171: Chapter 172 Samsung Electronics' "Mid-Range" Exploration

Time moved forward to late August.

Just as Shen Du was boldly reorganizing his imperial domain,

the Shanghai headquarters of Jiyuan Technology suddenly welcomed a group of heavy-hitting, even completely unexpected, 'uninvited guests'.

The visitors were dressed in suits and leather shoes, their expressions carrying a reserve and probing nature unique to multinational giants.

The middle-aged man leading them was none other than the representative of the supreme hegemon in the global storage and consumer electronics sector.

The official senior representative of South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Kim Cheon-sik.

Inside Jiyuan Technology's highest-security, luxuriously decorated penthouse reception room, the heavy red sandalwood doors were slowly pushed open.

Shen Du strode in, flanked by a group of senior executives.

An impeccable, calm smile hung on his face.

Following the most standard international business etiquette, he firmly shook hands with the rising Kim Cheon-sik.

Then, he took his seat at the head of the table, as steady and solid as Mount Tai.

"Mr. Kim, having traveled all the way from Seoul, South Korea, I wonder what important business cooperation Samsung Electronics has in mind for Jiyuan Technology today?"

Shen Du's dark eyes narrowed slightly as he calmly delivered his opening remarks, cutting straight to the point.

As this was their first meeting, Kim Cheon-sik, who spent his years navigating commercial negotiation tables, appeared highly cautious.

He pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

He took a deep look at the incredibly young man before him.

A business emperor who, in just a few months, had utterly decimated the overseas capital groups. He slowly spoke:

"President Shen is a straightforward speaker, so I won't beat around the bush either."

Kim Cheon-sik lowered his voice and revealed a card that left everyone present completely baffled:

"The main reason we are here today...

...is because not long ago, while reverse-engineering a smart home appliance exported from your country, Samsung's hardware laboratory unexpectedly discovered an 'anomalous' custom chip."

Kim Cheon-sik used a highly restrained yet visibly shaken phrase: 'a chip manufactured using a completely new, unknown technology'.

Hearing this, Shen Du's fingers holding the teacup paused slightly, and a flash of realization and a deep smile flickered in his eyes.

He instantly understood the other party's intention.

This was the 'Cold-Etched Chip' flowing into the civil home appliance market from that top-secret foundry in the foothills of Tianmu Mountain.

It had finally caught the attention of these veteran semiconductor hounds!

"The physical architecture of that chip is highly unusual,"

Kim Cheon-sik continued, his tone carrying a trace of disbelief at the technological shock:

"Constrained by some manufacturing process, its physical area is a full two times larger than a typical chip of the same class!

Yet, during rigorous extreme stress testing...

...the heat control, power efficiency, and superb stability under high loads it demonstrated...

...completely wiped the floor with our Samsung chips of the same class!"

Kim Cheon-sik exhaled slowly, his gaze locked onto Shen Du:

"It has superior performance, and absolutely no 'thermal corrosion' edge effects left by traditional Lithography Machines can be found.

After many twists and turns...

...we finally discovered that this 'monster chip', which has absolutely no patent filings, actually originated from a secret foundry under Jiyuan Technology!"

Listening to Kim Cheon-sik's 'confession', Shen Du calmly took a sip of tea on the surface, but inwardly, he was sneering repeatedly.

This so-called 'monster chip' was merely a common product created through high-end dimensionality reduction because the Tianmu Mountain Base hadn't received any high-end orders!

But precisely because 'Cold Etching' technology perfectly avoided the thermal corrosion effects of traditional lithography,

even if this chip had a large area,

its pure physical foundation and stability were absolutely beyond anything Samsung's assembly-line mediocrity could compare to!

Just a mid-to-low-end ordinary product had already shocked Samsung's laboratory so profoundly.

If they knew about the 'Ultra-Small Nanometer-Scale Maskless Cold Etching' that Jiyuan Technology was truly plotting deep in the mountains,

these South Koreans would probably break into a cold sweat on the spot!

After listening to Kim Cheon-sik's 'confession'—which seemed shocked on the surface but was actually laden with hidden barbs—the smile at the corner of Shen Du's mouth grew even deeper.

