Technology: Start by selling mobile phones

Freeman stood there dumbfounded, his expression instantly as disgusting as if he had eaten a fly.

Potter watched calmly, he could completely understand Freeman,

After all, when he learned that "Yellow River Storage" could produce "3D-nand", his expression was almost exactly the same as Freeman's.

"Not only have they mastered the '3D-NAND' flash memory particle technology, but they have also used it in large-scale mass production."

"The 'solid-state drives' and 'TF memory cards' they are currently producing all use their own flash memory particles... but they have not announced them to the public."

Freeman was completely stunned.

He picked up the paper report in his hand and read it carefully twice, then picked up the solid-state drive with the "Yellow River Storage" production logo on the table and looked at it carefully.

After a full two minutes, he put down the report in his hand and looked directly at Potter.

"So, the reason why you lowered the price is because you knew the news and you wanted to restrict them by lowering the price?"

"That's right."

The original anger in Freeman's heart disappeared instantly.

It is no exaggeration to say that if it were him, he would make the same choice as Porter.

"You are right. No matter what, we cannot let Yanguo Enterprises develop."

"Well, thank you for your understanding..."

Potter felt relieved, and finally a smile appeared on his face.

In fact, he has known Freeman, a grumpy guy, for a long time. Strictly speaking, the two of them used to work together at Intel and were colleagues in the same office.

but.

As soon as he finished speaking, Freeman's voice suddenly changed, and his angry voice sounded again.

"You are indeed right! But you still make me feel sick. The inventory accumulated in your warehouse has been almost sold out this month, right?"

"Shit! Shit, you are just a piece of shit, a self-eating piece of shit, just like you were at Intel!"

Potter shrugged helplessly and did not refute.

After a long time, Freeman waited for all his dissatisfaction to be vented before he slowly said:

"Freeman, the president of Samsung came here in person two hours ago, but I didn't tell them anything. You are the second manufacturer to know the reason."

"So... you still have time."

"However, you have to hurry up. If you keep talking nonsense here, I'm afraid Samsung and the others will get ahead of you. Samsung and Meizhi are constantly inquiring about the situation. They should also find out before long."

"FUkk, you mean I still want to thank you?!"

A few minutes later, Freeman took the test report and the "solid-state drive" provided by Porter and left cursing.

Micron and SanDisk are both American companies, and their executives have many personal relationships with each other. Obviously, Porter chose to sell a favor at the critical moment.

the other side.

Even if Freeman curses, people with such bad tempers often act very resolutely.

In the afternoon of the same day, Micron's Yanguo "flash memory particle" factory also began to imitate SanDisk's open sales, announcing that the inventory was sufficient, welcoming purchases, and accepting all purchase orders.

The news about Micron has completely shaken the confidence of the entire "flash memory particle" market like a depth bomb. Everyone has understood that, first it was SanDisk, and now another storage giant Micron has also caught up. The "flash memory particle" market is about to change. !

Samsung and Toshiba are also completely unable to sit still.

Although we still don’t know the specific reasons for this wave of price cuts, it is impossible to just hold on to it and let the other two manufacturers accept market orders.

That night.

After the emergency meeting, Samsung, Toshiba, and Hynix, the three "flash memory chip" manufacturers, immediately announced that they have sufficient production capacity and will supply all orders normally.

The market was suddenly in an uproar. No one expected that the "flash memory particles" that were in short supply a few days ago and could not be purchased even if they wanted to buy them had sufficient production capacity overnight, so they bought them casually!

Naturally, this situation could not be hidden from Mo Ran, who was paying close attention to the matter. He frowned slightly, obviously realizing that the situation was getting worse!

Five flash memory chip giants have relaxed restrictions and opened up sales, what’s next...

There is a high probability that the price will be reduced!

Mo Ran was right.

On June 26, the news came.

Micron takes the lead in lowering the ex-factory price of "flash memory particles"!

The ex-factory price of "flash memory particles" with a capacity of 128GB has dropped by 20 yuan, from the highest price of 175 yuan to 155 yuan!

The same goes for 256GB, which is reduced from 350 yuan to 310 yuan, a straight drop of 40 yuan!

As soon as the news came out, the market fluctuated violently, and Mo Ran was the first to bear the brunt. For the first time, he deeply felt the huge pressure brought by the market!

