Chapter 521: IBM's Ambition Never Died
After listening, Su Yuanshan lowered his head and took a small sip of coffee as well, using the moment to mask his emotions.
The more critical the situation, the more one needed to stay composed.
So, when he looked up again, his expression hadn't changed at all. He continued smiling as he met Louis Gerstner's gaze.
Then… he nodded slightly and said, "Thank you."
Gerstner was clearly taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. Shaking his head as he chuckled, he said, "Su, it seems the rumors are true—you're an even calmer little fox than the rest of us. I hope I didn't offend you?"
Su Yuanshan shook his head with a smile. "Not at all. In my native cultural context, that's generally considered a compliment from an elder to a junior."
"It's not just a compliment," Gerstner exhaled deeply. "May I take your thanks as an indication that you accept the intent behind our visit?"
"Yes," Su Yuanshan nodded without hesitation. "However… there's one point I'm not quite clear on—when it comes to wafer fabrication technology, what exactly is our shared goal?"
"The next-generation wiring process technology," Gerstner shrugged. "My team tells me your copper interconnect technology seems to have made quite excellent progress…"
Su Yuanshan took a deep breath.
So that's what it was.
It looked like IBM's ambition to dominate the semiconductor industry had never truly faded—even in his past life, when Gerstner cut countless departments, the wafer fabrication business had remained.
After all, there's an old saying in Western tech circles: "A real man needs his own fab." That saying came from AMD's Jerry Sanders. And indeed, AMD ended up being dragged down for years by GlobalFoundries.
Ironically, IBM's own fab was eventually sold to GlobalFoundries.
Back to the present: IBM had never stopped investing in wafer fabs, especially in core process technologies.
Take copper interconnects for example. IBM first partnered with UMC, then tried to sell the tech to TSMC. But TSMC felt IBM's technology was weak and overpriced, so Jiang Shangyi and Liang Mengsong developed their own solution—which turned out to be a huge success…
IBM's copper interconnect tech ultimately landed in the hands of GlobalFoundries.
Of course, that was in his past life. In this life, history seemed to have veered off course. Now, IBM had its eyes on Yuanxin.
Yuanxin's research on copper interconnects was obviously confidential, but several academic papers from Chen Jianguo and his team had been published. Anyone in the industry who read them would immediately realize what Yuanxin was working on.
"As for copper interconnects…" Su Yuanshan pondered for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "I'd prefer that we conduct a joint technical evaluation before discussing further cooperation." After a pause, he added, "You understand, sir—in the realm of science and technology, unless there's only one path forward or a truly insurmountable problem requiring collective effort… having multiple approaches is usually beneficial to the field as a whole."
Su Yuanshan spoke slowly and clearly, worried that this veteran business executive—though originally from an engineering background—might not grasp his point. He nearly said outright: "If our approaches differ, we'll go our separate ways and see whose solution works better."
But he needn't have worried. Gerstner clearly understood. After a subtle furrow of the brow, he smiled and nodded. "That's acceptable—and reasonable."
"Please, have some more coffee. And if convenient, may I trouble Mr. Louis to provide us with your upcoming itinerary and schedule? It'll help us fulfill our role as hosts."
…
After escorting Gerstner and his group into the guest elevator, Su Yuanshan and a few others entered a different one.
He always stayed at this hotel whenever he came to Shanghai.
Back in his room, Su Yuanshan immediately shared Gerstner's intentions with Zhou Xiaohui and Li Mingliu.
"So he's here to discuss cooperation?" Zhou Xiaohui had spent a long time in the Special Economic Zone and was very familiar with the current state and advantages of the local manufacturing sector.
After Yuanxin implemented its vertically integrated procurement system, the companies that became part of its supply chain had grown at a visibly rapid pace over the past year. Yuanxin was famous for its strict quality control. On top of that, Yu Yuru's legal team had directly stationed a director-level officer within the supply chain, making it impossible for anyone to slip by with underhanded tricks.
The growth of these suppliers was a reflection of not just Yuanxin's fab strength, but also the overall competitiveness of the entire Special Economic Zone.
With low labor and logistics costs, plus excellent supply chain management and quality, it was easy to understand why IBM would be interested in collaborating.
"Mm, that seems to be the case for now. Plus, Apple is also considering pilot production of their mainframes with us this year… Alongside our signed partnerships with Dell and Motorola, the fabs are developing quite nicely."
