Chapter 456: The Future of the PC Market
"We're still too much like scholars compared to some companies," Su Yuanshan said as he stepped into the elevator. Chen Wei wasn't around, but Su didn't mind and turned to Zhang Xiaolong with a smile. "Even a company like Tsinghua Unigroup is starting to shake off its academic roots and operate like a serious commercial business. But Chengdian Gaoke is still stuck in the old 'school-run factory' mindset—clearly unsustainable. Oh right, you're not from Chengdian, are you?"
"I'm from Huazhong University," Zhang Xiaolong replied with a slight smile. "But I heard Chengdian Gaoke is doing okay? Their sales seem decent."
"Doing okay my ass…" Su suddenly blurted out in Sichuan dialect. "President Zhou's a good person in many ways, but he's too results-driven. He saw Yuanxin biting into the tofu nice and clean, but when he tried it himself, he cracked his teeth."
Zhang Xiaolong, out of respect for Zhou—an older generation leader—chose not to respond. But he was well aware that Chengdian Gaoke's computer sales had soared mainly because of Yuanxin.
While Yuanxin didn't directly own shares in Chengdian Gaoke, it did invest in Zhongxin Electronics, which held a stake. And since Yuanxin controlled Zhongxin…
This chain of ownership meant that almost every office computer used across Yuanxin's entire ecosystem had come straight from Chengdian Gaoke's factory.
"So what do you think of that Qiu Aihua guy?" Zhang Xiaolong asked, cautiously probing Su's attitude based on the interaction at lunch.
"What do you think?" Su asked back.
"I think…" Zhang thought for a moment before replying seriously, "it's hard to say definitively, but he's definitely a strong operator. His computer business isn't the biggest in the SEZ, but it's growing fast. As you know, to scale in the hardware business, you need deep pockets. Take Huayuan Electronics, currently the top distributor here—it rose in just two years because it had serious funding, grabbed a few big-name agency rights, and smashed its way in."
"Hmm… Wait. Huayuan? Is that the Lai family's company?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa!" Su was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected the Lai family to finally walk the straight and narrow.
But the thought passed quickly. He had no deep grudge with the Lais—if they went back to shady dealings, the government would handle them. If not, all the better…
His current focus was still on helping Zhou.
While meeting Jobs back in the provincial capital, Su had received a call from President Zhou asking if he had time to meet. Since Su was in the middle of entertaining Jobs, he declined, so Zhou gave him a quick rundown of Chengdian Gaoke's situation over the phone, hoping for some advice.
That was when Su learned that, on paper, Chengdian Gaoke had grown to rival brands like Tongfang, Founder, and Fantasy. But in reality, it ranked at the bottom—even the three major university-affiliated brands were lagging far behind Fantasy, which had pulled into the lead.
That was… awkward.
After analyzing the root of Chengdian Gaoke's problems, Su advised Zhou to break from the university structure as soon as possible. Let the school retain controlling shares but stay out of management—only leveraging its reputation and connections when needed, instead of directly running the business through an administrative office.
Because at the end of the day, running a company was a professional endeavor. A bunch of professors couldn't run an enterprise properly.
But that created a new problem—if they split, who would run the company?
It wasn't as if Yuanxin could take over.
…
Qiu Aihua's call came sooner than Su had expected. He had barely finished his lunch break when his office phone rang.
—If Qiu was really as good a businessman as Zhang Xiaolong had said, he'd definitely try to find out exactly who "President Shan" was.
Su's identity wasn't a secret—just low-profile. Any full-time Yuanxin employee with some seniority could easily tell you who he was.
"President Shan…" Qiu's voice came through the receiver, a little nervous. "About lunch today… I feel like I didn't host it properly…"
"Oh come now, Qiu. You picked up the tab—you were the perfect host." Su sipped his coffee and chuckled. "I asked around. I hear your company, Aihua Electronics, is quite experienced in selling computers and office gear. How about we sit down and have a proper talk about the future of personal and office computing?"
"President Shan, I'm downstairs in your building right now—just wasn't sure if you were free."
