Chapter 516: Everything Is Ready
"Shan…" Gao Xiaodi sat down across from Su Yuanshan. In the face of Su's sighing tone, he ultimately chose to say nothing.
Gao was certainly one of Yuanxin's veterans, and in fact, the only departmental head who had systematically mentored the next generation. Those original newcomers were now the core strength of the design center.
Ever since Su Yuanshan had personally pulled together the CPU team—almost hand-in-hand—Gao Xiaodi had been its de facto leader. Even back when Li Mingliu was still working on high-speed cache, Gao held the real authority over the CPU division.
The reason was simple: Su had appointed him as the chief architect. And that position wasn't easy to hold.
In the West, if you didn't have at least ten years of experience—and a clear grasp of processor architecture, market needs, and future developments of the semiconductor industry—becoming a CPU architect was nearly impossible.
So once Gao realized this, he began modeling himself after Li Mingliu—adopting his workaholic mindset.
China, as a nation, had weak technological foundations, and Yuanxin, as a company, was no exception. Particularly in CPUs, even with major help from the Xinghai-Cyrix team, Yuanxin's path forward had been incredibly difficult.
If not for Su Yuanshan laying out the architectural roadmap from the start, Yuanxin might've had to slog forward with clone-level 386/486 chips.
And Gao was the one who had personally secured the x86 license. He knew better than anyone how much Yuanxin had sacrificed to earn that ticket into the arena.
"Tomorrow I'll make a trip to the capital and try to land a few domestic OEM clients," Gao said. Since he didn't know what else to say, he opted for a direct declaration. "We'll cut them a bit more profit if we have to."
Su smiled wryly. "Please don't tell me that's your idea of market strategy—just winging it?"
"What choice do we have? We can't get into the West. If we sell at-cost to force our way in, Intel will scream, and even AMD might file complaints… Not to mention, our processors share architecture with Xinghai and offer no standout advantages."
"As for Southeast Asia, that's already AMD and Xinghai territory. If we want in, we'll have to start a price war. And Europe? That's America's backyard." Gao spread his hands, utterly helpless. "You tell me—what else can we do besides focus on the domestic market?"
"You're right to focus on the domestic market. But you're choosing the wrong partners," Su sighed, still smiling.
"Oh? Do tell… Don't tell me we're going to keep banking on CET High-Tech?" Gao raised his eyebrows. "If I'm being honest, Shan… Not stepping in to manage CET High-Tech ourselves was a big mistake. You grew up at the school; I spent six or seven years there too. Let's be real, how many miracles are our teachers and administrators really going to pull off?"
"Uh…" Su didn't know how to respond. Gao wasn't wrong.
Despite investment from Yuanxin and Zhongxin, abundant funding and tech support, and Su's own strategic guidance, CET High-Tech had still failed to meet expectations. That was pretty terrible.
Thankfully, Principal Zhou had guts. When he saw things going off-track, he acted on Su's advice and appointed new leadership—Qiu Aihua had only just taken over, and reforms were still in early stages.
"Here's the thing, senior," Su said patiently. "We're a CPU design and manufacturing company. That puts us at the top of the hardware supply chain. We absolutely shouldn't pin our hopes on just one tree."
"But picking the right promotion path, choosing the right goals, and identifying the right partners—that's an art."
"Then who do you suggest we target?" Gao asked, leaning forward with genuine curiosity.
"Dell, HP, IBM, Compaq—those well-known international brands."
"Huh?" Gao blinked, visibly confused. "Would they even consider us?"
"Why not? If we can offer them a one-stop solution—from CPU to screws to the production line—they'd only need to supply the design and quality control. Even if they don't use our chips in their high-end models, they can absolutely use them in mid-range and budget systems."
"Whether they're selling to the domestic market or nearby countries, we've got the edge in cost and production logistics."
Gao processed this slowly, his brow furrowing deeper. After a few seconds, he nodded. "That… could work. People here still think foreign brands are better. So we sneak in through the foreign brands themselves. Most consumers don't even know what processor model they're using anyway."
"Exactly. This would maximize our strengths."
Su checked the time and stood up. "Come on, let's grab dinner. We'll talk more tonight—have a proper strategy meeting."
…
Over the next two days, Su Yuanshan held back-to-back meetings with department heads. Most of the discussions focused on technology and strategic direction.
After all, he had to publish an IEEE paper worthy of his name.
