Generally speaking, if you want to completely manufacture a chip, you need six main links: chip design, plate making, chip processing, packaging, testing, and packaging.

But there are so many links, hundreds of companies, hundreds of thousands of employees, and an investment of one billion US dollars in the past thirty years.

Fang Chen suddenly felt inexplicably sad. There were so few, and those who had few were a bit pitiful.

He has a document in his hand that records in detail the investment in the semiconductor industry from all over the world and various countries.

More than 30 years have passed since the day the semiconductor transistor was invented. The global continuous investment in the semiconductor industry is 374.56 billion US dollars, of which the United States has the largest investment, roughly investing 114.9 billion US dollars, and Japan and Japan have invested 102 billion US dollars.

However, it is worth mentioning that most of the US$102 billion in East Japan was only invested in the 1980s.

This also means that the investment of East Japan in the past fifteen years has almost caught up with the investment of the United States in more than thirty years.

However, this is also the reason why Japan was able to surpass the United States and become the largest semiconductor country from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.

But unfortunately, as we all know, East Japan is an incomplete country, so since the early 1990s, the United States has reacted and realized the threat of East Japan.

On the one hand, they actively jointly strengthened technology development work and increased investment, on the other hand, they played the cards of embargoing various production equipment and prohibiting the use of technology against Dongbo, and soon surpassed Dongbo easily again.

Next are the two areas of South Korea and Wanwan.

These two regions basically only started to develop their efforts six or seven years ago in the late 1980s. However, due to the relatively large amount of investment, South Korea invested US$48.5 billion and Wanwan invested US$36 billion in the past few years, so

It has gradually emerged in the international semiconductor market.

Moreover, Wanwan has made plans to invest a total of US$67.3 billion in the next ten years to build and invest five 8-inch production lines and 24 more advanced 12-inch production lines.

After all, according to the current scientific research progress, it is expected that the first 12-inch production line will be successfully developed by 1999 at the latest. By then, it will not only be able to process 7-nanometer chips, but the production cost is expected to be 30% lower than that of the 8-inch production line.

to 40%.

However, in the previous life, China's first 12-inch production line was established by Zhang Rujing's SMIC in 2004.

It can be said that Zhang Rujing single-handedly shortened China's chip production line from eleven years behind the world's advanced level to five years.

Thinking of this, Fang Chen sighed quietly again.

To be honest, with a total investment of one billion US dollars, it accounts for more than 300% of the total global semiconductor investment.

As a result, China's semiconductor industry is only about ten years behind Europe and the United States, and its production capacity can still reach 0.2%. He really feels that domestic semiconductor researchers have tried their best and even performed beyond normal.

After all, look at those countries whose so-called economic strength and scientific research level are similar to those of China, and whose current per capita income is much higher than that of China. How can there be any so-called semiconductor industry? Even if a full set of drawings, processing technology, and equipment are given to them, they will

None of them are useful.

But having said that, China’s investment in semiconductors is not as good as that of the United States, Japan, South Korea, or even the Bay Area. This is even worse than many companies, so I don’t know what to say.

Speaking of chip companies, Intel naturally has to be mentioned. Intel invested US$4 billion last year, four times China's investment in semiconductors in the past thirty years.

However, it is this large investment that allows Intel to permanently occupy the position of the number one chip manufacturer.

And it is precisely because of the US$67.3 billion in the ten-year plan that Wanwan has surpassed South Korea, and the gap between Wanwan and the world's average technical level has changed from one or two years in the past to one or two quarters.

Even in certain years of chip famine, as a foundry company, TSMC's profits actually exceeded Intel's, which is simply a model of counterattack by losers.

However, through these examples, Fang Chen realized that if he wants to surpass those first-mover countries in semiconductors, the most important thing is to invest heavily.

If you can't even surpass these companies in terms of investment, then trying to surpass them in terms of technology and scale is simply wishful thinking.

However, although this is said and everyone understands the truth, chip companies are really expensive.

As mentioned before, the investment in building a chip production line is already as high as 1.2 billion US dollars. If you want to build a complete chip R&D and production chain, it will cost less than 20 to 30 billion US dollars. It is simply not worth it. It is bigger than building the Three Gorges.

Dam costs are high.

Not to mention that with China's current national strength, it simply cannot afford to burn. Even in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Eastern Japan, it is more painful, and existences like South Korea and Wanwan can even be called

It was a desperate gamble and everything was on the line.

However, more importantly, U.S. companies such as Intel, as well as Japanese companies such as Toshiba, which already occupy leading positions in the market, only use part of the profits from normal sales to support their investment in research and development.

That is to say, a positive cycle, a virtuous cycle, has begun.

And new players like South Korea and Wanwan can almost catch up with the world's first-class level by relying on technology transfer from the United States and Japan and a large-scale increase in capital investment.

At worst, you can also work as an OEM for leading chip companies like Intel and earn some hard-earned money.

All in all, even these new players, after getting on the right track, can rely on the company's profits and part of the additional investment to keep themselves from falling behind.

But in China, to be honest, let alone Qingtian Chip Company catching up with these leading companies and forming healthy development, Fang Chen himself doesn’t know when Qingtian Chip Company will be self-sufficient.

Three years? Five years? Or even longer.

