Jing Gao and Zhang Rujing, then a 70-year-old man, met in a distinctive hotel box in Zhangjiang.
In mid-April, the mid-spring night was only slightly cool. After the local dishes were served one after another, they were steaming hot on the big round table and filled with fragrance, whetting the appetites of everyone in the box.
On Jing Gao's side, he, Liu Sumei, Dong Youwei, Cheng Yu and Guan Yujia participated. Zhang Rujing brought an assistant, Ms. Wang Yan.
Everyone chatted casually, and the atmosphere at the dinner table was quite harmonious, chatting and laughing.
Jing Gao knows why? Because he and Zhang Rujing have a common language. This is completely different from his meeting with Jiang Shangyi in the morning. The meeting in the morning was purely business.
Zhang Rujing applied for early retirement in 1997 from Texas Instruments, where he had worked for 20 years, and returned to Baodao to found Shida Semiconductor. Two or three years later, it occupied one-third of TSMC's production capacity and was immediately acquired by TSMC.
This opened the curtain of grievances between him and Zhang Zhongmou. At that time, there were rumors in the world that Zhang Zhong conspired with the major shareholders of World Semiconductor to launch an acquisition of World Semiconductor when Zhang Rujing was unprepared.
Regarding this rumor, Zhang Rujing refuted it many times, and he participated in the entire negotiation. In the end, TSMC paid 8.5 times the stock price of Shida Semiconductor at the time to complete the acquisition.
But taste it carefully.
Assuming that Zhang Rujing had not sold Shida Semiconductor, twenty years later, even if Shida Semiconductor could not catch up with TSMC's position in the chip foundry field, could it still catch up with UMC? Is this not just a premium of 8.5 times?
Moreover, as a manager, the boss of Shida Semiconductor, he resigned after being acquired. From a powerful semiconductor boss to a technician with nothing, do you think this is good?
It's nothing more than TSMC bullying the small ones and annexing World Semiconductor at a premium. This is a conspiracy, it's obvious! What are the consequences of Shida Semiconductor's refusal to acquire? Look at Zhang Moumou's style of doing things. As long as someone threatens him, he will launch a legal battle!
With a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other, World Semiconductor’s shareholders and employees all know how to choose. Of course, Shida Semiconductor's shareholders did not lose, and received generous returns on their investment. When employees join larger companies, their future pensions will be guaranteed.
The only loser is Zhang Rujing!
In 2000, Zhang Rujing went north to the mainland to build a factory and received warm welcome and attention. The old gentleman’s patriotism is respectable! You know, how poor domestic semiconductor technology was in 2000!
Foreign capital makes money when it comes in. Who brings technology to the country here? This is not called patriotism, what is it?
Zhang Rujing lived up to expectations and summoned about 300 semiconductor engineers, mostly from his old departments at Texas Instruments and World Semiconductor, to go north to quickly improve China's semiconductor technology from four generations behind the world's top level to only one generation behind.
SMIC has become the fourth largest semiconductor company in the world.
Then, the old routine in the chip foundry field began, and TSMC initiated a lawsuit against SMIC. In 2009, SMIC lost the lawsuit. After the court ruling, Zhang Rujing and the then chairman of SMIC flew to Hong Kong Island to negotiate with TSMC.
Settlement conditions: $200 million in cash compensation, plus 10% equity. In addition, Zhang Rujing resigned, signed a non-competition agreement, and was prohibited from engaging in chip-related work for three years starting from 2010.
SMIC then fell into years of chaos. It was not until Liang Mengsong took office that he reversed the situation and turned losses into profits.
So, from this perspective, is TSMC hateful? Very hateful! He delayed the destruction of our construction and development of the semiconductor industry chain.
Some people are going to say: If you plagiarize other people's technology, are you still justified? Well done!
This makes sense at first glance. Intellectual property protection! However, in the field of semiconductor chip manufacturing, can you 100% bypass the process technology of TSMC, the industry leader? Can you get around it? There’s no way around it!
There's always some foul play involved. Otherwise, why do TSMC’s former engineers who sue him repeatedly win?
So should we develop semiconductor technology? Should we make our own chips? Just watch TSMC go to our necks forever? China is not allowed to have the most advanced chip manufacturing plants! Do we want our fundamental interests?
If SMIC violates laws and regulations on intellectual property protection, it will be punished. Its decade was stagnant. However, for what Zhang Moumou did, should he pay a heavy price when the time comes?
I think it is necessary.
Don’t think that TSMC is flawless and has never violated the law!