And papers weren't like novels—they required serious theory and data. So, he used these meetings to push development and vision for 64-bit architecture.
Publishing a paper? He'd done it before. The more advanced the tech or theory, the more editors sitting behind desks tended to love it.
…
Back in the Special Economic Zone, Su spent his days hopping between factories. He even personally observed nail penetration, compression, and overcharge tests for lithium batteries—making Wang Chuanfu nervous.
Yes, a batch of charge/discharge management chips had already been taped out, significantly improving safety. But even with all that, risks still existed.
What if…?
Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
On the very same day that Kutaragi Ken's plane landed in Hushi, Su received the first fully functional prototype of the world's first mobile phone equipped with flash memory and a polymer lithium battery.
The only downside: the mobile OS team had hit a snag. They didn't finish adapting their system to feature phone functionality in time, and the MP3 software wasn't fully optimized.
So the phone used a dedicated hardware decoder for music playback.
But still—everything else was ready.
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Chapter 517: All That's Missing Is the Camera
"Kutaragi-san, let me introduce you—this is Professor Zhou Boguang, director of the Huajing Semiconductor Research Center."
In the hotel where Kutaragi Ken was staying, Su Yuanshan arrived with Zhou Boguang in tow.
"Director Zhou, pleasure to meet you," Kutaragi greeted in halting but earnest Mandarin. Though awkward in tone, it was at least understandable.
"Mr. Kutaragi, welcome, welcome!" Zhou Boguang grasped his hand warmly, laughing heartily. "This way, please."
Kutaragi cast a glance at Su Yuanshan, who responded with a light shrug.
There was no avoiding it: in domestic semiconductor circles, Huajing was an institution that could not be ignored. And since Zhou and Su had a long-standing friendship, when the ministry had asked if Huajing should be invited to the Flash Memory Alliance Summit, Su had agreed immediately.
What Su hadn't expected was for Zhou to arrive in Hushi a day early—clearly intending to catch him in person.
Still, the summit was more about building relationships and exchanging ideas than unveiling sensitive trade secrets, so Su had nothing to hide. He simply brought Zhou along to meet Kutaragi as requested.
The three entered the hotel's tea room, and after a round of introductions, they began to chat like old friends—from wafer manufacturing processes to the evolution of chip design, to the future of the semiconductor industry. All three were technical veterans, so the conversation flowed with ease.
It was only tough on Su Yuanshan, who found himself stuck acting as translator.
Fortunately, Zhou hadn't come to monopolize the conversation. After catching up with Su, he left shortly after lunch.
…
"Su-san, is Director Zhou considered your competitor?" Kutaragi asked later that afternoon in his suite.
Su smiled and nodded. "Yes, but more of a friend."
"To be friends with a competitor… that's admirable," Kutaragi remarked.
"We were friends before we became competitors. And even if, in the future, our companies' products overlap in certain markets—so what? Why should that change our relationship?"
Kutaragi chuckled. "You're right."
"Especially in the tech world, where progress brings collaboration as well as competition. Running a tech company isn't like running a noodle shop. It's not enough to just rely on your personal skill."
"Haha, I like that analogy."
"I say this sincerely. I've noticed some of your country's companies are narrowing their focus too much."
Under continued pressure from the U.S., not every Japanese tech firm had the strength or will to resist. Many smaller and mid-size companies had chosen to consolidate—specializing in narrow domains in hopes of becoming irreplaceable within their niche supply chains.
Kutaragi sighed. "Not all companies have vision and courage."
"True. No blame to them." As he spoke, Su Yuanshan pulled a sleek, unbranded phone from his briefcase and handed it to Kutaragi.
From its exterior, the device followed Yuanxin's now-mature clamshell design, with two circuit boards—one behind the screen, the other under the keypad.
In short, it resembled a slightly bulkier Motorola V998.
But it held surprises.
For instance, it had eliminated the traditional round plug charging port, replacing it with an as-yet-unreleased microUSB connector—capable of data exchange and charging.
And as a device capable of MP3 playback, it naturally came with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It didn't yet support in-line mic headphones due to system limitations, but that was in development.
The moment Kutaragi saw the phone, his expression tightened. He knew Su wouldn't show him an ordinary device.
"Kutaragi-san, this is the phone Yuanxin plans to promote worldwide next year. In a way… it will change the world forever."
"It has MP3 playback?" he asked, having immediately spotted the headphone jack and unusual data/charging port.
"Yes."
