I can become stronger by paying salaries. I have one billion employees!

Chapter 674 Acceptance or Ban? 7000 Million US Dollars a Unit? GlobalFoundries' Little Scheme!
At 8 p.m., Chen Yansen took a car to Luzhou Xinqiao Airport, and then transferred to a Gulfstream G500 to fly directly to Yanjing, in preparation for attending the Yanjing Internet Conference the next day.

at the same time.

Sixty Private Club in Beverly Hills, across the ocean.

A group of bigwigs from the North American semiconductor industry gathered once again in a luxurious private room under the guise of an exchange with the International Semiconductor Association.

However, the atmosphere in the room was far less relaxed than last time.

"You think this is true?"

Qualcomm Chairman Paul scoffed and asked dismissively.

"Eric, didn't Saigo plant more than a dozen spies in Xingyuan Technology?"

Intel CEO Brian asked the person in charge of SEG Optics across from him, subconsciously swirling his wine glass as he spoke.

Eric's expression turned serious, and he nodded heavily, saying, "This lithography machine is named Dawn A220, with a maximum power of 220 watts, and can support process technologies up to 7 nanometers."

Upon hearing this, Sanjay, the head of Grofond, took a deep drag on his cigar, exhaled wisps of white smoke, and his expression was somewhat complicated.

Half an hour ago, Chen Yansen called him to ask if he needed a more efficient lithography machine, priced at only 7000 million US dollars, which was 12% cheaper than ASML's.

It can process 235 wafers per hour, which is 1.3 times more efficient than the Twinscan NXT 1980i.

Why would a world-leading chip manufacturer buy lithography machines from China?
This magical sense of dislocation made him feel extremely unreal.

However, he learned from his own sources that the Dawn A220 EUV lithography machine was powered on for the first time on August 23 and the entire system was operating stably.

This demonstrates that China has mastered the core technologies of the entire lithography machine chain, from the light source to the optical system, and then to the precision of the dual workpiece stage.

At that time, ASML had just launched the NXE 3300B lithography machine, and delivered fewer than 5 units.

The reason is simple: most mainstream chip manufacturing processes are currently 28nm and 20nm, so using Twinscan NXT 1980i is sufficient, with a production efficiency of 180 wafers per hour.

While the NXE 3300B is an EUV lithography machine with a manufacturing capability of up to 9 nanometers per exposure, its initial power supply is only 80 watts, and it can only process 20 wafers per hour.

The efficiency is too low and the production cost is too high!
Apart from TSMC and Samsung symbolically purchasing two machines for process improvements to more advanced manufacturing processes, GlobalFoundries and UMC had no intention of buying them at all.

In Sanjay's view, ASML's NXE 3300B is clearly an immature first-generation product, and anyone who buys it is a fool.

They will only place an order if they can come up with a super processor with double the performance in the design stage, and this processor is accepted by the market and users to the point that it can only be produced using EUV lithography machines.

Thinking of this, Sanjay secretly observed the heads of Qualcomm, Micron, Segway, and Intel.

Qualcomm is the most hostile towards StarSource Technology!
Because StarSource Technology's parent company is Senlian Capital, which also owns a world-class chip design company.

Once StarSource Technology rises, Qualcomm's business volume in the Asian region will likely shrink by more than half.

In fact, since Tiangong joined forces with Nvidia and MediaTek to compete with Qualcomm for the market, Qualcomm's market share in China has declined by 40%.

This is also the main reason why Paul actively encouraged everyone to suppress Xingyuan Technology and Tiangong Technology!
Micron's main business is flash memory and memory chips, which competes with Tiangong Technology, but the conflict between the two is not significant.

After all, Tiangong Technology previously said it would develop flash memory chips, but half a year has passed and there has been no progress at all.

This is like someone shouting, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a poor young man," and then disappearing without a trace; most people wouldn't take it to heart.

However, when Micron CEO Mark Zuckerberg learned that StarSource Technology, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and various optical and optoelectronic research institutes across China, had developed an EUV lithography machine, his attitude immediately changed, and his wariness of StarSource Technology instantly rose to the highest level.

As for Saigao, it keeps saying it wants to suppress Xingyuan Technology, but it has yet to produce any results.

They sent over a dozen industrial spies, but all they managed to come up with were a bunch of useless technical solutions.

Sanjay strongly suspected that Eric from Saigo was probably just going through the motions and was up to no good behind the scenes.

Brian from Intel had the strangest attitude; he agreed with everyone who said it, like a weather vane.

The remaining companies, Nvidia, Texas Instruments, AMD, and Broadcom, seemed to be detached from reality.