Kim Cheon-sik took a deep breath, finally revealing his true intentions by presenting a seemingly flawless reason for commercial cooperation:

"President Shen, let's not beat around the bush.

With the explosive boom of global smart devices...

...the capacity for our high-end storage memory under Samsung Electronics is currently in a state of emergency across the board."

"To put it bluntly...

...Samsung cannot spare even a single extra assembly line right now to produce these relatively low-margin home appliance chips."

As Kim Cheon-sik spoke, he pulled a thick document from his briefcase and pushed it with both hands toward Shen Du.

"Therefore, the purpose of my special flight to Shanghai this time...

...is to represent Samsung Electronics in placing this long-term foundry order with your company for custom home appliance chips."

Shen Du did not reply immediately, but instead casually flipped open the cooperation document.

The dense data on the pages consisted entirely of custom home appliance chip parameters specifically optimized by a specialized team.

And the total annual value of this foundry order had shockingly reached the massive volume of hundreds of millions of RMB!

If it were any other conventional domestic chip foundry...

...confronted with a multi-hundred-million-RMB order personally delivered by the giant Samsung, they would likely have been incoherent with excitement and filled with gratitude.

But under Shen Du's eyes, which could pierce through the capital mists of two lifetimes, Samsung's crude disguise was absolutely full of holes!

Shen Du instantly saw through the true intentions of these South Korean chaebols.

As a global semiconductor hegemon, Samsung had countless cheap foundries in Southeast Asia.

How could they really go to such trouble to seek cooperation with a domestic internet enterprise in China just because they 'lacked this bit of low-end capacity'?

The other party had only one true objective: a technological probe!

Samsung had clearly noticed the brand-new technological path hidden behind that 'monster chip'.

But limited by the tight, military-grade physical isolation of the Tianmu Mountain Base...

...they could not uncover any useful intelligence at all.

Thus, Kim Cheon-sik had come to their door with this order worth hundreds of millions.

As long as Jiyuan Technology accepted this massive order...

...Samsung would be able to use the subsequent steady stream of delivery speeds, yield rate fluctuations, and underlying physical feedback of the chips...

...to leverage their massive data analysis team and completely reverse-engineer the true secrets and capacity limits of Jiyuan Technology's hidden factory!

"So that's how it is. In your eyes, I'm just a 'mid-range foundry' with slightly better technology..."

Shen Du sneered silently in his heart.

Because up until now, to play it safe, the Tianmu Mountain Base had indeed never accepted any high-end foundry orders.

This deliberate hiding of their capabilities had perfectly misled the outside world, causing Western giants like Samsung to make a fatal strategic miscalculation.

Faced with these hundreds of millions in 'sugar-coated bullets' that carried a strong probing intent, Shen Du did not hesitate for even a single second.

"Deal!"

Shen Du closed the document very readily, looked up, and flashed Kim Cheon-sik an extremely sincere smile exclusive to capitalists:

"Since Samsung Electronics has shown such sincerity, Jiyuan Technology will accept this foundry order worth hundreds of millions!"

"Mr. Kim, you can stay in Shanghai for a few more days while our General Manager Chen Shengqiang drafts the details of the contract.

As soon as the signatures are on the paper, we will immediately fire on all cylinders and produce for you around the clock!"

Seeing Shen Du take the bait so easily, an imperceptible trace of contempt and ecstasy flashed in Kim Cheon-sik's eyes.

Believing he had perfectly accomplished the probing mission assigned by headquarters, he stood up, satisfied, to shake hands and take his leave.

However, watching Kim Cheon-sik's departing figure...

Shen Du picked up the tea on the table, which had already grown somewhat lukewarm, and drank it in one gulp, a spine-chilling coldness emanating from his eyes.

Beating them at their own game—an open scheme showdown!

In Shen Du's eyes, this was simply a massive windfall falling from the sky!

What did 'Magnetic Confinement Cold Etching Technology' lack most right now?

It wasn't funding, but a massive amount of practical manufacturing data to feed that embryonic magnetic field confinement model!

Now, not only had Samsung Electronics proactively delivered hundreds of millions in cash profits...

...but they were also willing to provide such a massive assembly-line order, allowing Jiyuan Technology to use their money and leverage their order...

