Huawei chips are about to be cut off? 50 years ago, everything South Korea did was for chips.

A few days ago, "Huawei has no chips" boarded a hot search, affecting hundreds of millions of people.

Yu Chengdong, president of Huawei's business, said at the China Information Committee of 100 2020 Summit that Huawei shipped 654.38+0.5 billion mobile phones in the first half of the year, with sales reaching 255.8 billion yuan. It could have surpassed Samsung, but it didn't do so under US sanctions.

At the same time, he also released a bad news. Due to the second round of sanctions imposed by the United States, Huawei's high-end Kirin series chips can only last until September of 15, which may be the last generation of Kirin.

▲ Yu Chengdong

American sanctions are actually very precise. Huawei can design chips, but it cannot produce them. At present, only two companies have the mature technology of 5 nm high-end chips, namely TSMC and Samsung.

It is indeed a disaster for TSMC to stop OEM.

As an opponent, Samsung certainly can't count on it. However, Samsung's family history may help us.

There are two shocking facts in the semiconductor industry with chips as its core.

First, today's hegemon is not the United States, but our neighbor South Korea. As early as 20 17, Samsung won the first place in the world in the semiconductor field, overthrowing Intel, which had dominated for 25 years. Not only that, SK Hynix also occupied the third place.

Second, semiconductor products are more profitable than oil. Also in 20 17, China imported chips of 2610 billion dollars, more than oil. On the other hand, chips account for about 80% of the semiconductor market.

Such a top-notch product ranks second among the top three in the world. Why does a small South Korea have such great power?

What is even more frightening is that South Korea started in the semiconductor field 20 years later than the United States. Why are they ranked first?

We might as well look for the answer from Samsung, a representative Korean company. Perhaps this answer can inspire domestic enterprises.

Step 2 start with one step

Samsung's family history is more tortuous and longer than that of South Korea. 1938, Li Bingzhe established Samsung Chamber of Commerce in Daegu, mainly exporting dried fish, fruits and vegetables to the northeast of China.

Why Samsung? There is great ambition here.

"In China, one is the biggest, and in South Korea, the three are the biggest. The sun is hot and cold, but the stars are eternal. I just want to build a huge and eternal enterprise. "

▲ Samsung Chamber of Commerce in that year.

In troubled times, even the survival of enterprises is a difficult problem 194 1 After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, 95% of Samsung's products were paid, and the Chamber of Commerce was teetering.

Fortunately, good luck and bad luck depend on each other. After World War II, Japan was forced to return to the Korean peninsula and transfer its industry to Koreans. With its political connections, Li Bingzhe has also become a rising chaebol.

Later, the outbreak of the Han-Xian War shattered Samsung's dream again. However, with the strong support of the Korean government, Samsung quickly recovered its vitality after the war and became the leader of sugar, wool spinning and fertilizer in South Korea.

▲ Samsung founder Li Bingzhe

For ambitious Li Bingzhe, the history of Korean colonization and annexation has always been a big pain in my heart. He did not forget to serve the country by industry, looking for a high value-added road suitable for South Korea's development.

Once, he went to Tokyo, Japan to visit the electronics industry group, and a word from Mr. Izuki, president of Sanyo Electric, made him suddenly enlightened.

"The electronics industry, from silicon wafers made of sand to video recorders, is an industry from scratch, with an added value of 99.9%."

1969 65438+ 10, he returned to China to set up Samsung electronics, taking chips as the heart of the electronics industry as his lifelong career.

▲ Streets in the 65438+60s in Seoul, South Korea.

For Samsung, which started 20 years later than the United States, it is very difficult to develop chips. High-end products have long developed into castles, and the solid barriers built by layers of patents can easily kill and attack the city.

In the chip industry at that time, Fairchild, Magnum and Motorola in the United States and Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Sharp in Japan had seized the commanding heights. Where is the novice's position?

But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and Li Bingzhe bravely took the first step, silently accumulating strength.

3. Don't give up after losing blood

1973, the first oil crisis broke out, and the oil price soared more than twice, which triggered a serious economic crisis, and the industrial output value of the United States fell by 14%.

However, Li Bingzhe saw an opportunity in the chaos. He ignored the management's warning and bought the shares of Han Tai, an American semiconductor company on the verge of bankruptcy.

This extremely risky move opened the door to the chip for the company. 1978, he founded Samsung semiconductor, determined to enter the chip field.

Japanese companies that originally advised that "South Korea's economic level is low and it is not suitable for developing semiconductors" immediately became alert and tried their best to prevent technology loss.

In 1970s, Samsung's TV set sold well in the world, but it was only a marginal technology, and Li Bingzhe was still troubled by chips. Don't forget, there will be consequences After waiting for more than ten years, he finally got the chance.

1982, when he visited the United States, he keenly discovered the rift between the United States and Japan. Japan's 256K DRAM memory chip has been mass-produced, and America's 256K DRAM has just been developed.

The United States felt threatened, so it rose to the political level, and the US Department of Commerce decided to investigate the cheap dumping of Japanese chips.

Taking advantage of American hostility to Japan, Li Bingzhe established its first chip factory in 1983, and developed 64K DRAM at the end of the year, which was successfully exported to the United States the following year.

