Rebirth of the Tech Madman

Seeing that Cao Xingcheng, who was unwilling to reconcile, had a clear understanding, Tang Huan nodded appreciatively, If you can understand that this is a general trend, then it will be easy to handle. At least UMC can remain invincible.

Wafer foundry is a concept paired with fabless semiconductor companies. They separate the vertical operation mode that integrates traditional semiconductor manufacturing and design. costs and risks.

In fact, the need for this kind of industrial division of labor began to take shape in the 1970s.

For example, when Federico Fagin left Intel and designed the microprocessor z80 to compete with the intel 8080, he went to Intel's competitor, mostec, for tape-out; After the classic low-cost microprocessor mos6502 was released, the initial stage was to find other semiconductor companies to manufacture it.

After all, when a group of smart people get together and work hard to come up with an intellectual achievement, it usually doesn't cost much, but semiconductor factories need a lot of real money, and it is very difficult for technical elites to raise funds.

In the 1980s, especially after Fangyuan personal computer was born and ibm-pc joined the battle group, because these personal computer platforms had a friendly and open attitude on third-party function expansion cards, they created quite attractive business opportunities invisibly. ——Electronic engineers organize a small team, optimistic about the market demand, and can design a popular functional chip.

The emergence and rise of ibm-pc compatible machines has added a bundle of dry firewood to the general development trend of this industry.

On the basis of ibm's technology, after optimization, the ibm-pc motherboard compatible chip launched has stronger performance and lower cost, making ibm-pc compatible machines extremely competitive in the market; This in turn drove demand for such compatible chips.

Gordon Campbell, who left the semiconductor company seeq invested by Tang Huan, became the most famous concept proposer of the fabless semiconductor company-wafer foundry model, and he created the fabless semiconductor company in accordance with the model ChipsandTechnologies is c\u0026t company, which designs ibm-pc compatible chips and independent display chips. It is quite successful and can be described as the hero behind the ibm-pc camp.

When Cao Xingcheng went to the United States this time, what he felt was that fabless semiconductor companies are in the ascendant, and the prospect of the foundry market is becoming increasingly clear. Zhang Zhongmou, who has served in Texas Instruments for more than 20 years, obviously saw this earlier and won the trust and support of Baodao officials.

It must be admitted that Cao Xingcheng at this stage is indeed younger than Zhang Zhongmou.

Starting from intel80386, Intel has not issued second-party licenses for third-party microprocessors. Our compatible cpu products are likely to stop at the intel80286 generation. Cao Xingcheng smiled wryly, Lianhua Electronics How far we can go in the vertical operation model depends on Mr. Tang’s support: Even if UMC shifts to the direction of wafer foundry, your side will definitely be the largest customer.”

The head of UMC, the meaning in his words is very obvious. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. must treat TSMC as its own son. The richest man should not be in the way of affection, and his strategy is inclined to the other party, and he forgets to cooperate with UMC. Love for many years.

Old Cao, do you think my supply chain has balanced supply and demand? Tang Huan laughed, Although I also have my own semiconductor factory, and after getting off the plane, Yu Guohua helped TSMC to say hello in advance, but I still need more Semiconductor manufacturing capabilities at reasonable prices. Take the vcd, a brand new consumer electronics product that I am working on. Once it seizes the market, the demand for related chips will explode. So, don’t worry, at least in the future within a few years,

Including Lianhua Electronics and TSMC, I can completely squeeze out your production capacity.

Of course I believe what Mr. Tang said. Cao Xingcheng turned to probe and said, I don't know, how is the research on the 0.8 micron process technology going?

In order to obtain a microprocessor with powerful performance, Tang Huan spared no expense in the semiconductor process and worked hard. First, he achieved the industry-leading 1.5-micron process, and then took less than two years to achieve the world's first 1-micron process. , is now striding forward to develop a 0.8-micron process.

The reason why Fangyuan supercomputers, Fangyuan servers, Fangyuan workstations, and Fangyuan personal computers with more diverse types of microprocessors using risc-based microprocessor holders are so popular with high-end customers is first of all thanks to the advanced technology. High performance, and then an excellent software system based on it.

Strictly speaking, Tang Huan's semiconductor factory has provided foundry services for a long time, but it mainly produces high-end CPUs with operating frequencies above 20mhz for Motorola's mc68000 series and Intel's intel80386 series, and basically digests them all If it is lost, it is extremely difficult to appear in the retail market, and the typical fertilizer does not flow to outsiders.

UMC's 1.5-micron process was introduced from Tang Huan.

There is an invisible rule here, that is, it is relatively easy to introduce the next generation of technology on Baodao, but it will be many times more difficult to introduce the most advanced technology at the same time-it is not that Tang Huan is in the way, this is how the game is played .

Of course, mainland China can’t even enjoy this level of treatment. The semiconductor factory that Tang Huan brought to the past had a technology of 3 microns in the mid-1970s.

Of course, Tang Huan understood the reason why Cao Xingcheng asked this question. The other party planned to introduce a 1-micron process one step ahead, forming a crushing trend for TSMC, which is still in its infancy.

If all goes well, the 0.8-micron process can be put into commercial use in the second half of next year. Tang Huan gave the other party's answer without hesitation, I personally agree to export the most advanced 1-micron process to Baodao, but You are going to lobby the authorities and fight for it when negotiating with the United States.

The U.S. raised the exchange rates of the currencies of Japan and West Germany against the U.S. dollar. Taiwan, which mainly relies on exports to the U.S. to develop an export-oriented economy, naturally couldn’t stand alone, and was pressured by the U.S. to appreciate the Taiwan dollar.

There is definitely no resistance on Baodao, but it should be possible to ask for some compensation such as the relaxation of export controls.

Cao Xingcheng, who got the advice, showed joy on his face, I'll start the operation right now.