...to frantically generate data, practice proficiency, and enhance the micro-precision of Cold Etching!

Since you Western giants want to probe our depth...

...then I will wear this sheep's clothing of a 'mid-range foundry' and peaceably devour your supplies.

"Just keep dreaming your beautiful dreams for a few more days in your high-and-mighty arrogance..."

Shen Du muttered to himself, his gaze shifting to the rolling clouds outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

After obtaining the foundry contract bearing Shen Du's signature, Kim Cheon-sik did not linger in Shanghai for even a single second longer.

With the secret joy of having 'successfully completed the probing mission,' he immediately boarded a first-class flight that very day and flew back to Seoul, South Korea, overnight.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The Samsung Electronics headquarters building in the center of Seoul.

Inside the conference room on the top floor, which symbolized the power of the Republic of Korea's chaebols, the atmosphere was heavy and grim.

Kim Cheon-sik respectfully submitted the foundry contract, worth hundreds of millions of RMB, with both hands to the front of the long conference table.

"Chairman, the situation is exactly as we previously anticipated."

Kim Cheon-sik straightened up.

The cautious, even slightly probing, humble demeanor he had displayed in front of Shen Du had long since vanished.

Replacing it was the arrogance and certainty belonging to an executive of a multinational tech hegemon.

"That Chinese young man named Shen Du. When he saw this order for home appliance chips worth hundreds of millions, he didn't hesitate for even a second and signed it readily. It's clear that they are desperate for and dependent on this massive cash flow and assembly line order."

Kim Cheon-sik pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, a sneer curling the corner of his mouth.

In front of the high-ranking chaebol executives, he drew a conclusion he deemed flawless:

"Based on my probing and observation of micro-expressions during my personal visit to China, the outside world's fear of Jiyuan Technology, this so-called 'internet giant,' and its hardware foundation is a complete overreaction."

"Their foundry does indeed possess a certain level of technical strength and can optimize the physical foundation of mid-to-low-end home appliance chips quite well. But, that is all."

Kim Cheon-sik paused, then said in a definitive, resonant tone:

"So far, there is no indication that their factory hidden deep in the mountains possesses the core capability to manufacture high-end chips at the nanometer level!"

In the deep-seated prejudices of Kim Cheon-sik and many Samsung executives present.

Chinese enterprises were always only capable of fierce internal competition in low-end manufacturing and traffic-based businesses.

Since Shen Du had so "famishedly" swallowed these low-profit mid-range appliance chip orders, which Samsung viewed as mere scraps.

It completely exposed their trump card.

That so-called "monster chip." At best, it was just Jiyuan Technology having mastered a special packaging method or a physical optimization shortcut.

"Therefore, the conclusion is obvious."

Kim Cheon-sik slightly lifted his chin: "Jiyuan Technology's foundry is nothing more than a slightly higher-level 'wage earner' in our massive global Samsung foundry supply chain. It is not to be feared at all!"

However, this report from Kim Cheon-sik, which sounded "full of security" and even carried a hint of seeking credit, did not elicit the praise and agreement he had expected within the conference room.

The entire top-floor conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Sitting at the head of the long conference table was an old man with silver hair who commanded awe without being angry.

This Samsung Chairman who truly controlled the Samsung Empire and its vast semiconductor territory did not look at the foundry contract worth hundreds of millions on the table. Instead, he stared fixedly at Kim Cheon-sik with a gaze as cold as if looking at a dead person.

"Fool."

The old man slowly spat out these two words. Although his gravelly voice was not loud, it struck Kim Cheon-sik's chest like a heavy hammer, causing the smug smile on his face to instantly stiffen.

"Chairman, I..."

Cold sweat instantly oozed from Kim Cheon-sik's forehead; he completely failed to understand where he had gone wrong.

"Do you really think that a young man who could survive the strangulation of billions in Wall Street capital, and even turn the tables, would be a 'wage earner' who would beg us for a mere few hundred million in foundry fees?"

The Samsung Chairman slammed the table. In those deep eyes, forged in the sea of corpses and blood of the semiconductor industry, flashed a chilling clarity and fury.