Su Yuanshan then explained the phone's functions in detail. When he described the idea of a small expansion card slot to meet users' demand for storage upgrades, Kutaragi's face lit up with admiration.
If they could remove expensive onboard flash memory and replace it with modular, swappable storage cards, it would not only lower costs but give users more flexibility.
"A truly elegant design," Kutaragi praised, quickly mastering the MP3 interface and playing music over the phone's external speaker.
"This playback function is just a temporary solution," Su clarified. "The official release next year will include a brand-new media system and other improvements." He took the phone back and pointed to the upper-left corner of the back casing.
"Kutaragi-san, this spot is reserved for a speaker-sized component."
"Hm?" Kutaragi peered at the area and looked up at Su. "What's it reserved for?"
"We've been waiting for you…"
Kutaragi froze. After two seconds, he remembered something Su had told him in a previous conversation—about his vision for the mobile phone.
"You mean… a light sensor?"
"Exactly!" Su grinned.
Since Yuanxin had a strong ally in Sony, launching a camera phone was practically inevitable.
Historically, Sony began developing CMOS sensors around this time. But back then, CCD sensors still dominated the market, and most people dismissed CMOS entirely. Their image quality wasn't even close.
At the time, digital sensors were mostly used in cameras and camcorders, and in those markets, cost advantages couldn't offset the loss in quality.
But mobile phones were different.
In fact, CMOS sensors didn't first rise through phones—but through the rise of video calls, driven by faster internet and growing demand for social communication. Video chatting didn't need crystal-clear images. And that opened the door for CMOS.
Later, with the spread of mobile imaging and surveillance, CMOS finally surged forward.
If they waited for digital cameras to popularize CMOS… it would take forever.
But with phones?
They could start now.
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Chapter 518: What If
"Not everyone has a dream for the future… or, to put it more precisely, not everyone has even considered what the future might look like," Su Yuanshan said thoughtfully, as he waited for Kutaragi Ken to finish reading through the technical documents.
"In my view, the digital age has already arrived. But due to personal limitations, most people can only see the future of the industries they're already familiar with. Many don't even think about what the digital era really means…"
At that, Kutaragi looked up with mild curiosity and asked, "Su-san, what is the industry you're most familiar with?"
"Uh…" Su thought, There are too many to list. Of course, his familiarity was more in the sense of "understanding" rather than "mastery."
"Probably chip design," Su answered vaguely.
"Then how did you think of integrating so many features into a single small mobile phone?"
Su blinked. "Maybe because I'm greedy?"
It was a clearly half-hearted and uncertain answer—yet it made Kutaragi take him more seriously. He looked directly at Su Yuanshan and, after a moment, sighed. "Yes, human desire is limitless—put more nicely, human ambition knows no bounds."
He paused, then continued, "In the chip industry right now, there are two schools of thought. One believes that processors should remain specialized: graphics processors and CPUs should evolve independently to produce the best results. The other believes they can be integrated. What's your opinion, Su-san?"
Su Yuanshan smirked inwardly. He could tell that Kutaragi's question wasn't just about chip integration.
So he smiled and replied, "That may be the voice of the chip industry, but isn't it also the voice of the PS development team?"
Kutaragi chuckled. "Yes. The success of the PlayStation has made us think very carefully about the hardware configuration for the next generation of consoles."
"Kutaragi-san, when it comes to gaming consoles, you're the expert… I'm a complete outsider."
Kutaragi quickly offered a humble reply.
Su Yuanshan chuckled. "No, really. I'm so busy I don't even have time to play games. That PS you sent me—I've only turned it on twice."
He wasn't lying. In his previous life, he'd been a typical engineer—work by day, play with tech or family by night, and occasionally game. But this life? He was running full throttle all the time.
"However, speaking purely from a technological standpoint," Su said seriously after a few seconds of thought, "Kutaragi-san, I suggest the next-generation PlayStation aim for high performance above all else."
Kutaragi looked slightly surprised. "You mean, still use separate CPU and GPU cores?"
"Exactly!" Su nodded. "You probably already know—nearly all CPU companies, not just Yuanxin, are now experimenting with integrating GPUs into their CPUs, right?"
Kutaragi nodded.
It was precisely because CPU development was advancing so quickly that Sony's gaming division had floated the idea: maybe they should collaborate with Yuanxin or Xinghai to design a CPU with integrated graphics for the next PlayStation.
But Kutaragi himself had hesitated. Something about it didn't feel right.