"What about process technology?" As the technical lead, Li Mingliu naturally focused on the process aspect. While he wasn't sure about the exact progress of Chen Jianguo's team, he knew the team had grown and received reinforcements from engineers across the strait.
Now, it appeared Chen Jianguo's progress was indeed ahead of schedule.
"That part remains to be seen," Su Yuanshan frowned and sighed lightly. "To be honest, I don't really want to cooperate with IBM."
At that, Li Mingliu visibly relaxed, a look of admiration flashing in his eyes.
Everyone in the semiconductor and IT industries knew what it meant when IBM approached you for a partnership… Most people would have been flattered beyond belief.
After all, this was IBM!
But Su Yuanshan genuinely didn't want to work with them.
That kind of attitude? It meant the guy was seriously confident.
"But not everything goes according to our will," Su Yuanshan muttered, clearly torn.
He knew IBM's copper interconnect tech… wasn't great.
Not unusable, but still inferior to the one developed by Liang Mengsong and the others at TSMC.
If he could leverage cooperation with IBM to secure early authorization to license their copper interconnect IP to other companies, it might serve as a strategic landmine planted in advance.
But IBM was stubborn. If their direction didn't align with Yuanxin's, what if it disrupted their timeline? What if it threw Yuanxin off course?
And let's not forget—Su Yuanshan was a complete layman when it came to copper interconnects. He only understood the general process, but the actual technical know-how? He was utterly clueless.
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Chapter 522: The Conference Begins
Very soon, IBM sent over a proposed schedule for their visit to Yuanxin, and Yuanxin's side also hastily organized their reception plan.
The next morning, with the arrival of Texas Instruments' senior vice president Jiang Shangwen, the international semiconductor development conference hosted and initiated by Yuanxin officially kicked off.
After a Shanghai city leader delivered the opening speech, acting in the role of a seasoned "industrialist," the leader extended warm hospitality toward the many technical bureaucrats present. Together with Su Yuanshan, they led the group on a brief visit to the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Following that, Su Yuanshan arranged for a private half-hour meeting between the leader and Louis Gerstner, with Li Mingliu personally acting as interpreter to ensure technical terms were accurately conveyed.
Afterward, Zhou Xiaohui accompanied Gerstner and his secretary directly to the Special Economic Zone aboard Yuanxin's corporate jet—a flight route that was secured thanks to direct coordination with civil aviation authorities. Meanwhile, IBM's Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Becken, stayed behind to participate in the semiconductor conference.
Only then did the rest of the attending technical bureaucrats finally breathe a sigh of relief—now that was more like it! While they discussed how to advance memory technology, what could a guy who sold cigarettes understand by sitting there?
...
The next day, at the Oriental Pearl TV Tower's roundtable conference center, technical officials from numerous companies gathered: from China, there were Yuanxin, Deyuan, and Huajing; from the U.S., IBM and Texas Instruments; from Japan, Sony, NEC, Nikon, Fujitsu, and Toshiba.
In addition, the Shanghai Science and Technology Bureau sent one technical official to sit in, mainly to minimize official influence and ensure a purely technical discussion.
Aside from a few unfamiliar faces, most attendees were people Su Yuanshan had either interacted with before during visits or had at least heard of. As the initiator of this event, this marked Su Yuanshan's first time stepping formally into the spotlight.
And everyone noticed: when Zhang Rujin hosted the opening session and introduced the members, he referred to Su Yuanshan as "Professor Su."
"Thank you, Dr. Zhang, for the introduction, and thank you all for attending this conference. I express my sincerest gratitude," Su Yuanshan said, slightly bowing his head to Zhang Rujin and smiling as he glanced at the agenda.
Today's presentation was supposed to be given by Li Mingliu, covering the current progress of flash memory technology. However, to give attendees ample time to understand the material, Yuanxin had distributed the relevant technical documents the moment everyone arrived.
Zhang Rujin had been chosen to host the session because, as a seasoned veteran of the semiconductor industry, he carried the seniority and authority to hold the floor.
"Since everyone here has an engineering background," Su Yuanshan began, "let's skip any unnecessary formalities and go straight into the Q&A session."
As soon as he finished speaking, Okamoto Yūfei—the head of Toshiba's flash memory division, sitting diagonally across from him—lightly cleared his throat.
