375: Chapter 375 Have you heard? The company is going to make chips.

When he said this, his eyes were a bit unfocused. On one hand, he genuinely wanted to develop chips in-house, but on the other, he knew his company didn't have the capability.

After all, even though netizens jokingly referred to them as an assembly plant, the statement wasn't exactly wrong...

"But why can the likes of Transsion and Qualcomm hold us by the throat? Because they have chips and we don't, so we have no choice but to be slaughtered."

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"If we announce self-development, even if it's just a pie in the sky, at least we'll have another card to play when negotiating with them."

"If you, Transsion, are so arrogant that you won't sell me top-tier chips, then I'll just make them myself."

"If you, Qualcomm, raise prices, what a coincidence, I have my own chips..."

"Just watch how they panic."

The others nodded thoughtfully, but they still felt like something was a bit off.

After all... never mind, if they couldn't figure it out, they would stop thinking about it for now.

But Liu Jun knew clearly that to have such a position, they had to produce equivalent products, but against Transsion, how was that possible?

Instead, the Chief Financial Officer asked stingily, "Then what is the budget for this investment?"

Liu Jun held up one finger.

"10 million is enough to buy many good things, but our finance department can squeeze it out if they grit their teeth."

"Those few patent fees...!"

"Wrong! Start with 100 million, in Chinese currency."

"Establish a Chip Design department, hire 200 people to put up a sign, and publicly announce an initial investment of 5 billion, with mass production within three years."

"100 million to make chips."

The Chief Financial Officer immediately demonstrated on the spot what it meant to launch like a rocket!

"100 million to make chips? You really want to make such a huge investment."

"Boss Liu, if you really want to do this, let me calculate it for you."

"With 100 million, you don't even have enough to buy EDA tools. You certainly won't be buying Transsion's tools, but the licensing fees for Synopsys alone would cost tens of millions a year."

"I didn't say we were actually going to make them."

Liu Jun sighed as he watched the team start arguing.

"I'm talking about painting a pie in the sky. Can't you understand?"

"Transsion's chips are real; our chips can be a PowerPoint presentation."

"The capital market doesn't want chips; it wants concepts."

"But for a concept, you still need a tangible product. If you brag to the outside world about 5 billion, you have to invest at least 100 million to make the market believe you've invested that much."

"As long as we market it well, this 100 million can turn into 5 billion, and when the stock price rises, it will be 10 billion."

"If it really rises that much, we can invest a bit more money to make the chip a reality. Doesn't that close the loop?"

The people in the conference room thought about it for a moment, and then there was enthusiastic applause.

They understood completely; this wasn't about making chips, it was clearly about reaping leeks.

This line of work happened to be exactly what they loved doing.

After all, the amount of investment wasn't decided by the company, but by the capital market. As long as the leeks believed they really invested that much, that was enough.

That evening, the relevant report passed Boss Liu's review.

Boss Liu specifically praised him, saying this idea was really good and that he hadn't chosen the wrong person to lead the mobile business.

So, early the next morning, Lenovo immediately issued an announcement.

"Lenovo Officially Launches Self-Developed Chip Plan"

It contained quite a bit of detail, roughly saying that Lenovo had previously been misunderstood as an assembly plant and had made many mistakes.

Now they knew what a great technology company should do, so they learned from their past mistakes and decided to adjust their strategy.

So the second half used a lot of buzzwords, such as independent innovation, core technology, serving the country through industry, and transitioning from an assembly plant to a technology-driven enterprise.

Finally, the announcement stated that Lenovo would invest no less than 10 billion yuan over the next three years, assemble a research and development team of 1,000 people, and develop mobile SoC chips with independent intellectual property rights.

The first batch of products would be used in Motorola and Lenovo's flagship mobile phones.

#LenovoMakesChips# #IsLenovoGoingToDoIndependentR&D?# #TheMomentumOfDomesticTechnologyBreakthroughsIsHere#

Although Lenovo made it onto three trending topics under the manipulation of paid internet trolls, the comments in the section were "slightly" unfriendly.

"Cracks me up. Lenovo making chips? Why don't you fix the cooling on your computers first?"

"Lenovo self-developing chips is just like me self-developing a Michelin recipe. I can write it, but I can't make it."

"Isn't it better for an assembly plant to just honestly assemble things? Why do you have to ride the coattails of this trend?"

"I believe Transsion making chips. I also believe Huawei making chips. Lenovo making chips? Fix your shitty system optimization first, okay? As for why I'm so angry? Of course, it's because I'm a ZUK user."

"Lenovo: We will develop our own chips and will no longer be at the mercy of others in the future. Netizens: Who are you at the mercy of right now? Lenovo: ... Silence is the Cambridge of tonight."

Liu Jun sat in his office, looking at the comments online, his face turning black and then white.

He had originally thought that at least some Mi Fans and Lenovo fans would come out to support them, but the result was uniformly sarcastic.

Could it be that in their eyes, Lenovo really didn't have the genes to make chips?

Xiaobai Unboxing, who was usually relatively mild-mannered, even specifically stood out to comment:

"Lenovo announcing the self-development of chips at this point in time, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is painting a pie in the sky."

"However, the timing chosen is indeed not bad. First of all, domestic technology has indeed made a breakthrough. Aside from the 14nm process currently being used by Transsion, the 22nm process is still the best in the world."

"With the manufacturing problem solved, only the design problem remains for the chip. Although it is difficult, compared to production line construction, it is much easier."

"However, I still feel that Lenovo's announcement is suspected of riding the coattails of the trend. After all... I'll let you guys say the rest."

Liu Jun looked at the comment section under Xiaobai Unboxing. It was even filthier than the comments under the official website, almost digging up their ancestors for 18 generations.

In short, everything was their fault. Some people even exposed their less-than-friendly cooperation with Transsion.

Saying that they announced self-development right after Transsion held them by the throat wasn't that like saying "there are no 300 taels of silver buried here"?

At this moment, Product Director Wang Hui pushed the door open. Seeing Liu Jun's expression, he realized that he was also looking at the comment section, so he cautiously said:

"Boss Liu, how about... we take down the announcement?"

"Take it down? Take what down?" Liu Jun slammed his phone on the table. "Taking it down would be even more embarrassing."

"Let them curse. Once these people are done cursing, it will pass."

"The most important thing for us right now is to finish the Motorola S6 and use the Taishan 710 to boost sales first."

"As for the chip matter, if we drag it out, it will pass. Once I make the real thing, these people will at least shut up."

Product Director Wang Hui nodded and walked out of the office. Passing by the pantry, he heard two engineers chatting in low voices.

"Have you heard? The company is going to develop chips in-house."

"I heard. 100 million to make chips, hahahahaha!"

"Haha, stop laughing. Compared to other projects, it's already a lot."