"And now I can confirm it for you," Su said seriously. "Integrated GPU CPUs are nowhere near good enough for gamers—at least not yet. Even if you have top-tier engines and APIs, the performance simply won't meet gamer expectations any time soon."
"The PS has already succeeded. What the second generation needs isn't cost control—it's performance leadership."
Kutaragi exhaled slowly. "Thank you, Su-san."
"You're welcome. Honestly… your team is just being lazy. A simple market survey would tell you whether integrated graphics can meet your needs."
Kutaragi blinked. "That's why I came to ask you."
Su froze for a second, then laughed heartily.
—True. What survey could beat asking him directly?
They didn't continue discussing the PS2 architecture much after that. Both of them had other priorities these days, and besides, they weren't the ones managing processor and console development anymore.
After finishing the technical documents, Kutaragi closed his eyes and thought quietly for a few seconds.
"Su-san, if we want to push MP3 players and this new phone… given the current download speeds and internet penetration, online distribution won't cut it," he said. "We'll need to release MP3s on CDs."
"You're right," Su nodded. "Don't forget—we already have a licensing agreement to publish MP3 format discs. And as we release them, it will buy MD some time as well."
Kutaragi nodded quietly.
MD—Sony's beloved MiniDisc—was meant to follow in the footsteps of the Walkman. Sony had banked on it taking over for the next decade.
But now, only a short while after its release, it had already been smacked in the head by Yuanxin's MP3 player.
Kutaragi wasn't pleased about that.
But the limitations of internet bandwidth gave Sony time—time to adjust, to reposition, and not blindly charge down the MD path like a fool.
"In addition, our new DVD and upcoming SVCD decoder chips will also support MP3 playback," Su continued. "Which means that just selling MP3-format CDs will yield us plenty in royalties."
Here, Su completely ignored the inevitable—well, certain—issue of piracy.
He knew full well that as the internet grew, copyright enforcement would suffer. But to him, audio rights were nothing compared to chip technology—not even worth mentioning.
("Damn… I need real subscribers! That's my only income!")
"So, Su-san. When can we get our hands on it?"
Kutaragi glanced back at the phone on the table.
From the beginning, he'd been trying to hide his emotions. He didn't want to seem overeager.
But the phone was right there, in front of him. Even knowing Su might say no… he couldn't resist asking.
What if?
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Chapter 519: System Bundling
"This is a prototype. I can't give it to you," Su Yuanshan replied with a grin, laughing off Kutaragi's request without the slightest hesitation.
Kutaragi blinked, speechless. "...Su-san, you know what I mean."
"Mm." Su nodded, then paused for two seconds before growing serious. He looked directly at Kutaragi. "Kutaragi-san, you've read the technical documentation. You should understand that if Sony's mobile division starts developing from scratch, it would take, at most, a year to build a phone like this one. With Sony's design capabilities, you might even make something better—I've been tempted to steal some of your designers myself."
As Su flung this high-flown compliment across the table, Kutaragi quickly waved it off, refusing to accept the praise.
In truth, he had reviewed the documentation carefully. More precisely, the specification documents. And his internal estimate was that if they had to start from the decoding chip and proceed to the mainboard design, it would take more than a year, not less.
But Sony didn't have a year to spare.
Over the past few years, the company's mobile communications division had quietly thrived. It had leveraged Sony's decades-long brand strength to capture over half the Japanese domestic market—and had even carved out a substantial presence in the West.
With mobile phone adoption skyrocketing, the division's revenue had soared, becoming the company's third-largest business after home electronics and gaming. In terms of profit alone, it had even surpassed the gaming division.
It was precisely the success of these two ventures—both driven by Kutaragi himself—that had propelled him into the position of Sony's new CEO.
And none of that could have happened without Yuanxin.
"Su-san, you know we've always used your chips in our mobile platforms," Kutaragi said seriously. "And as you know, in a smartphone, the chips alone account for nearly half the cost."
"I know, Kutaragi-san," Su replied, equally serious. "And I thank you for that."
Yuanxin had just held its annual report meeting. Su knew exactly where the profits had come from: as the smartphone market heated up, the YX-series processors, among the world's best mobile chipsets, had begun to show real potential.
In the past year alone, over six million YX processors had been sold, bringing Yuanxin over three billion yuan in revenue. Four million of those chips had been used in mobile phones.
And according to this year's forecast, that number would rise by at least 50%.
