After Yike confirmed the time for its autumn conference, Samsung chose to completely suspend negotiations with Yike and gave the market the answer that it would not OEM.

In fact, contrary to what the outside world imagined, the two companies did have talks, but the attitudes of both Samsung and Yike were somewhat neither salty nor cool.

Samsung was quite surprised by the gesture from Yike, which was different from what it had imagined, but it was happy to see the outcome and was happy to draw its sword at the critical moment.

Yike's mobile phone chip orders are indeed a large amount of revenue. According to the current and future conditions, it may be comparable to Apple's orders, and it is enough to become an important part of the healthy operation of a wafer foundry company.

However, Samsung's business cannot be viewed in isolation.

Compared with wafer foundry, Samsung's mobile phone market is the top priority in the global market. It would rather not have orders but also reduce Yike's competitiveness. This is the main contradiction in the competition between the two companies.

As expected, news like this really impacted Yike's stock price. However, this was not enough...

The Samsung camp paid close attention to the developments of its competitors and was soon waiting for new good news.

Time has entered the first week of August. Taiwanese reporters, a leading company in the field of wafer foundry, answered reporters' questions at a press conference and gave a definite answer to everyone's concern about the negotiation with Yike.

“We very much welcome Yike’s cooperation with us.”

"However, we are unable to accept orders from Yike this year. The production capacity of the 16nm process has been fully booked. We will have to wait until next year at the latest to see if we have the opportunity to cooperate with it."

"Yike is a very good company, and we also regret this."

On Yike's list of potential partners, Taiji is a promising wafer manufacturer. It is the third company in the world to mass-produce the 16nm process, and it also has enough experience to promote production capacity ramp-up.

At the same time, it does not take into account other business attributes like Intel and Samsung. It is just a pure wafer foundry manufacturer.

Taiji's "OEM" attribute has always been praised.

This time, it unfortunately was unable to produce production capacity. Whether it was a real regret or not, this result still impacted Yike's performance in the secondary market like a shock wave.

Even with ice core restrictions, Yike's market value has not been suppressed to US$350 billion. It has dropped to this range for the first time. The suspicion that has been surrounding Yike since the first quarter suddenly became a concern again.

As Yike's autumn conference arrives, everyone is no longer concerned about its products, but the future of the company.

Where will Yike go from here?

In mid-August, Yike stock, which has been under constant pressure, finally received some good news that made people breathe a sigh of relief. UMC, another wafer foundry in Baodao, has new trends in mutual cooperation.

At ten o'clock in the morning on the 14th, UMC CEO Yan Bowen was interviewed by the media at the airport, saying that he was about to fly to Shanghai in mainland China, where he would meet with the head of Yike in person and discuss in-depth cooperation between the two companies with Mr. Fang.

UMC just announced last month that its 16nm process has entered the small-scale mass production stage and is expected to achieve formal commercial large-scale mass production in the fourth quarter.

Compared with Bingxin, Intel, Taiji, and Samsung, it is the fourth manufacturer in the world to reach this process node.

However, just like Samsung, UMC made the mistake of choosing front and rear gate solutions at the 28nm stage. The process of catching up along the way was not stable, and there was a relative lack of customers and orders.

Samsung has a more important mobile phone business. Taiji's excellent technology has already allocated its production capacity, and Yike's supply demand is the meat and potatoes of second-tier manufacturers like UMC.

UMC has been in talks with Yike since the second quarter, but Intel and GlobalFoundries were ahead of them. When their negotiations broke down, and it happened to be that they had completed small-scale mass production, CEO Yan Bowen couldn't wait to have a face-to-face chat with Mr. Fang.

cooperate.

There was one important point in his answer at the airport that showed his sincerity.

"To what extent we can cooperate, for an excellent company like Yike, UMC does not mind cooperating in the form of private placement. I believe we have extremely bright prospects for cooperation with Yike."

Yan Bowen referred to the previous cooperation between Yike and GlobalFoundries and proposed in-depth cooperation through private placement.

This kind of news cheered up Yike and related investors even before his flight landed in Shanghai, and it also stimulated a rebound in the stock price.

This kind of goodwill from the CEO can be said to be the most sincere of this year, and Yike does not have much time left. The two companies have both the foundation of technical cooperation and the subjective will to get what they need. They are an extremely well-matched pair.

Yan Bowen's visit attracted much media attention, but Yike 23 is not open to the public. Fang Zhuo, who has been extremely low-key recently, did not accept interviews. The outside world only knows that Yan Bowen spent three days in Yike and then flew to Lu

State, and finally ended the nearly week-long journey.

When the CEO of UMC returned to Baodao, unlike Yike who remained silent, he openly accepted an interview and revealed the progress of the negotiations.

"Yike is extremely outstanding in the field of chip design and is one of the top companies on the planet!"

"Both Mr. Fang and I believe that the cooperation between Yike and UMC will achieve a win-win situation!"

"We still have differences on some issues, but please believe that the powerful alliance between UMC and Yike is already on the way!"

Yan Bowen, who was interviewed, was very confident and revealed some details of his exchange with Mr. Fang.

He praised Mr. Fang as one of the best CEOs in the world.

The remarks from the CEO of UMC made the performance of the secondary market pick up again, but unlike outside analysis and predictions, the difference between him and Fang Zhuo was not about Yike, but about Bingxin.

On behalf of the board of directors, Yan Bowen is willing to accept Yike's investment, but he hopes that Liang Mengsong's team can join UMC.

Ice Core International has been selected by Aramco, and its future is worrying. However, its progress in advanced technology over the years has been impeccable, and the biggest contributors to it are Liang Mengsong and his team.

