If you cheat, money will follow

The meeting place was a suburban club. It wasn't necessarily luxurious, but it was quiet.

Yang Yongning arrived at the appointment on time, accompanied by an older man.

Chang Le, Zeng Xi, and Zhao Zhiwei didn't know each other, but Liang Qingsong was very familiar with them.

"Mr. Gao, why are you in Jiangcheng?" Liang Qingsong laughed and shook hands with him enthusiastically, like an old friend for many years.

"Qingsong, we haven't seen each other for some years. I came to Jiangcheng this time mainly because I was invited by Yongning to have fun. People who are about to retire have more time." Gao Qiquan said.

Then, Liang Qingsong introduced Gao Qiming to Chang Le and others.

Gao Qiming is known as the Godfather of Memory in Taiwan.

Born into a wealthy family in Taiwan, he studied in North America for a long time.

In the 80s, after graduating from college, he joined TSMC.

In the 90s, he left TSMC and founded Nanya Technology.

Relying on technology authorization from Japanese and German companies to manufacture DRAM chips.

The 08 financial crisis hit the semiconductor industry hard. Coupled with Samsung's countercyclical investment approach and wielding a price butcher knife, Nanya Technology suffered serious losses.

Investment in the memory industry within Taiwan is wavering and difficult to implement. Therefore, Nanya's technology business volume has shrunk sharply and is increasingly marginalized.

Chang Le and others looked happy after listening to the introduction.

He took the initiative to shake hands with Yang Yongning and Gao Qiming and reveal his identity.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Yang and Mr. Gao, for taking the time to attend the appointment. I am Chang Le from Leda Investment, this is General Manager Zeng Xi, and this is Minister of Investment Zhao Zhiwei..."

After listening to Chang Le's introduction, Yang Yongning and Gao Qiming originally thought that this young man was just a follower. They never thought that he was the legendary founder of Leda Investment, and they couldn't help but be surprised.

"Actually, the main reason for meeting with these two is because we, Leda Investment, want to enter the storage industry and invite them to take charge of the overall situation." Chang Le continued.

Yang Yongning and Gao Qiming were not surprised by Chang Le's invitation. They had expected it before coming.

"Next, our company's general manager Zeng Xi will introduce the situation to the two of them..." Chang Le said.

"Mr. Yang and Mr. Gao, the new company is being registered. The main shareholders are us, Leda Investment, Fosun Capital, and the Changning Municipal Government." Zeng Xi continued:

"The company's registered capital is 300 billion yuan, and the capital can be in place at any time."

"The total investment in the project is 1500 billion yuan, of which the first phase investment is 400 billion yuan, focusing on flash memory chips;"

"In the second phase, 1100 billion yuan will be invested to tackle DRAM chips. Of course, this is only a budget estimate. Additional funds will be added later depending on the situation..."

"Changning City Government? Where is Changning City?" Yang Yongning asked.

"Well, Changning City is located in the south of Jiangdong Province, adjacent to the four provinces of South China. It is about three hours' drive from Pengcheng." Zeng Xi continued:

"The Changning Municipal Government took the initiative to find us and wanted to change the traditional approach to attracting investment in the past and adopt industrial investment methods to promote the development of local industries."

"In this project, Changning City is very determined and vigorous. It will not only become the main investment institution, but also provide all-round guarantees in terms of land supply, base construction, subsidized loans... etc."

"They have only one purpose in doing this, which is to locate the project in Changning City."

After Zeng Xi’s introduction, Yang Yongning said:

"Mr. Chang, Mr. Zeng, Minister Zhao, and Qingsong... I am very grateful to you all for looking up to me, Yang Yongning."

"In the past few years, Leda Investment has become a well-known name in the domestic semiconductor industry, especially in the field of lithography machines, which has spared no effort in injecting funds, which I deeply admire..."

"Actually, I'm not worried at all in terms of funding."

"But in the storage industry, after decades of fierce competition, technology has shown a high degree of concentration and oligarchic tendencies. Whether it is NandFlash or DRAM, without patent authorization, no matter how abundant the funds are, it will not be able to get on the poker table."

"I wonder if any of you have considered this issue?"

Hearing this, Chang Le, Zeng Xi, Liang Qingsong and Zhao Zhiwei all laughed.

Zeng Xi said: “We have already considered this issue.”

"To tell you the truth, before we came here, we had already connected with the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences through the regulatory authorities, and obtained more than 1000 core NandFlash patents. We already have the conditions to join the industry."