All eyes turned toward him in unison.
Okamoto was in his early forties and had once been part of Fujio's original flash memory team. After Toshiba's short-sighted decision that led to Fujio's resignation, Okamoto succeeded him.
With Intel and SanDisk pushing forward in the flash memory market, Toshiba had begun to realize they might have missed an industry-defining opportunity. As a result, Okamoto's team had gained increasing importance in recent years.
But technology was unlike other fields—if you didn't make progress, you were at risk of being overtaken. After all, technology could be studied and learned.
Especially when companies like Intel possessed immense R&D strength and innovation capability.
Although Toshiba had invented flash memory, in recent years they'd been like outsiders, watching newer players achieve breakthroughs in capacity, architecture, and applications, while their own SM cards went unnoticed…
It would be dishonest to say there weren't some mixed feelings.
Yuanxin's MLC (Multi-Level Cell) chips had dealt a final blow to Toshiba's pride.
After long internal debate, Toshiba decided to set aside their "dignity" and pursue comprehensive cooperation with Yuanxin.
Still, even in cooperation, as the only Japanese company in the semiconductor industry to possess real flash technology, Okamoto needed to assert his professional authority.
"Mr. Su, our question is: how did your team solve the leakage issue in MLC chips?" Okamoto asked.
Su Yuanshan smiled, then glanced toward Li Mingliu, who was seated two spots to his left. Li gave a slight smile and replied in English, "Sorry, Mr. Okamoto, that's a trade secret… but since you've raised the issue, I can offer a hint: this wasn't just the result of our architecture team's effort. It was a joint effort among the wafer fab, EDA team, and us."
After a brief pause, he continued, "Fairchild Semiconductor's Mr. Moore has always been my idol. His idea—that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double roughly every eighteen months—is a law we've always believed in and tested. Until the day it fails, we must assume it's true."
Okamoto frowned slightly, clearly confused by the off-topic answer.
"I brought this up to illustrate that as transistor counts increase and density grows, it means that cooperation between chip design, wafer fabs, and EDA teams will become more essential and tightly integrated."
With a small smile, Li Mingliu finished his point.
Okamoto nodded in acknowledgment by the end.
Next, NEC's technical lead posed a question—not as direct as Okamoto's, but instead inquired about the timeline for Yuanxin's next-gen flash memory.
It was, after all, only the first day of the conference. Yuanxin's goal was to be transparent, to offer hope and vision to the participants.
That was the foundation of forming an alliance.
Li Mingliu glanced at Su Yuanshan. Seeing him nod, he responded with a light smile.
"Mr. Fujita, if you're asking how long until we can tape out the next-generation flash, I'm afraid I can't give you a concrete answer. But if you're asking about our progress, I can say this—"
"As far as the next-generation TLC (Triple-Level Cell) chips go, I can confidently say that we've resolved all theoretical challenges."
A wave of surprise rippled across the room—many of the technical officers present weren't deeply involved in chip design, but that statement still hit hard.
All theoretical issues solved? That would imply that tape-out could begin at any time.
However, Okamoto once again furrowed his brow.
He had seen Fujio develop the first generation of flash memory. He knew that resolving theoretical issues only meant finding a viable direction. Whether that direction was correct? That remained to be seen.
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Chapter 523: The TF Card
"And regarding all the relevant technologies and directions, I can also assure everyone here that our technology is currently the most advanced among all flash memory solutions."
At that moment, IBM's Mr. Becken spoke up with genuine curiosity. "Mr. Li, may I ask how your team managed to surpass Intel and SanDisk in just two years?"
"Mr. Becken, not two years—three," Li Mingliu replied with a friendly smile. "And also, Yuanxin places far more emphasis on flash memory and its future than either Intel or SanDisk. Perhaps you don't know this, but we've already assigned more than four hundred R&D engineers to our flash memory team."
A collective gasp swept through the room.
Many of those present had led their own teams at one point or were still directly involved in front-line research. Okamoto Yūfei, for example, still headed technical initiatives personally.
A forty-person team would already be considered large for a specific project.
Four hundred? That number was staggering. It might even exceed the combined number of R&D personnel at Intel and SanDisk dedicated to flash memory.
For the first time, a hint of despondency appeared in Okamoto's eyes.
—How do you even compete with that?
