Chapter 442: Heading Towards the Abyss
It was a surprise to meet local computer researchers in Xiangshan.
What surprised Baichuan Feng even more was that the local country was actually developing its own chips.
And the industrial chain is very complete, even though it is extremely fragile.
But as long as it exists, there is hope, and there is a spark of fire that will be passed on.
After seeing Zhang Jin off, Baichuan Feng made a point to chat with the relevant practitioners here.
According to the communication, from raw materials to lithography machines and chip design, there are actually relevant research laboratories working on it.
Moreover, the distributed lithography machines of top universities can achieve a processing accuracy of 3 microns.
3 microns, which can process SIC's previous generation chip 80281.
This process is definitely sufficient for mainstream commercial electronic products.
Only 32-bit chips will use 1.5-micron or higher 1-micron process.
But that is a processor-level chip. Ordinary audio chips, DAC chips, driver chips, etc. do not require such high precision at all.
With the level of Zhang Jin's research institute, it is more than enough to manufacture chips for portable players or televisions.
But as Shirakawa Kaede said before, due to international relations, there are some things that Shirakawa Electric cannot interfere in.
Then why did he ask Zhang Jin to go to the local agency in Pengcheng?
Although the factory is a joint venture between Shirakawa Electric and local institutions, if the local institutions choose to purchase chips from Zhang Jin and others, won’t Shirakawa Electric arouse suspicion from others?
There is a reason why Baichuan Feng did this.
Don't forget what others are restricting? It is the ban on high-end technology.
It is "embargo" rather than "introduction", there is a big difference between the two.
The joint venture factory purchases chips from Zhang Jin and his team instead of directly exporting them here.
Locally produced chips are used locally. These things have never been exported, so how can there be an embargo?
Whether it is Shirakawa Electric purchasing chips from Neon and shipping them here, or SIC directly exporting its own technology to Zhang Jin and others.
That would violate the relevant agreements and become the fuse for the United States to settle accounts later.
But the procurement was reverse introduction, so strictly speaking it not only did not violate the agreement, it even performed a great deed.
Of course this is a joke, but it is certain that this operation did not violate the agreement.
Since everything is done within the rules, why is Baichuan Feng so cautious?
It's nothing more than clearing oneself of suspicion.
You see, Shirakawa Electric is only one party in the joint venture. The local supply chain has always been the responsibility of the other party, and Shirakawa Electric is only responsible for approval.
As long as the other party's parts meet Shirakawa Electric's requirements and the price is right, we will purchase them.
Yes, in order to further distance themselves from the issue, neither Shirakawa Electric nor SIC will export any technology to the local area.
He was only responsible for reviewing the qualification rate of parts and components. If the performance did not meet the standards, he would send it back for them to redesign until it met the requirements of Shirakawa Electric.
All Baichuan Feng can do is give Zhang Jin and others a chance. If they can make qualified chips, the joint venture will purchase these chips.
Relying on the profits from these chips, local integrated circuit research and semiconductor industries can retain a faint spark and continue to proceed.
As long as he could do this, it would satisfy his wish and make up for the regret in his heart.
If he could avoid the deep pain decades later, it would mean that his life was not in vain.
In fact, given the current relationship between the United States and the Rabbit, the relevant organizations will not care about such a small matter.
It's fine for Panasonic to supply the entire set of technology, and it's even finer for Shirakawa Electric to purchase local parts.
Later, Toshiba even directly sold Russia high-precision machine tools, which reduced the noise of Russia's big black fish to the point that the United States could not catch them.
Although Toshiba, which was in trouble in the end, suffered some serious injuries, it is still alive and well.
Compared with them, Shirakawa Electric is already very law-abiding.
But Baichuan Feng is thinking about the future. After all, the honeymoon period is short.
A few years later, in the 1990s, a certain Big Brother collapsed.
At that time, the United States will turn its guns here again, and certain organizations will resume their responsibilities.
But even if the United States wants to settle accounts later, it will not be able to find any evidence against Shirakawa Electric.
Even if you check, you will find that Shirakawa Electric is very innocent and has an incredibly clean background.
Even if you suspect he is supporting sensitive local businesses, that's fine.
Every document of mine has been reviewed by the Japanese government, and you, the Eagle Sauce, have also read it secretly. You can't say that I didn't report it.
While helping others, Shirakawa Kaede also needs to ensure his own safety.
By the 1990s, even this business could not be done.
But with the transition in the past few years, I believe the local semiconductor industry is no longer as fragile as it is now.
Shirakawa Electric's entry into China has filled the last link in its semiconductor industry chain: the market!
Only by forming a virtuous circle can the industry develop healthily, rather than relying solely on government funding.
To those who have contributed silently to this country but remained unknown throughout their lives, I hope your efforts will not be in vain.
Not to mention that Zhang Jin traveled thousands of miles to various joint ventures to promote his chips. After staying in China for more than two months, Baichuan Feng was also ready to return to Japan.
…
Shirakawa Feng, who just returned to Neon from China in July, felt that Neon had changed drastically again in less than three months since he left.
