100: Chapter 100 Five Months to Develop a Chip Independently? Absolutely Impossible!

Fanmi Technology, Software R&D Department.

Inside the meeting room, the atmosphere was heavy.

"President Lin, the timeframe is too short. It's simply impossible to fully develop a self-developed chip from scratch before the launch of the second-generation phone!"

The voice of Wu Lang, the former leader of the Pangu System module group, rang out as he knit his brows tightly.

They had suddenly received news that they were being transferred from the original system software project team to start working on self-developed chips. Moreover, they were starting from zero without any prior project experience; they currently had no idea where to even begin.

"I know it's difficult, but the situation is forcing our hand. Even if it's hard, we have to do it!" Lin Wenwu's brow was also tightly furrowed, his tone serious.

"You all know that Likely a semiconductor company name demanded a 30% stake. We can't possibly agree to such a request. Without customized chips, if the Pangu System wants to break free from the android application framework and go fully live, self-development is the only path!"

How could he not know how difficult it was? Apple took four years to develop a chip, and even the first Snapdragon series from Likely a semiconductor company name—a company that specializes in chips—took six years.

The original launch date for the second-generation phone was less than five months away. With their current technical accumulation, completing the chip design, creating samples, passing tests, and achieving mass production in such a short time... was simply impossible!

Even for Apple, this amount of time likely wouldn't be enough just to upgrade an existing chip, let alone starting from zero.

When he received this task from Lei Jun, he was completely stunned. It felt like a fairy tale, without a shred of possibility!

"We don't even have a complete toolchain for chip design yet. How are we supposed to do this?" Wu Lang's face was bitter as he sighed inwardly.

"Exactly. It's not that we lack confidence, but we've never done a project like this before. We really don't know where to start!"

"Everything is starting from scratch. Even with President Zhou leading us, to be honest, there's really no confidence..."

"If we could just have a bit more time, we could learn as we go. But now we only have five months..."

"..."

Sigh after sigh echoed. The faces of everyone in the meeting room were full of worry; it was obvious that morale was low.

Even when they were self-developing the system back then, they hadn't felt this hopeless. They couldn't see a single ray of hope; everyone felt it was truly, completely impossible.

It wasn't about undermining their own prestige; everyone was clear about the current conditions. Chips and systems were two completely different fields. They were fine with writing code, but designing chips was truly out of their league!

"Enough. Look at you all, acting like a bunch of weaklings. Why must it be impossible?"

Lin Wenwu looked at his dejected team members, his expression becoming even more stern.

But in his heart, he actually had no certainty either. He believed in Zhou Fan, but the reality was that these people had zero experience in chip design. Suddenly pivoting from systems engineering was just too difficult!

However, the project had to be done. He couldn't just watch his team members remain so depressed.

He fell silent for a moment, then stood up and waved his hand at the others.

"Alright, you all can disperse for now. I'm going to talk to President Lei and President Zhou!"

With that, he walked straight out of the meeting room.

...

Warehouse Research Base.

In the corner of the reception room, Zhou Fan and Ren Fengxing from Huaxing sat across from each other. Lin Shuang brought in two cups of tea, then closed the door and left.

"Elder Ren, sorry to trouble you to make another trip!" Zhou Fan spoke somewhat apologetically.

He had originally planned to visit Huaxing in person to discuss cooperation with Ren Fengxing, but he hadn't expected Ren Fengxing to come to him first.

"What trouble? I just happened to be in Hangzhou City for a business trip and decided to drop by. Let's get straight to it; you said you wanted to cooperate with Huaxing in the chip field. Tell me more!" Ren Fengxing spoke with a gentle smile on his face.

Zhou Fan's expression became more serious. He looked at Ren Fengxing, nodded slightly, and then spoke in an earnest tone:

"Elder Ren, I know that your Huaxing HiSilicon has already accumulated years of technical expertise in chip design, which is why I had this idea!"

"Our Fanmi is still a blank slate when it comes to chip design, so I want to use a technical cooperation model to develop a brand-new chip together!"

Zhou Fan had made this decision after careful consideration. He was well aware that for Fanmi to design its own chip in a short time, relying solely on their current team was simply impossible.

If they started training talent from scratch and progressed slowly, it might take a few years, but he knew even better that Fanmi couldn't wait that long.

"Our Huaxing did indeed start laying out the semiconductor industry several years ago, and we've seen some results now. We have a certain accumulation in chip design and even manufactured our first chip this year. However, in comparison, our chip has no advantage over Likely a semiconductor company name, Apple, or even some other manufacturers. Its performance is average."

"So I'm very curious, why did you seek us out for cooperation?"

Ren Fengxing looked at Zhou Fan, his eyes flashing with a light of wisdom as well as a hint of confusion.

In fact, he had already vaguely guessed some possibilities, but he still couldn't quite see through the young man before him, so he simply asked directly.

"Our Pangu System needs to go fully live, which means we must use customized chips. You should know this, Elder Ren,"

Zhou Fan's voice rose again, carrying a hint of gravity. "But some time ago, Likely a semiconductor company name demanded that we give up a 30% stake before they would agree to deep chip customization cooperation with us."

"We cannot agree to that condition, so now the only path left is self-developed chips!"

"And the reason I reached out to Huaxing is that I feel your attitude toward foreign technological monopolies and blockades, Elder Ren, is the same as ours!"

"If Huaxia Technology wants to rise, it must forge its own path and break the blockades of Western countries to achieve a true breakthrough!"

"I believe that in the future, Fanmi and Huaxing's goals on this path will be the same, and we could even become allies fighting side by side!"

Zhou Fan looked at Elder Ren, his tone serious, hiding almost nothing.

He admired Elder Ren, and he also knew deeply how difficult the path Fanmi had to take in the future would be.

Perhaps Fanmi and Huaxing would become business competitors in the future, but as long as the two companies' goals of breaking Western technological monopolies remained unchanged, they would surely be the best of allies!

"Allies with the same goal..." Ren Fengxing looked at Zhou Fan and murmured, a smile appearing on his face as he nodded slightly.

"You said that very well. But with Huaxing's current technology, we are fully capable of continuing chip R&D on our own. Why do you think I would be willing to cooperate with your Fanmi?"

"Because I am certain that with Fanmi's team combined with Huaxing's technical accumulation, our self-developed chip will be successful in one year at most!"

"By then, the Pangu System will be fully live, the software ecosystem will be integrated, and Fanmi's rise will be unstoppable. Huaxing will surely gain massive benefits from it as well!"

"More importantly, we will jointly create an opportunity for the rise of Huaxia Technology!!"

"..."

The reception room fell into silence. Ren Fengxing looked at the bright-eyed Zhou Fan, as if seeing the youth before him glowing.

His heart couldn't help but shake, and his expression became serious.

If Zhou Fan really could design a brand-new domestic chip within a year, he knew all too well the significance that would represent.

self-developed system, self-developed chip...

Zhou Fan's confidence was justified. He knew very well that if that day truly came, Fanmi would inevitably become the leader of the Huaxia smartphone circle; there was no doubt about that.

"What an 'unstoppable' rise!"

Ren Fengxing suddenly laughed. Then, without further hesitation, he nodded slightly.

"I agree to this cooperation!"