318: Chapter 318 Securing a Fruit Order Worth 10 Billion

Transsion's counterattack came unexpectedly.

There was no press conference, no teaser, just a direct Weibo video.

Two production lines were running at full speed, with blue indicator lights flickering in the dim light, looking like a scene from a sci-fi movie.

In the corner of the photo, one could see a technician wearing a white cleanroom suit, bending over to calibrate the equipment.

The caption consisted of only two sentences: "Transsion Semiconductor's second 14nm production line has completed its capacity ramp-up.

Monthly output of 40,000 wafers. Global foundry services available, with bulk discounts."

Rather than calling it an unexpected announcement, it would be better to say it was a long-premeditated answer.

"Holy crap! Does this mean the production line revealed last year wasn't just newly built, but had already finished its capacity ramp-up?"

"This speed is like riding a rocket in the semiconductor industry. I feel like those people who said they wouldn't be able to manufacture anything once raw materials were cut off are definitely going to get slapped in the face soon."

"Tsk, let them be happy for now. All their raw materials have been cut off, so how much longer can this production line actually run?

When they run out of raw materials, they'll have no choice but to shut down.

Sometimes, it's better for Transsion to just cooperate with the investigation, give them whatever they want, and then everyone can work on the global supply chain together. Trying to produce everything alone won't yield good results!"

"Damn, so fast? Does that mean the third and fourth lines are already under construction? [Dog head emoji]"

"The person above might not be wrong, right? In any case, it feels like the United States has sanctioned for nothing again."

Digital Chat Station's Weibo post added fuel to the fire: "Transsion Semiconductor's 14nm production line uses 'domestic' equipment. Regarding the previous rumors about smuggling Lithography Machines, please do not believe or spread them!

As for raw materials, there are indeed significant issues at the moment, but please rest assured, our researchers are accelerating their studies! (Goal: complete localization.)

In addition, for the LTE Cat6 technology debuted by Honor, update packages will be pushed to all Taishan 910 and Kirin 910 series chips this week to bring everyone a better network experience!"

A Weibo post filled with truth and falsehoods made the situation complicated once again, and the United States intelligence agencies immediately obtained this precise information...

They would spend the night studying these two pieces of news, and of course, they would also be researching how far the Lithography Machine project, hosted by the China Semiconductor Fund, had actually progressed!

"Is it really a domestic Lithography Machine? But didn't they say it was 60nm before?"

"The person above is talking about multi-patterning!"

"Don't talk about multi-patterning. The equipment built by the Semiconductor Fund has an upper limit of 28nm; it definitely couldn't reach this level...

It must be an immersion Lithography Machine, but the technology for that equipment isn't so simple; it's very technically demanding."

They replied with a dog head emoji: "I can't disclose the details, but you can guess.

You can watch the evening news recently."

Another smoke bomb, which the United States intelligence agencies captured immediately.

Meanwhile, Samsung's Lee Jae-yong was eating breakfast when his assistant handed him the compiled news.

He put down his South Korean-style breakfast, slowly finished reading the summary, and then the South Korean-style breakfast instantly lost its appeal.

After taking two bites, he had someone clear away the breakfast.

"Their second line has already completed its capacity ramp-up, and the monthly output exceeds the standard 15,000 wafers, an increase of one-third.

What about ours? When will mass production start?"

Liu Shanhe stammered, "Next year, or the year after."

Liu Shanhe wasn't talking nonsense; a breakthrough next year, yield rate improvement the year after, and completing capacity ramp-up the year after that—this three-step plan was the only one consistent with the development of the semiconductor industry.

Transsion Semiconductor is simply a freak of nature!

Lee Jae-yong didn't speak. He did the math: nearly 50,000 wafers would be enough to swallow the global high-end market.

The most terrifying thing was that it was already March, and they still hadn't received the order for A7...

Although the possibility of a delay couldn't be ruled out, the timing was very subtle.

Even more terrifying was that Transsion's capacity was enough to swallow Apple's order.

"Notify the semiconductor division board to hold a strategic meeting immediately."

Looking at the summary report, he said with some nervousness:

"We need to discuss how to respond to Transsion Semiconductor's capacity expansion and the risk of Apple's orders being transferred."

At the same time, at Apple headquarters, Cook was also looking at this news.

He wasn't angry like Lee Jae-yong; instead, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

The iPad in front of him displayed Transsion's Weibo post, and the lights of the two Lithography Machines in the picture were very soothing.

His secretary stood by, waiting for his instructions.

"CEO, Transsion's 14nm capacity has already met our expectations."

He was checking his emails. There had been a lot of communication with Transsion—tape-out times, capacity arrangements, everything was fine, but the final price had not yet been settled!

To him, Transsion's quote was practically robbery, but he had no right to refuse. After all, Transsion's technology was too formidable; they had no choice but to agree!

So, he sent a message to the other party: "I will send a special envoy to sign the contract tomorrow."

The next morning, Transsion Semiconductor released a brief message to the public: "Current capacity is full. We are not accepting new clients for the time being. Those with cooperation intentions, please wait in line."

This message was interpreted as Transsion having already secured their expected client.

Translated, it meant: So what if the United States imposes sanctions? United States clients still have to come rushing to us anyway.

Digital Chat Station also posted a Weibo immediately: a musical note holding a bitten Apple.

"It really is Apple. I thought those unscrupulous media outlets were just bragging again."

"Apple is really going to adopt the 14nm process? Wouldn't that mean a huge improvement in A7's performance?

Some manufacturers should learn from this. They could clearly upgrade their process and improve performance, so why do they have to play those cheap, underhanded tricks?"

"Things change over time."

At the Transsion Semiconductor factory, Professor Li Jiahui was inspecting the production lines with Factory Manager Yuan Guoqing and discussing the upcoming capacity allocation.

"Old Yuan, I'll say this in advance: we need to distinguish between our own 'children' and external personnel."

"Don't worry, you know who I, Old Yuan, am. I definitely have a plan."

Professor Li Jiahui didn't say anything; he just kicked the road with his foot. He knew what was what...

He did indeed know what was what—the semiconductor department was going to continue to win the sales championship at the end of the year!

By then...

"Don't look at me like that. Don't worry, alright? Our own chips will definitely be the first batch, and only then will it be Huawei and Apple."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Shen Fei also received a call.

"Boss, the engine has completed its test run ahead of schedule.

All indicators have met the design parameters, even better than we expected. Acceleration thrust is 17.2 tons, while imported engines of the same class only have 15 tons. The thrust-to-weight ratio is 10.8, while the imported one is 9.5.

Based on aging tests, the expected lifespan can reach 5,600 hours, and the response speed of the vector nozzle is also faster than the imported one.

But these are all models; we'd better start vehicle testing!"

The United States' excuse really wasn't wrong; he did indeed have this project.

But so what if they sanctioned him? The aircraft engine had already been built.

However, this really proved one saying: When the United States says you have something, you'd better actually have it!