After all, you must know that if China wants to develop the chip industry, in addition to the problem of capital investment, it also faces a problem that South Korea, Wanwan, and even Dongwa will not encounter.

That means all kinds of equipment are embargoed, technology is not authorized to be used, other chip-related companies cannot be acquired, etc.

To be honest, if it weren't for these messy things, Fang Chen would rather spend money to acquire a second-rate chip company internationally. At least this kind of company has mature technology and has an 8-inch production line. It would be easy to catch up with Intel and others.

Some.

Unlike China, even after acquiring the Huajing factory, the most advanced production lines are only 5-inch products that are outdated and almost on the verge of being eliminated.

But no matter what, one thing Fang Chen is sure of is that no matter how difficult it will be to invest in the chip industry in the future and how much money he spends, he will continue to invest.

What is even more certain is that China's chip industry will definitely break through, stand on top of the world, and lead the development of the world.

Fang Chen's eyes were filled with dazzling light.

"Master Jiu, let's go in?"

Seeing Fang Chen standing at the door of Huajing Factory, unmoving for a long time, Wu Maocai couldn't help but speak.

Fang Chen nodded and said to Wu Maocai: "Call Director Zhao of Huajing Factory and tell him that I have arrived at the door."

After saying this, Fang Chen walked directly towards the gate of Huajing Factory.

Before Fang Chen could walk in, the gatekeeper opened the door without saying a word.

Fang Chen glanced at the doorman in surprise, then didn't say anything, smiled and nodded in response.

The gatekeeper also quickly smiled at Fang Chen.

Although he didn't know Fang Chen, Huajing Factory also had a system that required outsiders to register.

But as he has been a doorman for more than thirty years, he has already developed a pair of vicious eyes. He can tell who is coming and what their identity is at a glance.

Considering Fang Chen's majestic appearance, his majestic posture, and the secretaries and bodyguards surrounding him, how could he not know that Fang Chen was a big shot.

To put it bluntly, when the provincial boss came to inspect him two years ago, he was not as impressive as Fang Chen.

Besides, even if he wasn't sure about Fang Chen's identity, he still recognized the luxury cars behind Fang Chen and the license plates with special meanings.

Such a big shot, I'm afraid even their factory director has to be careful. If he, a little guard, stops people and pretends to be Zhou Yafu, Xiliuying, then he is really mentally ill.

He has always looked down on those so-called doormen who only recognize work IDs but not people.

That's a fool.

A good guard must have the eyes of an eagle and be able to tell who the other person is at a glance, and then make a quick decision to let someone in or not.

And there is no doubt that he is an excellent doorman.

As for why Fang Chen didn't sit in the car, he felt that this highlighted Fang Chen's status.

That is to say, those who have just been counted as figures and whose bones are not three or two, need to sit in the car all day long and use the car to show their status.

But as he thought about it, especially when he looked at Fang Chen's back, an inexplicable drop of water appeared in his eyes.

I was a little moved and even a little bit emotional.

Huajing Factory has not seen such a big shot for a long time.

He has been working here since the Huajing Factory was built, and has naturally experienced the most glorious days of the Huajing Factory.

In the early 1980s, Emperor Taizong personally led the way, and chip engineers from Dongwa came to Huajing Factory, which made Huajing Factory, which was originally inconspicuous in the country, suddenly and without any warning, stand in the center of the Chinese chip stage.

At that time, it was difficult to mass-produce domestic TV chips, which resulted in a limited supply of color TVs and could not meet the needs of the people at all.

Therefore, the State Planning Commission issued a mission statement to Huajing Factory in 1978: 276 million yuan to introduce Toshiba's 5-micron production line and assemble 5 million color TVs.

For Dongwa enterprises, this is a good business.

Toshiba is in a fierce battle with American manufacturers in the field of DRAM chips and urgently needs funds to purchase various equipment to enrich its "arsenal." The 5-micron production line is very important to Chinese companies, but for Toshiba, it is already a "backward production capacity" that is about to be eliminated.

, don’t worry about new technology leaks.

Subsequently, Huajing Factory also assumed the mission of the "531" project to spread the spark of chip technology throughout the country.

The "531" project is to popularize and promote 5-micron technology based on Huajing Factory, while developing 3-micron technology and tackling 1-micron technology.

At that time, various inspection groups came in droves, and Huajing Factory not only sent technical materials, but also dispatched engineers to provide support.

Factory director Zhao Hongjin even waved his hand: Studying at Huajing Factory will cost you nothing but food and accommodation!

At that time, nearly 80 million chips were produced nationwide, and Huajing Factory accounted for 40%.

It is precisely because of this that Huajing Factory became China's first integrated circuit factory with the largest production capacity, the most complete processes, and the characteristics of modern industrial mass production.

The Huajing Factory at that time was undoubtedly brilliant, even great.

Not only is the company prosperous and the employees' incomes are high, but when people marry a wife or a girl, as soon as they hear that they are from Huajing Factory, they immediately take a high look and give her a large betrothal gift or a thick dowry.

Moreover, scientific research technicians and engineers from various brother enterprises have come to Huajing Factory to learn technology. As for the leading cadres at all levels who come to inspect and study, they are like crucian carp crossing the river, countless.
To be continued...