Even if Yuanxin's engineers were mediocre, every engineer knew that when it came to R&D, as long as you had a genius leading the effort, the rest could follow.
And was Yuanxin lacking in geniuses?
…
Among the foreign participants, only Ken Kutaragi remained composed.
Instead, he glanced appreciatively at Li Mingliu, then looked over at Su Yuanshan.
—Among the international companies attending, his personal relationship with Su Yuanshan was the closest. Naturally, he knew Li Mingliu was one of Su Yuanshan's most trusted lieutenants, and one of the five members of Yuanxin's Scientific Committee.
Even Gao Xiaodi, the lead architect for their CPU designs, hadn't made that inner circle—showing just how important and technically capable Li Mingliu was.
Moreover, two years ago, Su Yuanshan had personally told Kutaragi that digital products were the future—and flash memory was the foundation of that future. He urged Sony to commit fully to digital transformation.
That decision had enabled Sony to gain a lead in digital cameras and other products—perhaps not a huge lead, but considering that they were competing with established giants like Nikon and Canon, it was still a significant achievement.
After several more technical leads from different companies raised their questions—each answered in turn by Li Mingliu—Kutaragi looked around. Seeing that no one else was speaking up, he lightly cleared his throat and smiled at Su Yuanshan.
"Mr. Su, just now your side addressed the future of flash from a purely technical perspective. But I would like to know—in the context of digital products, or more broadly in the digital era—how can we take our current advantages and continue to grow them? How can we maintain our technological edge while also securing the greatest commercial returns?"
Su Yuanshan nodded slightly in gratitude, feeling quite pleased with the assist.
—See? It really pays to have friends show support in meetings like this.
"Allow me to answer Mr. Kutaragi's question," Su Yuanshan said, pushing aside his notebook. He paused for a moment to ensure everyone was looking at him before continuing.
"This, precisely, is the purpose of our discussion today."
"We hope to establish an alliance focused on the future of digital-era storage devices. To put it plainly, we want to work together with all of you here to tackle upcoming challenges and opportunities."
"Once the alliance is established, we'll jointly advance flash memory fabrication technology and theoretical foundations, while also promoting unified standards for general-purpose flash memory storage devices."
"For example, we already have a promising idea."
As he spoke, Su Yuanshan gestured to Wen Xiaoqian behind him.
She promptly stopped taking notes and stood up, distributing a stack of technical documents to each participant.
"In the future—whether it's digital cameras, camcorders, mobile phones, or any other product—we believe flash memory will become the sole storage medium for these devices."
"If, among all these digital devices, we can adopt a single unified protocol for storage, then for flash memory manufacturers, this will be an enormous advantage."
"Please refer to the technical documents. These outline some of our current thoughts."
Su Yuanshan took a sip of tea and glanced at the clock.
Looks like they might get to rest this afternoon.
…
Because they had "over-delivered" on content during the morning session—and Yuanxin had dropped the first major bombshell with the announcement of a new proposed standard: the TransFlash Card (TF Card)—the afternoon was set aside as a recess. The goal was to give everyone time to fully digest the implications of the TF Card protocol.
Although the proposal came from the flash memory department, the core concept behind it had been Su Yuanshan's.
Just like every product needed a target market, this flash memory format—Yuanxin's first independently led storage standard—needed to be tailored to suit Yuanxin's own products.
For instance, mobile phones.
Under Su Yuanshan's constant emphasis, both the design and manufacturing teams at Yuanxin had implemented extremely strict controls on internal space management for mobile phones. Therefore, any future flash memory card meant for phones would also need to follow that same principle: small and slim.
With this mindset, the TF Card was born.
Thanks to the MLC architecture and process improvements, the initial version of the TF Card already supported up to 128MB of storage. And its theoretical limit would continue to rise as the architecture and fabrication technology evolved.
"Su-san, why didn't you just announce it outright?" Kutaragi asked, leaning back on the sofa with his legs crossed and his arms draped along the backrest, gazing at Su Yuanshan with a relaxed smile. "You do realize that once you open it up for public comment, the process could drag on for quite a while."
"Mhm, I know," Su Yuanshan replied, pouring tea for Kutaragi. "But I really appreciate your support this morning."
Kutaragi smiled and shook his head, as if to say, no need for thanks.
The main reason he'd come in person to this semiconductor conference—aside from ongoing cooperation discussions—was to support Su Yuanshan's proposal.
