Chapter 888: Changes Are Coming

The first week of April was calm.

Although Apple, which released the iPhone this month, sued the Korean mobile phone manufacturer LG, the two companies did not engage in public opinion confrontation, but just quietly went through the legal process, and there was no news of mediation and reconciliation for the time being.

Fang Zhuo received the latest iPhone almost immediately.

However, he was busy with the Yangtze River Delta Business Association for a few days, and only after making substantial efforts did he have the leisure to carefully experience the biggest competitor in the industry.

3G/Apple Store/Front Camera.

According to Fang Zhuo's evaluation at the Yike Analysis Conference - "a work that makes up for the shortcomings without any surprises."

Everyone knows what Apple is going to do, and it just does it.

No surprises.

However, this does not mean that there will be no good market feedback.

Judging from the word of mouth in the past few days of release, apart from the widely complained "as expected", the technology media, mobile phone evaluation, and ordinary users are almost all positive comments - "the shortcomings are well made up!"

To this day, compared with the huge number of mobile phone users in the world, the iPhone and Mars touch-screen smartphones, which have been launched for less than a year, are still the most fashionable products, and the sales of the two combined are still only a small share.

Perhaps some users who pay attention to the development of the mobile phone industry think that the new generation of iPhone has not made many breakthroughs, but in fact, there are more people who have not tried touch-screen phones and will see a brand-new product with more functions.

What does it matter what the first generation of iPhone looks like?

What I have come into contact with is the current 3G phone.

Such a situation analysis made Yike executives somewhat frustrated at the meeting. They made a unique front camera, and now it is easy for friendly companies to absorb the successful experience.

Including the software of well-known Internet companies such as Facebook and YouTube launched on the Apple Store, such ecological gameplay has also been launched on the iOS system.

With such a threshold crossed, what did Yike, who has worked hard to develop products, get?

When Fang Zhuo heard what he meant, he almost asked the executive to leave the office.

"What did Yi Ke get?"

"Yi Ke has sold more than 5 million mobile phones and has more than 5 million users. It has successfully established a foothold in the mobile phone industry. It is expected to continue the popularity of mobile phones and continue to expand its market share. It can compete in the mid-to-high-end market occupied by foreign manufacturers in China this year. What do you think Yi Ke has gained?"

After Fang Zhuo said this, he raised a rare personal question: "It's okay not to know what the company has gained, but the bonus red envelope has not been issued to you. Has it been deducted?"

The boss is very real, so real that it swept away the uneasy atmosphere of analysis.

There is actually another very important reason here. Apple uses its own system for its own use, while the open source Android has already announced cooperation with the international giant Samsung, which seems to be a major challenge.

Who is the No. 1 in the Android camp?

Samsung is not an easy target.

Moreover, if Apple chooses to add a front camera, will Samsung not add one?

Competition in the same camp will only become more intense.

There are still two months before the June launch. The new generation of Mars will face competition from many well-known manufacturers such as iPhone, Samsung, LG, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson. What will the enhanced version of Mars, which has been weakened by the "unique" buff, do? This has even made the company more nervous than last year.

After this meeting, Su Wei heard that the company had received Mars 2 from the United States, so she quickly came to see it.

When she arrived at the president's office of Hang Lung 23, she saw three documents neatly placed in front of Mr. Fang's desk, from Bingxin, Yongke Real Estate, and Morningstar Semiconductor, and he was looking at the Lehman stock price on the computer screen.

"I just saw a statement in a magazine that the murderer would return to the crime scene to appreciate his own work. Do you think it makes sense?"

Su Wei walked to Fang Zhuo's side, and for a moment she didn't know which one was the work.

Fang Zhuo laughed: "Absurd, a lie."

He took out the newly arrived Mars 2 from the drawer and handed it to Su Wei.

Su Wei took over the Mars 2, which was of the same lineage, and saw that there was no major change in the appearance. She said, "It seems that this time it is all internal enhancements."

"The Android system has been enhanced. The rear pixel has been upgraded from 2 million to 5 million. The phone has been given more colors and the latest photo-taking algorithm has been added. It can be regarded as a small upgrade to optimize the user experience." Fang Zhuo answered while picking up Morningstar's documents to review and appreciate them.

"Well, we can't innovate for the sake of innovation. Mars can still attract a large user base." Su Wei commented while playing with the new phone.

Fang Zhuo praised: "I should have asked President Su to attend the meeting earlier. Yes, users don't want pure innovation, but products that fit their needs. The Silicon Valley R&D Center is researching more advanced fingerprint recognition and other directions, but the progress is still very slow. It's too early now."

"Fingerprint? It sounds quite sci-fi." Su Wei truthfully described her first impression.

"It's still early, still early." Fang Zhuo shook his head, "I don't know what we can research out. Anyway, it's not mature yet, and there's no need to rush to market it."

Now we are turning to touch screens and intelligence, and we need to make a fuss about it. Functional innovation is another stage.

Su Wei nodded, played with it for a while, put the phone in her pocket, and said with a smile: "I will be a domestic user experiencer first. I saw the look in your eyes when you looked at the Morningstar file... Well, when will Morningstar be able to turn from darkness to light?"

