Chapter 228 Chip Structure
After discussing the subsequent physical implementation issues of the chip with Shima Masatoshi, Shirakawa Kaede went to the third floor of SIC again.
Another technology being developed here is CD format storage technology.
"Hosono-san, change the storage object from sound to text, image, and even video.
Is it technically feasible? Is the principle similar? "
Baichuan Feng looked at the CDs on the workbench and asked curiously.
These CDs are experimental products and look exactly like ordinary music CDs.
“Technically it’s totally fine, and the way CDs are stored is very close.
However, due to the diversity of storage objects, the information scanning speed and reading speed will be different.
In addition, there will be some differences in production materials, especially surface coating materials and information bands. "
Hideo Hosono is a professor of chemistry at Tokyo Institute of Technology. He is currently responsible for the research and development of CD surface coating materials.
In addition, there is a professor of physics who is responsible for determining the laser wavelength, the arrangement of the surface engraving pits, and other issues.
The complexity of developing the new CD format was far beyond Shirakawa Kaede's imagination.
He originally thought that changing the format should be an easy task, but when he actually did it he found that he had thought it was too simple.
It involves a combination of knowledge from multiple fields and is far beyond what one person can accomplish.
For example, if you want to find the most suitable surface coating material, you can only try them one by one in a certain category.
All of these require time, manpower and material resources to explore, and finally find the relatively suitable one.
"Hosono-san, don't rush the R&D process. Take it step by step. We have plenty of time. After all, this involves the formulation of standards, so we can't be careless."
This is Shirakawa Electric's first attempt to enter the field of standard setting, so it is understandable that it takes more time.
Moreover, real music CD players have not yet been released, and the extension to other formats is not on the agenda.
Therefore, the development here is just for practice. There will be more tasks waiting for SIC to explore and complete in the future.
After taking a quick stroll around here, Shirakawa Kaede prepared to go back to Ota Ward.
Regarding SIC and chips, Baichuan Feng has actually thought a lot about it recently.
At first, when he made his own chips, he was more concerned about serving CD players.
After all, the direct quote of $360 for a 16-bit chip was really unacceptable to him.
But it turned out that entering the chip field directly was somewhat reckless.
It is too extravagant to develop a corresponding chip for only one product.
The final chip product may be more expensive than the purchased one.
Later, after Shima Masatoshi's explanation, Shirakawa Kaede had a general understanding of the chip field.
Since designing chips has indeed become possible, he simply plans to open up another track.
This track is a bit special though, as its prospects are unclear.
Whether it is a Walkman, a handheld game console, or the future CD player, Shirakawa Feng is quite confident.
The only thing was the chip, which Baichuan Feng himself was a little unsure about.
It doesn’t mean that chips have no future or no market.
On the contrary, it has a bright future and a huge market.
Some governments even go so far as to use state power to safeguard their rights and interests.
Yes, the US-Japan semiconductor war in the next few years will be the best proof.
However, this involves not only chips, but also political factors and economic forces at various levels.
Chips are just one of the concrete manifestations of this competition.
Although he knew that the future prospects were uncertain, Baichuan Feng still chose to enter the chip field.
Why?
Because he must leave something competitive enough for the future Shirakawa Group to serve as the core driving force or moat for its survival and development.
This must be high-tech and must also have broad market prospects.
It would be best if future life could not be separated from it, but there is a certain threshold.
In real estate?
There will indeed be huge profits for a period of time, but how long can it last?
Besides, who doesn’t know how to deal with real estate? Which of those chaebol giants hasn’t got involved in this field?
Working on energy?
To be honest, this part of the market is not yet accessible to Baichuan Feng.
Japan's energy market is basically monopolized by political families, and ordinary people cannot enter at all.
Moreover, energy is scarce in Japan, and it is difficult for people without any background to work in the energy field.
I'm afraid I'll soon be able to have a sea view apartment at the bottom of Tokyo Bay.
Working on consumer electronics?
As I said, without our own core technology, everything is in vain.
Moreover, there are too many people in this industry, and they are highly replaceable. It is difficult to survive without your own characteristics.
In finance?
He is a complete layman in this field, and the so-called "high risk, high return" may be mostly high risk for him.
After much thought, perhaps chips are the only thing that is most suitable for him to get involved in at the moment.
One reason is that chip technology has just developed at this moment, and entering the track at this time will be able to catch up with the competitors ahead.
The second reason is that Baichuan Feng didn’t just rush forward blindly.
He selectively participates in chips and selectively competes in the market.
So far, Shirakawa Feng has always positioned SIC as a chip design company, rather than a chip design and manufacturing company.
Although there is only a difference of two words, the meanings are completely different.
The so-called chip design companies, as the name suggests, only design and do not manufacture.
That is what is commonly referred to as a fabless semiconductor company.
The reason for doing so is a choice made based on the current environment and future expectations.
Usually the cost of equipment and raw materials required for integrated circuit manufacturing is very huge, and ordinary companies are simply unable to afford it.
