Steal the enemy's base at the start and build a technological empire.

Chapter 423 Xinvino's OLED Mass Production

February 15, Beijing, Xinvino Electronics.

Zhang Weinuo stood outside the cleanroom, holding an OLED screen that had just been taken off the production line. The screen was about two inches square, gleaming faintly under the lights. He pressed the test switch next to it, and the screen lit up. The colors—red, green, and blue—were vibrant, like a watercolor painting. The pixels were so fine that even up close, the graininess was imperceptible.

"The yield rate is 75%. 2.4 inches, 320x240 resolution, color. This is the first fully independent OLED mass production line in China." His voice trembled slightly, whether from excitement or fatigue, it was hard to tell.

Ling Yun took the screen and flipped it over to look at it. The back was silver metal, very thin, thinner than a credit card. He asked, "How big can we go with this next step?"

张维诺说：「明年做到3.5英寸，解析度480乘320。后年做到4英寸，解析度640乘480。再往后，就看市场需求了。」

Lingyun returned the screen to him. "The future of mobile phone screens is OLED. Thinner, more energy-efficient, and with better colors. Xinghuo will continue to invest, aiming to increase screen size to over 3.5 inches and resolution to over 480x320 within three years. You need manpower? I'll give you manpower. You need money? I'll give you money. You need equipment? I'll buy it for you."

Zhang Weinuo looked at him, his lips moving slightly. "Mr. Ling, what do you need such a large screen for?"

Ling Yun smiled and said, "You'll find out later."

Zhang Weinuo didn't press further. He led Ling Yun on a tour of the entire production line, examining each machine—the vapor deposition machine, the packaging machine, the cutting machine, and the testing equipment—one by one. At the end of the production line, Zhang Weinuo stopped.

"Mr. Ling, there's something I need to tell you. Last month, people from Samsung came to visit us. Ostensibly it was for industry exchange, but I know they were there to check on our progress."

Ling Yun looked at him. "What do you think?"

"Samsung has invested far more in OLED than we have. Their technological expertise, equipment, and talent are all superior to ours. They're not coming to see us because we're doing so well, but because they want to confirm whether we pose a threat."

Ling Yun asked, "Then do you think we pose a threat?"

Zhang Weinuo was silent for a few seconds. "Not now. But definitely in three years."

Ling Yun nodded. "Then let them watch for three more years. After three years, let them chase after us."

Zhang Weinuo paused for a moment, then smiled. "President Ling, what you said puts my mind at ease."

Ling Yun patted him on the shoulder. "Being grounded is one thing, but you can't slack off. Samsung won't wait for us. They're running, and we need to run even faster."

As Ling Yun left Xinvino, he got into his car, took out his phone, and sent Li Mo a text message: "Xinvino's OLED screen, 2.4 inches, 320 by 240, has a yield rate of 75%. It can achieve mass production of 3.5 inches next year."

A few seconds later, Li Mo replied: "Received. We'll use their screens for StarPhone."

Ling Yun put his phone back in his pocket, recalling Zhang Weinuo's words earlier—"Three years later, definitely." Three years. StarPhone will take three years to mature. Mobile chips will take three years, the operating system will take three years, the touchscreen will take three years. All the pieces of the puzzle are pointing to the same point in time.

Three years later, in 2006.

February 20, Jinan, Xinghuo Group.

A video conference is underway, with four screens lit up simultaneously—Ni Guangnan in Shanghai, Li Mo in Beijing, Liang Mengsong in Singapore, and Ling Yun in Jinan. Wang Jianguo and Chen Zhongming are also seated in the conference room, each with a freshly printed technical proposal in front of them.

Ling Yun stood in front of the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and drew a square with the words "StarCore SoC" written inside. Then he drew several lines next to the square, labeling them as: CPU, GPU, memory controller, baseband interface, ISP, and DSP.

"Today's meeting officially launches the 'StarCore' mobile processor project. The goal is to design a SoC chip based on the ARM9 architecture, integrating a CPU, GPU, memory controller, and baseband interface. The process technology will be 0.18 micrometers. The clock speed will be above 300 MHz. Power consumption will be controlled below 500 milliwatts."

Ni Guangnan asked, "What about GPUs? Should we buy IP licenses or develop them ourselves?"