"Sanjay, what do you think?"

At this moment, Qualcomm's Paul looked at Sanjay and asked.

Sanjay was taken aback. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn't heard a word Paul said.

"I have no objection, you can decide for yourselves."

Sanjay gave a very perfunctory reply.

GlobalFoundries is the largest foundry in the United States, but its market position in the fab industry is far inferior to that of TSMC in Taiwan.

He wants to use StarSource Technology's Dawn A220 lithography machine to achieve a leapfrog development.

If the profits were tempting enough, he would even dare to compile everyone's conversation and sell it to Chen Yansen.

In the end, this world is all about money. Whoever can bring him substantial benefits, he will favor and support.

For EUV lithography machines that can process 235 12-inch wafers per hour, whoever gets them first will occupy a key position in the high-end chip foundry field.

"We must act quickly! Given the previous cooperation between Huang Renxun and Chen Yansen, no one can say for sure whether Nvidia will take this opportunity to enter the chip manufacturing field."

Of course, there's also a high probability that he'll hand over Nvidia's GPU business to StarSource Technology.

Sanjay pondered to himself.

"stupid guy!"

Upon seeing this, Paul couldn't help but curse under his breath.

He had originally hoped that Sanjay could take the lead in expressing his opinion. After all, as the largest chip foundry in the United States, if GlobalFoundries could clearly stand in the camp of boycotting StarSource Technology, it would put pressure on Asian semiconductor companies such as TSMC and Star Semiconductor, thereby forming an alliance to attack them.

Sanjay's unyielding attitude clearly shows that he values ​​his own interests far more than industry consensus.

He suppressed the urge to slam his glass on the table, glanced at everyone present, and said in a serious tone, "Gentlemen, we are not facing ordinary competitors now!"

With the backing of China's scientific research capabilities, once StarSource Technology has the capacity for mass production and delivery of the Dawn A220, they dare to price lithography machines down to $3000 million or $2000 million, even if they don't make a profit. They want to use low prices to break down our industry barriers and seize dominance in the global chip supply chain!

These words sounded like barbs, and Zadeshko CEO Eric frowned.

Sanjay gripped his cup, inwardly scoffing: Does he really think he's an industry leader? You're not the head of a business association, don't act like you're working for the benefit of the entire industry!
If Senlian Capital were to cut its chip design business and focus solely on chip manufacturing, offering lower processing fees than TSMC, Paul would likely be the first to defect.

“Paul is right.” Intel’s Brian put down his glass and nodded. “If Xingyuan Technology’s lithography machines go into mass production and Tiangong Technology’s memory chips are launched, our market share in China will probably drop by another 20%. At that time, not to mention profits, even the factory’s production capacity will have to be cut in half.”

His words made the atmosphere in the private room even colder!
The head of Texas Instruments finally snapped out of his reverie and said with narrowed eyes, "But we have to find a way to resist! We can't just impose another technology blockade like we did with Chinese companies before, can we?"

Xingyuan Technology has now broken through the entire supply chain technology barrier, so blocking it is useless; on the contrary, it will allow them to establish their own supply chain more quickly.

These words struck a nerve with everyone!
Previously, they were able to suppress Chinese companies with their technological advantages because the latter were constrained in key areas such as light sources, optical lenses, and dual-stage systems. Now that Xingyuan Technology has even built an EUV lithography machine, it means that all these "bottleneck" links have been overcome. Trying to repeat the same tricks is nothing but self-deception.

Eric sat in the corner, his eyes darting around. He knew better than anyone that Saigo Optics had absolutely no technological foundation.

The "multi-layer coated aspherical lens" launched by Xingyuan Technology's Optical R&D Center not only surpasses similar products from Saigao in terms of light transmittance, but also has a production efficiency several times faster.

It's important to know that the polishing and coating process for an aspherical mirror requires precision down to the picometer level, and the production time typically takes two to four months.

Xingyuan Technology completed the polishing, coating, and assembly of the six-sided mirror assembly in just one month.

What upset him most was that the "spies" he had planted had largely "betrayed" him.

To date, they haven't revealed a single useful piece of information, nor have they brought back a decent technical solution.

"Perhaps we can start from the market side."

Brian from Intel suddenly spoke up, paused, and then said, "For example, we can work with downstream electronics manufacturers to require them to prioritize purchasing chips that use our technology. If they dare to use chips manufactured by StarSource Technology, we will stop supplying them with patent licenses."

"Will this tactic work? Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have already started stockpiling Tiangong Technology's chips. Last time Qualcomm cut off the supply, they turned around and used Tiangong Technology's processors, and their shipments actually increased by 15%. Do you think they're afraid of patent licensing?"

