Tech giants start by disassembling systems

Chapter 220 Halftime

Chapter 254 Halftime

The break is at 4:20 PM.

Room 5, East Wing, 2nd Floor, Building 8, Diaoyutai.

The three representatives went in. Müller did not follow. He was the neutral chair. This was an internal meeting of the three organizations.

The door to the private room closed.

Hoffman spoke first.

"Will you accept the 'main trunk' today?" he asked. He didn't look at Rinnetti. He looked at Dimaier.

Dimmel is the president of Bosch's MEMS business. He was the one who proposed three implicit consensuses at the closed-door meeting in Berlin: "focusing on negotiations with Villon," "not accepting exclusivity," and "simultaneously launching next-generation pre-research."

He remained silent for three seconds.

"I accept it," he said.

Hoffman slammed his hand on the table. His face twitched.

"Dee W."

"Reinhard," Dimmel said. "Following the closed-door meeting in Berlin, Bosch, STMicroelectronics, and Infineon reached three implicit consensuses. The first is to 'maintain the focus on the Vilan negotiations.' The second is to 'simultaneously launch next-generation pre-research.'"

He paused for a moment.

The third point is, "To reach a certain cooperation framework with Vilan within this quarter."

"What Weilan presented today is not 'a certain cooperative framework.' What they presented is a 'thirty-year backbone.'"

"Then what do you mean by turning the implicit consensus reached at the closed-door meeting between the three companies in Berlin into something else?" Hoffmann's face froze. "Berlin. You're a recipient. Today you've become someone who accompanies Vivian to the IEC backbone."

Dimer glanced at him. His face wasn't angry. It was cold.

"Reinhard. You don't understand," he said. "Today, Vilan isn't taking the main line. In the next 18 months, three companies will produce submicron prototypes. Once the prototypes are ready, they don't have to follow Vilan's route." But "in the next 18 months, Vilan's simulation system will be deployed to over 3 companies. The architecture based on Vilan's third-order nonlinearity will be the only architecture capable of delivering production capacity in the next 18 months."

"The three companies produced prototypes 18 months later. Prototypes cannot be delivered for production. It will take another 2 to 3 years to deliver production capacity."

"Weilan has moved on from those five years."

Hoffman collapsed onto the implantation site. He understood.

Dimer is right. Vilan is preparing a roadmap. The "main trunk" isn't Vilan's responsibility. It's that within the "deployment to over 3 companies in the next 18 months," the "Vilan simulation system" will be the "sole delivery capability" for these 3+ companies.

Dimer is right. The "main trunk" of Vilan's future will be built up over the next 18 months. It wasn't something Vilan took out.

You can't rob three stores at once.

Rinengti spoke.

"Italy and France accept the 'main clause'," he said. He glanced at Hoffmann. "At the same time, Italy and France will propose a supplementary condition."

"STMicroelectronics wants priority access to the materials family," he said. "As a key downstream architecture in the Vilan simulation system, and with STMicroelectronics as a co-initiator, it wants priority access from Vilan."

Lin Wei glanced at Linenti. She then glanced at Su Chen. Su Chen nodded. He said that Italy's proposal was deliverable. The "Materials Family First" strategy would not interfere with other companies in the Weilan industrial chain.

"Accept," Lin Wei said. "Italy and France will prioritize the 'materials family' option."

Hoffmann glanced at them. He understood. Rinenti wasn't "following" him. Rinenti was "skipping" him. Rinenti had secured a "materials priority" that only Italy and France could obtain. He couldn't go with Villan.

Hoffman lay in the vegetative position. He had aged five years.

"What will Ying Feiling take?" he asked. The coldness in his eyes turned into a grimace.

"Infineon won't get it now," Dimmel said. "Infineon withdrew today. The implicit consensus reached at the closed-door meeting between Infineon's representatives and the three companies in Berlin has collapsed. After Infineon's withdrawal, the next 18 months will be dedicated to next-generation research. Infineon won't get to the 'negotiating table.' Infineon will be pressured by Bosch and STMicroelectronics."

"On behalf of Infineon. On your behalf. Submitting a request for escrow."

"Your request for transfer of envoy shall be submitted tonight by Hoffmann's representative." He paused. "Before midnight tomorrow morning."

Hoffman looked at him. The stiffness in his eyes turned into coldness.

"You two," he said. "Today, right here, you've locked Infineon's door into the next-generation architecture pre-research phase."

He understood. He wasn't ruined by three companies today. He was ruined by two. After being ruined, he couldn't pull Dimmel away. He couldn't pull Rinenti away. He couldn't get the next-generation architecture prediction.

Lin Wei glanced at him. She didn't speak. She looked at Dimaiermaier. She looked at Linnenti.

