My Age of Investment

  After completing a huge financing of US$15 billion at the fastest speed, Xinxin Group quickly demonstrated to the industry and the media the arrogance and ambition of the new generation of storage giants.

   First of all, it announced the expansion of production capacity, entered the Chinese market, and established the first Chinese fab in Shanghai, which is also the 17th fab under Xinxin Group-Fab17.

  This is a jaw-dropping number, and many people don't even understand how Xinxin Group suddenly has such a large number of fabs and chip production capacity.

  When people briefly review the development history of Xinxin Group, they immediately understand all this.

  Unknowingly, the patchwork Xinxin Group has developed into a force that no one in the chip industry can underestimate.

Through the acquisition of GlobalFoundries, the part of the wafer manufacturing business divested from AMD acquired four fabs in the United States and Germany, plus Chartered Semiconductor's six fabs in Singapore, making the new company In an instant, there were 10 fabs, 5 of which were still 300mm fabs.

With all 10 fabs in full production, Xinxin Group's monthly wafer production capacity can reach 360,000 pieces, slightly lower than Huaxin International, which already has 11 fabs, with a monthly production capacity of 400,000. piece.

However, even if the combined annual wafer production capacity of the two companies is only more than 9 million pieces, it is still not as good as Gulf Power, which just announced the construction of 15 factories last year. Converted to 200mm (8-inch) wafers, the Last year's production capacity exceeded 11 million pieces, ranking first in the world.

  Because Gulf Electric has mastered the most advanced manufacturing technology, the gap between revenue and net profit is even greater than the gap in production capacity between them.

   On the difficult road of chasing Gulf Power, even if Xia Jingxing exhausted all his strength, the gap is still huge, and it will be difficult to surpass in the short term, and shortening the gap is already a kind of progress.

  However, if you don’t count Gulf Electric, the overlord of the wafer foundry, Huaxin International’s vigorous pursuit and the emergence of Xinxin Group still make a group of colleagues feel restless.

For example, UMC in Yizhou Island, whose status as the number two in the foundry field is already in jeopardy. The gap in production capacity between Huaxin International and Xinxin Group is very small, and it can easily surpass it with a little effort. .

  As for small manufacturers such as PSMC and World Advanced, which have been far behind Huaxin and Xinxin, they feel a biting chill.

  They are not so concerned about market rankings, but they are very concerned about whether there will be a price war between fabs in the future.

  The past year was the best year for the foundry industry since 2000, and the output value increased by 37.8% year-on-year.

  Nearly 40% increase in output value has allowed almost everyone in the industry to make money, including Huaxin International, which made a slight profit last year, ending five consecutive years of losses.

  When the situation was very good, Huaxin International and Xinxin Group were still building new factories there to expand wafer production capacity, casting a shadow over the future of the entire foundry industry.

  If there is an overcapacity in the wafer foundry industry in the future, leading to a price war, Yizhou Island, as the world's major wafer manufacturing base, will undoubtedly suffer the most.

  Some islanders who can't hold back have already begun to secretly connect with each other. I hope that the leading boss of Gulf Electricity will take the lead in making a statement and making a sound.

  However, Zhang Zhong was very calm this time, and turned a deaf ear to the capital increase and production expansion of Huaxin International and Xinxin Group, as if he didn't care about the provocative actions of the two children.

When Gulf Power did not jump out to express their opinions, small companies such as PSMC and World Advanced could only send one or two senior executives to speak bitterly on industry forums and online media, saying that "just spending money is a lifetime They can’t do well with semiconductors”…

  The appeal of PSMC and the world's advanced has been echoed by another group of people on the island.

If the foundry industry in Yizhou is only beeping a few words because of the tense atmosphere created by Huaxin International and Xinxin Group, then the six companies of Nanya, ProMOS, Powerchip, Winbond, Huaya and Ruijing The only remaining DRAM manufacturers in Yizhou were completely impatient, and they just turned the table and stopped playing.

  The reason why their mentality was broken is not entirely due to Xia Jingxing. The reason why Xinxin Group participated in the price war started by Samsung was largely forced.

  However, this was just the last blow to the Yizhou storage chip manufacturer, which was already half-lived.

  When Samsung made a high-profile announcement of a 10% price cut for its own products, Xinxin Group did not show weakness and announced another 10% price cut on this basis.

  The two giants directly brought the price of memory chips, which only rebounded slightly last year, back to two years ago.

In addition, since the company owns 10 wafer foundries, plus the 6 wafer fabs of Galpida and Qimonda, Xia Jingxing instructed Fu Jixun to terminate the cooperation with the Yizhou foundries such as Powerchip and Ruijing. Through cooperation, all orders for memory chips were absorbed internally, which made the Yizhou wafer foundry, which was not economically rich, even worse.

