Franchise God - Chapter 1590



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Franchise God Episode 1590

Chapter 341 Semiconductor Shock (6)

Before Weichang came to see Ha Suyeong, he had organized countless justifications, explanations, and logic in his head, and then corrected them again and again.

But when the approval came as if it had been waiting for me to say it, I suddenly felt resentful for all the hardship I had endured.

“I prepared many excuses to persuade the Chairman, but I didn’t expect him to accept it so readily. It seems he was already willing to place a similar order with us at TSMC.”

“But wasn’t TSMC once a company that dominated the world with extreme ultraviolet process foundries? The heavy oil semiconductor alliance is dreaming of a forced return to legacy processes. Someone is going to make money from it anyway, so wouldn’t it be better if it were TSMC?”

Wei Chang felt a strange tingling in his chest as he felt that she was already thinking of sending him away.

“There is no need to completely leave Seojin Foundry. Just take the remaining staff and set up a new branch in Europe.”

“So you’re saying I should have one foot in each hand?”

“That’s how it looks to Europeans and Chinese. And that’s the only way it will look to them.”

From TSMC’s perspective, it is a rational choice to bet everything on reviving legacy processes.

Also, just in case, it is better to keep the connection with Seojin Foundry.

Even if you play both sides, Europe and China will not be suspicious.

Rather, they will try to give TSMC strong confidence in its future and attract it as a thorough ally and friend.

“1.2 trillion euros will be wasted anyway. Eat as much as you can out of it.”

“……thank you.”

By changing the company’s overall structure, including abandoning wafer production, TSMC has shed a lot of flesh and bones.

All exposure equipment, including EUV equipment, was disposed of long ago, and many related personnel were laid off.

However, Wei Chang was embracing all the capable engineers with doctoral degrees or higher in preparation for the future.

They desperately held on to them, not making them work and even making them study fields other than wafer processing.

“Then I guess I should give you a gift.”

“yes?”

“Follow me.”

Ha Soo-young boarded the doctor’s helicopter with Wei Chang and flew to China.

A doctor helicopter landed at the newly built H-mark warehouse.

“Come in.”

The warehouse was completely empty, with only Android Freedom guarding it.

The heavy door opened automatically, and the sound of dust being sucked in from all sides of the isolation corridor could be heard.

After passing through the isolation corridor a few more times, a wide open indoor space came into view.

“ah……!”

At the sight of countless semiconductor equipments displayed in rows, covered in transparent scales, Weichang’s heart warmed without him knowing it.

Starting with the EUV equipment that was once extremely expensive at 200 billion won per unit but only produced 50 units per year, people had to wait in line to get it, all the preprocessing and postprocessing equipment needed for the foundry plant are now standing the test of time, neatly maintained as if they were new.

“Mr. Chairman, how did it all happen?”

Wei Chang’s voice was so trembling and hoarse that he had difficulty speaking properly.

“Didn’t the US completely give up on semiconductor production and close all its factories? That’s why I bought it for only the price of scrap metal.”

“Even if they are scrap metal, they are incredibly expensive equipment… … .”

“I literally paid scrap metal price by weight.”

“Originally, I wanted to keep it as a souvenir and a relic. So that future generations can look at it and say, ‘Our ancestors once made semiconductors with this kind of equipment.’ It’s like a kind of pottery or a loom.”

“Pottery, loom… … .”

Wei Chang ended up smiling bitterly.

People of that time did not know that pottery and looms would later become highly valuable relics.

They were just everyday items.

Ha Su-young also stored all these semiconductor facilities for just that purpose.

“But I didn’t know it would be this useful. Feel free to take them from here. If you’re going to war, you’ll need to take plenty of weapons and ammunition, right?”

“Thank you. This gives the heavy oil alliance a great excuse not to neglect TSMC.”

“Of course, you have to sell it at a very high price. You have to get at least 50% of the new model’s original price.”

“I will make sure to get my money’s worth.”

Even if TSMC joins with the legacy process equipment that Suyeong Group has been keeping, it would not seem strange at all.

“Say it this way. ‘Ha Soo-young thinks that the heavy oil semiconductor alliance will not succeed anyway. That’s why he readily accepted TSMC’s persuasion in the hopes of forcing it through, even if it means bleeding.’”

“I see. I had a similar logic in mind. It clicked for me as soon as I saw the well-kept equipment.”

“Android Freedom has been managed well day and night, so there will be no problem at all deploying it into the field right away.”

Ha Soo-young added with a bitter smile.

“Oh, and please tell them this too. Android Freedom can set up and assemble a few prototype lines. That would be a good reference.”

TSMC’s latest mass production setup capabilities and know-how are partially in practice.

However, we can reproduce it using Android Freedom.

If all the processes are thoroughly documented in a comprehensive manual with videos, the heavy oil semiconductor alliance will be able to establish itself more quickly.

Wei Chang asked with a laugh.

“I don’t know if they will accept it because of their pride.”