"Oh? I'm in my office. Come on up."
Not long after the call ended, the front desk brought Qiu to Su's office. After some polite small talk, Su led him to the meeting area.
Unlike with Ma Yun, Su had a different goal for Qiu. With Ma, he had wanted to test the depth of his insight into the internet's future—so he gave him time to think. With Qiu, he wanted to see whether this man was just a sharp-tongued salesman or someone with a genuine grasp of the IT industry's future.
After all, Su was scouting for a potential professional manager for Chengdian Gaoke.
He needed someone who not only sold computers but also understood where the entire industry was heading.
So Su got straight to the point.
It was clear Qiu hadn't come mentally prepared for that kind of conversation. He probably just wanted to build a friendly relationship with a top executive.
But when Su earnestly asked for his thoughts on the PC market's future, Qiu dropped the smooth salesman persona and gave the question serious thought. Then he began to speak:
"To be honest, President Shan, in all the years I've been in the computer business, my take is that the money will still be in branded PCs. DIY builds… they keep a lot of people fed, sure, but they'll never make anyone rich."
"Go on."
"The DIY market, even abroad, is still a relatively new and developing retail niche. We sell assembled PCs ourselves. In fact, our profit margin on those often beats what we get from brand-name machines—we carry several domestic and international brands."
"But branded PCs have obvious advantages. The brand itself brings awareness and credibility. A decent salesperson can push one without breaking a sweat. They address every doubt a customer has. The only downside to a branded PC is the price."
"By contrast, custom-built machines come with all sorts of hassles. Most buyers don't know a thing about computers. If something goes wrong, they call you. That's a nightmare for dealers trying to scale up."
"And beyond that…"
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Chapter 457: The Return
Su Yuanshan listened attentively to Qiu Aihua's well-articulated thoughts. Whether or not his conclusions were completely accurate was secondary—what mattered was that Qiu had clearly put serious thought into the PC market.
After a moment of reflection, Su interrupted gently, "Since you believe brand-name PCs are where the money is, then how should they be promoted in order to maximize market share and dealer acceptance?"
Qiu was taken aback. He glanced at Su with genuine surprise.
Wait—Yuanxin makes CPUs. Why would they be interested in building PCs too?
It didn't make sense.
After all, Qiu had started from nothing selling 486 chips; even if he was far removed from the semiconductor industry, he understood that making CPUs put you at the very top of the supply chain. That was where the real profits were. Why would a company operating at that level stoop to building computers for marginal gains?
But seeing Su's sincere expression, Qiu decided to take the question seriously. He thought for a moment and said, "Assuming we're speaking from the perspective of a brand PC manufacturer—am I right?"
Su smiled and nodded. "Yes, exactly."
"Well then, the answer's actually pretty simple. Aside from brand awareness, the most critical factor is solving users' biggest concerns. Everyone knows brand-name PCs are expensive—but that premium has to feel justified."
"And what's considered value? Branding? That's not luxury—we're not talking about designer handbags. Brand alone doesn't justify the price." Qiu gave a helpless shrug and chuckled. "We tech folks all know: same parts inside."
Su burst out laughing. "Well said."
"So even if customers don't know it now, they will eventually. And as computing, technology, and the internet continue to evolve, the general public's understanding of PCs will grow too. When that time comes, a brand PC's competitiveness won't come from its specs—it'll come from everything else."
"Like what?" Su prompted.
"After-sales service," Qiu answered with confidence. "That's a big deal. We're talking about devices worth thousands—sometimes tens of thousands of yuan. Even the rich want assurance that things won't break. Or, if they do, that they'll be fixed quickly and properly."
"Take our company for example—we've signed support contracts with several brands. If a customer has an issue, we immediately dispatch a technician for on-site repair. Part of the cost is on us, and the rest is covered by the brand."
Su raised an eyebrow. That was news to him. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Which brands have signed those support agreements with you?"
"Fantasy, for one. Dell as well. We're still in talks with Tongfang. But I've heard some brands are planning to switch to a franchise model—they might be preparing to revamp their support systems too."
