Siheyuan: I have a multi-dimensional chat group!

The market share of domestically produced cars has increased significantly every year.

Among them, Taishan has seen the fastest growth, especially with the launch of the Aurora high-end electric vehicle this summer.

Not only does it have a range of 800 kilometers, but it also features many intelligent functions such as emergency braking and automatic parking.

It became an instant hit as soon as it was released, with orders booked up for six months in advance.

Sales of other electric vehicles were lackluster.

In late 16, the US underwent a leadership change, and the first thing the new leader did was to add Taishan Group to the sanctions list, prohibiting all US companies from selling any products to Taishan.

The release of this sanctions list caused an uproar worldwide.

Taishan Group is a true behemoth, involved not only in mobile phones but also in many core components of mobile phones.

Moreover, the core components of Mount Tai are among the best in the world.

Green Palace.

The moment the US issued the ban, many high-tech executives came to us.

"Sir, could you please remove Mount Tai from the Entity List?"

"Give me a reason."

"Your Excellency, Taishan now possesses many core technologies, all of which have reached the world's top level. For example, many core components for mobile phones, you not only prohibit them from entering the US, but also prohibit US companies from purchasing them. If we don't purchase some of these components, our products will not reach the world's top level. We will not be able to compete with the world's top level and can only produce some mid-range products."

The leader of the United States fell silent. He hadn't expected that simply sanctioning Taishan Group would cause so much trouble.

"You can find other ways, but if I don't impose sanctions now, I'm afraid it will be even harder to restrain the Taishan Group in the future! Taishan is now a behemoth, and few companies can compare to it in terms of sheer size. This time, not only will the US impose sanctions domestically, but all companies worldwide with US investment will also be subject to sanctions. From now on, there will be no more Taishan mobile phones, and chip foundries will no longer manufacture for them. Without the profits from finished mobile phones, Taishan's profits will inevitably drop significantly. You must also work hard to surpass Taishan's core component research center in various parts and components. If they can't manufacture mobile phones and gradually fall behind in core components, Taishan will soon collapse, and our biggest threat will be solved."

However, none of those present were fools; they knew things might not be that simple.

Xiao Shan is known as the greatest strategist of the early 20th century.

The announcement of sanctions by the United States instantly shocked the world.

These include many regulations, such as prohibiting all companies in which the United States holds shares from cooperating with the other party.

Taishan Group had long anticipated this, and apart from chips, it had virtually no US stake in any of its supply chains.

The internet was abuzz with discussion.

"This is a case of 'the US can't afford to play the game and flip the table.' Doesn't the US advocate free trade? They can't afford to play this game."

"I remember at an entrepreneurs' conference in Xiaoshan a few years ago, someone said that the so-called free trade and global division of labor were nothing more than commercial barriers erected by developed countries. Now that Taishan has gradually grown stronger, the so-called free trade has disappeared in an instant, replaced by sanctions and all kinds of encirclement and suppression."

"Xiao Sheng is truly amazing; he saw through the various conspiracies and schemes of developed countries many years ago."

"I don't know if Taishan can overcome this difficulty. Taishan Group's only weakness is chip manufacturing. Its core components are all world-leading, so there is no concern about shipment volume. But if chip manufacturing is restricted, many of Taishan's industries will be severely damaged."

"Taishan's chip manufacturing is largely outsourced to Taipower, which was entirely supported by the United States."

……

The internet was abuzz with discussion. Soon after, Taipower issued a statement: "Taishan Group is a huge client of ours. We have negotiated with Green Palace multiple times, but have not achieved the desired results."

We can only express our regret. When this year's contract expires, we will be prohibited from accepting chip orders from Taishan Group, which will be a huge loss for Taipower.

The release of Taipower's report has stirred up another controversy in Taiwan.

There are those who are pessimistic about Taishan Group, but there are also many who are encouraging Taishan Group.

In Xiaoshan's office, the top leader called immediately: "Mr. Xiao, if you need any help, just say the word. The country is a strong backing for us. Many people scoffed at your words before, but this sanctions incident has made some people wake up. The wolfish ambitions of developed countries have not changed over the years."

Xiao Shan smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, leader. We have already considered this situation. This year's chip orders have already been placed. Unless Taipower can compensate us with a large amount of liquidated damages, we can only deliver the chips. Over the years, Taishan has also stockpiled a lot of chips, enough for one or two years. Our semiconductor R&D center is also making rapid progress. It is estimated that it will be able to break the foreign monopoly in a few years. Please rest assured, leader, that the sanctions imposed by the United States have had little effect on us. It is only the loss of the American market that has caused us some losses, but it is also a loss for them."

The senior leader also breathed a sigh of relief: "Now that Xiao Sheng is confident, we can rest assured."

The next day, Xiao Shan went to the semiconductor research and development center.

The massive chip factory has been gradually perfected, and over the years, the optical research center has made significant breakthroughs.

Most of the lenses and light sources needed for the lithography factory have been assembled, and it should be completed this year.

Professor Wu is not young either; he is a few years older than Xiao Shan and is over seventy years old this year.