The legacy process camp against the particle process camp.

The adversary kindly offered to create a manual with all of his practical know-how.

Where can you find more teabagging than this?

“You can keep it a secret as long as you want. It’s a deal that benefits them without any harm.

“It might hurt my pride a little, but I wouldn’t want to miss out on something this big.”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll do my best to persuade you about that part and get the result.”

Ha Soo-young also decided to tell Weichang about the picture of the future semiconductor market that he was drawing.

To do that, we first had to explain the ‘solar wind global error phenomenon.’

“The system failures occurring worldwide are not due to viruses or other causes, but rather to an increase in the concentration of solar wind particles hitting the Earth’s surface due to ozone depletion.”

“As expected… … . I also thought that the cause might be radiation pouring down from space. A virus was completely out of the question in the first place.”

“If we make the circuit width wider, the charge transfer will be stable, and this solar wind error phenomenon can be prevented even in legacy process semiconductors. We can do this by making the circuit width larger than the 45nm process.”

At that moment, Wei Chang started laughing like crazy and even clapping his hands.

The moment I heard the number 45 nano, an image of how this game would play out began to appear in my head.

“Some people use diamond 1nm process semiconductors, while others use 45nm silicon semiconductors. It’s exactly as the chairman said. The era of steam cars and electric cars running on the road together has begun.”

“I hope that steam locomotives will never be phased out.”

“What is the range?”

“No matter how this confrontation unfolds, China and France hope for a future where only 45nm silicon semiconductors will be distributed. In Western Europe outside of France, it would be fine if only 45nm silicon is distributed, or if they accept a certain amount of surrender. We will decide that flexibly later, depending on the situation.”

“I understand the Chairman’s big picture.”

* * *

Wei Chang headed to Europe with a file containing a list of storage facilities provided by Android Freedom, their status, videos and photos, etc.

The France-based heavy oil semiconductor alliance welcomed the TSMC CEO with skepticism but without delay.

The Chinese Deputy Secretary-General dealt directly with Wei Chang.

“TSMC is a key company in the particle processing camp, so why did you come here?”

“I understand that the Union first proposed to us that we join the Nokwang Engineering camp and restore our past glory.”

“Was it? I’m sorry. It’s still early days for the company, so things are a bit chaotic, and I haven’t been briefed on that part yet.”

Even though it seemed like a lie at first glance, Weichang continued to speak calmly.

“I came here to give you a positive answer. But, can I continue talking with the Deputy Secretary-General… … .”

“You can do it. I understand the general situation.”

“We persuaded Seojin Foundry in this way. Since your investment money will be spent in some way, we at TSMC would rather step forward and make a profit. Seojin Foundry didn’t really object to the company saying that it wanted to make money.”

“So, are you saying that the cooperation with Seojin Foundry will be completely terminated and transferred over?”

“That’s not it. We need a place to return to too.”

“It’s difficult to straddle both sides.”

“We don’t compete with our customers. That’s our long-standing motto at TSMC.”

“We do not mediate, interfere, or criticize conflicts between original contractors. We simply quietly do our best to handle the work we receive. Seojin Foundry is just our client.”

With Weichang’s visit, the Union headquarters became noisy as if a war had broken out.

There were many more employees who were unaware that an offer had been sent to join TSMC.

This is because it was quietly pushed forward from above because it would have been embarrassing to even refuse.

Of course, not everyone welcomed it.

“It is true that TSMC was once the emperor of mass-production foundries, but after abandoning wafer production for several years, can it really show its former capabilities?”

“It would be great if they could show even 10%. We’ve already taken care of all the facilities and personnel. The know-how must have been put to use.”

“Still, I have the skill to play a single song, so I guess it’s better than the average person… … .”

As the discussion and conflict over TSMC reached its peak, Weichang finally revealed the secret weapon he had brought.

“This, this is!”

“These are the facilities that Seojin Foundry purchased for the purpose of displaying them in the semiconductor museum in the future. They are all well-maintained and can be put into operation immediately. Seojin Foundry promised to sell these to TSMC.”

“No, why is Seojin Foundry helping our union in this way?”

“I don’t think it will help at all. Since it is obvious that it will collapse before the diamond 1nm semiconductor process anyway, the intention is to sell the exposure process equipment and make some cash.”

Because it was a straightforward argument that could not be met with any other disagreement, the figures at the Union Headquarters remained silent.

“Ultimately, Seojin Foundry thinks we will declare defeat, and TSMC wants to keep the money since it will be going out anyway.”

“If we receive an order, we will do our best to fulfill it. As always, TSMC is a subcontractor, just a little bigger in scale.”

The alliance eventually agreed to accept all of the funds brought by TSMC.

Although it was a very humiliating experience, it was an advantage that we could not give up, which was the ability to secure the facilities to set up a state-of-the-art mass-production foundry plant right away.

In this way, the masterpiece for the complete Heavy Oil Semiconductor Alliance was put together.

The steam train is finally on the rails.