Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 340 Let's take a roundabout approach.

Since the idea of ​​developing Japan's semiconductor industry has been conceived, it is natural to compile industry data.

"Uchida-san, please compile the semiconductor industry data and information for me within three days. I need it urgently."

"Hi!"

As soon as Miho Uchida bowed in response, Masato Takeshita quickly added, "It's information on the development of semiconductor companies, especially small and medium-sized companies, not information on the direction of technological development."

Apart from Toshiba, Japan's top semiconductor giants have all thrived in the long run.

However, most of them abandoned the memory chip and flash memory chip industries and transformed into internet software and hardware service providers.

These companies are coveted by major conglomerates, and Xinghai Group has virtually no chance of acquiring them.

On the contrary, small and medium-sized companies are not yet valued by conglomerates, which gives young people the opportunity to get involved.

He wants to boost the growth of Japan's semiconductor industry, especially chip design companies.

Because only Japan has a large number of chip design companies, Starry Night Semiconductor is able to continue to suppress TSMC, which is supported by the United States.

Besides chip design companies, his other major target is the semiconductor materials field.

This is Japan's strength, but not the Xinghai Group's. He wants to follow Samsung's development path and cannot leave such an obvious weakness.

However, this field is largely monopolized by giants, making it extremely difficult to break through.

However, Masato Takeshita enjoys watching the company overcome technical challenges. He wants to leave a greater mark on history and strengthen the Xinghai Group's resilience against risks.

"Yes, President!"

The newly appointed secretary-general, Miho Uchida, was busy helping him collect information, so Masato Takeshita didn't take her to Xinghai Crystal.

"President Koike, has the project in China been finalized?"

"A basic cooperation agreement has been reached and a site has been found. Now we are just waiting for the demolition work to be completed in Shanghai."

China recognized the power of computers very early on, starting around the same time as Japan, and only a few years behind the United States.

Even in the 70s, although it suffered some setbacks, its core remained largely unaffected. It was a year earlier than Germany in replicating Intel's advanced CPUs.

However, at that time, China's technology was limited to a few areas such as scientific research and had not been commercialized. Therefore, as the semiconductor industry expanded, China gradually fell behind in this area.

After all, without marketization, it means no money can be made, and without money, there is no huge research funding.

Without substantial research funding, it's impossible to afford the most advanced semiconductor equipment.

One link after another led to a rapid gap between China's semiconductor technology and the world's mainstream technology after the 80s.

The top leadership also recognized this, and in 1990, when China's economy was still very poor and foreign exchange was extremely scarce, it allocated hundreds of millions of US dollars specifically to invest in semiconductors, codenamed Project 908.

However, the cooperation between various departments in China at that time was not very good, and there was no strong executor, which resulted in the project progress of Project 908 being very slow.

It took two years to approve a single funding request. Another technology import project took another three years.

As we all know, the semiconductor chip industry is developing very rapidly.

Therefore, by the time everyone reached a consensus and the project was officially launched, the technology that was once considered advanced had already become outdated.

In other words, Project 908 was already outdated and on the verge of being phased out as soon as it was implemented.

Compared to Project 908, the cooperation between Shougang and NEC has gone more smoothly. The 6-inch wafer fab jointly built by the two companies will officially start production this year.

Shougang Group attaches great importance to this wafer fab, and has even proclaimed the slogan "Shougang will not belong to the steel industry in the future".

Shougang Group did indeed achieve this later, but it transformed into a real estate investment company.

As for wafer fabs, what are they?
Of course, Shougang cannot be entirely blamed.

In the cooperation between Shougang and NEC, NEC holds a dominant position, and Shougang basically relies on NEC for everything.

This abnormal relationship prevented Shougang from developing a wafer fab or conducting research and development of advanced technologies.

It's important to carefully consider joint ventures. You can't be completely dependent on the other party; you need to have the ability to be self-reliant.

In this respect, the joint venture path of Chinese automobiles is half right and half wrong.

The mistake is that several major state-owned enterprises rely heavily on joint ventures for development and possess very little technology of their own.

The positive aspect is that it promoted the development of China's auto parts industry and laid the foundation for the explosive growth of the electric vehicle industry.

As for mobile phones among electronic products, China is mainly on the right track.

In its early days, it manufactured phones for Motorola, and later for Nokia, eventually developing into several mobile phone brands with considerable influence worldwide.

