Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 288 The Russians Want to Buy 8086 Made in the East
United States District Court, Northern District of California, Silicon Valley.

"What? You've decided not to take this case?" Grove's voice rose several decibels, filled with anger and skepticism: "Why? How much did the Easterners pay you? We at Intel will pay double!"

So-called law is nothing more than a game of money. Those in high positions are well aware of this. The court was initially very supportive of Intel, but after sending someone to the East, their tone changed upon their return.

How is this going?

Grove knew perfectly well that this was definitely a bribe!

You actually accepted bribes from Easterners to protect their interests! You've gone too far! You're still being supported by taxpayers!
"Grove, calm down. This matter is not as simple as you think. You Intel people only see the technological aspect, not the political aspect."

"Politics? What politics?"

“Pascal, why don’t you tell Mr. Grove about this trip to the East?”

Pascal gave a complex account of what had happened in the East, while Grove's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Damn it, how could the Easterners do this? We Americans are helping them fight against the enemy in the North, and they're actually aiding the enemy? If they sell Loongson chips to the Soviet Union, then the Soviets will use weapons equipped with Loongson chips to attack them!"

Grove may not understand politics, but he can still explain this simple truth.

"Ah, Grove, you don't understand. The easing of relations between the West and the East is only a matter of the last few years. Before, the East was always calling the Soviet Union 'Big Brother.'" The Chief Justice began, "The world situation is full of ups and downs, and it's normal for things to change. The Soviet Union was their enemy before, but it's not impossible that they will become friends in the future. In that case, we, the United States, will become their enemy. Do you... understand?"

Simply put, the East needs to be appeased! We can only go along with the East's ideas; if we confront the East head-on, we're pushing the East to the Soviet side!
"This is just a small competition in the field of technology. We compete with Europe and island nations, but we haven't seen these countries clamoring to switch sides," Grove said, puzzled.

"Do we have troops stationed in these countries, or in the East?"

That one sentence silenced Grove.

He originally thought the matter was simple: file a lawsuit to prevent Loongson from appearing in the US market, so that their 286 processors could still occupy the market and give Intel a break. Moreover, once customers got used to Loongson, it would be difficult to switch back to the Intel platform.

But now, this matter has become politically intertwined, and even at the White House, people will think it over carefully and then make a compromise, not daring to anger the Easterners.

In other words, Intel's plan has failed!

damn it!
If they can't stop Loongson from going public, then they can only hurry up and develop the 386 processor. They have to catch up with Loongson and do it before Loongson 2 appears!

There is no other way but to achieve involution!

Grove left the courthouse with a complicated expression. Just as he was about to get into his car, he saw a familiar Cadillac pull up, and IBM engineer Skyri got out.

"Skelly, what... what are you doing here?" Grove already guessed what was going on, but he still had to be polite.

“We’ve heard that someone is trying to sabotage Loongson. Wouldn’t that mean all the huge R&D investments IBM has already made would go down the drain? We need to come to the court to negotiate as soon as possible. Loongson was developed entirely independently by Easterners, and no Western engineers were involved in its development. So… those accusations are completely fabricated.”

Skyry’s words were tinged with disdain: “Some companies, when they are at a disadvantage in market competition, start to think of crooked ways. That’s not good. We, the Blue Giant, will never cooperate with such companies.”

Grove stumbled.

Their goal was to prevent Loongson from entering the US market in order to regain market share from companies like IBM. However, it now appears to be a complete blunder. Not only did it fail, but it also offended these computer manufacturers.

The architecture is completely different. Research and development takes time and requires a large investment of funds. If Loongson is banned from accessing the market, all their money and time will be wasted, and their dissatisfaction is understandable.

Even with the obstruction of these manufacturers, Intel's conspiracy will be thwarted!

"Impossible, impossible, this must be a misunderstanding, Skyley. We at Intel have always competed fairly and squarely, and we would never resort to such tactics."

"Grove, I didn't say it was you, so why did you admit it?"

"I, I, I..." Grove blushed deeply.

"Grove, keep it up. As long as you can produce a processor like Loongson, we still have a chance to cooperate." Skiri changed the subject after he felt he had given enough of a pep talk.

You can't speak with absolutes. We might actually cooperate again in the future. After all, Intel is still the leader.

"Good, good, good!"

Grove got into the car with mixed feelings. As soon as the car pulled out of the intersection, he saw a familiar sports car across the street with its roof open. He could see the person inside, and it was... Steve Jobs. This guy was also on his way to court!
This plan has completely fallen through!
The other side of the world, Ermao, Kyiv, Kvazar semiconductor factory.

"The 3.2-micron process is too advanced for us. Currently, the yield rate of our products is less than one in a thousand!" said Ratshev, the chief engineer in charge of technology, his face full of helplessness.

He held an 8086 chip that had finally passed the test in his hand, his face filled with utter dejection.

They're so outdated! Their technology is really so outdated!

