"Just one table at lunch today—I can't say one table, it cost no more than ten yuan—and this is a well-known domestic and international company! Is it really worth it to spend just one banquet like that?"

Listening to Director Wang's nagging, Zhong Bin could only smile wryly and keep up the conversation, though he himself had his own unspoken grievances.

It is said that when Wei Laisong brought his people there, they also had four dishes and a soup. That person didn't say anything, so what could he say?

Back in the office, Xing Baohua brewed another pot of tea, saying it was a gift from a friend in Hong Kong.

After pouring tea and lighting a cigarette, Xing Baohua lay down on the sofa and said to Xu Hanwen, "Manager Xu, we can't count on our factory producing chips for the next two or three years. All the machines that can produce chips are at full capacity, so let's not even mention that small output. Moreover, there is a huge shortage of various chips for rice, and we need to import 70% of them."

Seeing the other person nod, Xing Baohua continued, "Do you understand what I mean?"

"Understood! Director Xing, could you get me a Philips machine? Or could you bring one with you when you order more goods in the future?"

Xing Baohua chuckled and said, "You want to copy it? Make your own chips?"

"We have this idea. The domestic demand for chips is gradually increasing, and the demand will be even greater in the future. If we seize the opportunity to develop our own machines, we can reduce imports and save the country a lot of foreign exchange," Xu Hanwen said.

Xing Baohua gave him a thumbs up and said, "Great idea, really! Do you know how long it takes for a lithography machine to go from order to delivery? After delivery, how long does it take to adjust the equipment, then to fabrication, final testing, and so on? This is just the initial step. You also have to disassemble the machine, reverse engineer it, prepare various parts and materials for replication, etc. How long does that take?"

"We're not afraid of time; if we can't finish in two or three years, we can do it in four or five."

Do you know Moore's Law?

"I know!"

"You knew that, yet you still did it? The equipment Philips provided was two generations behind. By the time it arrived, installed, and debugged it, it had been almost a year, meaning it was nearly three generations behind? Every eighteen months, the number of transistors in a chip should double, while the price should halve. By the time you independently develop a replica, what will the chip's performance be, and how much will the price be reduced?"

While you were still making expensive first-generation products, similar products outside were seven or eight times cheaper! Take Samsung memory as an example. They lose one dollar for every single chip they produce. They lose one dollar every time a chip rolls off the production line. Do you know how much money Samsung loses? Do you want to learn from them?

Xing Baohua said, and Manager Xu was speechless. Actually, he really wanted to refute Xing Baohua, saying that simply buying wasn't a solution, and according to Xing Baohua, they shouldn't give up just because there was a gap.

But then I thought about it again, and what he said made some sense. But something still seemed off.

It's contradictory, very contradictory.

"I remember you have a PCB factory downstairs?" Xing Baohua asked.

"Yes, it's directly affiliated with the circuit board factory. Why?"

"If you can't make chips, you can make computer motherboards and server motherboards?" Xing Baohua suggested, pointing the other party in a direction.

"Motherboard?"

"Yes, it won't be long before the scale of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) PCs grows. The price is much cheaper than that of fully assembled PCs. Of the major computer components, you can only make the motherboard and power supply; the others are difficult to manufacture."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. I'll go back and report it. How about we start by copying your motherboards?"

"Pfft!" Xing Baohua almost spat in the other person's face. He had seen shameless people before, but he had never seen anyone as shameless as this.

"IBM, HP, Dell, Compaq, Fuji—any of these will do, just don't use a cheap, cheap computer motherboard, or I'll sue you without hesitation."

"Director Xing, you may have misunderstood. What I meant was to become a rice supplier. We would manufacture the mainboards for the rice and supply them to you," Xu Hanwen hurriedly explained.

"Not now, but it was possible a few years ago. The rice suppliers are all fully booked. The products you produce are just extra orders. We don't have that many chips to produce either! We'll cooperate with you again when my business expands further. You should focus on getting those foreign brands under control first." Xing Baohua brushed off the other party's request.

With nothing much to talk about, Xu Hanwen took his leave, and Xing Baohua politely saw him to the door.

As Manager Xu walked out of the Dami Technology building, he turned around to look at it again.

I didn't drink too much at noon! Why do I have this feeling that I've been to Da Mi before, but it's like I haven't been here at all?

Nothing got done!

After Xu Hanwen and Director Wang met, Xu gave a brief report, stating that the chips produced by Da Mi were unavailable for purchase, there was no cooperation involved, and they were simply being misled into making computer motherboards.

The problem is, who will buy them?

Director Wang said, "You say you have no grudge, but you've been holding a grudge all along. When you get back, you should investigate what really happened. This trip was indeed a bit reckless. Maybe next time you'll be better. Let's leave it at that for now. If there are any suitable chip manufacturing plants in China, you should also go and visit them. Didn't you say you have a friend at a certain company? Ask them if they can help you allocate some chips?"

“They were also imported, and they’re also on a tight budget,” Xu Hanwen said.

"Let's find an opportunity to ask, just in case there's any hope," Director Wang said.

At this time, the technicians from a certain company were troubleshooting computer problems at a major client's company. They considered it normal for one or two computers to have problems occasionally. But recently, it's been a bit too many! Hundreds of computers experiencing the same problem is a bit unacceptable.

No matter what method was used to check, the data was normal and there was nothing wrong.

The lag is quite severe; it even freezes when a text dialog box appears while typing. The cursor on the screen doesn't move when moved with the left and right arrow keys, but only moves intermittently after a while. Who can stand this?

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