128GB ex-factory price is 155 yuan!

You must know that the cost price of 128GB of "Yellow River Storage" is 132 yuan!

After two months of hard work, I finally managed to get a little increase, but now it was completely defeated in an instant, with only 23 yuan left from the cost!

Just need two more price cuts next...

No, even with just one price reduction, it is entirely possible to break through the cost price of "Yellow River Storage" 3D-nand!

call……!

A huge haze enveloped Mo Ran's heart, and he knew he had to think of a solution!

But before he could come up with a countermeasure, on June 28,

On the third day of Micron’s price reduction, the market was hit hard again!

Samsung, Hynix, and Toshiba seemed to have noticed something, and the three companies suddenly jointly lowered prices!

The ex-factory price of 128GB flash memory particles has been reduced by 15 yuan again, with the price as low as 140 yuan!

The price of 256GB is reduced by 25 yuan, the price is as low as 285 yuan!

Mo Ran suddenly stood up from his chair!

The price of 140 yuan for 128GB is only eight yuan away from the production cost of "Yellow River Storage" 3D-NAND, and the most important thing is——

The price of flash memory particles has fallen so fast that there is no buffering time at all, and there is no sign of stopping the fall!

If this continues, it is only a matter of time before the cost price of "Yellow River Storage" falls below. By then, "Yellow River Storage"'s 3D-NAND business will be severely hit!

what to do?

Mo Ran took two deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

In fact, he has been thinking about how to deal with it all the time these days.

He knows very well that the current decline in the market for "flash memory particles" is not because there is no demand in the market. On the contrary, the market demand for "flash memory particles" is still very strong.

And the price of "flash memory particles" can drop from 175 yuan to the current 140 yuan in just a few days. There is no doubt that this is not the result of normal market selection. This is the storage giant headed by SanDisk teaming up to target itself behind the scenes. !

And their target is the 42.8% yield rate of "Yellow River Storage"!

really,

Although 3D-NAND flash memory particles have obvious cost advantages over 2D in large-capacity particles, the yield rate of 42.8% is definitely not enough compared to the traditional yield rate of 90% or 95%.

but!

He also calculated carefully,

As long as the yield rate of "Yellow River Memory" of 42.8% can be improved a little, without even increasing too much, the large-capacity advantage of "3D-NAND" with a yield rate of about 60% can be fully realized, and it can be compared with the current traditional "2D-NAND" The cost price of the pellets with 90% yield is the same!

He doesn't believe that the storage giants headed by SanDisk dare to break through their own cost prices for "Yellow River Storage"!

So!

As long as "Yellow River Memory" 3D-NAND reaches a yield rate of more than 60%, it will be completely invincible!

But... how can the yield rate be so easily improved?

Mo Ran clearly remembers that it has been several months since the last time the yield rate increased from 31.9% to the current 42.8%, and the work on the yield rate has stopped in the past few months, but even so, the effect Still not ideal.

Thinking of this, he shook his head slightly.

"No, no matter what, I still have to go and take a look."

Mo Ran made up his mind and drove to the "Yellow River Storage" half an hour later to meet the person in charge, Li Zhi.

At this time, Li Zhi was completely shrouded in the huge haze created by SanDisk and Micron. No one could have imagined that in just one month, the flash memory particle market would completely change.

A few days ago, I was full of joy and thought about making a lot of money while taking advantage of the good market. In the blink of an eye, I am now even considering cutting production to save myself and control losses.

In the office, Li Zhi looked haggard. He was just as worried as Mo Ran these days.

Seeing Mo Ran's personal visit, he knew very well the purpose of Mo Ran's trip.

"Mr. Mo, we have tried every means, mobilized all resources, and optimized and adjusted the yield rate 24 hours a day."

"but……"

In the first sentence, Li Zhi suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and then sighed heavily.

Mo Ran was very calm. He glanced at Li Zhi and asked calmly:

"but what?"

"But '3D-NAND' technology is indeed the world's top technology, and the process is too complicated."

"In addition, we have no production experience at all before, nor any production data. In all aspects, our production data must be accumulated from scratch..."

"So, we're letting you down. We haven't made any substantial progress in yield yet."

Although it was expected, Mo Ran couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in his heart.