Ling Yun said, "We must develop it ourselves. The GPU is the soul of a mobile chip; we can't buy it. If we do, we'll always be at the mercy of others. Li Mo, draw key personnel from the PC graphics card team to build a mobile GPU team. The goal isn't the highest performance, but low power consumption and high integration. This is the lifeline of mobile phone chips."

Li Mo jotted down a few notes in his notebook, then looked up. "How many people do we need for the team?"

"Start by adding twenty cores; if that's not enough, hire more. Your task is to build the architecture and distribute the core modules."

In the video, Liang Mengsong spoke up, "On the factory side, the Singapore wafer fab will begin trial production of 0.18-micron wafers in the first half of next year. We can handle the StarCore chip tape-out. The StarLight 2 0.13-micron project has already started and is expected to begin mass production in two years. By then, the second generation of StarCore will be able to use 0.13-micron wafers."

Lingyun said, "Okay. The first generation of the Star Core uses 0.18 micrometers, and the second generation uses 0.13 micrometers. The goal of the first generation is to get the process running smoothly and verify the architecture. The second generation is the product that will be mass-produced."

Ni Guangnan said, "Mr. Ling, once this chip is made, we will have our own mobile processor. From ARM licensing to independent design to independent manufacturing, the entire process is streamlined."

Ling Yun said, "This is just the beginning. The first generation of StarCore was taped out in 2004. The second generation of StarCore entered mass production in 2006. One generation every two years, catching up with the pace of TSMC and Samsung."

After the meeting ended, the video feeds gradually went dark. But Liang Mengsong's screen remained lit.

"Mr. Ling, there's something else." Liang Mengsong lowered his voice a little, "TSMC has been making quite a few moves lately."

Ling Yun looked at him. "What movement?"

"Last week they announced that they will build a 12-inch wafer fab in Singapore, with an investment twice as large as ours, and the process technology will start directly from 0.13 microns. The location they chose is Woodlands, less than three kilometers away from us."

A few seconds of silence fell over the meeting room. Chen Zhongming and Wang Jianguo exchanged a glance, but neither spoke.

Ling Yun asked, "When will they start construction?"

"Next month. The equipment has already been ordered, and the team has been transferred from Taiwan. Morris Chang personally came to Singapore for the ribbon-cutting ceremony." Liang Mengsong paused for a moment, "Mr. Ling, this is no coincidence. We are in Woodlands, and they chose Woodlands. We work on 0.13 micrometers, and they work on 0.13 micrometers. They're coming specifically for us."

Ling Yun didn't say anything. He walked back to the table, picked up his water glass, took a sip, and put it down.

"How do you plan to deal with this?"

Liang Mengsong said, "There are two paths. First, we can compete head-on with them. If they invest a lot of money, we will too. If they poach talent, we will too. If they steal customers, we will too. But this path is about financial resources. TSMC has more financial resources than us."

Lingyun asked, "What about the second way?"

"Differentiation. They use general-purpose processes, we use specialized processes. They serve large clients, we serve small and medium-sized clients. They pursue advanced process steps, we focus on optimizing mature processes. TSMC's 0.13-micron process is prepared for large companies like Qualcomm and Broadcom. But there are a large number of small and medium-sized design companies in the market that cannot afford TSMC's advanced processes and cannot get on the waiting list. We can take their orders."

Ling Yun thought for a moment. "Two paths, let's take them together. I'll raise the money for the hard-fought part. You handle the differentiation. If TSMC wants to fight, we'll fight back. But we won't let them lead us by the nose. They build factories, we build factories too, but we build at our own pace."

Liang Mengsong nodded. "I understand."

The video feed went dark. Ling Yun sat back down in his chair. TSMC's reaction was faster and more ruthless than he had anticipated. Building a factory directly in Singapore, using a larger scale and more advanced processes, was a complete geographical, technological, and public relations blitzkrieg against Spark. This wasn't commercial competition; it was strategic deterrence. They wanted to tell everyone—whoever dared to compete with TSMC for territory would face this consequence.

Ling Yun picked up the phone and dialed Fiona's number.

"Could you please check the investment structure of TSMC's Singapore factory for me? Are there any subsidies from the Singapore government, bank loans, or strategic investors? The more detailed the better."

Fiona said, "I understand."

Ling Yun hung up the phone. TSMC Electric was gone. But he knew this was just the beginning.