Chapter 744 Missing Memory

Four people were sitting in the hotel's presidential suite talking about the mobile phone industry. The new issue of "Daily Financial Topics" happened to be playing on the big screen in the living room. After Wang Rongchang saw the new host Zi Qi who was hosting inside, he couldn't help but said in surprise, "She's not from your New Silk Road Entertainment Company." Are you working? Why are you back at CCTV?"

"There is no future in hanging around in the entertainment industry. It's just working for others." Fan Wubing explained, "It's actually not bad to run a financial column. At least it's a good channel to collect various financial intelligence. And The work is also easier. ”

Zi Qi's original intention is actually to enrich herself and learn more. Otherwise, there is really no challenge in being a relatively boring entertainment host. It would be great to gain popularity when she was young, but now If she needs to improve her taste and image, she needs to do some technical work. The position of financial column host is really suitable for her.

Coincidentally, Zi Qi was discussing with two figures in the financial industry the price of computer memory chips that everyone is currently concerned about.

Looking at the global memory dRam market price last year, it dropped from tens of US dollars per 64mB piece at the beginning of the year to about nine US dollars per piece in September, less than RMB 80 yuan. Then it stopped falling and stabilized, and it remained stable at a little more than ten US dollars by the end of the year. Less than 90 yuan.

Analysis: There are two main reasons why memory stopped falling and stabilized after September last year. First, Korean manufacturers, a major memory producer, began to gradually limit production in June last year. Samsung, the world's largest memory manufacturer, suspended production for ten days during the summer.

In a situation where manufacturers around the world are producing products in excess, Korean manufacturers believe that although their production costs are low, continuing to produce at full capacity will only cause memory prices to fall further, which will fundamentally threaten their own interests. They The only way to turn the tide is by limiting production.

The second reason why the decline stopped was that s98 launched by Microsoft began to become the mainstream installed system. The advent of in98 drove the sales of personal computers in the US and Japanese markets. According to calculations by a well-known American company, global personal computer sales in the fourth quarter of last year increased by about 12% compared with the same period last year.

Despite this, most people believe that prices in the global memory market will not change much this year. According to the analysis of Japanese companies, this year there may only be partial supply shortage of 64mB memory with mhz frequency, and the rest will not change much. Many analysts also believe that the market demand for memory will stabilize in the second half of this year. Some securities analysts even believe that starting from the second half of this year, the price of memory may fall again.

Wang Shihan is responsible for the production of computer memory chips for the three partners. After watching the interview on the TV column, he also said somewhat depressedly that although the company's production situation has been very good recently, sales have been affected by the continued decline in international memory market prices. Although the quantity has increased, the income has not increased.

“The world semiconductor market statistical chart recently released by sTs shows that,

This year is not expected to exceed the previous level of $27 billion. Its statistics and analysis also show that due to the continuous growth of memory production, the general trend of its price is only falling but not increasing. "Wang Shihan said to everyone, "Although we will not lose our capital. But the investment is not proportional to the return. I also plan to follow the example of Korean manufacturers and reduce production quantity. "

Maximos was the first to express his attitude, "Necessary production reduction is an important means to maintain our profits. Since Samsung has already reduced production, TSMC will also reduce production. If we reduce production again, domestic memory chip prices will obviously gradually increase. The recovery is good for everyone, and I support this decision.”

Regarding this decision, Fan Wubing did not comment, but he always felt that something was wrong in his heart. He didn't know where the problem was. In short, he seemed to feel that the memory market had basically bottomed out, but the price of memory chips had rebounded. What exactly is timing?

In fact, everyone is competing to reduce production at this time. Earlier, some analysts pointed out that South Korea's Samsung Company, which has invested a lot of money in semiconductor production and scientific research and dominates the world market, will increase its 64mB memory production this year. large growth to recoup its upfront investment. The American gy company, which has suddenly emerged in recent years, will also produce at full capacity. The company has long claimed that it has the technology to produce memory at a lower cost and the means of global OEMs.

Another force that cannot be ignored is the semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan, China. In the sluggish environment of the global semiconductor industry. Taiwanese manufacturers continue to purchase large amounts of advanced semiconductor production equipment, and new production lines are constantly coming out. Many industry insiders also pointed out that Taiwan's semiconductor production is likely to become one of the world's four largest production bases alongside the United States, Japan, and South Korea after entering the 21st century.

Out of competition and respective business interests, if you reduce production, I will increase production, and if you sing, I will appear. Regarding the high initial investment in the semiconductor industry, manufacturers are not willing to see their equipment idle in vain. At present, Japanese manufacturers have begun to join forces to share investment risks and continue to promote their semiconductor production, which of course also includes the production of memory chips.

"Okay, generally speaking, the annual memory price will not change much. In the world market, 64mB memory will still be sold at a price of about ten US dollars. It is expected that in the second half of this year, the price of memory in the world market may It has fallen again. These are the opinions of today’s experts in the daily financial interview column. Thank you for watching. Thank you to all the experts. We will see you again at the same time tomorrow. "Zi Qi on the screen looks much more mature and has a unique charm. The language is precise and capable, and the thinking is clear, which makes people feel refreshing.

The music at the end of the column rang, and then a series of unclear subtitles appeared in front of him. Zi Qi on the screen was collecting information while talking to the interview experts. Fan Wubing saw this habitual At the end of the show, I couldn't help but smile a little.

How long has it been? CCTV is still doing this old thing. Even inserting a few advertisements is beneficial. There is really no need for it. Or is this just to strictly control the time of the column?

