94: Tianjin Chip Factory

During a break in filming, Li Xiuwu received a call from Long Xiangdong; that batch of equipment had arrived at the port and was being loaded onto trucks to be transported to Xian.

Additionally, the negotiations regarding the Tianjin Factory with Motorola had also made significant progress.

Li Xiuwu discussed with Yu Min and decided to focus on filming his scenes first.

After two months of intensive filming, Li Xiuwu left the production early.

"Is something the matter?" Yifei asked him with concern. The two had grown much closer, and she had begun to care about Li Xiuwu's affairs, no longer acting like a carefree, thoughtless young girl.

"I'm going to make a trip to Tianjin first, and then I'll head back to the capital to film," Li Xiuwu told her.

"Is there anything you need help with?" Liu Xiaoli was also concerned about Li Xiuwu.

"If something comes up, I'll give you a call, Auntie." Li Xiuwu didn't offer any polite pleasantries, bid farewell to everyone, and boarded the plane to Tianjin.

When the plane landed in Tianjin, Qiu Wanjun arrived with a motorcade to pick him up.

"Boss, the negotiations for the Tianjin Factory are complete. The total value is 1.32 billion RMB, with the condition that it must be paid in full at once."

The estimated construction value of the Tianjin Factory was 1.7 billion, but since its completion, Motorola had fallen into internal management factional infighting. Their development direction had braked sharply and changed course, causing the Tianjin Factory's production capacity to never operate at full throttle.

At Motorola headquarters, the non-family faction held the dominant position and began a light-asset movement, selling off a large number of factories. The Tianjin Factory also happened to coincide with the domestic cost-reduction and westward relocation trend, resulting in a price lower than the market rate, while simultaneously requiring full payment.

"This production line at the Tianjin Factory is an 8-inch dry Lithography Machine production line, capable of producing 350 to 130 nanometer Chips. It is a mature consumer-grade Chip production line that can be widely applied to MP3s, Feature phones, automotive Chips, and other fields."

"The factory has over ten thousand skilled technical workers, a healthy upstream and downstream supply chain, and there are already over two hundred supporting industries around the Tianjin Factory."

"The Chip Factory has no debt, but there are two orders that we need to fulfill. The workers and production line are being handed over normally. Now, there is one issue: the maintenance personnel are not included among the employees. If a problem arises with the production line, we need to hire their maintenance staff separately."

In the car, Qiu Wanjun was discussing the critical issues regarding the Tianjin Chip Factory.

The maintenance team was a huge trap; the price for every visit was exorbitant, and they didn't even guarantee a fix.

But given the current situation, Li Xiuwu had no other choice.

"I understand. Is there any hope for the Lithography Machine?" This was what Li Xiuwu cared about more.

This was a great opportunity to take advantage of the internal conflicts at Motorola and the interim period of the Tianjin Factory's sale to acquire a world-class, advanced Lithography Machine.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Wanjun's face twitched.

"Foxis refused," Qiu Wanjun said, shaking his head.

Li Xiuwu frowned.

Currently, the most advanced Lithography Machine in the world is the 12-inch immersion Lithography Machine produced by ASML.

This type of immersion Lithography Machine differs from the technologically mature 12-inch dry Lithography Machine on the market; it doesn't have many applications, yet the price is three times that of a dry Lithography Machine, costing thirty million dollars per unit.

Nowadays, the best Chips on the market are 90 nanometers, and a 12-inch dry Lithography Machine is sufficient to handle that.

A 12-inch dry Lithography Machine can produce Chips down to 65 nanometers. Moreover, the price is lower, making it the primary product currently purchased by Chip Factories.

Although the technology of the immersion Lithography Machine is more advanced, it hasn't created a generational technological gap with the dry Lithography Machine, leading to a lack of buyers.

Currently, because the cost of this technology is too high, overseas markets do not prioritize it as much as dry Lithography Machines. If this opportunity is missed, there might never be another chance.

"Hmm, let's go to the Tianjin Chip Factory first." Li Xiuwu pondered; this 12-inch immersion Lithography Machine could be used all the way down to 45 nanometers and 32 nanometers. It would be a great pity if it couldn't be acquired.

"Do you have any information on Foxis?"

"Yes, it's all right here." Qiu Wanjun had also conducted research on Foxis, and his files were all in the car, including some information on Motorola.

