Rebirth 76: Industrial Internet Empire

"Step by step, within the "euvllc" organizational structure, waiting for the research results of whether extreme ultraviolet light can finally be commercialized will only prevent Asmail from being out of touch with the advanced technology of lithography machines, and will not be able to stand out and become the top lithography machine. Enterprise!" Li Heping shook his head and said.

"What do you mean?" Martin Vandenbrink asked with some confusion.

"If we want to overthrow Nikon's dominance in the field of lithography machines, we must find another way and directly conduct commercial research and development of EUV lithography machines!" Li Heping said flatly.

"How is this possible? Without any verification, you rashly start the commercial research and development of EUV. Once it fails, the consequences will be disastrous and may even bring disaster to Asmail!" Del Prado retorted with some excitement.

"Mr. Li, in a company's technology research and development path, sometimes success will come from incremental innovation, and sometimes it will come from disruptive innovation. Of course, if you choose the right one, you can stand out and even soar into the sky. If you choose the wrong one, then It’s an abyss, we can’t afford to gamble!” Martin Vandenbrink patiently explained.

In fact, Li Heping has no confidence in his heart whether this so-called EUV lithography technology can succeed! His confidence all comes from Yang Mo. Yang Mo spent huge sums of money to get the controlling stake of Asmail in a roundabout way. Naturally, he must have his reasons!

Martin softened his tone and continued: "Mr. Li, you don't know something. The technical difficulty of EUV is very high. In terms of light source research, we still rely heavily on Zeiss technology. If we want to stand out, the difficulty is not ordinary!"

Li Heping fell into deep thought. After a long time, he raised his head and looked at Del Prado and said: "Del, if you are worried about the failure of EUV's disruptive innovation research and development, we can sign a gambling agreement!"

"Betting agreement?" Del Prado asked puzzledly.

"If it is verified that the research and development direction of EUV is a dead end that will not work at all, Qianhai Asset Management will bear 80% of the research and development costs. But once it is proven that this direction is correct, you will be able to transfer the Aspen held in your name." What do you think of 10% of Maier's equity being transferred to Qianhai Asset Management at the current price? You won't suffer any loss, right?" Li Heping said with a smile.

Del Prado was stunned for a moment. He knew that if he wanted to find out whether EUV could be commercialized, the US "euvllc" organization had invested nearly US$3 million, not counting the scientific and technical personnel invested by several top integrated circuit R&D companies...

This is really a huge gamble. Hundreds of millions of dollars are casually used as bets. Where does this Li Heping get such confidence?

"Mr. Li, do you have the exact information that EUV technology can be commercialized?" Martin van den Brink also asked curiously.

Li Heping chuckled and said: "Investment itself is a big gamble. The long-short game in the financial market has a stake of more than [-] billion. If it proves that the EUV path is unworkable, Qianhai Asset Management is willing to admit defeat and bear hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development funds. But once we develop a lithography machine that leads in fault-tolerance, the return will be more than a few hundred million?"

"Del, this gambling agreement is also invincible for you! The research and development fails, and you are unscathed! The research is successful, although you have to sell 10% of the equity at the current price, but you are left with 6.2 % equity will be worth far more than the current 16.2% equity..." Li Heping looked at Del Prado and said calmly.

"Okay! I signed this gambling agreement!" Del Prado said through gritted teeth.

Of course, Martin Vandenbrink really wants to promote this gambling agreement. In fact, in this huge gamble, the management and other small shareholders who hold shares are the winners without losing...

After signing the gambling agreement, Li Heping said in a deep voice: "Martin, suspend the plan to establish a R&D center and lithography machine factory in the United States!"

"Ah? The US government will kick us out of the "euvllc" organization!" Martin Vandenbrink said in surprise.

Li Heping waved his hand and said: "Since we have decided to start the research and development of EUV lithography machines, whether or not to stay in the "euvllc" organization does not have much practical significance. We might as well set up a separate stove and establish our own EUV R&D alliance!"

"Establish your own EUV lithography machine research and development alliance?" Martin van den Brink's eyes were as wide as copper bells.

Li Heping nodded and said: "The research and development of EUV lithography machines requires a large investment. In order to save costs, it is necessary for us to move our production base and R&D center to mainland China!"

"Moving to mainland China? No... no, this is absolutely impossible! Lithography machines are the crown jewel of industrial manufacturing, involving many high-precision fields such as optics, materials science, and precision manufacturing. With China's manufacturing level , it’s impossible to do it independently!” Martin Vandenbrink said hurriedly.

"Before acquiring Asmail, we had tailor-made a future development plan for Asmail. Introducing chip manufacturers to reversely acquire Asmail's equity is only the first step! Next, Asmail will invest heavily. , established an R&D center and a photolithography machine factory in mainland China, and used part of its equity to invite Zeiss, Leica, Cambridge Instruments, Shida Semiconductor, Cima Integrated Circuit and other companies to become shareholders, and established a photolithography company around Asmail. Engraving industry chain!" Li Heping said confidently.

Del Prado was obviously stunned by Li Heping's plan, and asked with a surprised look on his face: "Mr. Li, are you sure these top European and American companies are willing to join in? You have to know that Asmail has not been able to get... Come up with a solution on how to conquer the 157nm lithography machine..."

Li Heping said calmly: "Don't worry about this. Qianhai Asset Management will convince them to join. What you have to do now is to establish ASML Asia Pacific branch as soon as possible and select the top technical team to go to mainland China. Specifically, I will inform you about the site selection. The company's development strategy is highly confidential and should not be disclosed to the outside world for the time being..."

Martin van den Brink and Del Prado looked at each other in confusion. Li Heping's tone did not mean to discuss with them. This is the power of capital. A company with a market value of only more than one billion US dollars, in a capital giant like Qianhai Asset Management, In my eyes, I really don’t have much say!

"Qianhai Asset Management will not go to such trouble for an ordinary lithography machine company! What we want is a lithography machine head company that can replace Nikon! Step-by-step incremental innovation will not make Asmail stand out. , I can only keep following Nikon..." Li Heping continued to say murderously.