Li Zhi saw it with an equally bitter expression. As the first person responsible for the "Yellow River Storage", he was responsible for the current predicament.

He stood slightly forward and looked at Mo Ran.

"Mr. Mo, our team has really tried its best. I also know the difficulties the factory is facing now. If you want to blame, just blame me. I am willing to take all responsibilities!"

"Why."

Mo Ran sighed slightly in his heart, and then shook his head.

He can understand Li Zhi.

actually,

"Yellow River Memory" can develop 32-layer "flash memory particles" which is actually very powerful. This is already the world's top technology in the field of memory chips.

Although the design and production links are related to each other, they belong to different departments. To be honest, the production department of "Yellow River Storage" is indeed much worse than the background of companies such as "TSMC" and "Samsung".

and.

Even if we look around the world, storage giant Samsung has mass-produced 32-layer "3D-NAND" flash memory particles as early as 2016. However, in the past two years, the yield rate of Samsung has not increased to 80% or 90%.

This may be related to market factors, but it also indirectly shows that the technical difficulty of "3D-NAND" is indeed very high, and everyone is still in the exploratory stage.

Mo Ran exhaled slightly.

"Perhaps I am still too impatient. The 42.8% yield rate should not be released so early."

Thinking of this, Mo Ran forced out a smile and patted Li Zhi on the shoulder.

"I don't blame you for this, you all worked hard."

After saying this, he pursed his lips and his expression returned to calm.

"Let's do this Li Zhi."

"You also know the current situation. According to the current trend, the price of 'flash memory particles' will fall below our cost price sooner or later."

"We can sustain it in the short term, but over time, we won't be able to hold on for too long and continue to subsidize production."

"So... we have to make preparations in advance. We previously purchased "Hynix" flash memory particles, and now we have to contact them."

"And I have already calculated that once the market price of 'flash memory particles' drops below 120 yuan, all our OEM products, whether they are made by Xiaomi or Jingdong, will have to be replaced by Hynix's flash memory particles. .”

"This matter is left to you. You have to implement it in advance."

"Mr. Mo..."

As soon as the words fell, Li Zhi wanted to speak and persuade Mo Ran, but when the words came to his lips, he couldn't say them at all.

He knows very well that once all the current "3D-NAND" flash memory particles are replaced with 2D particles as Mo Ran said, there is no doubt that the "3D-NAND" business department of "Yellow River Storage" will be wiped out. disaster!

Not to mention that the production capacity that we have worked so hard to expand in the past few months will fall apart in an instant, and even some technical staff may not be able to retain it!

And the most painful thing is,

Once large-scale mass production is stopped, the progress of improving the yield rate will definitely be affected!

But!

Will we continue to produce "3D-NAND" chips despite losses?

impossible!

Li Zhi fell silent. At this moment, Mo Ran patted his shoulder again and looked directly at him.

"Lao Li, I know everything you want to say, but..."

"Just do as I say."

This time the words fell, and the entire office fell into a brief silence. Li Zhi lowered his head, not even daring to look at Mo Ran's calm eyes.

After a long time, he nodded sharply and whispered:

"I understand, Mr. Mo. I will contact Hynix personally in a moment to handle this matter and it will not affect our external orders."

A smile appeared on Mo Ran's face.

Now that everything was arranged, he was ready to leave.

But after taking two steps, he suddenly thought of someone. He stopped, turned around and asked:

"Old Li, how is Zheng Qian doing recently?"

"Zheng Qian?"

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then said:

"Lao Zheng was busy developing 64-layer '3D-NAND' flash memory particles a few months ago. I also approached him about the yield rate, but..."

"There is still a gap between production and design majors. Lao Zheng has been busy for a while, but in the end he had no clue, so I simply asked him to continue doing the technical research he is best at."

Mo Ran suddenly realized.

"What about the progress of 64-layer '3D-NAND'?"

"Well enough."

"In Lao Zheng's words, he is very confident in the research and development of 64 layers, but..."

Speaking of this, a rare smile appeared on Li Zhi's face, but it soon turned bitter.

"But Lao Zheng said that even if 64-layer is successfully developed, it will not be put into mass production immediately, and the yield rate will still be a huge problem."

Mo Ranye didn't have high hopes at first, so he nodded and said:

"I see."

…