"Vilane agreed to use the 'main trunk' as the starting point for cooperation," she said. "Vilane agreed that Italy and France would have 'materials priority'."

She glanced at Dimaier.

"What does Bosch take?" she asked.

Dimer glanced at the paper in his hand. He had prepared a word. He hadn't planned to take it today. He had planned to let Rinenti take it. But Rinenti took "Materials First." He couldn't be the old hand.

"A 400mm joint verification platform," he said. "Bosch priority."

This was mentioned by Stein at the closed-door meeting in Berlin. Today, Dimmel brought it up as the price Bosch paid for "why it accepted the backbone."

"Accept," Lin Wei said. "Bosch will take the 'Platform First Order' priority."

All three families glanced at Hoffmann.

Hoffman stared at the table. He was getting nothing. Today, he would represent Infineon in submitting a withdrawal petition that was "jointly initiated, licensed only, and not accepted from the main branch." He would be sidelined by Weber for three months. He might be removed from his position as Vice President of Strategy.

But he understood. He understood while lying in the implanted position.

Vilan isn't taking the "main trunk." Vilan is taking the "only deliverable production capacity in the next 18 months." The fact that three companies proposed an "18-month prototype" for next-generation pre-research at the closed-door meeting in Berlin has already put Vilan on the "main trunk."

They pushed Wei Lan to the throne in order to seize the next generation. They pushed Wei Lan to the throne because they wanted to seize the next generation.

This is a "gift".

They can't get anything back.

He walked in. He glanced at the three representatives at the table. He glanced at Hoffmann.

"The meeting is restarting," he said. "Please state your opinions, all three of you."

Dimaier stood up.

"Bosch has accepted the Vilan submicron node process route as the backbone of the new IEC MEMS standard. Bosch is a co-initiator."

Rinnetti stood up.

STMicroelectronics has accepted the Vilan submicron node process route as the backbone of the new IEC MEMS standard. STMicroelectronics is a co-initiator of this standard.

Hoffman stood up. He slumped in his position for three more seconds.

"Infineon will not comment today," he said. "A statement will be issued in subsequent documents from headquarters."

Muller glanced at him. He nodded.

"This will be recorded in the meeting minutes. Infineon will not comment today," he said. "At the meeting, Bosch, STMicroelectronics, and Vilan agreed to use Vilan's submicron node process route as the backbone of the new IEC MEMS standard."

It's not "acceptance by four parties." It's "acceptance by three parties."

It's just a difference of one word.

Upon hearing the phrase "three-way acceptance," Hoffman shifted slightly. He picked up the pen from the table, almost slamming his hand on it.

But he didn't take the picture.

He glanced at Dimaier. He glanced at Rinenti. Dimaier didn't look at him. Rinenti didn't look at him.

He doesn't represent Infineon. He can only represent himself today.

He lowered his head. He shut his mouth.

The meeting minutes state: Bosch and STMicroelectronics accepted the "Velocity submicron node process roadmap" as the backbone of the new IEC MEMS standard. Vielocity was the drafter of the backbone. Bosch and STMicroelectronics were the joint initiators.

Infineon's representative did not comment. A statement will be provided in a subsequent document from headquarters.

The meeting concluded at 6:30 p.m. that day. The joint statement is scheduled to be released at 5:00 a.m. on the 27th of this month.

After leaving Building No. 8 at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Su Chen followed behind Lin Wei. He remained silent the entire way. He understood what had happened that day.

Wei Lan went from "three months ago, her paper was published and the IEC chairman opposed it" to "three months later, Wei Lan is a backbone member of the new IEC MEMS standard".

What happened in between? The simulation system's "delivery capability" was pushed up from behind.

The delivery capability is "deployment to over 3 enterprises within the next 18 months." The other three companies couldn't offer this. Vilan did. And since the core technology was already in Vilan's hands, whether the other three accept it is another matter.

Wei Lan only did one thing today. Wei Lan asked three families to...

Su Chen glanced at Lin Wei walking ahead. Her back was bright. She didn't turn around.

He followed.

Today, the 26th of the month. The meeting started at 3 PM. There was a 20-minute break. The meeting ended at 6:30 PM. At 6:30 PM, the minutes of the meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, China, recorded that "the company accepted the Vilan submicron node process route as the backbone of the new IEC MEMS standard."

Infineon was recorded as "not commenting".

After Infineon's "no comment" was recorded, the other two companies were locked out of the Berlin closed-door meeting during the pre-research phase of the next-generation MEMS architecture.

It's not a Vilan lock.

It's a Bosch and STMicroelectronics lock.

Wei Lan was simply there, in a way that allowed them to speak.