…
…
After Zhang Rujing resigned from SMIC, he founded an LED factory in 2010. This is an area that is not prohibited in his non-compete agreement. In 2014, Xinsheng Semiconductor was founded in the magical city of Lingang, mainly producing and manufacturing wafers.
The manufacturing of silicon chips is based on wafers and uses photolithography technology to manufacture integrated circuits.
Xinsheng Semiconductor is a factory that provides wafers.
The old man is 70 years old and is looking to create a new chip manufacturing factory. He wants to adopt the IDM model. We are talking to investors everywhere. It just so happened that Phoenix Group entered the field of chip manufacturing, and the early contact between the two parties was very pleasant.
The meeting now is about discussing details.
Zhang Rujing did not drink, and said with emotion: "I haven't been to Zhangjiang for a long time. Today's meeting with Mr. Jing and having the dinner here made me deeply moved."
Jing Gaodao: "I have great admiration for Dr. Zhang's resolute move north to build a factory seventeen years ago. Dr. Zhang's resignation in 2009 is really a huge loss for SMIC."
Zhang Rujing looked away and said calmly: "Something happened to the company at that time, and the lawsuit is over. Someone has to be responsible."
How could he not feel pain in leaving the company he founded ten years ago? However, his life still needs to move forward.
"Later, someone wanted to invite me to go back, but I didn't agree. I said, I won't go back, and I won't cause trouble for others or myself. Mr. Jing, do you know? You invited me to build a factory, which is very exciting. It is likely to lead to lawsuits from TSMC in the future."
Zhang Rujing said this very confidently. There is still some pain.
Confident, because he is recognized as a master of factory construction. In two or three years, he can build a chip manufacturing plant and put it into production.
Painful, TSMC is a dark cloud hanging over all chip manufacturers. As long as you become stronger, he will definitely sue you and eliminate potential threats. And he has had his career destroyed twice by TSMC. He wasn't sure he could survive a third time.
Jing Gao smiled heartily and said resolutely: "Dr. Zhang, it's just a legal lawsuit. I think I can withstand it. Today is different from the past!"
The king of understanding has taken office. The domestic market is already the world's largest chip consumer market. TSMC also has factories in China. TSMC still wants to play the same tricks as in 2009. this will not work!
Phoenix Group can at least get the conditions that Samsung was accused of.
Zhang Rujing smiled, ate his food, and said: "Mr. Jing, I am negotiating with Qingdao. We are planning to build an IDM model chip factory. Phoenix Group's factory in Jinling should be involved in Foundry, right?"
The semiconductor industry has three operating modes: IDM, Fabless, and Foundry.
Fabless means only doing design, not producing independently, represented by Qualcomm and Huawei HiSilicon; Foundry means not doing design, only OEM production. Both SMIC and TSMC fall into this model.
IDM is a combination of the two, integrating design and production processes, and the overall profit is higher than both design and OEM. Its representative company is Intel, which produces and sells its own products. But this model is actually backward.
Intel only has 10nm process technology, lagging behind TSMC and Samsung. The fundamental reason is that the scale of self-production and self-sales cannot meet the funds needed for new process technology research.
Jing Gao said frankly: "Yes. I have built a chip manufacturing factory in Jingzhou. This factory is enough to meet the needs of Coolpad mobile phones. I will get involved in OEM at the Jinling factory. Moreover, I hope to use the Modu Microelectronics Institute Developed 90nm lithography machine."
He was online with a netizen (Ren Zhi) on Weibo that day, which aroused his unhappiness. He told Guan Yujia that Phoenix Group also wanted to build photolithography machines.
Building a lithography machine is not something you start from scratch. He has instructed Shanhaijing Semiconductor to contact Modu Microelectronics to start cooperative research and development. This is a huge project with many difficulties.
To give the simplest example, in 2008, Modu Microelectronics developed a 90nm front-end lithography machine. But because the core components are purchased from abroad, international manufacturers have tacitly agreed to restrict their purchases.
This resulted in Modu Microelectronics' lithography machines becoming a display, and they could only use back-end lithography machines to meet some of the past needs.
Lithography machines are divided into front-end and back-end according to their uses. Front-end lithography machines are used to manufacture chips. Back-end photolithography machines are mainly used for chip packaging.
But, no matter what, the Phoenix Group has already set off.
Zhang Rujing frowned and said: "The generation difference is too far. Mr. Jing, it's difficult to make a profit like this." He said it very tactfully, already showing his refusal.