64K DRAM is four years behind in technology, belonging to the lowest-end chip, and it is not competitive in itself. Japanese companies are more like wolves. They banded together to reduce the price, from $4 to $0.30 per piece, in an attempt to destroy all their competitors.

▲ Japan Sharp

At that time, the cost of Samsung was $65,438 +0.3 per piece, and every piece sold was $65,438 +0. In the face of huge losses, Li Bingzhe did not flinch, but increased the stakes and developed chips with larger capacity through countercyclical investment.

By the end of 1986, he had lost $300 million. But the situation is just as he predicted. Intel and other manufacturers have withdrawn from the DRAM market because of continuous blood loss. Whoever can hold on may win the future.

The semiconductor war between the United States and Japan continues to escalate, while Samsung is waiting for the change of the current situation. Like a tiger lying on a barren hill, its hidden minions endure.

4. The fisherman made a profit.

Due to the low price strategy of Japanese manufacturer DRAM, it seems that it will become the king of the semiconductor industry. 1in March, 987, the United States was unable to do so and announced the implementation of anti-dumping duties on Japanese products.

In the face of U.S. sanctions, Japan can only cut production and raise prices, which leads to the shortage of the American market. The 256K DRAM produced by Samsung took the opportunity to fill the vacancy, and got rid of the loss in one fell swoop and gained a firm foothold.

Unexpectedly, the semiconductor war between the United States and Japan ended in Korea. After turning losses into profits, Samsung continued to fully develop DRAM memory chips with larger capacity.

By 1992, Samsung has been keeping pace with the United States and Japan, taking the lead in developing 64M DRAM, becoming the industry leader and the largest DRAM manufacturer in the world.

▲ Today, the 5G baseband chip independently developed by Samsung is also the top in the world.

From the chip dream of 1969 to the first chip factory of 1983, it took Samsung 23 years to realize its dream.

How on earth did it do it?

First of all, of course, it is the strong support of the United States. The United States not only helped South Korea technically, but also handed over the American market to South Korea.

When the United States imposed 100% anti-dumping tariff on Japanese enterprises, the tariff on Samsung was only 0.74%. Such a big difference turned Samsung, which was originally at a disadvantage, into a winner and captured the American market originally occupied by Japanese companies.

Secondly, Samsung has invested heavily in attracting the world's top talents. 1986, Samsung poached the production director of Toshiba in Japan.

1 After Japan's economic bubble burst in 1990, they hired Japanese technicians with three times the salary, equipped with four bedrooms in1hall, and arranged secretaries, chefs and drivers.

Then, Samsung also set up an intelligence agency to collect the technical trends of the United States and Japan and secretly recruit technicians from the two countries.

After Japan's economic bubble burst, Samsung learned about Toshiba's breakthrough in flash memory chips through intelligence and decisively sent Toshiba an invitation for cooperation. Toshiba, in financial trouble, had to agree to this request in order to continue living.

▲ Toshiba Japan

It was Toshiba's flash memory technology that helped Samsung catch up with its competitors and finally won the first place in the fields of DRAM and flash memory.

I have to feel the foresight of Samsung. This is a classic battle. Proceed from the overall situation, regardless of the gains and losses of one city and one pool. When the time is right, we will not only fully recover lost ground, but also launch a counterattack.

5. Technology comes first

Of course, there is another important factor in the success of Samsung chips, and that is the full support of the Korean government.

For example, from 1982 to 1987, the Korean government provided a loan of 346 million US dollars, which greatly stimulated the development of the industry.

In the research of 4M DRAM, government departments directly take the lead, unite with six universities, and cooperate with Samsung, LG and Hyundai to tackle key problems. Three years of research and development cost 1. 1 billion dollars, and the government bears 57% of the cost.

Many people will subconsciously despise Samsung when they see it. They believe that Samsung only relied on the full support of the United States to embark on the road of rise.

However, many countries or companies in the world have made their fortune in this way. Japan has also received a lot of economic assistance from the United States, and the independence of the United States is also thanks to the help of France.

The key is whether you are ready. When the opportunity comes, you can seize it.

Compared with luck, the greater reason for Samsung's rise is its respect for technology: taking risks to acquire advanced enterprises and attract top talents, even if it loses money for many years, it will not change its original intention.

Because of these full preparations, South Korea seized the opportunity given by the United States.

As Li Bingzhe said, "technical masters will dominate the world."

Li Bingzhe died in 1987, and didn't see the dominance of Korean chips, but his son Lee Kun-hee led Samsung to realize his dream:

"Only by getting rid of the category of individual enterprises can we leave a rich motherland for future generations and March into the most cutting-edge semiconductor industry through technological progress."

From a barren land to a lush forest. Samsung's hegemony has made countless Koreans number one in the world.

Any country that wants to get rid of poverty must rely on science and technology. The development of technology can not be separated from meritocracy, knowing ourselves and ourselves, and the ambition of serving the country and the courage to cross the rubicon.

No matter how dangerous the road ahead is, developing technology is the only way out for Huawei and the way out for every ambitious company.

Author: Kong