"Mr. Xiao, we've all seen the US sanctions list. As expected, you had foresight, deciding to invest in the chip industry early on. If our lithography factory moves quickly enough, we can produce our first batch of chips this year."

Xiao Shan smiled and said, "No rush. We have enough chips this year. Let's continue to improve them and try to make them as perfect as possible. At the same time, we'll produce a batch of chips to check the yield rate and usage."

Professor Wu nodded and smiled, "Once the lithography factory is fully completed, I will also retire. Mr. Xiao should know that I am already over seventy years old this year. Now I can only work for a short time, and I will mainly be in charge of the general direction. The specific details are handled by the staff below."

Xiao Shan nodded and agreed to Professor Wu's request: "I'm not young anymore, but Taishan has a huge business, and many of the technologies involved are core technologies. Professor Wu knows the value of these technologies. I don't know how many people at home and abroad are watching it. I'm always worried about leaving Jingyan to keep an eye on things alone."

Professor Wu nodded in understanding.

Chapter 816, Shameless America! (Please subscribe!)

The release of the US sanctions list also startled domestic mobile phone manufacturers.

However, many people have begun to carefully examine the US announcement and found that it did not prohibit products containing core components of Taishan Group from entering the US market, which has led many companies to consider testing the waters.

Moreover, the global market is so vast, and Taishan's core components are extremely competitive.

As long as we sell less to the US, other countries will welcome Taishan's electronic products, mainly because they are cost-effective.

Just two months after the sanctions list was announced, a US chip design company announced a price increase for its chips.

Previously, only Taishan's chips were highly competitive worldwide, and it was also the first group to launch a smartphone.

Taishan's designed chips immediately became the first choice for many companies.

However, with Taishan being sanctioned by the US, Taipower will no longer be able to manufacture chips for Taishan next year, and other companies will have to buy chips designed by the US.

The relevant prices rose by 15%, and many mobile phone manufacturers complained but had no way to stop it.

A single chip has caused problems for countless companies.

Emerging domestic mobile phone manufacturers also plan to invest in chips, but the investment is too large and the results are too slow, requiring too much talent.

Even with the size of Mount Tai, it has taken many years of development for chip design to reach where it is today.

Chip manufacturing is even more difficult.

Since the US issued its announcement, Taishan has not issued a response.

Today, the first announcement was issued: Taishan Group has purchased fifteen Mais lithography machines, which are expected to enable mass production of chips next year, fully meeting the chip demand.

This announcement attracted worldwide attention because it implied that the US sanctions were ineffective against Taishan, and that they would soon be able to mass-produce chips.

After understanding this, some netizens who support Mount Tai breathed a sigh of relief.

"I didn't expect Mr. Xiao's vision to be so advanced. I almost forgot that Taishan also has a semiconductor research center. This is a department that Taishan Group established when it entered the mainland. I heard that it has been investing money for many years, but has not seen any results. I didn't expect it to be waiting here."

"It seems that Mr. Xiao saw through the hypocrisy of the United States a long time ago. They tout free trade, but then they start sanctioning their competitors. I still remember Mr. Xiao's speech back then. I never thought his prediction would come true."

……

The announcement from Mount Tai quickly reached the ears of the Green Palace.

The US immediately contacted lithography machine manufacturer Mayer Machines, hoping they could help the US sanction Taishan Group and prohibit Taishan from using lithography machines purchased from Mayer Machines.

When Mays's superiors heard the request from the US, their eyes widened immediately.

Taishan Group signed a contract with them in this regard back then.

Regardless of what form of ban Mais imposes on Taishan's use of the lithography machines they purchased, they must repurchase them at three times the original purchase price.

Taishan demanded ten times the price back then, but Maiss did not agree, and they eventually settled on three times the price.

The thought of having to buy back the shares at three times the price gave the leaders of Mayer a headache, as they had demanded a high price from Taishan back then.

A single lithography machine costs $230 million, but if it were to be bought back, it would cost $690 million.

"President, we can't possibly pay for this ourselves, can we? It's the US that wants to sanction Taishan Group, not us at Mais. Since the US wants to sanction them, they should bear some of the losses. I think we can show the US the purchase contract we signed with Taishan; if they can get some money out of us, our losses will be smaller. This Taishan Group is really cunning; they probably anticipated this day. Aren't they just setting a trap for us?"

The CEO sighed, somewhat helplessly, "Who would have thought that the US would be such a sore loser? A global superpower actually personally sanctioning a corporation—it's unbelievable. Send our contract with Taishan to the US; they'll have to bear some of the losses. Let's see their reaction before issuing any further announcements targeting Taishan."

Fifteen lithography machines, a three-fold buyback would amount to over ten billion US dollars. The president of Maxwell is heartbroken; this wave of losses is enormous.

Even the leaders of the Green Palace and the United States did not expect that Taishan and Mays would sign such an agreement.

However, they could never compensate Mays. Even companies in the US haven't been compensated, so expecting a foreign company to compensate them is simply wishful thinking.

The request from Mayer was quickly rejected, and Mayer was asked to assist the US in sanctioning the Taishan Group.

There was nothing Mais could do about it. Although they produced the lithography machines, the technology behind them came from many developed countries.

