After discussing the follow-up physical implementation of the chip with Masatoshi Shirakawa, Shirakawa Kaede went to the third floor of the SIC again.

The development of another technology, CD format storage technology, is underway here.

"Hosono-san transforms the object of storage from sound to text, images, and even videos.

Is it technically achievable and is the principle similar? ”

Shirakawa Kaede looked at the CDs on the workbench and asked curiously.

These discs are experimental and look completely different from regular music discs.

"Technically, it's perfectly fine, and the way CDs are stored is very similar.

However, due to the diversification of storage objects, the information scanning speed and reading speed will be different.

In addition, there will be some differences in the production materials, especially the surface coating materials and information bands will be significantly different. ”

Hideo Hosono is a professor of chemistry at Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he is currently responsible for the research and development of CD surface coating materials.

In addition, there are professors of physics, who are responsible for determining the wavelength of the laser, the arrangement of the pits on the surface burning, and so on.

The complexity of the development of the new CD format is far beyond Shirakawa's imagination.

Originally, he thought that changing the format should be an easy task, but when he actually did it, he realized that it was too simple to think before.

It involves a combination of domain knowledge that is far from something that can be done by one person.

For example, if you want to find the most suitable surface coating material, you can only try one by one in a certain category.

It takes time and manpower to explore, and finally find the one that is relatively suitable.

"Hosono-san, don't be in a hurry about R&D, take it step by step. We have enough time, after all, it is about the development of standards, and we must not be sloppy. ”

This is Shirakawa's first attempt to enter the field of standard setting, and it is understandable to spend some more time.

And at present, the real music CD player has not yet come out, and the extension of other formats has not been put on the agenda.

So the development here is a practice, and there are more tasks waiting for SIC to explore and complete in the future.

After a little more stroll around here, Shirakawa Kaede is also preparing to go back to Ota City.

Regarding SIC, about chips, in fact, Kaede Shirakawa has also thought about it a lot recently.

At first, he was more concerned about making his own chips, and he was more concerned about CD player services.

After all, a 16-bit chip was directly quoted at $360, which really made him unacceptable.

But it turns out that going directly into the field of chips is somewhat reckless.

Developing a chip for only one product is too extravagant.

If you don't get the final chip product, it may be more expensive than the one you bought.

Later, after Masatoshi Shimashima's elaboration, Shirakawa Kaede had a general understanding of the chip field.

Now that it has indeed become possible to design chips, he is simply ready to open up another track.

This track is a bit peculiar though, as its prospects are unclear.

Whether it's a Walkman or a handheld computer, or a CD player in the future, Shirakawa Kaede has a considerable degree of confidence.

Only the chip, Shirakawa Kaede himself is a little uncertain.

It's not that chips don't have a future, there's no market.

On the contrary, it has too much future and too much market.

For this reason, some governments do not hesitate to use state power to safeguard their rights and interests.

Yes, the semiconductor war between the United States and Japan in the next few years is the best proof of this.

However, this is not only about chips, but also about political factors and economic power.

Chips are just one of the concrete manifestations of this contest.

Although he knows that the future prospects are unknown, Shirakawa Kaede still chooses to enter the chip field.

Why?

Because he must leave something competitive enough for the future Shirakawa Group to serve as the core driving force or moat for its survival and development.

This must be a sophisticated technology, and it must also have a broad market outlook.

It is best to live without it in the future, and there is a certain threshold.

Engaged in real estate?

It is true that there will be huge profits for a certain period of time, but how long can it last.

And who wouldn't engage in real estate? Which of those chaebol giants didn't get involved in this?

Engage in energy?

To be honest, this part of the market has not been interfered with by Shirakawa Kaede.

Japan's energy market is basically monopolized by political families, and ordinary people cannot enter it at all.

Moreover, energy is scarce in Japan, and people with no background go to energy.

I'm afraid that I will soon be able to have a house with a sea view at the bottom of Tokyo Bay.

Engaged in consumer electronics?

Again, without its own core technology, everything is in vain.

And there are too many people doing this business, and the substitution is very strong, and it is difficult to survive without its own characteristics.

Engage in finance?

This is a complete layman, and the so-called "high risk and high reward" may be mostly high risk for him.

Thinking about it, maybe only chips are the most suitable for him to plug in at present.

First, because chip technology has just developed at this moment, entering the track at this time can completely catch up with the opponents in front.

The second reason is that Shirakawa Kaede is not reckless.

He is selectively involved in chips and selectively competes in the market.

So far, Shirakawa Kaede's positioning of SIC has always been a chip design company, not a chip design and manufacturing company.

Although there is only a difference of two words, the meaning is completely different.

The so-called chip design company, as the name suggests, only designs, not manufactures.

It is commonly referred to as a fabless semiconductor company.

The reason for this is based on the current environment and future expectations.

Generally, the cost of equipment and raw materials required for integrated circuit manufacturing is very huge, and ordinary companies simply cannot afford it.