Although Kutaragi had a technical background, he wasn't familiar with wafer fabs or chip design. Most of the discussions during the morning session had gone over his head.
"Feeling like part of the process is important," Su Yuanshan said with a quiet chuckle. "We're not like other companies that dictate terms. We've always treated our allies with great respect."
"And in the future, it won't just be us and the companies attending this conference. We believe cooperation between enterprises in both of our countries will become even closer."
"That's why Yuanxin hopes to set a positive, forward-looking example for future collaborations."
Kutaragi gazed intently at Su Yuanshan. After a long silence, he finally said with heartfelt admiration, "Su-san, you really are remarkable."
"Hehe…"
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Chapter 524: Intel and SanDisk Join Forces
The next morning, the conference resumed.
Since enough time had been provided the day before, Su Yuanshan believed that as long as these technical bureaucrats weren't just coasting in their positions, they would understand that Yuanxin's proposed standard was already highly refined and didn't need any technical supplements from others.
The point of opening things to discussion was simply to save face for everyone, which was exactly what Su Yuanshan meant by "respect."
So even Toshiba's Okamoto Yūfei couldn't offer further technical suggestions. Instead, he joined the other manufacturers in discussing how to ensure compatibility of card readers for digital devices.
Seeing the way everyone was engaging, Su Yuanshan finally felt at ease—at this rate, it looked like there would be no need for any extra effort to get the companies to sign the agreement tomorrow.
Just then, Zhou Xiaohui, who was in charge of all logistical aspects of the alliance meeting, pushed the door open and entered. She whispered a few words into Su Yuanshan's ear and handed him a document.
The participants remained deep in discussion and didn't notice the brief frown on Su Yuanshan's face—nor the faint smile that followed.
After signaling Zhou Xiaohui to leave the room, Su Yuanshan lightly cleared his throat. Once everyone turned their attention to him, he spoke in an even, composed tone.
"I've just received news of a press conference held in Silicon Valley earlier this afternoon."
As he said this, Su Yuanshan glanced sideways at IBM's Mr. Becken, who was already wearing a meaningful smile.
…
"According to the report, Intel's CEO Mr. Andy Grove and SanDisk's co-founder Mr. Eli Harari held a small media briefing. The two parties officially announced a strategic partnership. At the same time, SanDisk declared that they have successfully broken through with MLC technology and developed a 32MB single-chip flash memory."
"Intel also announced they would provide SanDisk with their most advanced process technology and accelerate their cooperation in the fields of solid-state drives, mobile storage, and digital storage."
"And finally, the two parties announced the launch of a new storage standard named the Multi Media Card."
Su Yuanshan paused, smiling faintly. "A 'Multi Media Card'—it even sounds more professional than ours…"
His lightly sarcastic remark drew little reaction. Everyone seemed a bit stunned.
Wasn't this a bit… too coincidental?
They were still in the middle of the conference, and already Intel and SanDisk had launched their own standard?
The room fell into an awkward silence. People exchanged glances, but no one said a word. They all chose to remain quiet.
—They may have risen from technical backgrounds, but they clearly understood commercial competition. And this move by Intel and SanDisk was obviously a rival play. This wasn't something their current roles allowed them to openly discuss.
Except… Ken Kutaragi.
Kutaragi had been closely watching Su Yuanshan's expression. Sitting directly opposite him, he had also noticed Zhou Xiaohui's pursed lips when she entered. He knew how important Zhou Xiaohui was to Yuanxin—Su Yuanshan's personal secretary from the very beginning, someone with great authority and respect within the company.
If she had come into the meeting room looking tense and had whispered in Su Yuanshan's ear, it was clearly no trivial matter. So Kutaragi paid close attention to every subtle shift in Su Yuanshan's demeanor.
"Su-san, what are the technical specs of the Multi Media Card? What about speed, protocol, and chip cost?" Kutaragi immediately cut to the heart of the matter.
Sony was undoubtedly Yuanxin's ally. But if SanDisk and Intel had come up with a better standard… then even an ally would have to prioritize product lifecycle and competitiveness and adopt the superior technology.
"The specific specs haven't been released yet—perhaps a bit later," Su Yuanshan replied with a smile. "But I can say with confidence that their standard can't match ours."
"And the reason is simple. Their standard is already fixed, designed based on their own technology and usage habits. It doesn't consider market needs or how well partners can adapt."