"Hmm… What's your opinion on brand PCs moving toward exclusive retail stores?"
Qiu thought about it. "It's a good thing. It probably signals the start of the land-grabbing phase, where everyone tries to carve out market share. Whether or not a winner emerges, dealers like us will benefit from the increased support and margins."
"If it's paired with a robust after-sales service system…" Su rested his chin on his hand, smiling. "Then whoever acts first wins."
"President Shan…" Qiu finally couldn't hold back anymore. He looked hesitant but asked, "Is Yuanxin planning to enter the brand PC space?"
"It's not Yuanxin," Su chuckled. "I'm just asking on someone else's behalf. So, Mr. Qiu—are you interested in joining Chengdian Gaoke?"
…
…
The day after the National Day holiday, Qiu Aihua gave Su Yuanshan a formal answer.
He agreed to join Chengdian Gaoke—but he was reluctant to abandon Aihua Electronics, the company into which he had poured years of effort.
Su offered a compromise: have the company appraised and fully absorbed into Chengdian Gaoke. It would then reopen under official branding as a direct sales outlet.
Given Su's endorsement, President Zhou had no doubts about the appointment. He quickly pushed through the organizational overhaul: the school-run enterprise office would be dissolved, replaced by a formal board of directors. Management would shift to a professional team, led by socially recruited executives like Qiu Aihua.
On October 10, Zhou Xiaohui, Gao Xiaodi, and the rest of the negotiation team finally returned from San Francisco, flying straight into Hong Kong.
Su Yuanshan personally led the motorcade to greet them at the customs gate.
…
"Xiaohui-jie, thank you for your hard work. Sister Yu, Senior Gao, thank you all."
Beaming, Su shook hands with each of the dust-covered members of Yuanxin's negotiation team.
"It wasn't too bad. At least we didn't let you down," Gao Xiaodi said with a grin, giving Su a playful shoulder squeeze. Though it had been less than half a month, he'd visibly lost weight—even his eyes looked more sunken—but his energy remained high.
Zhou Xiaohui looked more or less the same, just slightly tired.
"Come on, let's talk in the car."
Back at the hotel, Zhou didn't even stop to freshen up. She immediately pulled the agreement documents from her briefcase and handed them to Su. Though he already knew the general content, only ink on paper made it real.
"The main difficulty this time was the follow-up licensing of patents," Zhou said, sitting on the sofa and taking a long breath. She turned to Gao and smiled. "I have to say, I didn't realize Director Gao was such a skilled negotiator."
Gao laughed. "Skilled? Nah—I just know how to argue."
"Don't sell yourself short, Senior Brother. Arguing is exactly what makes a good negotiator," Su said, still flipping through the documents. "Arguing is for negotiation. Legal reasoning is for courtrooms."
"Haha… but really, the other side was being pretty unreasonable," Gao's smile faded as he exhaled. "Damn it, they basically plagiarized our MMX instruction set—and then acted like nothing happened. Said they'd already been developing something similar, and even had their own patents filed."
"Oh?" Su raised an eyebrow. "Then what happened?"
"They did show us a patent filing," Gao said with a smirk. "It came a bit later than ours. But they were visibly unhappy that we'd beaten them to the punch. Which means they really were working on something similar. Honestly, we were just lucky to get there first."
"And from what Director Yang and Director Yu—our two legal eagles—have concluded, MMX-type instruction sets are very different from x86 patents. x86 has tons of derivative technologies, like patent 338, which make infringement cases easy to win."
"But MMX? That's trickier. It's an enhanced instruction set developed atop the x86 architecture. If we end up in court, it could drag on forever."
Su nodded thoughtfully.
No matter what, securing the x86 license meant they'd already won the critical battle.
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Chapter 458: Double Happiness
"Any word from Claude?"
Su Yuanshan asked while flipping through the licensing documents.
"How could he not have something to say?" Gao Xiaodi laughed and sighed. "Claude's dragged me out for drinks a few times already—complained non-stop between sips. What can I do? I told him to go talk to you. But he doesn't dare."