In addition, in the event of a change in process nodes, the company may need to spend considerable costs to replace existing process equipment, which can be costly.

With the current volume of SIC, it is likely to be directly dragged down if it ventures into the field of chip manufacturing.

And at present, there are five semiconductor manufacturing companies in Japan, all of which are giants, and SIC is taking the lead to compete with them.

There is no technology, no talents, and SIC is basically out of the road to semiconductor manufacturing.

Another reason for Shirakawa Kaede to avoid physical manufacturing is the semiconductor dispute between the United States and Japan in the next few years.

Since then, Japanese semiconductor manufacturing companies have either died or are on their way to death.

Factory closures, equipment obsolescence, and manufacturing processes are wasted and useless, all of which are huge cost losses.

Tens of billions of funds are wasted at every turn, and Bai Chuanfeng can't afford that money, and I'm afraid that my heart can't stand it.

So from the very beginning, SIC didn't plan to get involved in manufacturing.

Also, What does SIC do?

Processor chips, integrated circuits with information processing, computing, and control as the core.

What we usually call CPU and GPU are all one of its kinds.

And what is the chip that is most used in the market at present, or what is the chip that other semiconductor manufacturers in Japan are best at?

In other words, what chip did the US-Japan semiconductor dispute start after 85 years?

The answer is memory chips, that is, DRAM chips.

In 1981, Intel, which became famous in the world, was mainly engaged in DRAM memory chips.

Yes, at this time, Intel was still making memory chips in a bad business.

As for the processor chip, it's just a small piece of the business that comes with it.

Similarly, several other semiconductor manufacturers in Japan are also specializing in DRAM memory chips at this time.

To what extent?

In 1973, led by the Japanese government, five semiconductor manufacturers, NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba, jointly developed memory chips.

This is the national project "DRAM Manufacturing Innovation" initiated by the Japanese government, which has organized more than 800 technical elites.

Among them, the government invested 32 billion yen, and five companies invested 40 billion yen, totaling 72 billion yen in the research and development of memory chips.

The joint effort was led by the National Research Institute of Electronics and the Institute of Computer Science.

To this end, the VLSI Institute of Technology, a designated national research institute, has been established.

With such a big price to pay and concentrate on big things, it is not difficult to imagine that Japan will soon catch up in the DRAM field.

As for the United States, the development model is still to inject funds into startups through venture capital.

Startups get support, innovate technologically, increase company valuation, and go public.

Finally, the venture capital sells the stock, and finally exits at a profit.

This model is completely market-oriented, efficient but small, and siloed.

It is obvious that in the face of Japanese companies with the background of national power, they will be beaten in the future and have no power to fight back.

Although Japan's share of the memory chip field is currently less than 20%, this situation will soon be broken.

This is the main pattern of the chip market in the world at present.

So what about processor chips?

It's amazing that people don't pay much attention to it.

Only Intel and Zligo are doing related business in the United States, and as for Japan... Not at all.

The reason for this situation is that the development of personal computers has just started, and the market has not yet formed a market.

All needs are determined by the market, and the same is true for chips.

Computers are definitely a luxury item in the current era, and the price in Japan is generally more than 200,000 yen.

And the United States is also around seven or eight hundred dollars, whether it is the people of the United States or the neon people, they say that they can't afford it! PASS！

Therefore, the market is too small, and the demand for processor chips is pitiful compared to memory chips.

That's why no one is paying attention to processor chips these days.

However, Shirakawa Kaede chose the "unpopular" field in the chip.

The advantage of "unpopularity" is that in the future in the semiconductor war between the United States and Japan, it is likely that processor chips will be spared.

Because of the calculation of time, the development of personal computers has not entered the fast lane in a few years, and it is likely to continue to be ignored.

In addition, SIC has no competitors at all in Japan.

Even if it is sanctioned in the future, the local market of neon alone can survive.

Even at present, there are no specialized chip design companies in Japan.

Isn't it strange that Japan, which is already very technologically advanced, does not have a dedicated chip design company.

This is also related to the special corporate structure in Japan, where large companies are involved in a wide range of fields.

Sony, for example, has a dedicated chip design department under its group.

If necessary, you can directly delegate the task to the following departments to execute, and there is no need to entrust other companies to design.

But after all, such large enterprises are a minority, and most companies basically purchase products from the United States if they need processor chips.

Or if you have a certain R&D ability, like Sharp and Toshiba, you can buy the copyright of mature foreign chip architecture and do secondary development by yourself.

So in general, is there a future for chip design?

Yes, definitely.

Kaede Shirakawa's decision to open up the track was also deliberate, and there is no doubt that chips are also absolutely high-tech fields.

It is enough to serve as the moat of the Shirakawa Group in the future, and Shirakawa Kaede is also dedicated to it.

Coming out of the SIC building, just as Shirakawa Kaede was about to go to talk to the first persuasion silver, he received an unexpected phone call.

(End of chapter)