Sanjay interjected, his words laced with sarcasm.

Brian was speechless.

Paul's face darkened, as if he had seen through Sanjay's little scheme.

Then, he slammed his hand on the table and glared at Sanjay, demanding, "Whose side are you on? If GlobalFoundries dares to buy StarSource Technology's lithography machines, we will unite all chip design companies and stop giving you orders. At that time, no matter how good your lithography machines are, they will only be scrap metal!"

These words were like a thunderclap, instantly exploding in the private room!

All eyes were on Sanjay, waiting for his reaction.

Sanjay, however, calmly took out a cigar, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled white smoke swirling in front of his eyes. Then, he said unhurriedly, "Doing business is about mutual benefit and win-win, not mutual destruction."

Now that StarSource Technology has built the Dawn A220 EUV lithography machine, proving they have the ability to set the rules, why not try to accept it? Paul, what are you afraid of?

Paul sneered, "What I'm afraid of is that they won't play by the rules! They'll just engage in price wars and make sure no one makes any money!"

Qualcomm's dominance in the global communications chip industry is due to the patent barriers and technological advantages it accumulated in its early years. However, with the rise of StarSource Technology, this advantage is gradually being eroded.

Sanjay leaned back on the soft single sofa and said lightly, "Do you have any logic? It's not hard to see from the price standard of Tiangong processors that Orange Technology is a chip company that follows the laws of market economy."

You keep saying you're worried Tiangong Technology will sell at a low price, but they haven't done that at all. You're using a non-existent market risk to negate a lithography machine manufacturer whose strength is no less than ASML's. Aren't you afraid that they'll completely overturn the table and sell their lithography machines all over the world?

"Flip the table?" Paul curled his lip, seemingly disdainful, but he couldn't think of a rebuttal.

"Stop arguing! I imagine the Business Association is also discussing this matter. Let's wait for instructions from above."

Nvidia's Jensen Huang offered his advice.

“Jensen is right. There’s no point in arguing now. We should wait for news from the association.”

Intel's Brian immediately chimed in, giving himself a way out.

The meeting ended unhappily.

While most semiconductor companies in North America are hostile to StarSource Technology, quite a few also want to cooperate with it.

From a macro perspective, since they all belong to the North American Semiconductor Association, they should, on the surface, be united in their opposition and join forces to suppress StarSource Technology.

From a micro perspective, each company has its own different interests and considerations.

Even brothers can fall out, let alone companies that are not affiliated with each other.

Sang Jie left the club, got into his luxury car, and then took out his phone to call Chen Yansen.

at the same time.

6501 Dren Street, Eindhoven.

Asma's CEO, Peter, stared blankly at an investigation report.

He doesn't understand!

How did China manage to build a 220-watt EUV lithography machine under technological blockade?
What he found most unacceptable was that ASML's NXE 3300B lithography machine, in terms of both power and production efficiency, was inferior to StarSource Technology's Dawn A220.

Moreover, just by looking at the name Dawn A220, you can tell that the other party is making no attempt to hide it, as if they are afraid that people do not know the power level of this device.

This is absolutely provocative!

He thought for a moment, picked up the internal phone, and ordered in a deep voice: "Pass down the word that there will be an emergency meeting of the core members of the EUV project team in one hour."

Also, please connect me with JSR and TOK, as well as the CEO of Dow Chemical in the US, and invite them for a video call as soon as possible.

the other side.

On a quiet day, in the core laboratory of JSR Corporation, Chief Scientist Hiroshi Yamamoto is personally operating instruments to test a batch of high-purity photoresist samples that have just come off the production line.

The assistant walked in quietly and whispered a few words in his ear.

Yamamoto Hiroshi paused in his movements, slowly straightened up, removed his goggles, and asked incredulously, "Has the news been confirmed?"

"After cross-verification through multiple channels, they have indeed made a breakthrough in the entire technology chain of EUV lithography machines."

The assistant nodded in response.

A country that can independently develop atomic bombs and space stations seems to have no problem with lithography machines either.

Hiroshi Yamamoto frowned and muttered a curse under his breath.

Even the most advanced lithography process in China is only 28 nanometers, but China has actually built an EUV lithography machine that can support 7-nanometer processes. This is a leading level that far exceeds the current industry average!

"The president wants you to go to the conference room," the assistant reminded him.

JSR Corporation is also considering whether to supply photoresist and developer to Star Source Technology.

Similar conversations are playing out repeatedly in the conference rooms, private clubs, and overseas phone calls of major semiconductor giants around the world.

To accept or to suppress?

Everyone was pondering.

(End of this chapter)