Su chuckled and shook his head, finally setting down the heavy document in his hands.
He knew Claude had long been critical of Yuanxin's decision to appease Intel through massive concessions in order to obtain x86 licensing.
From Claude's perspective—and that of the entire Xinghai CPU team—Yuanxin could have easily continued collaborating with Cyrix, pushing forward with architectural and technical innovation. There was no need to secure an x86 license. Yuanxin's tech, implemented through Xinghai, essentially represented a fusion of the East's and West's most brilliant engineering minds. As long as they maintained their architectural advantage, why worry about Intel?
And it wasn't like Xinghai was stingy—they shared dividends with Yuanxin.
But no—Su insisted on doing it under Yuanxin's name. The result was Intel forcing them to sign an exclusivity agreement, effectively cutting off any future chance of deeper integration between Xinghai and Yuanxin on the CPU front.
"From now on, Xinghai's on its own," Su said. "By the way, did Claude manage to recruit the person I asked him to?"
"You mean Jim Keller?" Gao perked up.
"Yeah."
"I was in touch with him before I left, and we even met once. We didn't go too deep into things since everyone has their own architectural commitments, but we did discuss the future direction of instruction sets. He believes MMX is just the beginning. With the rise of new application demands, we'll need more specialized instruction sets. And of course, microarchitecture evolution is equally important."
Su nodded thoughtfully. "What's your impression of him?"
"He's alright. Nothing groundbreaking. These are industry trends—anyone with half a brain can see where things are headed."
Su smiled at Gao's nonchalant tone.
He had no idea that Jim Keller would go on to become a legendary architect in the years ahead—not yet, anyway. And to be fair, Gao's reaction was understandable. After all, Su himself had greatly influenced Gao's thinking on architecture. Their conversations often revolved around high-level development trends. So naturally, Gao didn't find Keller's views particularly unique.
And that was a good thing—for an architect, confidence was everything.
Seeing the bloodshot eyes of both Gao and Zhou Xiaohui, Su stood up. "Alright, I'll let you guys rest. You'll be flying back to Shanghai in a few days—I'll arrange the plane."
Gao blinked. "Wait, the private jet's back?"
"Correction—it's a business jet." Su grinned. "I haven't even flown on it yet… Oh, I need to take this."
His phone was buzzing. A glance at the screen showed a call from Li Mingliu.
"Looks like Old Li is calling to congratulate you guys too," Su said to Gao as he answered.
On the other end, Li Mingliu's voice was warm but slightly tired.
"I was going to wait until the end of the year to surprise you," he said, "but that's not my style… The design has officially been handed off to the photomask plant. If all goes well, within two months, we'll see the world's first NAND chip using a dual-cell layered architecture."
Li's words caught Su off guard. He froze in place.
"It's done?"
"Yeah. Also… my head is clear now. I have a concept for overcoming the current capacity limitations. It'll take a ton of process investment and trial-and-error, but the direction is there."
"Excellent! I'm flying over tomorrow!" Su exclaimed, then quickly realized Gao and the others still needed to rest.
Gao, sensing the importance of the news, smiled. "Let's go together tomorrow. Does your jet even fit all of us?"
"Eh… let's split up anyway, just in case. Xiaohui-jie, help me book a ticket."
Zhou Xiaohui, suppressing a yawn, blinked before smiling. "Got it."
In the excitement, Su completely forgot that Zhou Xiaohui was now acting as chairwoman's assistant, not his secretary. Booking flights was really Wen Xiaoqian's job.
…
The next day, Su and Wen took a commercial flight ahead of the others, while Gao's team enjoyed the business jet's inaugural trip.
Riding in Li Mingliu's Audi, Su could hardly wait.
"Old Li, I remember you saying the process tech was a bit tricky not long ago. How did you crack it so fast—just over the National Day holiday?"
In semiconductor development, new product fabrication processes were anything but simple. A brand-new architecture could involve dozens of interdependent steps, with no room for error. It wasn't something you could fix by tweaking a few parameters.