It was only through the combined efforts of Europe and the United States that Maestro truly achieved its success. If they refuse the US's assistance and sanctions against Taishan, it is estimated that Maestro will not even be able to manufacture lithography machines next year.

Or he could be dismissed or fired.

"Contact Taishan Group. We plan to activate the triple buyback clause in the contract. We will also issue a notice, along with the contract details, as a response to the US sanctions."

"Okay, President."

Soon after, Maiss issued an announcement, informing Taishan of their repurchase plan.

Taishan Group and Xiaoshan remained unperturbed upon hearing that Mais had implemented the repurchase plan.

The purpose of releasing this information was to get Max to implement the buyback plan.

The US cannot stand by and watch Taishan break through in chip manufacturing. Since these lithography machines will be recycled sooner or later, it's better to let Maestro implement the buyback plan sooner.

More than 10 billion US dollars is also a considerable sum.

The announcement from Max quickly spread across the internet. Netizens, who had just been celebrating for a few years, never expected such a turn of events.

"Damn it, they don't even let us use the stuff we sold. But Taishan Group is smart; they offered to buy it back at three times the original price."

"Ten billion US dollars is a lot of money. Taishan has made a fortune this time. However, without the lithography machine, they can't manufacture chips. I wonder if we will still be able to see Taishan's mobile phones in the future."

"At least we can still see it this year or next year, but I don't know about the year after. Mount Tai should have some stock over the years, but I don't know how much."

"Today I truly witnessed the shamelessness of the United States. A superpower personally intervened to sanction a company. I have also witnessed the international influence of the United States."

"You think the annual revenue of over one trillion is just hype? If it weren't for this ban, Taishan's revenue would probably have exceeded two trillion. These are all high-tech products, which used to be the European and American markets, with the US holding a dominant position. Taishan's actions are like cutting flesh off the US; it's already good that they've tolerated it until now."

"That's a good saying. If you fall behind, you'll be bullied. A few years ago, we were lagging behind and wasted so much money buying advanced equipment from foreigners. Back then, they touted free trade and global division of labor, but as soon as Taishan rose to prominence, they personally entered the fray."

……

Amidst a flurry of online discussions, Taishan methodically proceeded with the return of the lithography machine to Mais and received the corresponding compensation.

Chapter 817, Acquisition Comes to Our Door! (Please Subscribe!)

At home, Xiao Jingshu is not young anymore, but she still has no plans to get married and stays at home, taking care of Xiao Shan and Ding Qiunan.

"Dad, you seem so calm, but this is going viral on the internet."

Xiao Shan said calmly, "It's alright, all of this was within my expectations! As for you, now is the best time for Weibo to transform. I advised you to separate live streaming and Weibo before, and now both companies are doing well. But text and pictures are too monotonous, and they don't add much value to bloggers."

Xiao Jingshu nodded and said, "Then Dad, what do you think should be done?"

"Switching to short videos is a good thing, as people's pace of life is gradually accelerating. You have to make use of fragmented time. Sometimes text and pictures are not clear enough, and videos are faster. Let people shoot short videos of ten or so seconds. They don't need long articles. Just take the essence of a story and make it into a video. Or shoot some short clips, extend them to twenty seconds, and post them online. These short videos are pushed based on big data. The platform controls the traffic. Bloggers can pay for traffic, or they can break through the traffic pool with novel and interesting content to gain traffic support."

"If managed well, this short video platform has the power to cause a sensation around the world. It's a real killer app, and you need to control it well. It would be best to introduce some large capital, or state-owned capital, to at least ensure the basic base in China. If the basic base is not lost, there are many possibilities."

Xiao Jingshu nodded, though she herself was unaware of the earth-shattering changes brought about by short videos.

However, Xiao Shan wasn't in a hurry. She would find out how powerful this thing was in a few years. It was a killer weapon for reaping people's entertainment time.

A person can spend an entire day scrolling through short videos without finding it boring.

A year has passed in the blink of an eye. Despite numerous setbacks, Taishan's products continue to sell well all over the world.

The company's annual revenue reached 1.6 trillion yuan, and its net profit reached more than 500 billion yuan.

In 2017, the Taishan Rocket Launch Center announced its rocket launch plan for the year, stating that it would launch its first reusable rocket in collaboration with the space agency, while also carrying ten near-Earth orbit communication satellites.

"How long can Taishan's chips last? Taishan's decline is inevitable. Without chip manufacturing, it will eventually be subject to sanctions and bans from the United States, and its decline is only a matter of time."

This is a report published in an American business newspaper, which spread around the world as soon as it was released.

"It is unbelievable that Mount Tai could not escape the fate of decline in the end."

"Lithography machines are extremely difficult to manufacture; they are high-end devices that require the combined efforts of scientists from all over the world. Taishan invested in lithography machines a long time ago, but there hasn't been much information about them over the years."

"It's a pity that we may not see Taishan's new phone again, and we may not be able to buy a cheap high-end phone anymore."

"Didn't you see that as soon as the US imposed sanctions on Taishan, foreign chip companies started raising prices?"

……