"Moreover, the Institute of Microelectronics also stated that once the company is established and enters the research and development stage, they will send engineers to provide on-site support."

Yang Yongning: "..."

Gao Qiming: "..."

Currently, NAND Flash 2D technology has reached a bottleneck. The number of transistors connected to a single chip has reached the upper limit, and product performance has reached its peak.

Flash memory technology has therefore entered a revolutionary iterative stage from 2D to 3D.

Brand new equipment and production lines are needed, and everyone has to start over.

The technological gap between domestic and foreign oligarchs has been smoothed out in the face of technological iterations.

Before the new NAND Flash 3D technology was launched, oligarchs such as Samsung, Hynix, and Micron successively submitted relevant patent applications.

The Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a nationally recognized institution in China, holds more than 1000 core patents through more than ten years of technology accumulation and hard work, and has retained its qualifications to be on the domestic poker table.

"In terms of DRAM, we actually have some patents, but we have not announced them to the outside world, so outsiders don't know about them." Zeng Xi continued:

"In 09, Germany's Infineon fell into serious losses, which coincided with our recent investment in Schaeffler and Continental."

"With the coordination between Porsche and the German government, they used Qimonda's more than 1000 million patents as collateral and obtained a loan of 1.25 million euros from our company, agreeing to redeem it after 2011."

"It's already 2013, and they have no intention of redeeming them. According to the agreement, these patents already belong to us, Leda Investment."

"In other words, in the DRAM field, as long as the team is in place, we are qualified to enter the competition circle."

Yang Yongning: "..."

Gao Qiming: "..."

Zeng Xi continued: "I want to introduce one more thing to the two experts."

"We have verified Qimonda's patents with professional institutions. The most advanced process is 46 nanometers, which is objectively behind the times."

"However, the etching machine process node of Huachuang Company in which we have a stake has reached 28 nanometers..."

"In short, whether it is R&D or production, we have certain conditions, and the rest is to hurry up."

"We sincerely invite you two to be our guides on the road."

"..." After listening to Zeng Xi's introduction, Yang Yongning was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear.

Next to him, Gao Qiming's eyes were filled with hope.

In fact, from historical experience:

In the semiconductor field, especially the storage industry, both Taiwan and Japan are victims of Samsung's countercyclical investment method and price butcher knife.

Both places have a strong "anti-Korean" dream.

Take the bankrupt Elpida as an example. Its 512MRAM chips before bankruptcy could achieve an astonishing 98% yield rate, while Samsung's yield rate was only 83%.

Generally speaking, it is relatively easy to achieve a yield rate of 80%.

To reach more than 90%, you need to bear high costs and have an almost paranoid pursuit of technology.

为了达到98%的良品率，尔必达的设备吞吐量只有三星的1/2，利润率只有三星的1/10。

However, DRAM is extremely cyclical and requires fixed technology iterations and production line replacements.

Samsung's core strategy for DRAM is cost. It dilutes costs by expanding production capacity, and then squeezes its opponents with price.

Under the extreme squeeze of Samsung, Elpida, which is extremely "technical", accumulated huge losses and went bankrupt!

Japan lost its final position in DRAM.

After Elpida went bankrupt, its CEO Yukio Sakamoto repeatedly expressed his unwillingness.

He has repeatedly emphasized that Elpida is very skilled and has repeatedly stated that he does not want to end his career with failure.

Not only Yukio Sakamoto was unwilling, but also Gao Qiming.

"I have a question." Gao Qiming said

"Say." Zeng Xi said

"Even if Changning City is willing to bear high investment costs, from the perspective of the foundation of the semiconductor industry, Changning is not a good choice. It may be better if it is located in Magic City, Jiangzhou, or Pengcheng." Zeng Qiming said.

"It's up to me to explain this issue." Chang Le nodded and said:

"I chose Changning mainly for my personal reasons."

"But you can rest assured that the continuity of local policies will not affect the projects invested by Leda."

"As for supporting facilities, Leda Investment will coordinate with relevant companies to provide supporting facilities for the new company."

Since it was personal reasons, Yang Yongning and Gao Qiming no longer asked in detail.

After the two looked at each other, Yang Yongning said:

"Mr. Chang, Mr. Zeng, Minister Zhao, Qingsong, thank you again for your kind invitation to us."

"From the bottom of my heart, I personally really want to agree immediately. But this is a big matter, and I need some time to think about it before making a decision..."

Chang Le nodded: "Yes, we will be patient enough."

"In addition, before making the final decision, Qiming and I still want to meet the person in charge of Changning City and listen to his thoughts." Yang Yongning said.