Rebirth 1984: Starting with the development of Hanka

In my previous life, some of the domestic real estate giants were called "Vanke" and "Wanda", and my real estate company was called Wanjiang. There's nothing wrong with that...

Lu Maoshi had no idea what the name "Wanjiang" meant. He just thought the name was catchy and had a good meaning.

Endless borders, endless lives, endless lives.

People who live in a Wanjiang house will have long life and long life.

……

A few days later, Lu Maoshi went to RB with a mission.

It’s hard to imagine how much Zhao Ye can earn when harvesting Tokyo real estate in the future.

Now, Wujiang Microelectronics has solved the photoresist problem, so the fab's expansion plan can proceed smoothly.

However, Wujiang Microelectronics' technology is lagging behind in the optical field, so it will take a long time to develop the next generation of photolithography machines.

Zhao Ye targeted the optical giant Zeiss and the previous lithography machine giant ASML.

Currently, Zeiss is divided into two, the one located in West Germany is called Zeiss West, and the one located in East Germany is called Zeiss East.

During this period, Zeiss had already lost most of its low-end camera lens and movie camera lens business to RB.

In the field of lithography machines, Zeiss' lens quality problems caused hundreds of lithography machines delivered by GCA in the United States to receive widespread complaints from customers. The number of G-line lenses replaced by customers was so large that trucks were used to install them. The reputation of GCA and Zeiss suffered a devastating blow. At this time, Zeiss' optical components were no longer comparable to the high-quality lenses of Nikon and Canon.

In addition, Zeiss has always insisted on manual polishing of lenses by craftsmen. This group of people has the glittering title "Golden Finger" at Zeiss, but this is out of date. The human eye obviously cannot compare with high-precision instruments, and no matter how skilled the craftsman is, neither can Guaranteed to be as stable as the machine, so Zeiss' traditional classic gameplay dominated by "gold fingers" is equivalent to putting shackles on itself. Manual polishing of lenses brings two problems: the quality of the lenses is unreliable (GCA suffers from this problem), and the output is still very limited. Zeiss’ method of polishing lenses by relying on “gold fingers” can no longer adapt to the changes of the times.

At this time, Zeiss could not compete with RB Nikon. Zeiss's financial situation had become very bad and it was already standing on the edge of a cliff.

Many people think that Zeiss achieved ASML with its craftsmen carefully polishing the lenses.

In fact, it is quite the opposite.

Without ASML, Zeiss would probably not have survived the late 80s and 90s.

It was the rise of ASML that forcibly gave Zeiss an N wave of blood, allowing Zeiss to launch a robot automatic polishing system and no longer completely rely on "gold finger" craftsmen, and then developed into a real industry leader.

However, before we can deal with Zeiss, we must first kill ASML.

It is not difficult to kill ASML, because since its establishment, ASML has not sold a few photolithography machines and is currently suffering serious losses.

Last year, ASML lost more than 10 million US dollars. Zeiss, a cheater, not only knocked the American GCA company off the lithography machine throne, but is now cheating ASML. Half of the Zeiss lenses are substandard, and the other half are still delayed.

ASML founder Del Prado couldn't stand it anymore, and from time to time he and ASML's current CEO Jat Smit would yell at each other in the corridor. Because Jared Smit asked Del Prado for additional investment.

Historically, Del Prado contacted RB's Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Group to discuss acquisitions in 1986, but to no avail.

In this life, I think it will be the same.

Unable to find anyone to buy ASML, Del Prado had no choice but to hold on. After all, he had to finish the sex appointment with tears in his eyes. Just like Ma Huateng of Tencent, during the Internet winter in 2000, he sold QQ at low prices everywhere, but no one wanted to buy it.

Unexpectedly, in 1987, AMD placed an order for 25 ASML PAS2500 lithography machines, allowing ASML to finally survive. Immediately afterwards, TSMC was established. Because TSMC had investment from Philips, the money did not flow to others. TSMC bought dozens of ASML lithography machines.

Zhao Ye is very clear about Asmai's history.

For now, we just have to wait for Del Prado to break down the negotiations with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Group, and then step forward to acquire ASML.

During this period, ASML had only two shareholders, one was Del Prado, which held 50% of the shares; the other was Philips, which held 50% of the shares.

Del Prado couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to sell Asmai.

Philips, on the other hand, does not pay attention to ASML at all.

If Wujiang Microelectronics wants to acquire ASML, as long as the money is in place, there will be no obstacles at all.

In fact, Del Prado and Philips are eager to get rid of the burden of ASML as soon as possible.

At this time, ASML's valuation was only US$20 to 30 million, and it was not considered a big company. It is almost unknown in the lithography machine market.

On the contrary, Zeiss was still famous during this period. Zeiss West alone had more than 10,000 employees.

It is easy to acquire ASML, but it is very difficult to acquire Zeiss.

However, in the mid-to-late 80s, Zeiss was on the verge of bankruptcy, and this might be the only chance.

No matter what, Zhao Ye wanted to give it a try.

With Zeiss, China's optical systems will develop by leaps and bounds.

In the office, Zhao Ye told Rex Aiden: "Always pay attention to the movements of ASML's boss Del Prado. Recently, he may have contacted RB's Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Group to discuss the acquisition of ASML. I need time Understand the progress of their negotiations. Once Del Prado's negotiations fail, you will then come forward to acquire ASML in the name of Alphabet!"

ASML technology is very important to Wujiang Microelectronics Company. Of course, this is not the key. The key is that as long as ASML is acquired, a competitor can be eliminated.

After Rex Aiden left, Zhao Ye suddenly frowned and murmured: "Is it really best for Wujiang Microelectronics to eliminate ASML? It seems not necessarily..."

"Behind the success of ASML, the support of Western countries, especially the United States, is indispensable."

"If Wujiang Microelectronics acquires ASML, Western countries will never support Wujiang Microelectronics. If they have no choice, they will only support RB. This will actually make Canon and Nikon stronger!"

"It seems that ASML still needs to continue to exist. Wujiang Microelectronics can invest in it, but it requires access to some of the other party's technologies. In this way, it can maximize its benefits!"

"Even if ASML rises, Wujiang, as an investor, can still make a lot of money and still have a certain say."

"It's just that if ASML doesn't die, the idea of ​​acquiring Zeiss will most likely come to nothing in the end. In addition, Zeiss is the pride of Germany, and the German authorities may not easily agree to sell Zeiss to a Chinese company. At most, I can live and die with Zeiss. During this period, we took advantage of the situation and purchased some patented technologies in optical systems.”

Zhao Ye couldn't help but sigh. It's too difficult. He can acquire ASML, but he can't do it. The rise of China's lithography machines has to be done by himself.