"Our standard, however, is still in development, and being shaped together with all of you. I believe our standard will be more refined and far more acceptable to the market."
Su Yuanshan's words calmed many of those present.
Indeed, even without considering the superior merits of Yuanxin's proposed format, the mere fact that MMC had already been finalized meant it was inflexible. Meanwhile, Yuanxin's TF Card still had room for improvement and optimization.
That left only one significant concern:
The 32MB single-chip product.
Currently, Yuanxin's highest-capacity chip was 16MB—already quite impressive, even compared to what was available on the market. And they were still pushing forward with architectural advancements.
But SanDisk's sudden leap to 32MB… meant that, in terms of raw capacity, Yuanxin had just lost the first battle.
Su Yuanshan scanned the room. He didn't believe no one had caught that detail.
Sure enough, IBM's Mr. Becken cleared his throat and asked, "Mr. Su, according to Yuanxin's roadmap… how long will it take to achieve a 32MB chip?"
(As a side note: historically, around 1996, mainstream flash chips had a capacity of 8MB to 16MB. With early MLC implementation, capacities doubled.)
Seeing that it was Becken again, Su Yuanshan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
That sly old Gerstner… After one meeting, he'd headed straight to the Special Economic Zone. Clearly, he had known about Intel and SanDisk's announcement ahead of time. After all, IBM was one of Intel's biggest SSD clients.
And yet, Gerstner still sent Becken here to "show support." Just in case. What if Yuanxin did surprise everyone?
Truly an old fox—hedging his bets on both sides.
"I'll let Dr. Zhang answer that question," Su Yuanshan said, shifting the focus to Zhang Rujin.
He could see that everyone—even Kutaragi—was eagerly awaiting this answer.
Zhang Rujin gave a small smile, took a sip of tea, then cleared his throat.
"Thanks to close collaboration with Yuanxin's flash memory division and Zhiyuan EDA, we've completed the process design for a 32MB chip. We're also in the advanced stages of developing the 64MB chip process."
"Barring any unexpected issues, we should be able to produce single-die 64MB chips within the next six months."
As he spoke, both Zhang Rujin and Su Yuanshan looked toward Li Mingliu.
Li Mingliu sighed softly.
"Since our peers are catching up fast, and both my bosses are staring at me… I suppose I'd better state my position clearly. Within two years, we will fully implement multi-layer architecture. When that happens—assuming our fabrication processes support it—we may be able to produce single-chip 1GB flash memory."
"At that point, it won't just benefit flash memory. Even traditional DRAM architectures and CPU designs might be transformed."
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Chapter 525: Promises That Must Be Made
"What's meant to come will eventually arrive."
Su Yuanshan walked alongside Li Mingliu down the corridor toward the latter's office. It was the afternoon break, and Su Yuanshan also wanted to give everyone enough time to communicate with their respective companies.
"And promises that must be made will eventually have to be made," Li Mingliu added with a grin.
"Yeah…" Su Yuanshan sighed. "But Lao Li, let me ask you honestly—even though I tend to talk big sometimes, have you ever seen me brag?"
Li Mingliu blinked, thinking carefully. Su Yuanshan had "predicted" the direction and stages of numerous technologies, some of which had sounded almost fantastical at the time. But to say he'd bragged… really wouldn't be accurate.
"So, I want you to make the multi-layer architecture work—and I know, it's hard. Right now, dual-layer is already pushing our limits. And multi-layer is an entirely different concept…"
Although Su Yuanshan was using the word "hope," the pressure that suddenly settled on Li Mingliu's shoulders was real. Still, he raised his sharp brows and smirked. "What's there to be afraid of? We already have the theory."
"Yeah, and I can't help much with theory anymore. But I'm certain this is the right direction. We can't pin all our hopes on breakthroughs in process technology. That'd make us designers look weak." Su Yuanshan paused. "Alright, let's go ahead and try a test tape-out. At the next board meeting, bring it up directly—I'll back you. I'll get you a budget of one hundred million."
Upon hearing that, Li Mingliu raised his brows again and burst out laughing. Throwing an arm around Su Yuanshan's shoulders, he pulled him into the office. "Boss Shan, my good brother! Consider it done!"
"…Hey, hey! Watch the image, man!"
Behind them, Wen Xiaoqian stifled a giggle, watching the two men walk off with a smile full of admiration.