Japan, which started around the same time, was very fortunate.

In the early days when there was a lack of market demand, the US market was completely open to Japanese semiconductor companies.

Only in this way can Japan rapidly widen the gap with China.

However, Japan, which later suffered a series of severe blows, is now inferior to China in many areas.

The most typical example is the panel manufacturing industry, where China has risen to prominence. Sharp, a shining example of Japanese panel technology, has fallen into obscurity and was even acquired by a contract manufacturer it once looked down upon.

For a fleeting moment, the development of the semiconductor industry in both countries flashed through Masato Takeshita's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

The more pressing issue right now is the construction of a semiconductor chip packaging and testing facility.

"How much land did they approve for us?"

"200 mu, of which 50 mu can be non-industrial land."

"As expected of China's largest city, they do things with such grandeur."

The young people were very satisfied, as this would allow them to meet the housing needs of their employees while building the factory.

"Yes, the leaders of Shanghai are very open-minded and welcome our investment."

Atsuyoshi Koike was also very satisfied with the leaders here, who were very efficient and not as slow and indecisive as those in Japan.

"So how much money do we plan to invest?"

"The initial investment is $3000 million, and we will add more if that's not enough."

"Has the shareholding percentage been agreed upon?"

Xinghai Group does not intend to operate the chip packaging and testing factory independently, but has chosen to cooperate deeply with Shanghai.

Xinghai Group holds 75% of the shares with capital, technology, and equipment, while the other party holds 25% with capital, land, and research personnel, making it a very equal partnership.

"Yes, the other party has no objection."

"Soon, once the demolition work is completed there, we will quickly move into the factory and strive to complete the project and start production as soon as possible."

"Yes, President."

Chip packaging and testing are important, but wafer fabs are even more important.

After some thought, Masato Takeshita decided to build a wafer fab in the port city, near the mainland.

Not only can they recruit Chinese from developed countries such as the United States, Japan, and Europe, but they can also introduce high-end talents from mainland China.

Even if the port city can no longer accommodate the development of wafer fabs in the future, the relocation work will be very easy.

"If you have an idea, just do it," Masato Takeshita said decisively. "We will build an 8-inch wafer fab in the port city to facilitate supplying China nearby."

Across from the port city is the Special Economic Zone, which is famous for Huaqiangbei.

This area is the center of China's electronic component industry, with a huge demand for high-end chips.

By building its factory here, Xinghai Wafer not only saves costs for itself but also for its customers.

“Hong Kong, okay, I understand.” Atsuyoshi Koike actually had a better view of Singapore’s development and planned to place his first overseas wafer fab there.

But since the president has made a request, we will naturally follow the president's wishes.

"Then, how much money does the chairman plan to invest?"

"A billion US dollars would be more appropriate; a scale that is too small would not be able to take full advantage of the location."

"Hi!"

Atsuyoshi Koike was thrilled. He never expected that he could so easily gain control of another wafer fab.

If Masato Takeshita knew what Atsuyoshi Koike was thinking, he would only think that Takeshita was overthinking things.

He's been at Starry Sky Wafer for too long; he needs to be moved up a level.

On the one hand, it was to reward his hard work at Xinghai Crystal, and on the other hand, it was to prevent him from becoming too powerful to be controlled.

After visiting Xinghai Wafers, Masato Takeshita hurriedly went to Xinghai Technology in the afternoon.

However, before he even arrived at his destination, his private phone rang.

"Huh, it's Gerstner?"

Looking at the familiar phone number in front of him, the young man thought to himself.

"It seems that Gerstner is working very hard these days, calling me so late to talk about work."

It's almost midnight in New York now. If it were Xinghai Technology, they wouldn't be busy this late at all.

However, considering that he was a newcomer to IBM and that IBM has a complex internal personnel system, the young man's situation was not surprising.

In the early stages of a career, there are always endless things to do.

While thinking this to himself, Masato Takeshita's tone and expression showed no sign of it.

He answered the phone with a happy smile and replied, "Yeah, how are you? Is work going well over there?"

"Not going very smoothly?"

Hearing the complaints coming from the other end of the phone, Masato Takeshita smiled and comforted him, "I see, but that's normal. A new person has been parachuted in, and IBM is a century-old giant, so it's bound to be busy for a while before things get organized."