"Wait until it goes on the market and goes through the ups and downs. I'm afraid I will have to persuade it and talk about the reason for cooperation." Fang Zhuo shook his head, "There is no rush for this. Instead, I am now considering the relationship between Yike, Bingxin and MediaTek."

MediaTek and Morningstar are competitors, and Yike and Bingxin are both potential partners.

However, if Morningstar becomes one of them, the previous consideration of MediaTek may have to change.

Su Wei almost guessed what Mr. Fang meant in a flash.

She pondered for a while, and sighed tactfully: "Business cooperation and competition are very dangerous."

"I'm just considering it, and I haven't decided anything." Fang Zhuo felt a little wronged, "Yike wants to see what kind of chips MediaTek comes up with, and when the company is suitable to launch entry-level models."

These are important factors that determine the relationship with MediaTek, Morningstar's prospects, chip strength and time nodes.

He didn't elaborate on how he considered it, and picked up Bingxin's file on the table, and smiled: "There is bad news. Taiwan's company in the south is going to skip the 45nm process and start 40nm."

Su Wei raised her eyebrows slightly and said in surprise: "Didn't Intel and UMC say that they are all 45nm? Why is Taiwan's company taking another small step forward, and you are so happy about the bad news?"

"This shows that Taiwan's research and development capabilities are strong, and I can't stop it from developing." Fang Zhuo said, "However, due to last year's yield, cost and other issues, NVIDIA decided to cooperate with us on some 65nm orders."

Last year, NVIDIA's supply was tight due to Taiwan's production capacity problems, which once led to no goods to sell during the peak season.

This time, the company took a half step further. NVIDIA, which has always been very cautious about new processes, wanted to take a safe route. Bingxin is currently developing a 45nm process technology and has no plans to skip a level. If there are no mistakes in the mid- and low-end products, it is likely to receive more mid- and high-end product orders from NVIDIA in the future.

The introduction of an international customer is a pleasant surprise for Bingxin. The production capacity has been upgraded by 60% in the first quarter of this year and has a greater place to use.

Now the mass production capacity of Bingxin Luzhou Plant has increased from 15,000 to 24,000 per month. It is actively contacting major international customers to try to consolidate long-term cooperative relations.

Qualcomm's chips are hot-selling with Yike Mars, which undoubtedly proves Bingxin's process capabilities and is also an important reason for NVIDIA to include it in the cooperation this time.

Fang Zhuo simply expressed his joy and then said: "Taiji will be able to start mass production of 40nm foundry in the first half of this year, which is a generation and a half ahead of the technology. However, Liang Mengsong called me to analyze this matter and believed that Taiji would most likely not use the 32nm process in the next step, but go directly to 28nm."

Taiji announced in June last year that it planned to put 32nm into production in the fourth quarter of 2009, and 45nm this year.

As a result, it now directly skips 45 and goes straight to 40, and it is also very likely to continue to take another half step in the future and directly develop 28nm process technology.

Fang Zhuo is not sure whether Taiji will do this, but Liang Mengsong vowed that no one knows Taiji better than him.

After all, this is a man who almost became the third or fourth in command of Taiji.

If it is based on such progress, Bingxin may also need to reconsider the direction of research and development.

Liang Mengsong is more radical and believes that it can also actively participate in the global first-line competition along such process nodes to avoid being quickly left behind.

Fang Zhuo's blood boiled after hearing this, and then he told Dr. Liang calmly that he could join Bingxin this year and learn more about its R&D capabilities and actual conditions before judging whether it was feasible.

"The Taiwan reporter is still very powerful. How is it with SMIC?" Su Wei remembered something related.

Fang Zhuo put away his smile and frowned, "I was going to talk to Mr. Zhang again, but he hurriedly flew to the United States at the end of last month. Maybe there were some problems with the appeal there. He was more passive after losing the case this time, even more passive than in the past two years."

"Since it was possible to mediate and reconcile last time, it will surely work this time." Su Wei comforted.

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly. The Taiwan reporter seemed to be more fierce and tough this time. He could only ensure that no matter what happened, his subscription to SMIC's additional shares would not be a problem.

However, just three days later, a call from Zhang Rujing from the United States still shocked him greatly.

"The reporter has put forward the latest settlement conditions, asking for compensation, shares, and asking me to resign from SMIC and sign a three-year non-compete agreement."

"They have submitted new information and demands to the ITC again."

"It's still under discussion, and it's not easy to talk."

Zhang Rujing's tone was very calm, without showing any anger.

Fang Zhuo was unable to give his opinion for a long time after listening. He was not sure whether Mr. Zhang wanted to hear his analysis or just chat. Calculating the current time, it was more than three o'clock in the morning in the United States.

He remembered Su Wei's words and asked in a questioning way: "Since it was able to mediate last time, can it work again this time?"

"I hope so." Zhang Rujing said, "I'll let you know first, so as not to scare away your investment."

"How is it possible? It's just a little bit of water." Fang Zhuo deliberately made his tone a little ostentatious.

"That's it. When I come back to China to have a drink with Mr. Fang, I'll produce a phased result." Zhang Rujing arranged to meet.

Fang Zhuo ended the call and put down the phone. He hoped that he would never have a drink with Mr. Zhang again.