…
Soon, the specific specifications for the MMC card from Silicon Valley arrived. But once everyone had read the details and parameters, not only Su Yuanshan, but every attendee breathed a sigh of relief.
It was clear—SanDisk and Intel had been a little too arrogant this time.
In terms of both technical specs and physical dimensions, the MMC card lagged behind the TF card. Especially in size—it was nearly twice as large. And while both had the same capacity ceiling, Yuanxin had already proposed plans to increase the TF card's capacity ceiling in the next version. This meant that when the next round of upgrades came, the TF 2.0 standard would hold limitless potential.
If, on paper, MMC already had no advantage over TF, then in the eyes of companies focused on digital products—especially Japanese firms—the choice was obvious.
As a result, the signing of the agreement went smoothly and efficiently.
…
On March 24, the flash memory alliance, led by Yuanxin, was officially established.
Within this alliance, Yuanxin would license and share its 0.5-micron process for flash memory chips with other companies and would also take charge of developing all supporting solutions, including card reader chips.
Of course, not every company needed or had the ability to manufacture flash memory chips. After all, it wasn't a product that just anyone could jump into. Another purpose of the flash memory alliance was precisely this: to leverage market strengths and adjust demand and production capacities in order to avoid a DRAM-style cyclical semiconductor crisis.
To be honest, Japanese firms were a little traumatized by such cyclical crises. Because IT industry leadership wasn't in Japan's hands, they were forced to passively accept market turbulence—even if it sometimes meant drinking poison to quench their thirst.
But flash memory in the digital era was a different matter. Digital products were a rapidly growing market and increasingly seen as the foundation of the future.
In this realm, Japan was a leader.
They could guide the market—which was why Su Yuanshan had been able to gather so many Japanese companies in Shanghai with little effort. Even after two of the nation's industry giants had declared strategic cooperation elsewhere, they still chose to align with Yuanxin.
As for IBM, after a brief period of consideration, it also agreed to conditionally join the alliance.
Texas Instruments… had no real choice in the matter. It was here for process technology, and with its near-equal stake in Deyuan, it was also a co-host of the event.
…
"Su-san, I have a meeting later with the national game development association. Do you have time?"
After seeing off most of the attendees, Ken Kutaragi remained.
"Uh… I just checked—probably not." Su Yuanshan glanced helplessly at his packed schedule and smiled wryly. "But Kutaragi-san, aren't you about to head back as well?"
"Mm, I'm heading to the U.S. next," Kutaragi nodded.
As Sony's newly appointed general manager, Kutaragi had chosen China as the first stop of his foreign tour—a sign of great respect. But he couldn't stay too long. Even though Sony was betting its future on Yuanxin and China, for now, the West remained its main market—one that could not be neglected or mishandled in any way.
He had come under the cover of the conference, but staying too long would send the wrong signal.
"That's fine. I might have to visit the U.S. myself sometime soon. Their technology is… just too strong. Even when we make some progress in a small domain, we can't help but wonder whether our accomplishments are actually legitimate." Su Yuanshan smiled self-deprecatingly. "Unlike you guys…"
"…Su-san, you're too modest. Yuanxin is already a great company," Kutaragi said earnestly.
"Not yet! If twenty years from now Yuanxin is still leading the industry, then maybe… just maybe, we'll be worthy of that title."
They exchanged a few more words before bidding farewell.
And then Su Yuanshan, right on cue, headed straight to the Shanghai leadership's office.
…
The city leader was already waiting in the reception area, having prepared snacks and tea.
When Su Yuanshan rushed in, the leader actually stood up first, eager to greet him.
"Leader, please—sit down."
"No need. You've worked hard," the official said, shaking Su Yuanshan's hand and taking his bag to place it aside. He gently pulled Su Yuanshan to sit beside him.
As Su lifted the teacup and took a big gulp, the leader laughed. "You're so rushed—you look like you just ran a marathon."
"Heh, you're not wrong—it really was a marathon."
A week-long conference—what else could you call it?
The leader smiled at the joke but quickly turned to business. "So, how did it go?"
"We signed everything. And next month, several companies will come to Shanghai for investment inspections," Su Yuanshan said, taking another sip of tea before grinning. "Secretary, please take it easy on them. Real estate in Shanghai isn't cheap—and the future is looking bright."
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