Motorola's factional infighting was extremely severe; the struggle between the non-family faction and the founding family faction led to a large market share being seized by companies like Nokia and others.

Even so, they still insisted on fighting!

In the midst of such struggles, a large number of talented individuals became cannon fodder in the conflict, relegated to the sidelines.

"Have the city leaders been invited?" Li Xiuwu asked Qiu Wanjun suddenly while flipping through Foxis's file.

"They have been invited, and the other party stated they would attend," Qiu Wanjun replied.

The motorcade soon arrived at the Tianjin Chip Factory. After registering at the entrance, they entered the administration building, where a few people were waiting to receive them at the entrance.

"Boss, these are all middle-level managers from the Tianjin Factory; the Motorola upper management is not here." Qiu Wanjun immediately introduced these people waiting to receive Li Xiuwu.

A show of force, or perhaps they simply looked down on the Chinese people.

Du Yanbo, Jiang Feng, and a few others saw the cars entering, their eyes filled with unreadable emotions. They had only heard that the new boss was a local, but knew nothing else.

The car stopped in front of the administration building.

Lin Qian got out of the car, glanced around, and went over to open the door for Li Xiuwu. Li Xiuwu stepped out of the car, and Qiu Wanjun, who was on the other side, also got out and quickly walked a few steps to his side.

This series of actions clearly demonstrated Li Xiuwu's dominant position.

"So young!" Du Yanbo and Jiang Feng's eyes revealed shock when they saw Li Xiuwu.

He was tall, handsome, and dashing, with calm eyes and a mature, steady demeanor, but it couldn't hide his young face.

They suppressed the shock in their hearts and walked forward a few steps to greet him.

Qiu Wanjun immediately explained, "This is our boss, Li Xiuwu."

"These are the Production Director Du Yanbo, Logistics Director Jiang Feng, and External Relations Director Ji Yunfeng." Qiu Wanjun introduced the three people in front.

"You are all the backbone of the factory. Rest assured, I am an outsider and will not interfere with the factory's operations. I won't say anything unnecessary; let's go and complete the contract signing first. We will have plenty of time to chat later, and next time, I'll treat everyone to drinks."

After shaking hands with the three people in front, Li Xiuwu spoke these words and signaled to Qiu Wanjun.

The contract hadn't been signed yet; these people were still employees of another company, so chatting any more would be useless.

Qiu Wanjun led Li Xiuwu upstairs. The group got into the elevator.

"Old Du, this is too young." Several people looked at Du Yanbo, their eyes revealing worry.

They were the management, holding high positions in the factory, but at this moment, they were very worried.

New rulers bring new courtiers; they, the management, were all appointed by Motorola. Would the new boss replace them with people close to him?

They would have liked to follow Motorola, but Motorola was undergoing a light-asset reform and de-industrialization. Even the General Manager, Foxis, was confused about his own path, let alone them.

"Let's wait and see." Du Yanbo had no other options; the situation was just like this. What else could they do? Hold the factory hostage and incite the workers to cause trouble?

Did they not want to live? The local leaders would skin them alive.

Just as they were thinking this, several Mercedes-Benz cars drove in. Several stern-looking people got out of the cars, and the leaders of the municipal commercial department hurried over.

"Secretary Zhang." Du Yanbo and the others went up to greet them once more, hoping to gain the support of these leaders to negotiate with Li Xiuwu on their behalf.

"Have they gone up?" Secretary Zhang asked.

"They just went up," Du Yanbo replied.

Secretary Zhang nodded at them and walked toward the elevator.

After entering the elevator, everyone looked thoughtful, speculating on the background of the person taking over.

The transaction was too sudden; they hadn't had time to conduct a background check. However, the fact that the other party had notified them was a relatively friendly gesture.

What they feared most was that after completing the transaction, the other party would take the equipment and move to another city.

This wasn't just a simple matter of ten thousand workers. Because of this Chip Factory, two hundred supporting technology industries had settled here. Surrounding these technology industries, there were numerous dining, clothing, and entertainment businesses, affecting the lives of nearly a million people.

This was an industrial ecosystem. Once this factory moved away, the ecosystem would collapse, potentially affecting the lives of a million people and triggering chaos for a million people in the short term.