The bulk of the overseas orders? Aside from Xinghai, it was Sony.
"But we have no plans to license this particular phone to any company—not even Sony," Su said, eyes locked on Kutaragi.
The latter showed no visible reaction.
"You're not even going to ask why?" Su raised an eyebrow.
Kutaragi chuckled softly. "Su-san, we've been friends for years. I trust you have your reasons—and I trust you'll tell me those reasons."
Su cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Alright, here's the truth. This phone is meant to establish our high-end brand image. It's a statement piece to herald the arrival of the digital phone era. The cost is high—prohibitively so. And the technology isn't fully refined yet."
He paused, then grinned. "Besides… I'm still waiting on your CMOS sensors."
"CMOS sensors still need time," Kutaragi replied, looking at Su with a serious expression. "And even if they're ready, their use in mobile phones is limited. Their image quality can't compare to digital cameras. Moreover, if we want to include CMOS sensors, we'll have to upgrade the display."
"Su-san, that would push the cost even higher!"
Indeed. To save on expenses, most mobile phone displays were still monochrome—just enough for calls, texts, and simple games like Snake or Tetris. Who needed a fancy screen?
But if they added a CMOS sensor and turned the phone into a camera device, the display would need to keep pace. At the very least, it would need to be full color.
"Exactly. That's why during my visit to Japan, I spent a lot of time with Fujitsu, looking into color display technology and driver solutions. In the coming years, BOE will be making major investments in this field."
"But that's not the point, Kutaragi-san. The point is, we believe this is the future."
"You're not seriously waiting on us to deliver CMOS sensors before you'll approve licensing, are you?" Kutaragi smiled wryly, seeing that Su wouldn't let go of the sensor topic.
"Haha, of course not," Su waved him off. "The main reason is that the core component still isn't ready."
"Oh? The core component?"
"Yes—the software."
Su let out a slow sigh.
In this timeline, Sony's mobile phones were clearly no longer the invisible players they had been in the previous world. Thanks to their close relationship with Yuanxin, it was easy to see that even in the era of smartphones, Sony would at least avoid falling behind in the early years.
So Yuanxin had to think ahead—about binding Sony to their mobile operating system.
Yuanxin's system project had fallen behind schedule largely because, once they had firm expectations for flash memory, the OS team had dared to make a bold move.
They were building a system with serious growth potential.
In short, Yuanxin's OS was shaping up to be a proto-Android.
Of course, in its current form, it was still too bloated for basic phones.
But as a prototype, it already had a kernel capable of guiding the direction of the industry.
Su Yuanshan needed Sony to join the ride.
After all, what were allies for, if not to face the market together?
"When our phone OS is fully ready, that's when we'll officially launch this device. And I promise you: Yuanxin will continue to share all of its technology with Sony, as openly as always."
That promise, coming from Su Yuanshan, was no small matter.
Kutaragi breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"Come on, Su-san. Let's eat."
"Let's eat!"
…
The next day, as the executives from participating companies arrived one after another in Hushi, the first Flash Memory Alliance Summit officially began.
What shocked Su Yuanshan was that—unlike the Japanese delegations, who mostly sent tech leads—IBM had sent their top boss:
Mr. Lou Gerstner.
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Chapter 520: Three Things
"What exactly is IBM up to?"
In the business van on the way to the airport, Zhou Xiaohui, dressed in a sharp, professional outfit, looked more composed and mature than ever.
Originally, she hadn't planned to attend the Hushi summit in person. As assistant to the chairman, her role was to remain at the Special Economic Zone headquarters, overseeing the activities of Yuanxin's various divisions while also continuing to lead the tri-party office equipment initiative between Sony, Unisplendour, and Yuanxin.
But early that morning, a call came from the president's office. They had received a fax and email from IBM stating that Mr. Louis Gerstner's flight would arrive in Hushi around 8:30 PM local time.
As soon as she got the news, Zhou Xiaohui informed Su Yuanshan.
After thinking it over, Su decided she should go to Hushi early and join him in personally greeting Gerstner—after all, as the CEO of IBM, later dubbed the "legendary CEO" in business history, Gerstner was certainly worthy of a formal welcome.
"No clue. We'll have to ask him directly," Su Yuanshan said with a smile, eyes closed as he rested.
He had spent the entire day puzzling over IBM's motives—going so far as to consult with Kutaragi Ken and Zhou Boguang. But no one could guess what IBM was really after.