"Put away that disgusting arrogance of Western multinational giants! Your shortsightedness will sooner or later push the entire semiconductor foundation of the Republic of Korea into an abyss of no return!"

The Samsung Chairman stood up, hands pressed on the table like an aging lion overlooking its prey. He issued a cold, soul-piercing question to all the executives present who were still immersed in the dream that "Great Xia only has low-end manufacturing":

"You self-righteous elites, have you ignored an extremely terrifying blind spot?"

"You must understand one thing: the history of China's semiconductor development, by any measure, has just begun! Under such harsh technical iron curtain blockades by Western powers and the United States, all of China cannot even buy a single basic advanced Lithography Machine!"

The old man's voice echoed in the hall, carrying a hair-raising sense of oppression:

"I have checked the global supply chain customs data. Jiyuan Technology has not purchased a single piece of lithography equipment from ASML in the Netherlands! Nor have they left a single order record for purchasing high-end optical photomasks on the international black market!"

Hearing this, the complexions of Kim Cheon-sik and the executives finally changed. An indescribable chill began to crawl wildly up their spines.

"No ASML Lithography Machine, no overseas photomasks..."

The Samsung Chairman stared intensely at Kim Cheon-sik's now-pale face, roaring word by word:

"Then you tell me, that chip capable of rubbing our Samsung home appliances into the dirt—what on earth did they use to carve those perfect micro-circuits inside it?!"

"Did it just appear out of thin air?!"

Facing this soul-piercing roar from the Samsung Chairman, the large top-floor conference room was terrifyingly silent.

Kim Cheon-sik's clothes were instantly soaked with cold sweat. He opened his mouth, but like a duck strangled by the throat, he could not make a sound. The other executives present looked at each other in dismay. A chill that was terrifying to contemplate coiled around everyone's heart like a venomous snake.

Watching this group of frightened executives, the Samsung Chairman coldly slammed a laboratory test report stamped with a red "Top Secret" mark onto the long conference table.

"If Jiyuan Technology had merely smuggled a few second-hand, outdated Lithography Machines at high prices through the international black market to barely cobble together these mid-range chips, I wouldn't have even bothered to look at them twice!"

The old man's gaze was like two extremely sharp scalpels, coldly dissecting the core of the matter:

"There is an old Chinese saying: 'Anomalies indicate demons!' What truly made our team of top physicists in the laboratory feel despair is the underlying manufacturing logic hidden behind that chip, which is twice the size!"

The Samsung Chairman opened the report and pointed to the micro-wafer cross-section magnified tens of thousands of times under an electron microscope. His voice carried a trace of imperceptible trembling due to shock.

"After half a month of extreme reverse engineering, the laboratory reached an extremely terrifying conclusion. They did not use the Western mainstream 'hot etching' process at all! On the micro-circuits of that chip, one cannot find even the slightest trace of thermal corrosion or edge damage left by plasma bombardment!"

The entire room of executives gasped in unison. Anyone who knew even a little about underlying semiconductor technology knew that as long as traditional Lithography Machines were used, physical wear caused by thermal effects could never be avoided.

"Do you idiots still not understand what this means?!"

The Samsung Chairman laughed in extreme anger, his laughter laced with deep dread: "This means they have completely bypassed the century-old patent barrier of ASML, which is based on 'optical projection'! That seemingly clumsily enlarged chip area is not because of technological backwardness. It is a physical compromise made during the early stages of R&D to ensure yield rates for a brand-new technology that far exceeds our current understanding!"

"On a micro-physical level, this unknown manufacturing method, which is completely free of thermal corrosion, is actually far more advanced and pure than any of the top Western technologies we currently rely on!"

At this point, this semiconductor hegemon of the Republic of Korea slowly sat back down in the wide leather chair. A flash of uncontrollable trembling flickered deep in his eyes.

"In an absolute vacuum state, with no international giants providing equipment, no Western technical assistance, and under strict technical blockades..."

The old man's voice was as heavy as the tolling of a funeral bell for an era: "That young man, Shen Du, actually worked behind closed doors all by himself, and forcibly carved out a brand-new path for chip manufacturing in the desolate ruins."

"This is the terrifying miracle that can truly topple the entire Western semiconductor throne!"