Chapter 260 Direct mass production

"No way, you are so unrestrained and don't want to be released? Are you so reckless?"

The engineers at the four-star wafer fab were confused after receiving the request from Umbrella. They had never heard of such an operation!

Yes, the price of one tape-out is actually not cheap. One-time tape-out of a 20nm process chip costs about three to four million US dollars.

The mass production of chips mainly involves photolithography, which is equivalent to exposing the wafer.

The exposure process is also mainly divided into two parts, one is to make the transistors on the wafer, and the other is to connect these transistors into a circuit.

Although it looks like two parts, each photolithography requires a corresponding mask. The DUV photolithography machine can push the process limit to 7nm through multiple exposures.

The 20nm process requires at least fifty masks, and each mask costs tens of thousands of dollars.

It is for this reason that chips need to be mass-produced to reduce costs, because the price of a single wafer is only three to four thousand US dollars, and one wafer can cut about five to six hundred chips.

Of course, there are also issues with yield, as well as later chip packaging, etc.

But in general, we can also see the complexity of chip production itself and the reasons why it must be mass-produced.

For some chip companies, every failure in tape-out is painful, but compared to going directly into mass production with problems, it is nothing to worry about!

Umbrella here sent it directly to them to start mass production. Of course it can be done, no problem, but this is too frivolous.

"Umbrella has money, but people just want to rush for time. What can I do? Let's test the performance of the chip while mass-producing it."

Both of them are engineers who have been rooted in the semiconductor field for a long time, but this is the first time they have seen such a reckless company.

I really didn’t expect a company to be so arrogant, and I finally saw it this time.

"Be careful, they are our important partners. If the problem of mass production failure is caused by us, it will be great fun."

Originally, the party that was most worried about tapeout should be the chip factory, but this time it inexplicably fell on their wafer factory.

Things are really changing...

…

Scenes that are no worse than this also occurred at UMC.

UMC has always been an outstanding company in the semiconductor field.

At least in terms of manufacturing technology, it has always been in the first echelon, barely keeping up without falling.

Its own 22nm process is quite mature, and 20nm is enough to ensure profitability.

However, UMC has been under pressure recently, because they have received news that leading players have successively reached the 14nm process, and it will probably be officially commercialized next year!

But their own 14nm yield rate is still very bad. They can manufacture it, but if the yield rate is set here and they force manufacturing, they may lose money!

This is cutting-edge technology. Once you fall behind, it will be difficult to catch up.

For UMC now, instead of pursuing the 14nm process that may lead to losses, it is better to manage its mature technology first.

Things like chips are also divided into different levels. The high-end market is only so big, but the ones that use the most are actually the mid- to low-end ones.

It's just that the profit is relatively less.

But just do as little as possible. After all, you can still make money, which is better than losing money.

Because of this, they still attach great importance to the order Umbrella sent to them when they were about to break away. This may be the last time they participate in the production of top-level chips!

However, it is too urgent to not tape out...

"Customers are God. Hey, ARM's 64-bit public version architecture is not tape-out. I heard that the power consumption of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 is quite embarrassing."

"Umbrella has money. To put it bluntly, it doesn't matter if they treat mass production as tape-out."

"Yeah, but I'd better do my best. Hey, I don't know if there is a chance to return to the first echelon."

In fact, the engineers themselves are also a little emotional. They may have heard the rumors from the company's upper management, and perhaps they don't want to catch up anymore.

After all, the company wants to make money, and it may not be as profitable as it is now if it keeps chasing after it reluctantly.

You may work hard to move forward, but you may not get enough reward, so why bother?

It's not cost-effective to make it.

They want to make a profit, but there is no way to do a loss-making business for some illusory ideal.

As long as you lick your dad well enough and then cut your own flesh to give to dad when he's hungry, there will still be bones to eat...

…

In fact, there are no big secrets in the semiconductor industry. Umbrella's reckless operation without tapeout can be said to have shocked a group of industry insiders.