Some semiconductor firms spent their entire lifespan producing a single device through a single manufacturing process. It was real-world proof of the phrase "one killer move feeds the whole company."
So when Su learned the NAND chip development had hit a wall, he had given up hope for any results this year.
But then—boom. A bombshell.
"Heh, it's mostly because our team had been putting in the hard work all along," Li replied with a chuckle. "Meanwhile, the best engineers at Deyuan were all focused on the Tenglong processor and baseband chip. We were just the fallback. Now that those are done, it's finally our turn."
Su smacked his forehead. That made perfect sense.
From both a political and market standpoint, the processor and baseband chip had absolute priority.
After all, flash drives were still a novelty. Most people didn't even understand the concept.
—Even though the MLC NAND project had been struggling, Jiang Tao's controller chip had gone remarkably smoothly. Two months ago, they had already completed the design and even built the world's first USB-based flash drive using SLC NAND.
Jiang named it "U Disk."
It had 16MB of storage and, when paired with a Meijie motherboard supporting USB 1.1, it could hit a maximum transfer rate of 12 Mbps.
Its debut was met with cheers and applause.
But that was all.
It was still far too expensive for mass adoption.
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Chapter 459: Multi-Layer Flash Memory
Currently, the largest NAND flash chips could store up to 8MB per die. In theory, a thumb-sized USB drive could hold two or even four chips—but the cost scaled proportionally.
At this point, NAND production was still dominated by Intel and Micron, and prices were sky-high. Their use cases were mostly limited to scenarios that required high disk read speeds. NAND was still considered a premium storage medium, a core component in high-end "hard drives."
As for the U Disk—this device, clearly intended to replace floppy disks—its biggest obstacle to widespread adoption was its high cost.
Naturally, Jiang Tao was frustrated…
…
"So the happiest person about the process breakthrough must be Brother Jiang, right?" Su Yuanshan asked with a grin, pulling his thoughts back to the present.
"Probably," Li Mingliu replied with a smile. "But he took a hit last time, and now he's a little gun-shy."
"Also, since they've become financially independent and no longer receive funding from Zhongxin, things haven't been easy for them lately… Should we just acquire them?"
"Uh… let's not. That'd really mess up the pecking order."
Farzhong Microelectronics, Jiang Tao's company, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhongxin, which itself was a joint venture under Yuanxin. Jiang Tao had been one of Yuanxin's earliest employees. If Su were to bring Farzhong under direct control…
Well, never mind the equity issues—the seniority problem alone would be a headache.
And deep down, Su didn't want to monopolize everything. He hoped more capable, specialized chip companies would rise up. He wasn't trying to build a chaebol. There was no need to fold every good team under Yuanxin.
"Then at least give him a morale boost. He's been visibly stressed lately," Li said. "They'd banked everything on U Disk and hoped it would break new ground. Now they're getting crushed by reality. If you don't step in soon, he's going to start blaming you."
Su chuckled awkwardly.
But it was true—he couldn't wash his hands of it. He'd been the one to assign the responsibilities. Jiang and Li's teams had developed the controller and the memory separately, under Su's plan. Now, Jiang's product was finished but the market wasn't ready.
If Su didn't help smooth things over, he'd definitely be seen as backing out.
"No worries. Once the MLC NAND chip is online, U Disk will take off."
"Exactly what I told him," Li nodded.
…
Once back at the Science Park, Su didn't head straight for the fab. He stopped by the design center to rally the team, then got ambushed by Jiang Tao in Li Mingliu's office.
It was obvious: Jiang was stressed.
"Xiaoshan," he said as he shut the door. With only Su and Li inside, he didn't hold back. "You talked about U Disk like it was going to overthrow floppies and even CDs. But look at it now… We've been grinding away for over a year…"
"Relax, Senior. Didn't I say from the beginning that it only works with MLC flash? You're the one who stocked up on all those single-level SLC chips. Intel's stuff isn't cheap, you know…"
"I did it because you were so optimistic!" Jiang said, exasperated. "It's been a month. We sold a few units to techies, gave some away as gifts, and a few stores used them as fancy display pieces—but no real sales. And now some other guys are claiming they invented USB flash drives too and are filing patent claims…"
"Don't worry," Su said, trying to calm him. "Once we have MLC flash, costs will plummet. Right, Li?"