   It stands to reason that companies such as Powerchip and Ruijing should hate Samsung, which took the lead in wielding the price knife, but they didn't, and put most of the blame on Xia Jingxing. Who let Xia Jingxing be born on the other side?

  In addition, the islanders are actually used to the "bloodbath" of the memory chip market by South Korean manufacturers led by Samsung, because the entire industry will undergo a periodic reshuffle every few years.

The storage chip industry in Yizhou started in the 1980s and 1990s. Well-known local companies such as Formosa Plastics and Acer tried to develop in the upstream direction of the industry. They invested more than 1.6 trillion yuan in the middle, but in the end they failed. A lot of debt, a lot of chicken feathers.

  In fact, several Yizhou memory chip manufacturers have long been impatient. The battle between Samsung and Xinxin Group is just a disaster, and it is the last nail in the broken coffin.

A few days after the outbreak of the war, Nanya Technology and Winbond have announced the transformation of the production of niche DRAM, that is, only the storage of LCD TVs, digital set-top boxes, and players, and the storage of PCs and mobile phones will not be touched at all. , Admit it.

   Not two days later, ProMOS Technology announced its withdrawal from the circle and transformed into IC design.

  The remaining three Yizhou storage chip manufacturers are still struggling to support, but the situation is not good. What awaits them is either acquired or completely transformed.

  While the Yizhou storage chip manufacturer was taken away by a wave, bad news came out from Hynix, a major Korean storage chip manufacturer.

  ...

  On the plane returning home from Singapore, Xia Jingxing was lying on the sofa with his legs crossed and a face of comfort. Suddenly he tilted his head, glanced at Liu Hai, and asked, "Tell me, is it possible for us to acquire Hynix?"

  After hearing this, Liu Hai looked at Xia Jingxing with the eyes of a fool, and didn't reply for a long time.

   "I know it's not realistic, alas, I just think about it in my heart."

   As he was talking, Xia Jingxing laughed to himself, knowing that it was impossible, but he couldn't help but have this kind of sweet dream. It's really the big fat Hynix that makes people covetous.

  If Xinxin Group successfully acquires Hynix and wins half of the global storage chip market share, it will truly become the Gulf Power in the storage chip industry.

  Liu Hai sighed and said: "The Koreans caught up with the good time and seized the golden development years when Japanese chips were suppressed by the United States.

  Look at Yizhou, how greedy the storage market is, and have invested so much talent and money. As a result, under the crazy suppression of Korean manufacturers, all the investment was in vain.

The South Korean government attaches great importance to the chip industry. Micron wanted to acquire Hynix ten years ago, but the final terms were not agreed. The South Korean government took over the mess of Hynix, canceled more than 8 billion US dollars of debt, and borrowed Billions of dollars were given to Hynix, whose asset-liability ratio reached more than 200%.

  American companies can think about this big piece of fat, but we can't, because the dog leash is not in our hands. "

  Xia Jingxing was amused by Liu Hai's vivid metaphor, and said: "In the storage chip industry, the competition is about who has more money and who is more daring to burn money.

  The situation that Hynix is ​​facing now is much better than that of Elpida and Qimonda in the past. As long as a large amount of capital is injected, it can immediately stand up vigorously.

   Alas, it can only be said that it is a pity! "

  Liu Hai can understand the deep helplessness and regret in the boss's heart, but the reality is that there are not many shortcuts to take, and he can only choose to be self-reliant.

  In order to comfort Xia Jingxing, Liu Hai hurriedly changed the subject and said, "Yizhou is over this time. From the panel to the storage chip industry, we are almost uprooting it."

   Mentioning this, Xia Jingxing's face immediately recovered, and he said with a smile: "It's an exaggeration to say uprooting, and I didn't target them on purpose, I just accidentally hurt the flowers and plants."

   "You have to pay attention, be careful that you are listed as the least welcome person over there."

  The corner of Xia Jingxing's mouth showed a hint of sarcasm, "They don't dare to trouble Samsung, and they don't dare to criticize Singapore by name. I'm just a soft persimmon, right?"

  Liu Hai laughed loudly and said: "People over there have always been like this, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, if you give them a little bit, they will think you are weak and can be bullied.

   What I'm really worried about is Gulf Electric!

  Now we are attacking on multiple fronts, and the capital chain is very tight. If Gulf Power gets involved again, it will be a lot of fun. "

  Xia Jingxing pursed his lips and did not speak. Liu Hai's reminder instantly made him think of many things. Recently, he only spent money, but he didn't have much income. He almost emptied the small coffers of Daxia Capital.

   "How much money do we have now?"