Although Tokyo is still Tokyo, and neon is still neon.
But Shirakawa Kaede clearly felt a sense of restlessness in the air, and this was definitely not because July was summer and Tokyo was extremely hot.
People were walking in a hurry, their faces were filled with enthusiastic smiles, and all they talked about was the stock market and housing prices.
Yes, another big change in Tokyo is the skyrocketing housing prices.
Since April, when Baichuan Feng went to China for inspection, the government agencies in Neon have come up with another major measure to stimulate economic development.
“We plan to expand the scale of our business, focusing on promoting housing measures and urban redevelopment projects—utilizing the vitality of the private sector.
To this end, fiscal measures should be taken to promote regulatory relaxation and provide early stimulus effects.
Translated, this sentence means using real estate to stimulate domestic demand and redevelop existing urban areas, especially metropolitan areas.
The first half of the sentence is the key point, namely "using real estate to stimulate domestic demand."
The ultimate purpose of the Neon government's introduction of this policy is to stimulate domestic demand and drive mass consumption.
From the beginning of January to now July, the appreciation of the Japanese yen has been advancing rapidly like a bullet train.
At the beginning of the year, the exchange rate of the Japanese yen to the US dollar was 195:1. Do you know what the ratio is now?
155:1～!
A year ago, the ratio was 250:1. In less than a year, the yen appreciated by nearly 40%!
The speed was so fast that even the Nakasone Cabinet, whose policy was a "strong yen", felt uneasy.
In order to curb the rapid appreciation of the yen, the Japanese government has sold trillions of yen in the past few months to buy US dollars.
The Neon government has purchased tens of billions of dollars, but as before, the effect is minimal.
After a round of circulation abroad, this money returned to the country's financial market, continuing to heat up the stock market.
In addition to buying US dollars and selling Japanese yen, the Japanese government has also asked the United States for help.
According to the agreement, the appreciation of the yen has already reached the target. Therefore, the Japanese government hopes that the US government will speak to the market and cool down the yen.
However, several requests for help were rejected by the US government.
The beacon country’s thinking is very clear: the devaluation of the US dollar is not the goal; solving the trade deficit is the most fundamental goal.
As long as this number does not drop, it will not take any action to clean up the mess of the exchange rate.
The fact now is that the U.S. trade deficit has not only not been resolved, but is increasing.
So in response to the Japanese government's repeated requests for help, the United States just found a random reason to refuse.
The ambiguous attitude of the US government has given the market an illusion that there is a speculative expectation that the Japanese yen can appreciate indefinitely.
As a result, the Japanese yen exchange rate soared. It was obvious that the Japanese government alone could not fight against the entire market.
During the six months of appreciation of the Japanese yen, the situation of local small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in physical manufacturing has become increasingly difficult.
One characteristic of Japan's manufacturing industry is that it engages in overseas trade activities based on a production cycle system in which small and medium-sized enterprises supply parts and large enterprises assemble and export them.
For example, Shirakawa Electric, Sony, and Panasonic are all typical representatives. A CD player or a TV set, except for the most critical parts.
All other materials and components are purchased from third parties, assembled, and then labeled with their own brands and exported overseas.
At this time, the Japanese yen appreciates, and in order to reduce production costs, large companies will adjust their supply chains.
Either they can directly purchase parts from overseas to reduce costs, or, like Shirakawa Electric, they can increase overseas investment and transfer production capacity to achieve significant cost reductions.
But without exception, all small and medium-sized enterprises in the local supply chain were abandoned, lost orders, and found it difficult to survive.
Of course, it has not yet developed to that point, but it is true that the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises has become difficult. And with the appreciation of the yen, the situation will get worse.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan's manufacturing industry has shown signs of "hollowing out".
Industrial hollowing out is not a good phenomenon. It refers to the large-scale and rapid transfer of material production and capital centered on the manufacturing industry to foreign countries.
It has significantly reduced the status of material production in the national economy and caused a serious imbalance in the proportion between domestic material production and non-material production.
This phenomenon has another name, which is "deindustrialization". Amei in later generations also fell into this trap.
The phenomenon of deindustrialization generally occurs in highly developed countries.
But it's still too early for Neon at this time.
The golden age of manufacturing had only been developing for a few years, but it was facing the situation of being abandoned halfway .
Faced with this situation and the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises seeking help, the Japanese government is also anxious.
According to a survey by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, since the Plaza Accord.
The gross output value of Japan's export manufacturing industry has dropped from 40 trillion yen, accounting for 14% of GDP, to 8% this year, less than 30 trillion yen.
The contribution of export manufacturing to GDP has almost plummeted by half.
This is the impact that a 40% appreciation of the yen has on Japan's manufacturing industry.
It can be said that the situation is very serious, which is why the Japanese government keeps asking the United States for help.
Now that the United States is indifferent, the Japanese government can only save itself.
However, its self-rescue was indeed a bad move, which is still related to the Nakasone cabinet.