Li nodded. "This current tape-out uses 2D architecture, but even with that, cost per die has been cut in half. Once the 3D process matures, we can stack as much as we want."
Jiang blinked in surprise.
He'd been working closely with Li's team for over a year. He knew that after cracking MLC architecture, they had shifted focus to vertical stacking. If SLC chips were like single rooms, MLC was a studio apartment split in two.
2D meant it was all on one floor. But 3D… that meant building a skyscraper.
The current limit was 8MB per SLC chip. With 3D stacking, they could theoretically reach 128MB, 512MB, or more—as long as the process held up.
"Wait—so you've got 3D working?" Jiang asked cautiously.
Li smiled but didn't confirm. "The architecture we just sent to tape-out uses 0.5-micron technology. Each chip can do 32MB—and costs only slightly more than Intel's."
Jiang shot to his feet. "Holy crap! That's a game changer!"
"And next year… if all goes smoothly, we might hit 64MB or even higher."
…
Watching Jiang leave with a spring in his step, Su and Li couldn't help but shake their heads, smiling.
It was clear that, without Zhongxin's funding, Farzhong Microelectronics was under immense pressure.
And since they had put all their chips on the U Disk, they were under both financial and emotional strain. But now, with the cost of NAND about to drop exponentially, Jiang could finally breathe easy.
Still… cost wasn't everything. A new device with a new interface needed more than affordability—it needed strong conceptual marketing.
"Alright," Su said, turning serious. "Tell me how you cracked the 3D architecture."
This—this was why he had rushed over in the first place.
As Yuanxin's CEO, he could afford to focus on results. But as an engineer, he needed to understand the tech.
Li Mingliu was already considered a genius in IC design—no one questioned that.
But Su was dying to know how Li had overcome the many hurdles in multilayer NAND design.
Even Su didn't know how to do that. He was a CPU guy. All he knew was FinFET.
"It's actually simple in theory—it's the process that's tough," Li said, opening up his laptop and launching their EDA tools.
As he explained, Su's eyes began to light up.
"Beautiful, Old Li!"
Su clenched his fists and took a deep breath.
"Next step… is to set USB on fire."
"Why not find an application for the flash chip itself?" Li countered. "I know you've been itching to do something with phones."
"Heh, not yet," Su said, lips curling into a smirk as his eyes landed on the CD player in the corner.
"Hey, Old Li… you still listen to music on a Discman?"
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Chapter 460: MP3
"What do you mean?"
Li Mingliu was clearly caught off guard by Su Yuanshan's sudden question. He followed Su's gaze to the far corner of the room—where a Sony CD player sat quietly.
Su had always personally promoted a lifestyle of "low-key and simple," and since most of the big names at Yuanxin came from technical backgrounds and were obsessed with their work, material desires weren't particularly strong. If anything, they indulged modestly in personal hobbies.
For example, Su liked coffee—his cabinet was full of different flavors and price ranges. Li Mingliu, on the other hand, liked to smoke. He'd gone from Red Plum to Hongtashan to his current go-to, Dahonghua, which he bought without blinking. Beyond that, he had a soft spot for music. Though his ear wasn't particularly discerning, he'd spent thousands on a CD player and tens of thousands on audio equipment—just to hear "sound."
"USB flash drives—or rather, U Disks—can do more than just store files," Su said as he looked away from the CD player and gave Li a knowing smile. He grabbed a nearby notebook and pencil and started sketching.
As he drew, Su said casually, "The ISO MPEG Audio committee has been working for years on standardizing audio compression. The Fraunhofer team made major progress last year—they finalized the encoder. And just recently, they named the Layer 3 audio format: .mp3. Last month, the first software player for MP3s was released: Winplay3."
Li, having been out of the software scene for a few years, was completely lost in the jargon. He took a deep breath and furrowed his brow. "Wasn't this the thing you mentioned when we were working on MPEG-1 encoding? You said something about doing compatibility encoding for just the audio?"