"Yes, yes, I believe you have the ability to handle everything."

In his previous life, Gerstner had no experience in the semiconductor industry before joining IBM, which resulted in a lack of authority within the company.

Even in the face of such an unfavorable situation, he was able to quickly persuade IBM's senior management.

In this life, with the involvement of young people, Gerstner learned martial arts at Xinghai Technology and even witnessed Xinghai Technology's rapid progress in the semiconductor industry.

Therefore, it will only suppress IBM's top leadership more quickly, directing this giant ship on the verge of sinking out of the shallows.

After chatting casually for a while, Gerstner finally revealed the purpose of his call.

"We have already secured the support of our counterparts across the United States and would like to invite you, Chairman, to visit the United States to discuss the issue of computer interface standardization."

"No, let President Chambers handle this. You two should have more in common."

Chambers is the head of Starsea Technologies, but he only provides support from the sidelines.

It would be better to let him handle the matter of standardizing computer plug-ins to USB interfaces, and also let him get to know more people in the same industry.

Japan has temporarily surpassed the United States in the application field, but the research center for semiconductors remains in the United States.

The number of computer users in the United States alone is several times that of Japan.

As for investment in various research institutions and funding and equipment, the United States is currently investing more than 10 times more than Japan.

"Okay, I'll call Chambers again later."

"Well, thank you."

"No need to thank me, this idea comes from our Xinghai Group, it was the chairman who came up with it."

Although Gerstner left Starsea Technologies for IBM, he still held Starsea Technologies in higher regard.

On the one hand, things at Xinghai Technology were relatively easy, giving him more time for himself. On the other hand, Xinghai Technology was more humane, lacking the intense internal strife that plagued IBM.

In addition, Starsea Capital is also a major factor.

After an employee leaves Xinghai Group, the company will not force him to withdraw the assets in the fund.

As long as he was an employee of Xinghai Group, he could enjoy the wealth growth of the company's fund.

Of course, the money they earned after leaving the company could no longer be invested in the Starsea Capital fund specifically established for the group's employees.

He worried that if the policy was relaxed, some people would try to take advantage of the loopholes.

After all, the returns of the various funds within Xinghai Group are higher than those of private equity hedge funds that raise funds externally.

It's fair to say that, through his company salary and bonuses, as well as income from investment funds, Gerstner earned far more at Starsea Technologies than he did at IBM.

But for the wealthy, money is important, but so is reputation. Many wealthy people are willing to do it if they can gain greater prestige and honor at the cost of earning less.

The most typical example is the NBA, where many superstars are willing to lower their salaries or even join on minimum contracts in pursuit of a championship.

Masato Takeshita naturally knew that the idea came from him, but for many things, the idea itself is not important; what matters is that it can be implemented.

The standardization of computer interfaces is a type where getting things done is far more important than having ideas.

In this matter, Xinghai Group can at most deserve secondary credit.

So the young man smiled and said, "The idea isn't that important; implementation is the most important thing. Mr. Gerstner, your contribution is the greatest."

After praising each other for a few minutes, the two happily ended the conversation.

Then Gerstner asked with a smile, "Chairman, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Well, you said."

“A friend of mine invested in a small internet company called Kidesll. The company plans to launch new software in July and wants to install and test it at Xinghai Internet Cafe for a period of time in advance.”

Takeshita Masato was clever, but the others weren't stupid either.

Those with foresight have already realized the excellent advertising effect of internet cafes and want to take advantage of this channel to get freebies.

"Of course, we have official pricing information. And the pricing varies in different places and countries."

With Takeshita Masato around, getting something for free is impossible. Even Xinghai Group's own software has to pay to use internet cafes for promotion.

After all, Xinghai Internet Cafe is not solely owned and operated by its own company; it was established in cooperation with telecommunications operators in various regions.

Of course, founders do receive certain discounts.

"They're charging a fee now?"

"Yes, the reform was just completed after the New Year, and we'll have to spend money on promotion from now on."

"I think it should be fine. We can get in touch for more specific details later."

"Okay, you make up your mind."

After finishing their conversation, the two lingered for a while before hanging up the phone.

He stretched and looked out the window at the familiar scenery.

"I didn't expect we'd chat for so long, all the way to Xinghai Technology's headquarters."

(End of this chapter)