In fact, Gerstner's unexpected arrival had even made some of the technical officials from other companies uneasy.
"You're seriously going to ask him outright?" Zhou Xiaohui blinked.
"Of course."
Zhou couldn't help laughing—she knew Su well enough to know he really would ask something like that to Gerstner's face.
"Don't worry, Xiaohui-jie. Even though I missed my chance to meet Mr. Gerstner last time, I've read plenty about him... Do you know what he's been doing since he took the helm at IBM?"
Zhou nodded.
As the now well-established corporate secretary of Yuanxin, understanding the key players in tech—especially semiconductor and IT leaders—was part of her job. She even knew juicy behind-the-scenes gossip about many CEOs—like, say, Mr. Gates.
"Gerstner has an engineering background, then pivoted to business. He went from McKinsey to American Express, then became CEO of a tobacco company… he's a purebred professional manager. And as everyone knows, Mr. Louis Gerstner is famously pragmatic and decisive. Just three years ago, when he took over IBM as chairman and CEO, he downsized the company by 40,000 employees within six months, reducing over 200 global CIOs to just one…"
"And he led IBM's shift from mainframes to enterprise services, reconciled with Intel and Microsoft, and pushed into the personal computer market."
As Zhou rattled off Gerstner's "legendary feats," Su grinned. "Right. Since he took over, the PowerPC alliance has essentially disbanded."
"So, is IBM now hoping to reassert itself in semiconductors? Maybe trying to leverage the Flash Memory Alliance as a re-entry point? Wouldn't they usually partner with Intel or SanDisk instead?" Zhou asked, genuinely puzzled.
Su nodded. "Exactly why our invitation was meant to be purely symbolic… just a diplomatic gesture, to avoid signaling any open rivalry. Who knew he'd actually show up? This complicates things."
And it was complicated. Gerstner's stature was far above that of most attendees, and Su had deliberately kept the event's scope small.
Still, Su wasn't one to flaunt "special privileges." Even for welcoming a business titan like IBM's chairman, he had the driver park the car in the regular lot. Then he, Zhou Xiaohui, and another car carrying Li Mingliu and his assistant waited respectfully at the terminal entrance.
They chatted casually until news arrived that the late-night flight had landed on time. Soon after, the tall figure of Louis Gerstner appeared at the gate, flanked by three aides.
…
"This is your first time in Hushi, isn't it, Mr. Gerstner?"
Once in the car, Su instructed the driver to head directly to the Hilton Hotel. Since Gerstner had come all this way, Su decided to stick to the formal reception process.
"Yes, my first visit. It's different than I imagined." Gerstner, in his early fifties, looked older from years of high-stakes stress—but his energy was palpable. With a square jaw and commanding presence, his smile was effortlessly charismatic.
"Su, I've regretted missing our meeting last time," he said, locking eyes with Su Yuanshan. "So I made sure not to miss this one."
Su gave a polite smile. "Truly honored—and surprised."
"Haha! Life is full of surprises, if you know where to look."
…
Gerstner and his team had already eaten on the plane, and weren't in the mood for a full meal. After helping them settle into their rooms, Su invited them to the downstairs café, where they ordered some light snacks.
Zhou Xiaohui and Li Mingliu stayed with Gerstner's aides, while Su and Gerstner sat alone at a quiet booth.
After all, Gerstner's visit had the air of a personal reconnaissance mission. Both sides needed a round of friendly probing before talking real business.
And now that they were alone, Su didn't hold back.
"Mr. Gerstner, I have to be honest—I truly didn't expect you to come in person. So I'm curious…"
Gerstner added three sugar cubes to his coffee, stirred gently, and smiled. "You don't have confidence in your flash memory technology? That alone was reason enough to come."
"Of course I'm confident… but let's be real." Su gave a wry smile. "You're one of the senior business leaders I most respect. Under your leadership, IBM has undergone a true phoenix-like transformation. It's hard to believe you'd come all this way just for a flash memory tech—surely that's something your CTO could handle."
Gerstner didn't reply immediately. He wasn't the modest type, but clearly, Su Yuanshan's compliments were appreciated.
After a two-second pause, he took a sip of coffee, then spoke casually:
"I'm here for three things."
"First, I wanted to meet you."
"Second, I want to tour your foundries—to see if they're capable of supporting our future expansion."
"Third, beyond flash memory, I believe we might share a common vision for wafer fabrication technology."
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