Chapter 279: Playing It Big!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In this matter, the crowd was divided into two factions.
One faction thought that it would be better to not disclose the matter immediately. After all, once announced, the product would encounter patent lawsuits from ASML, and they would get into troublesome court procedures. The product might even get banned from foreign markets.
So, why not first product a batch of EUV lithography machines like some 10, 20 units to fill in all production lines before welcoming a lawsuit for themselves. This was called “securing the rice bowl”.
But these ideas were quickly refuted by the other faction.
“We need to announce it right away!”
“After AMSL ban the sales of our lithography machine, the industry generally believes that Zhong Xin International will be put into shock for at least three years. In this period of time, we will be unable to improve our production capacity and revenue. Besides, in the face of Samsin and Mossy Electrics’s price war, our profits will shrink continuously… under the effects of various aspects, the situation we will be facing is not optimistic.”
“Our intuition can be seen from the stock market. Since October last year until May this year, our stock price has been constantly falling for half a year. Our market value had plummeted from its peak at 250 billion to 120 billion now. More than 100 billion dollars had evaporated. All these is already enough for us to buy hundreds of EUV lithography machines.”
“We must immediately restore the confidence our investors are losing.”
“We must pull back our market value!”
“There’s no need to be afraid of a lawsuit. We are under the special clause protection of the ‘Patent Law’. The foreigners can’t do anything to us, at least in the Z nation market. Besides, more than 80% of our business is carried out within our borders. That little market we have overseas is nothing compared to a hundred-billion-dollar market value.”
In short, it was a must for this matter to be announced without delay.
However, Chen Jin spun his eyes and had a eureka.
120 billion… Zhong Xin’s current market value had actually become so cheap.
Those investors within the country really do not possess any insight, and their level was relatively low as well, no wonder they were revered as the “chive marketers” that would blindly follow market trends to buy in or sell off stock. All of them were pathetically short-sighted and was incapable of noticing any potentials dwelling within the market that would benefit them in the long run.
In the end, they were only speculating.
Even for unlisted companies as Hua Yao, the stocks of their suppliers had plummeted when the company encountered a huge crisis a few years ago… this clearly shown what kind of people the investors were.
He put forward his suggestion to Zhang Wei Jin.
“Zhong Xin’s market value isn’t that high as of now, only at some hundred billion dollars. Why not you privatize and delist yourself. Currently, Xing Hai Technologies owns 38% of your market shares. Why not I buy all the rest of them. Zhong Xin will become Xing Hai Technologies’s wholly owned subsidiary and can focus solely on developing in the chip field. You won’t need to care about investors or whatsoever anymore.”
Upon listening to his words, Zhang Wei Jin glanced at him. He then shook his head and refused his suggestion.
“Zhong Xin is one of the key enterprises under government support with the country owning 15% of our shares. First of all, you can’t withdraw these shares.”
“And you are too naïve. You are completely oblivious about the power of the market and how much profit it could bring forth. The market is a lever. A lever which multiplies revenue by tenfold or even hundredfold.”
“Let me be honest with you. All 20 thousand personnel’s in Zhong Xin International, including me and the executive members, had place all of our fluid capital and even mortgaged our fixed a.s.sets into the stock market, buying our own stocks. We all believe that it will definitely skyrocket.”
“If the company is delisted, all of us will gain nothing or even suffer from severe losses. n.o.body would agree to do so.”
The reason why all of Zhong Xin International kept it in the dark was because they were gambling for their stocks to rise.
Hence, the advice Zhang Wei Jin gave Chen Jin was, rather than hoping for Zhong Xin International to get privatized and delisted, why not increase his shares and invest a little more money, which would be the more realistic approach.
The whole company playing the stock market.
Chen Jin shook his head. This was just like gambling which was highly addictive. But it could irrefutably give someone a colossal amount of revenue.
He sc.r.a.ped his idea of privatizing the company, neither did he intended to increase his shareholdings… he was already warned by the Securities Regulatory Bureau once last year.
At the same time that they decided to disclose Zhong Xin International’s achievements in the 5 nm process technology and them overcoming the sales ban of EUV lithography machines, Zhong Xin’s higher ups still wished to increase their wager!
They wanted to play with something bigger, announcing another equally heavy news.
The super resolution lithography machine!
Announce the super resolution lithography machine at the same time.
Chief Technical Inspector Yang Ming said with excitement:
“Now in the high-end chip field, we have taken down the most advanced 5 nm process technology, coming neck to neck with Mossy Electrics. Our shortcomings in our chip performance had been fully compensated. Based on our relatively lower OEM cost and higher conformity rate, we have acquired a significant compet.i.tive advantage in the high-end OEM market.”
“Based on the regular pattern in the chip industry, we can seize more than 90% of the OEM market even with just a 10% advantage.”
“We will for certain gobble up a big piece of the high-end market.”
“In the field of middle and low-end chips on the other hand, we have ourselves the super resolution lithography machine.”
“With the aid of this awesome tool, we can manufacture both 22 nm and 10 nm chips. Compared to traditional lithography machines, chips produced using the super resolution lithography machine will only require one-third of its original production costs. Production efficiency will also be multiplied by more than a factor of 3.”
“Even if we sell the 22 nm and 10 nm chips manufactured using the super resolution lithography machine half the price of its foreign contemporaries, we will still gain revenue.”
“Before such a price/performance ratio, we will definitely sweep the whole middle and low-end chip market into our pockets.”
“In that way, we will almost be swallowing the whole high, middle, and low-end chip market in entirety. We will become the overlord in chip foundry! We could take at least half of the 200-billion-M-dollar annual market revenue.
“It is said that the market value of the giant in chip foundry, Mossy Electrics is 200 billion M dollars. Our goal now is to replace Mossy Electrics and become the new giant.”
200 billion M dollars multiplied by 6.
That would imply that Zhong Xin International’s market value should reach at least 1200 billion Z dollars, which was ten times their current market value. This would mean that buying in Zhong Xin International’s stocks now would turn a house into ten houses in the future.
When could a person buy 10 houses just by their own efforts?
And that was why the stock market was so exhilarating.
Chen Jin shook his head and said, “Go on and play then. Do it big, the bigger the better!”
…
The following day.
16th of May.
Zhong Xin International rented a large venue that could accommodate ten thousand people and held a press conference.
This was a product conference and at the same time a news conference!
On the conference.
Yang Ming, who was made the host due to his good eloquence demonstrated the SX-2000 high-end CPU produced using the 5 nm process technology. In a test device, the CPU scored a horrifying 780 thousand marks in the Benchmark test, becoming the world’s first in CPU performance.
Besides, he introduced two types of lithography machines using VCR: the local-made EUV lithography machine and super resolution lithography machine!
A variety of chips produced by the two lithography machines were displayed. There was a 7-nanometer chip, 10-nanometer cheap CPU, 22-nanometer Qinglong First Gen desktop CPU, and up to more than 50 types of various chip products. It shown that the machines can satisfy all customer requirements.
At the end of the conference.
Facing the 10 thousand audiences offstage who were all on their feet full of excitement and fanaticism, Yang Ming shouted frantically:
“Ban us, keep on banning us! Five years, ten years, one hundred years, anything! Spend the rest of your life guarding your rubbis.h.!.+”
“We do not need you anymore! We have better ones in our hands!”
“We can produce all chips! Our tools can sustain our own needs. Our product’s performance and quality far exceed that of foreign products!”
“Last question for all of you: would you choose domestic boutiques, or choose foreign garbage? Tell me your choice!”
Boom…
The audience was totally blown away.