedented crisis. If the standards committee accepts the GCA standard, it means that the fourth-generation standard that KHN has spent a lot of time developing will become a pile of waste paper, which KHN cannot afford to lose.

Of course, the ideal situation is that the standards committee rejects the standards of GCA and accepts the standards of KHN, so that it is GCA that suffers. However, as a newcomer, even if Hanhua fails, it can be said that although it is defeated, this opportunity to compete on an equal footing can allow Hanhua to learn a lot of things, but when it reaches the fifth generation standard, it can't be killed again?

By selling the third-generation standard to Hanhua, KHN actually cultivated a strong competitor for itself.

Everyone looked at each other, just now everyone felt that they had given Lin Zhenhua a slap, but they didn't expect that this slap was actually on Khn's own face, which hurt hotly.

"Kawakami-kun, what do you think is the standard of Hanhua...... Can it be more competitive than our standards? Yasu Miyanishi asked cautiously.

Kawakami Mitsutsu secretly glanced at Uno Seinosuke, and also replied timidly: "In terms of technology accumulation, Hanhua has always had a big gap with us, and just buying our third-generation standard can't fill the gap in between." So, I don't think GCA's standards can be compared to our standards. But ......"

"Any company that underestimates the competitiveness of GCA has now been stuffed into the dustbin of history." Uno Seinosuke interjected in a gloomy voice, "Lin Zhenhua is a scheming person, since he dares to provoke a dispute with our standards, he must be prepared. This is evident from the fact that he did not hesitate to spend $2 billion to buy our patents to remove obstacles. ”

"Then let's fight for strength." Ryohei Fukano said, "I suggest that we concentrate all our financial resources and defeat Hanhua Heavy Industries. Can the strength of Hanhua Heavy Industries be compared with our KHN? ”

Miyanishi Yeyasu glanced at Ryohei Fukano with a contemptuous gaze and said, "Fukano-kun, the strength of Hanhua Heavy Industries is already far above our KHN. In the past two years, global mineral prices have skyrocketed, and Hanhua Heavy Industries has more than a dozen iron ore mines, including the staggering reserves of Mutong iron ore, in addition to several copper mines and other mines. It is estimated that the income it earns from mining alone can reach more than 10 billion US dollars a year, do you think we KHN can compete with Hanhua? ”

"This ...... How did this business grow to this scale without realizing it? Ryohei Fukano muttered, "How did they do it?" ”

"It's all because of our inaction." Uno Seinosuke slumped in his chair like a ball that had been drained of air, "The Europeans have long seen the horror of Hanhua and want to pull us together to contain it, but unfortunately, we were blinded by the mere $2 billion order, and we actually missed this opportunity." Now it looks like maybe that's ...... One last chance. ”

"No!" Mitsutsu Kawakami shouted, "Chairman, we won't fail. I will take my technicians to improve this standard comprehensively, and I believe that we will be able to do better than the Chinese. ”

"If that's the case, then please Kawakami-kun." Seinosuke Uno stood up and bowed deeply to Mitsutsu Kawakami, "I hope you can defeat Hanwha in this competition and buy a few more years for Khn." ”