After Hua Xia was able to manufacture high-precision chips, Feng Changlun started to entertain some selfish thoughts.
Lithography machines, what a good thing! With Hua Xia's current technology, it was impossible to produce such a thing. This was a symbol of technological prowess, and the parts involved were simply too numerous.
Countless, and with incredibly high precision requirements.
"That young boss Zhang, you see, we've bought the lithography machines, and we can produce one unit with them. You bought two, and now our production capacity is clearly excessive, and we don't have the technology for this yet," Feng Changlun sighed.
This young boss Zhang was rich and willful, buying whatever was good. But lithography machines were something they couldn't quite handle at the moment.
"My intention is very simple, I want to replicate one," Zhang Tianxing said nonchalantly.
Upon hearing Zhang Tianxing's words, Feng Changlun almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Young boss Zhang, what are you talking about? You want to replicate a lithography machine? I'll put it on record here today, it's absolutely impossible. Don't you know how many parts a lithography machine needs, and how high its precision requirements are?" Feng Changlun was utterly speechless.
It was probably because Zhang Tianxing didn't understand the technology inside that he dared to speak like this. This young boss Zhang was a good person, and Old Feng rarely encountered such a boss. His money shouldn't all be sunk into the bottomless pit of lithography machines.
ASML, with its formidable strength, also adopted a global supply chain model. It was impossible for them to complete the manufacturing of a lithography machine on their own.
Now, Zhang Tianxing declaring he would manufacture lithography machines in Hua Xia was simply impossible.
Guo Jiajia's beautiful eyes were filled with astonishment. Although she wasn't a technician, she clearly understood what a lithography machine represented.
"Old Feng, your current focus should be on chip research and development. Now that we have lithography machines, all we need are high-quality chips. As long as we can produce chips, the Hua Xia market has immense potential," Zhang Tianxing reminded Feng Changlun.
Bottlenecked core technologies must be changed, no matter the cost.
Money was meant to be spent. As for the numerous parts and high precision requirements of lithography machines, these weren't insurmountable obstacles.
Hua Xia might not have much else, but it had plenty of Level 8 machinists. They could directly produce parts by hand.
The current stage wasn't about high-volume production, but about understanding and assimilating the technology, transforming it into their own.
To form their own style and achieve a breakthrough.
Starting from scratch was too difficult; they would begin with imitation.
"Jiajia, I have an important task for you," Zhang Tianxing said solemnly to Guo Jiajia.
Guo Jiajia, having never seen such a serious expression on Zhang Tianxing's face, also became serious. "Tell me, I'm listening."
"Go to the labor market and find us. Our company is now hiring various high-level skilled workers. High salaries, don't be afraid to spend money. We need them to manually produce high-precision parts," Zhang Tianxing said in a deep voice.
So this was Zhang Tianxing's idea. Good heavens, if the parts required for lithography machines couldn't be mass-produced, he planned to do it manually. He was truly a genius.
However, Guo Jiajia tilted her head and thought for a moment. This was indeed a good way to break through the current impasse.
There was no other way. Given Hua Xia's industrial foundation, the extremely high precision requirements could only be met by skilled workers.
"Young boss Zhang, if we do this, our labor costs will skyrocket. Besides, is it worth it to build just one lithography machine this way? We can buy them with money. Are we expending so much effort for nothing?" Guo Jiajia voiced her opinion.
If money could buy it, then it was fine. There was no need to control all the technologies themselves.
Zhang Tianxing shook his head. "Technology that is in your own hands is true technology. With our own technology, we can rest assured. Since we are preparing to enter the mobile phone industry, we must be ready for this."
"If we develop our own chips and various patents, how much money can we save? We can even collect patent fees from other mobile phone manufacturers."
"Conversely, if we have to pay patent usage fees to companies that own patents, the difference in income and expenditure will be significant."
After hearing Zhang Tianxing's words, Guo Jiajia examined him carefully. "No, young boss Zhang, this isn't like you. In the past, if something could be solved with money, it wasn't a problem. Besides, there are so many profitable industries, we can't occupy them all, can we?"
"Furthermore, from an economic perspective, how much money does chip research and development require? It's undoubtedly an astronomical sum, but how much does it cost to purchase them? Even with patent usage fees, it's not much. Is it worth spending so much money?"
This was the typical mindset: "I can buy it now, there's no need to spend manpower and financial resources on R&D. Whether R&D will succeed is unknown."
In Guo Jiajia's view, Zhang Tianxing's idea was beautiful, but the risk was too great.
"Jiajia, have you ever considered this question: perhaps one day, they won't sell us chips even if we have the money, what will we do then?" Zhang Tianxing said helplessly.
"You must be joking. How can there be a situation where you can't buy something with money?" Guo Jiajia laughed heartily. In her eyes, this was an impossible scenario.
"Jiajia, I'm serious. The beautiful country is currently issuing a list of entities for sanctions against some of our Hua Xia companies. Don't you know about this?" Zhang Tianxing brought up this heavy topic.
Hearing this, Guo Jiajia was speechless. Being controlled by others, if the technology for core products depended on foreign parts, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"This can't be right. We are just a small company, how could we attract the attention of the beautiful country?"
"What if our chip R&D is too successful and severely affects their chip sales? For such delicate equipment as lithography machines, what if they don't provide after-sales service?"
"No way, they are an international company, won't they lose face? How will they survive in the future?"
"As long as sanctions are imposed, everything can be explained. In the final analysis, this world is governed by the strong," Zhang Tianxing said in a deep voice.
Backwardness leads to being beaten; this is an eternal truth.
If you encroach upon the beautiful country's cake, they will undoubtedly try to suppress you by any means necessary.
Only by mastering core technologies can one have a voice and set the rules.
In this life, Zhang Tianxing also wanted to be the referee and a chess player.
After hearing Zhang Tianxing's words, Guo Jiajia was speechless. This path was too difficult.
Something that even a country cannot accomplish, can Zhang Tianxing change it all?
This was a task that was fundamentally impossible to complete.
"Young boss Zhang, what you said makes a lot of sense, but I feel your money will go down the drain. Lithography machines are the result of countless countries investing massive resources and manpower in their development. Although you have money, burning through it for this is far from enough," Guo Jiajia pointed out the key issue sharply.
Well, his money was still too little, it wasn't enough to spend. There was also chip R&D, hiring high-level skilled workers with high salaries, and mobile phone design; each was a bottomless pit of expenditure.
It seemed he had to speed up his pace of making money. Damn it, after working so hard for so long, his earning speed couldn't keep up with his spending speed. He was living too miserably, Zhang Tianxing wryly self-mocked.