I have a little suggestion. Tang Huan said casually: The 3-micron process semiconductor factory of UMC is no longer worth much. It is better to eliminate it in Funan and help lay an industrial foundation there.

Cao Xingcheng knew that Tang Huan was attracting business for that poor place in Funan, so of course he wanted to give this kind favor. He nodded happily and said, Of course there is no problem. I will arrange some personnel to provide training services.

...

At this stage, UMC has a pivotal position in Taiwan, but it is not enough to go out. It still has very little voice in the world's semiconductor industry map.

Especially after the Japan-US semiconductor agreement was reached and the various Japanese semiconductor companies that were required to stop dumping DRAMs to the United States, they will definitely start to reap the results-jointly control the price of the international semiconductor memory market. ,

In order to avoid being slaughtered by Little Japan at will, Tang Huan needs to find more semiconductor companies to enter the supply chain to cut peaks and flat valleys, and it is not enough to have only one UMC. He set his sights on the backing of Samsung Group of Samsung Electronics.

Just as Tang Huan was leaving for South Korea, preparing to encourage Samsung and even the entire South Korean chaebol to follow the example of Japan and catch up in semiconductor memory with capital advantages, the annual Forbes 400 Rich List in the United States was announced. .

Tang Huan continued to sit at the top of the list, which is no longer news. What shocked the world was the newly released figure—US$36.6 billion.

Forbes has been calculating and ranking the personal net worth of America's richest people since 1982, and this year is already the sixth year. Naturally, the techniques are getting better and better every year, and the statistical results are becoming more and more rigorous.

Take this time as an example, among Tang Huan's bright assets, the part outside the United States was finally excavated by Forbes, and then superimposed to produce a record high, crushing Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's 8 billion Dollars several times.

Of course, the source of income that contributed the most to Tang Huan's personal wealth is Fangyuan Computer Company, which has the highest market value in the world. Wall Street's pursuit of it is absolutely no worse than that of Apple decades later in time and space, and its market value has exceeded 90 billion US dollars.

This level is still a long way from the records set by giants such as ibm and AT\u0026T in history. Therefore, investors generally predict optimistically that the stock price of Fangyuan Computer Company still has considerable room for growth. After all, This emerging Silicon Valley company is extremely stable, and its advantages in the industry are obvious to all.

Tang Huan, who personally holds 25% of the shares in Fangyuan Computer Company, directly took away more than 20 billion US dollars.

Another obvious source of revenue is EA. When the North American video game market was the most prosperous, it was a popular fried chicken with sales reaching billions of dollars and a market value touted as high as tens of billions of dollars.

Tang Huan, who personally holds 40% of the shares, has used this wave of market conditions to cash out a lot.

However, after the collapse of the home video game market in North America, all companies involved in the video game field, including EA, were hit hard. The worst ones turned into ashes, went bankrupt and disappeared, and the lightest ones were assets shrinking and vitality— —ea belongs to the latter.

Tang Huan, who still has confidence in the video game industry, supported EA with great fanfare in the capital market. The shareholding ratio, which had been greatly reduced, broke through 50% in one fell swoop, which greatly maintained the stability of all aspects .

Now, this hard work has finally paid off - the North American video game market has recovered strongly. EA, the world's largest video game company, has re-entered the range of more than 10 billion US dollars in market value, contributing a strong contribution to its owner, Tang Huan. Strong wealth numbers.

Tang Huan's third largest source of wealth is the billions of dollars of overseas investment newly discovered by Forbes, the most typical representative of which is Xiangjiang's Qinhe family.

Compared with these financial resources, although some industries in Hollywood are eye-catching, the share they contribute is much eclipsed.

Tang Huan's net worth of US$36.6 billion has naturally been interpreted by the media in various ways. Among them, the most straightforward statements are 365 days a year, 100 million a day, exceeding the annual GDP of many countries in the world. etc.

This wave of clamor has greatly affected the US mid-term elections in which California high-speed rail is used as a political bargaining chip.

The supporters of the California high-speed rail are vigorously advertising in newspapers, television and other media-100 million a day, don't be convinced, we can complete this project on our own.

Generally speaking, the Republican Party opposes the California High Speed ​​Rail, and the Democrats support the California High Speed ​​Rail.

As a result, when the bargaining chip of the California high-speed rail became impossible for anyone to lift, the politicians who were about to be smashed to the ground also panicked, and many of them had their mouths swollen and their words flashed trying to change their positions speculators. △≧miào.*bi(.*)gé△≧,

As the ostensible general manager of the California high-speed rail project, Jerry Brown has even more limelight than when he was governor of California.

In the process of fighting for federal appropriations in the U.S. Congress, Jerry Brown repeatedly emphasized that the California high-speed rail does not only benefit California, but is of great significance to the entire United States.

After the 100 million a day campaign was vigorously launched, Jerry Brown briefed the media that California will make a final decision on the California high-speed rail project in early October, hoping that the two houses of Congress will also end the quarrel and make a decision as soon as possible.

Some media commentators pointed out: The rampage of the 100 million a day advertisement actually announced that the main obstacle in the way of the California high-speed rail project - the funding problem, has been labeled as a sick cat. Next, everyone's pragmatic attitude should be to sit together calmly and discuss how to share risks and benefits on this project. If the Republican Party is still obsessed with the voting promises of opponents of the California high-speed rail project such as aviation, roads, and cars, the fate of the midterm elections in early November may be worrying.

...

Tang Huan, who was in Asia, just stood behind the scenes and quietly observed the performance of various dramas. His attitude is still the same - whoever agrees, I will support whoever!

At this time, the richest man is already on his way to South Korea. Seoul is about to hold the 10th Asian Games, so it has temporarily become the center of Asia, and it is very lively.