"Even one in a thousand is acceptable. At least one in a thousand will be qualified. This is the pride of our factory. We'll report the good news to Moscow right away. We've successfully mass-produced the 8086 chip!" Factory manager Alexander said calmly, "Our factory will definitely receive an award from Moscow for this achievement!"

Ratshev's expression was complex. The entire Soviet Union was permeated with the same atmosphere: it would be a miracle if the semiconductor industry could even develop!

When it comes to the development of electronic technology, laymen often say that the Russians followed the path of vacuum tubes, while the West followed the path of transistors and integrated circuits, therefore, the Russians fell behind.

This statement is purely a wild guess based on a lack of understanding of the inside story.

This history begins with World War II. When the war ended, Germany was partitioned, the United States took away its talent, and the Soviet Union took away its equipment. The famous Zeiss was one of those partitioned companies. After arriving in the United States, they were used by Fairchild Camera to produce several thousand eyepieces. Fairchild Camera later founded the famous Fairchild Semiconductor.

When the Americans started developing semiconductors, the Soviet Union wasn't much slower. The Soviet Union developed the first transistor, only a few weeks later than the United States. By 1957, transistor radios were entering ordinary households. That same year, the world's first artificial satellite was launched, and it used transistors.

In 1962, the Soviet Union created multiple transistors on a germanium semiconductor, which was the prototype of the integrated circuit.

In 1963, the Soviet Union decided to build a city called Zelenograd on the outskirts of Moscow. This city was built specifically for the research and development of semiconductors, and it became the Soviet Union's Silicon Valley!
Who dares to say that the Soviet Union only knew how to miniaturize vacuum tubes?

In the same year, the Soviet KGB established Bureau T, which was dedicated to acquiring equipment and technology from the West. In Silicon Valley alone, more than sixty people were stationed there to directly steal chips!

However... Under the Soviet system, any technological development was closely related to the project leader. When the person in charge of vacuum tubes had the upper hand, the development of transistors was greatly affected. More importantly, a clique-like trend formed from top to bottom made them ambitious and eager to achieve quick success. They only knew how to report good news and suppressed bad news. Moreover, various infighting was constant.

No one is doing down-to-earth research and development, let alone keeping up with the pace of Moore's Law.

Now, with a pass rate of only one in a thousand, their factory is already making grandiose plans to report it!
"Factory manager, what should we do if we are given a large production quota from above?"

“There will be a way!” Alexander said, extending his hand. “Give me our qualified chips, and I’ll go to Moscow right now!”

Ratshev was filled with worry, but there was nothing he could do but watch the factory manager leave.

Moscow.

"Excellent, excellent! Our Soviet Union has finally developed a microprocessor!" Shokin, Chairman of the Soviet Radio Electronics Committee, exclaimed excitedly upon seeing the processor: "This is a great achievement! It's a perfect gift to the October Revolution!"

“Yes, our Soviet Union is currently facing a severe shortage of electronic computers. Importing them from abroad would cost us precious foreign exchange. Now that we have them, the next step is mass production! Your Kvazar factory, produce 100,000 units first and send them to the radio factory in Moscow, where we will assemble them into computers!” said Yuri, the semiconductor expert.

Alexander's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm: "No problem! Please assign the task to us!"

At this point, could he say that the yield rate was only one in a thousand? Of course not! If he said that, he would definitely be questioned by his superiors, and all the honors he received would be forfeited!
Let's take over the tasks first; we'll talk about production when we get back!
With a yield rate of one in a thousand, if they want to produce 100,000 units, they would need a production capacity of... hundreds of millions? That... that won't work either. Their factory's monthly output is at most one thousand units; producing one qualified processor a month is already considered good.

This……

Although Alexander appeared calm on the surface, he was inwardly panicking.

Thump, thump, thump… hurried footsteps sounded outside. “I heard we’ve successfully replicated the 8086 processor? Our Kronrod Labs needs advanced computers. Our domestic supercomputers are seriously outdated. We hope to use a large number of 8086 processors to build a chess game simulation platform. The chess calculations on this platform will be much more intelligent…”

The AI ​​that would later become famous was already in its infancy during the Soviet era. The Kronrod Laboratory was researching this field, and making computers play chess was essentially about enabling computers to think independently!
"How much do you want?"

"Ideally, we'd like... ten thousand yuan. We hope to own a supercomputer..."

"This……"

“Crownrod Laboratory is one of our key laboratories for electronic technology, and this request can be met!” Xiao Jin nodded.

Tap tap tap... Another person ran in.

"Our S-300 project requires advanced processors..."

When Alexander stepped out of the office building, he just wanted to cry. The cost had skyrocketed to over 200,000! There was no way they could produce that much!
How to do how to do?
Alexander wandered aimlessly through the streets and unknowingly came to the door of a tavern. Without thinking, he pushed open the door and went inside.

"Give me a bottle of vodka."

"No, two bottles."

Alexander turned his head and saw someone who looked...somewhat familiar.

"Drozdorf? Aren't you in East Germany?"

"I was in East Germany. I'm back to report on my work. Are you... here to report on your work too?"