"Mm-hmm. You actually remember?"
"Barely," Li said as he rubbed the back of his head. "To be precise, I haven't had the time to remember stuff like that. Why are you bringing this up?"
"Because it's a multi-billion-dollar business opportunity."
"…?"
Li looked at Su, a bit baffled by the casual tone—but Su's hands never stopped. He glanced down at the notebook.
Su had drawn a very simple circuit sketch—not an actual schematic, more like a conceptual layout of functions.
It looked vaguely like… a U Disk.
"This thing, you can think of it as a U Disk—but one with a micro-system," Su explained. "Pair it with a controller chip, and it can decode MP3 audio. Of course, to be a real music player, it'll need playlist controls, song list displays, even lyrics scrolling."
As he spoke, Su turned the page and began sketching the architecture of a basic SoC chip.
Li narrowed his eyes at the growing list of "requirements," then asked, "How big is a typical MP3 file?"
"From what I know, if you use acceptable compression, about 1MB per minute."
Li's eyes lit up. "And the sound quality?"
"Trust me—your ears won't know the difference."
Su set down his pencil and slid the notebook over. "The MP3 format was born for the internet. If we can get people to download songs onto a device the size of a thumb… don't you think Sony's going to bleed?"
Li stared at the notebook, eyes fixed. As a chip designer, his mind was already racing, breaking down the architecture Su proposed. And as someone who had just witnessed the birth of the world's first USB flash drive—he instantly understood.
If this device hit the market… Walkman would be history.
"Nice! We can do it!" Li licked his lips in excitement. "I'll assemble a team right away. This time, we can't let Jiang Tao beat us to it."
"Yeah, he's got his U Disk patents—that's enough for him. But the MP3 player design will also involve some overlapping patents, so we can throw him a bone."
"Mm-hmm!" Li nodded eagerly. He closed the notebook, then leaned back to think for a moment. But a concern crept up: "Wait… Do we even have that many MP3 songs? And what about licensing?"
"Did you forget our partnership with Sony Music?"
Su looked at him, grinning.
…
Ever since striking a deal with Sony Music, Su had been waiting for Li Mingliu's team to catch up.
If the long-term purpose of licensing music was to prepare for the upcoming age of global internet commerce, the short-term goal was to push MP3—then NAND chips—then music phones.
Currently, factors like screen size, battery life, CPU capabilities, and OS limitations prevented Su from launching full-on smartphones. And smartphones would only take off if mobile internet infrastructure developed in parallel.
But that didn't mean he couldn't add a little flair to the feature phone era.
And to add flair, you needed storage space.
That's why Su had given the flash memory design task to Li Mingliu—who, among Yuanxin's senior tech leads, was both the most talented and the most eager to tackle hard problems.
"Senior Brother, don't underestimate this little NAND chip," Su said, smiling. "In my limited view of the future, unless humans crack carbon-based chips or enter the quantum age, silicon-based memory will continue to be the optimal choice for all digital devices."
He looked at Li, eyes firm. "In that sense, flash memory matters even more than processors."
Li blinked, a bit stunned. He instinctively thought Su was just trying to comfort him.
After all, everyone knew that "Xin" in Yuanxin referred to the processor. And among all the top minds at Yuanxin, second only to Chief Xi himself, Li had chosen to tackle flash memory—a field with an uncertain future and a murky market.
Yes, he had Su's full support at the time. But to outsiders, it had always seemed like a waste of talent.
Not to mention, Qin and Tian had never changed their focus. But now, even Gao Xiaodi had become one of Yuanxin's core chip leads…
From the outside, that had to sting.
Yet Li couldn't detect even a hint of false comfort in Su's expression. His words came from a place of genuine belief.
Li exhaled slowly, then smiled.
"Speaking of carbon-based chips—did you hear that He Chunhua and Zhou Xingbo are thinking of trying to build graphene-based carbon components? Think they'll make it?"
"Nope," Su answered bluntly.
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