Although Liang Mengsong was famous when he left Taiwan Records, he was not as shining as he is now.

Aramco restricts the ice cores, not the employees inside them.

A considerable part of Yan Bowen's external display of sincerity lies in his "coveting" for ice core technology, hoping that it can solve UMC's weakness in research and development in the past few years.

Fang Zhuo naturally strongly disagreed with such a request, but he believed that there was room for maneuver on both sides. Dr. Liang could not go from Bingxin to UMC, but could play an additional role as a UMC consultant.

The opinions of both sides on this matter have yet to be unified, but the prospects for cooperation are indeed gradually becoming clearer.

Fang Zhuo's main focus is on ice core preparations to deal with the crisis. However, he does not actually object to adding a new supplier to alleviate the current situation, but he just judges that it is difficult to truly achieve similar cooperation.

Intel had previously talked about it, and GlobalFoundries had already made plans for fixed-term growth. However, there were either internal objections or interference, and the actual situation was consistent with the overall judgment.

This time, UMC came with sincerity and a desire for orders and technology. Yike still adhered to the attitude of normal talks and indeed had a greater foundation for cooperation with it than with other companies.

The leaders met, the secondary market picked up, and the progress was disclosed in a relatively transparent manner. The clouds hanging over Yike seemed to gradually fade away, and the difficult questions seemed to have a good answer.

However, on August 24, Fang Zhuo received an apologetic and regretful phone call from UMC CEO Yan Bowen.

"Mr. Fang, the cooperation between UMC and Yike may be temporarily suspended..." Yan Bowen was very helpless.

"What's the problem?" Fang Zhuo's tone was calmer.

"We have been under pressure from many parties." Yan Bowen considered, "This year may not be a good time to cooperate with Yike, Mr. Fang, but I still strongly hope that we will have more appropriate cooperation opportunities."

Fang Zhuo said regretfully: "If UMC can withstand the pressure, this will be a very good development opportunity."

Yan Bowen was silent for a while, and could only say helplessly: "I think so too, but there are voices from the island authorities, and there are also objections from the board of directors. Sorry, Mr. Fang, I have argued hard in the past two days, and have already

I tried my best..."

Fang Zhuo smiled: "The island is much more proactive than the US side. I think such a decision is not in line with UMC's own interests."

"Some people think that even cooperation is risky." Yan Bowen paused and said frankly, "Mr. Fang, I haven't retired for a long time. There are many voices within the company. After they get the support of the authorities... Well, I

It’s also very helpless.”

Fang Zhuo said "hmm" and still thanked him: "Thank you, Mr. Yan, for your efforts in our cooperation. This is not your problem."

Yan Bowen smiled bitterly and finally said: "Mr. Fang, I have full respect for the development of Yike and Bingxin."

The end of the call between the two parties means that the window for cooperation between Yike and UMC has been closed.

Intel changed its CEO, GlobalFoundries was stopped by the SEC from issuing additional shares, Samsung proactively suspended negotiations, Taiwanese reporters had no spare capacity, and UMC was under pressure from the island.

With this phone call, it also means that all the names on Yike's candidate cooperation list have been crossed out.

As usual, Fang Zhuo notified the general office of the latest situation as soon as possible, and then he was met with silence.

Over the past week or so, UMC's trends and CEO Yan Bowen's positivity have been like a ray of sunshine, making everyone feel that there is room for improvement in the original predicament.

But this hope comes and goes quickly.

After a long while, Executive Vice President Yu Hong said quietly: "Mr. Yan didn't buy the company's stocks. He has been busy for more than a week to get rid of the trap..."

Tiny laughter echoed in the conference room.

"Every family has one reason or another." Fang Zhuo's mood was not affected, "But fortunately, we didn't gain anything, and we didn't lose anything."

He looked around at the members of the general office attending today's meeting and continued: "In the past, we fought side by side with the ice core. Now we are still fighting side by side with the ice core. In the future, we will still fight side by side with it."

"I said over there in Luzhou, it's better to have it yourself than to have it for your father."

"Now, whether it is subjective or objective, we must have it ourselves. If we have no choice, it is the best choice."

"When Yike was founded, Mr. Yu and I discussed the company's purpose and believed that we must maintain progress. Over the past ten years, Yike's development has fulfilled this principle."

"The company will encounter challenges and experience turbulence in the future. It is precisely in this way that our 'maintain progress' will be more like 'the sea is crossing and the true character of a hero will be revealed.'"

"Values ​​are not shouted out, they are practiced and accumulated."

"Mr. Yan from UMC said that he has full respect for the development of Yike and Bingxin."

"I hope that many years from now, whether you are still in Yike or not, you will look back on this past and be full of respect for your time."

At the end of the General Office meeting, the participating members felt quite heavy in their hearts. They were both excited and doubtful. After all, the situation encountered this time was completely different from the past.

The cooperation news from UMC has a lag in dissemination.

It took a day for rumors to surface that the cooperation that UMC and Yike had been close to reaching was once again suspended.

However, Yan Bowen had previously flown to Shanghai and categorically affirmed cooperation. As the CEO of one of the parties involved, his actions were very supportive.

The media did not get through to the UMC CEO until the morning of the 26th and personally confirmed the authenticity from his mouth. The cooperation between the two parties indeed ended without any problems.

As for the reason... Yan Bowen didn't give a reason, and his reason doesn't matter anymore.

Yike's stock price, which has recovered in the past week, will inevitably suffer another setback. With the confirmation of UMC, the list of candidate partners that once seemed rich no longer has the name of any manufacturer, and this matter was immediately highlighted.
To be continued...