"Yes, our factory has developed a new chip, the same as Intel's 8086, but with a higher clock speed. It's the culmination of our most advanced technology..." Alexander continued to boast in front of his friends.

"Oh, really? But, my friend, the 8086 is no longer advanced. Intel has developed the 80286 chip, which reportedly has a clock speed of 20 MHz. However, that still can't compare to the Loongson from the East. The Loongson's clock speed, especially the high-performance ones, can reach 40 MHz..."

Alexander immediately became depressed.

The 8086 has a main frequency of 4.77 MHz. The copy they made can run stably at 8 MHz, which they think is very powerful. In reality, it is far inferior to similar Western products. It can't even compare to the United States, let alone the East.

"How can Eastern chips be so powerful?"

"Oh, I heard they started out as imitation manufacturers, initially copying the 8086, and had a very high production capacity..."

Alexander's eyes suddenly lit up.

Production capacity!

What they lack now is production capacity! They can't possibly produce these orders of over 200,000 yuan. They can only secretly buy them from abroad. Western ones are too expensive, but Eastern ones are acceptable. However... what can they use to buy them?

We didn't have any money. In the Soviet Union, foreign exchange was very tight. Every year, we had to spend a lot of foreign exchange to buy grain. Sometimes, when we didn't have enough foreign exchange, we even had to use our gold reserves!
So, the next question is how to solve the money problem!
"Drozdorf, you...you're in East Germany, could you exchange our rubles for dollars?"

The Soviet Union had a planned economy. To produce something, you had to issue a production plan and allocate funds. If they were to produce processors at the Kvazar factory, they had to be paid. Moreover, since they had made a great contribution this time, they should be able to ask for an extra sum of money.

With this money, we could buy chips internationally... right?
"If you don't go through the official channels, the exchange rate on the black market will be very low, around 1 US dollar to 1 ruble."

This 1:1 exchange rate seems high, but in reality, it's still a disadvantage compared to the official rate. In the early 80s, 1 US dollar could only be exchanged for 0.6 rubles, and the ruble was very strong at that time!

However, these official exchange rates are just for reference. These fixed exchange rates are set by the government and do not reflect real purchasing power. In the East at this time, 1 US dollar was only equivalent to 1.5 RMB.

The only place that reflects the true exchange rate is the black market; you'd be lucky if 3 RMB could be exchanged for 1 USD.

Kvazar factory couldn't get foreign exchange and had to resort to the black market, which was very disadvantageous. The funds allocated from above for producing 200,000 processors were planned at 200 rubles per processor. After the change, they might only be able to buy 100,000 or even 50,000 8086 processors. This hole would be impossible to plug!
"Do you want to buy things on the international market?" Drozdov asked.

"Yes, we..."

"Come on, drink!"

After downing a bottle of vodka, Alexander stopped hiding his true feelings and started saying whatever came to mind.

"So, you're saying you can't meet your production targets and want to buy a batch of 8086 processors from international suppliers?"

"Yes, this trouble is really serious..."

"No problem, buddy, your business is my business. Come with me to Europe, I'll help you make the arrangements!"

"Can you find the seller?"

“Yes, Pacific Trading Company. Doing business with them is very easy. You wouldn’t believe it, we already bought goods from them that were under embargo in Batumi last time…”

"Really? That's wonderful! Take me there right away!"

"No rush, let's have another drink. Cheers!"

Drozdorf raised his glass.

It was already October, and the weather in Europe was getting cooler, but the Pacific Trading Company's office was still bustling with activity.

Yang Duo'er stood at the window of her third-floor office, looking outside. At the entrance of the building, guests were coming and going in an endless stream!
and many more!

Why are there familiar faces here?

A few minutes later.

"Mr. Yang, Mr. Drozdov requests an audience!"

"Invite him in!"

"Yang, it's a pleasure to meet you. Let me introduce you. This is my friend Alexander. He came from Kiev and wants to purchase a large quantity of 8086 processors manufactured in your country. I wonder... if you could offer a suitable price?"

“Mr. Drozdorf, we in the East do not have the 8086 processor, we only have Loongson.”

what?
What does this mean?
Intel is looking for clues from the East, and they certainly can't expose the 8086 processor they've copied!

“Yang, please trust us, we will not provide Intel with any evidence, we…”

“We really don’t have any 8086 processors, but if you need them, we can purchase them from a third party and ship them directly to your Soviet ports.”

Drozdorf was overjoyed: "Alright, thank you for your hard work, and regarding the price..."

"These processors are very cheap; if you purchase them in bulk, they'll only cost $88 each. Moreover, we can customize different packages and paint different logos according to customer needs, saving customers the work of grinding and repainting."

This woman seems to know everything?

"Okay, we'll take 50,000 yuan first!" Alexander was overjoyed. This was much cheaper than they had expected, and they would even make a profit!

　PS: This computer was a Soviet copy of the 8086 and assembled from it; it looks very similar to the Apple II.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)