Moreover, once a change in process node occurs, the company may need to spend considerable cost to replace existing process equipment, which incurs high costs.
Given SIC's current size, if it rashly enters the chip manufacturing field, it will most likely be dragged down.
Moreover, there are currently five semiconductor manufacturing companies in Japan, each of which is a giant, and SIC has no choice but to compete with them.
Without technology and talent, SIC has basically cut off its path to semiconductor manufacturing.
Another reason why Shirakawa Kaede avoids physical manufacturing is the US-Japan semiconductor competition in the next few years.
Since then, a large number of Japanese semiconductor manufacturing companies have either died or are on the way to death.
Factories closed, equipment abandoned, and manufacturing processes rendered obsolete are huge costs.
Billions of dollars would be wasted at any time. Bai Chuanfeng couldn't afford the money and was also afraid that his heart couldn't take it.
So from the very beginning, SIC had no intention of getting involved in the manufacturing field.
Also, what does SIC do?
Processor chip is an integrated circuit with information processing, calculation and control as its core.
What we usually call CPU and GPU are both types of it.
What chip is currently the most widely used in the market, or what chip is other Japanese semiconductor manufacturers best at?
In other words, what chip caused the US-Japan semiconductor dispute 85 years later?
The answer is memory chips, namely DRAM chips.
After 1981, Intel, which became famous in the world, still mainly engaged in DRAM memory chips.
Yes, at that time Intel was still busy making memory chips.
As for processor chips, they are just a small part of the business.
Similarly, several other Japanese semiconductor manufacturers were also focusing on DRAM memory chips at this time.
To what extent do you specialize?
In 1973, led by the Japanese government, five semiconductor manufacturers, NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba, jointly developed memory chips.
This is the "DRAM Manufacturing Innovation" national project launched by the Japanese government, which has organized more than 800 technical elites.
The government invested 32 billion yen and five companies invested 40 billion yen, with a total of 72 billion yen invested in the research and development of memory chips.
The joint effort was led by the Electronics Research Institute and the Computer Research Institute of Japan.
A specific national scientific research institution, the "VLSI Technology Institute", was established for this purpose.
Having paid such a huge price and concentrating its efforts on major tasks, it is not difficult to imagine that Japan will soon catch up in the DRAM field.
As for the United States, the development model is still to inject funds into start-up companies through venture capital.
Startups receive support, conduct technological innovation, increase company valuations and then go public.
Finally, the venture capital sells the stocks and exits with a profit.
This model is completely market-oriented, highly efficient but small in scale, and each company operates independently.
It is obvious that in the future, Japanese companies backed by national power will be beaten without any chance of fighting back.
Although Japan's current share in the memory chip market is less than 20%, this situation will soon be broken.
This is the current main pattern of the world's chip market.
So what about the processor chip situation?
It’s amazing that no one takes it seriously.
In the United States, only Intel and Zligo are doing related business, and as for Japan... there is none at all.
The reason for this situation is that the development of personal computers has just started and has not yet formed a market scale.
All demands are determined by the market, and the same is true for chips.
Computers are definitely a luxury item in this day and age, and their selling price in Japan is generally over 200,000 yen.
The price in the US is around 700-800 USD. Both the American and Japanese people say they can’t afford it! PASS!
Therefore, the market is too small and the demand for processor chips is pitifully small compared to that for memory chips.
This is why no one pays attention to processor chips now.
But Baichuan Feng chose the "unpopular" field of chips.
The advantage of being "unpopular" is that in the future semiconductor war between the United States and Japan, it is very likely that processor chips will be spared.
Because if you calculate the time, the development of personal computers will not enter the fast lane in a few years and will most likely continue to be ignored.
In addition, SIC has absolutely no competitors in Japan.
Even if it is sanctioned in the future, it should be able to survive relying solely on the domestic market in Japan.
Even Japan currently does not have any dedicated chip design companies.
Isn’t it strange that Japan, a country with highly developed technology, does not have a dedicated chip design company?
This is also related to Japan's unique corporate structure, as those large companies are involved in a wide range of fields.
For example, Sony has a dedicated chip design department within its group.
If necessary, you can directly delegate the task to the department below to execute it. There is no need to entrust other companies to design it.
However, such large enterprises are few after all. Most companies that need processor chips basically purchase products from the United States.
Or those with certain R&D capabilities can purchase the copyright of mature chip architecture from abroad, like Sharp and Toshiba, and do secondary development themselves.
So overall, is there a future for chip design?
Yes, definitely.
Baichuan Feng's decision to expand into new fields was well-considered, and there is no doubt that chips are an absolutely high-tech field.
It is powerful enough to serve as the moat of the Baichuan Group in the future, and Baichuan Feng has devoted all his efforts to it.
After coming out of the SIC building, just when Shirakawa Feng was about to go and talk to Dai-ichi Kangin, he received an unexpected call.