Although Umbrella is usually a tough guy, she has never entered the semiconductor field before!

Do you know the rules in the semiconductor field?

Qualcomm, which had rejected Umbrella before and then discovered that they really didn't want to buy its own chips, was a little confused at this time.

No, are you serious?

"Are they stupid? They have this money to waste and don't come to buy our 810?"

Qualcomm CEO felt as if he had been humiliated for a moment.

Qualcomm has encountered obstacles many times in terms of chips, and tapeout problems are common.

As long as there are some small bugs that can be circumvented with software, it is considered good. After the silicon is dragged out, ECO is considered a headache. Others only see the chips making money, but they do not see the scene of burning money.

But now, people have started mass production directly, which makes Qualcomm feel like it has been slapped in the face.

"Haha, you Umbrellas are awesome and dare to be the first, so I have to congratulate you first."

Qualcomm CEO hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not publicly ridicule him directly on social software.

In fact, it happens from time to time that some friends and businessmen ridicule each other and get angry with each other.

For example, some people say that Moore's Law has been broken, while others say that it has not.

There are also two Coca-Cola companies’ advertisements that are mutually exclusive, etc.

As a normal company, Qualcomm would laugh at it.

Why, you still want to teach us how to do things? Qualcomm, which holds a large number of patents, does not panic at all. It is a typical hobgoblin.

But after looking at Umbrella's record, Qualcomm CEO finally chose peace as the most important thing.

Just watch the joke, why bother.

He just secretly informed the media of this inside story.

The media, which has always been stubborn, didn't care at all about the other party's identity. CNN reported on it the next day.

"Is it confidence? Or stupidity? Umbrella, which has aggressively entered the chip field, may have made a bad move."

The entire report eloquently explains what Umbrella is doing now, and briefly explains the significance of tape-out, and specifically points out that all major chip manufacturers will choose to tape-out first.

Umbrella's actions were so reckless and aggressive.

"...As far as I know, high-end chips have now been divided up by major manufacturers. Umbrella has no cores available. We are also doubtful about the next mobile phone production. As for the Red Queen-V1.0plus

How it performs will not be known until it comes out."

Well, it's obvious that this reporter is eating more than he can eat. He eats both the bad money from chips and the money from mobile phones. He enjoys it.

And for reporters, many of them have actually researched and paid attention to Umbrella. After all, no one wants to disappear out of nowhere.

But through observation, it can be determined that Umbrella does not care about this kind of thing. When the slander of Piero's laboratory was thrown out, they did not do anything. Instead, they sent people to protect Piero. This is their style.

After all, it is not a listed company, so it does not care about whether it is bullish or bearish, and there is no need to put out some smoke pop-ups from time to time to stimulate the stock market.

Breaking news is often dropped without any warning.

In fact, people are like this. After knowing that others will not do anything to you, even if they are giants, they dare to tease them.

On the contrary, if you are a gangster or a gangster who passes by on the street and asks you for money, you may have to be honest.

Nowadays, with simultaneous translation, it can be said that the melons from abroad are transported back very quickly.

Nowadays, Umbrella mobile phones are really hard to find, and many people have chosen other models of mobile phones.

Because after paying the ‘IQ tax’, the performance of ordinary mobile phones of various brands has gradually improved. Although they are not as good as Umbrella, they are still quite practical.

After all, it's just a software enhancement, and it's still very fast.

Especially the prices are quite cheap.

The reports from ‘authoritative’ media outlets like CNN outside here have also caused a group of touts to speak out.

"Umbrella is still too radical."

"Actually, just sell their services, there is no need to get involved."

"Forget about entering the mobile phone field, you actually enter the chip field? Is it so easy to enter the chip field? Funny."

"I can't see you bragging about Umbrella. This company is too young."

"How does it compare with those established companies?"

"..."
To be continued...