In any case, the people present all gave relatively high evaluations to Zi Qi, who is new to the "Daily Financial Interview" column. Wang's uncle and nephew both said that the level of financial column hosts in mainland China is also relatively high. Moreover, the program is more natural, both entertaining and practical, and the language is faster and more efficient. It is much better than the financial columns on the island that often do some gossipy news.

"Those female anchors in Taiwan speak softly and weakly. They are typically big-breasted and brainless. They find it difficult to deceive ordinary people, let alone serve as a reference for us." Wang Rongchang criticized unceremoniously.

"You can't say that anymore. China Television and Taiwan Television still have several beautiful female hosts -" Wang Shihan said with a laugh.

Maximus shrugged his shoulders and said, "I rarely pay attention to this kind of column. I only believe in the investigation data of the intelligence department and the analysis results of experts. Of course, what I believe most is Mr. Fan's decision."

After listening to Maximus's words, Wang Rongchang's uncle and nephew all nodded with smiles, saying that Mr. Fan's decisions were never wrong, and they had benefited a lot.

Fan Wubing waved his hand, but his mind was thinking about other things.

Fan Wubing did not agree very much with Wang Shihan's proposal to reduce the production of memory chips. He suddenly remembered it just now while thinking about it. In the second half of the year, something happened in Taiwan, which led to a sudden rise in chip prices, causing the mainland memory market prices to rise several times. The lowest price of a memory stick was only 70 yuan in Zhongguancun. The market price once reached a high of 1,400 yuan.

Of the current twenty-six semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan, thirteen produce dRam. Among them, companies such as Powerchip, Mosilicon, World Advanced, and Shida Integrated Circuit have a monthly processing capacity of about 20,000 to 30,000 8-inch silicon wafers, which is relatively small. Thirty percent of Powerchip's dRam is produced for Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation. The products are packaged and tested by Mitsubishi and marked with Mitsubishi's trademark. They are sold by Mitsubishi and do not flow to the spot market.

Similarly, 50% of the products of the fourth branch of Winbond Company, which specializes in the production of dRam, are produced for Toshiba Corporation of Japan. It is included in Toshiba's production under the Toshiba trademark. Maode Technology Company, whose output is second only to Winbond, is controlled by Mosilicon. More than half of its shares are owned by Mosil. Sixty percent of its products are owned by Mosil, and the rest are owned by N Company, a newly spun off of Siemens that specializes in the production of semiconductor devices. There are basically no Promo brand dRams on the market.

Among Taiwanese manufacturers, those exporting dRam to the United States include Winbond, Mosilicon, Nanya Technology, World Advanced and Etron. Among them, the world's advanced technology is relatively backward and the production cost is high. Therefore, the price of its dRam exported to the United States is also the highest, but its quantity is small. The price of Chuangyu is cheap, but the quantity exported to the United States is not large.

Taiwan's dRam manufacturing plants have kept pace with world trends. In the fierce competition, small manufacturers with poor profitability have been eliminated, leaving only manufacturers with large output and low costs.

Various media have different opinions on Taiwan's semiconductor industry's share of the global market. The Wall Street Journal stated that Taiwan's chip production currently accounts for 10% of the world's. According to the Taiwan Industrial Research Institute, Taiwan's semiconductor production last year was NT$283.4 billion, approximately US$8.4 billion.

Currently, in the production of dRam, South Korea's Samsung, American Microtechnology, South Korea's Hyundai and South Korea's Venus joint production group, and the newly merged new company of Japan and Hitachi to jointly produce dRam, the four of them together account for more than the global market share. However, these manufacturers all produce independently and rarely rely on Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers. Toshiba and Mitsubishi, which rely on Taiwanese production, only account for 67% of the world's dRam market, while Taiwanese manufacturers account for only 67% of the world's dRam market. About five percent.

Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers mainly rely on OEM for large companies in the United States, Japan, and Europe. They only participate in part of the chip production process. Some Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers only have post-process capabilities, that is, they can only undertake packaging, testing, and aging processes. After the semi-finished products produced by American and Japanese factories are shipped to these factories, they will do the post-process processing that requires more manpower. The finished products are printed with the trademarks of American, Japanese, and European factories and enter the world market. Taiwanese manufacturers only charge processing fees. Some Japanese manufacturers hand over the designed layout to Taiwanese manufacturers for production, and the final inspection and aging processes are completely done by themselves to ensure the quality of the products. For the commissioned chips, Taiwanese manufacturers have no marketing rights at all.

This has caused Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers to occupy a certain position in the world's dRam production, but they do not have absolute control. But it is precisely because of this reason that once there is a problem in Taiwan's production link, the entire world's memory chip production will be directly affected.

Fan Wubing patted his head. Although he couldn't think of what exactly caused the price of memory chips to rise, he obviously had a deep impression of this matter in his memory, or was it the trivial matters of more than 20 years of rebirth that caused some of his memories to be lost?

But he remembered one thing very clearly. Before his rebirth, a high school classmate from a poor family worked in Beijing because he had two boxes of memory chips when the price was low. As a result, the price of memory chips skyrocketed, and the young man turned over in an instant. Not only did he buy a house in Beijing, but he also married a beautiful wife. This was a good story among his classmates, and he naturally could not forget it.

No matter what caused the price of memory chips to skyrocket, it was not important. What was important was whether he could adopt Wang Shihan's suggestion and really reduce the production of memory chips in the Hangzhou factory.

Thinking of this, Fan Wubing made a decision and said to Wang Shihan and others, "As a major shareholder, I make the following decision."

Wang Shihan and others were all excited, thinking that Fan Wubing had made another important decision, otherwise he would not speak to everyone so solemnly, so they all sat upright and listened attentively.

"Reduce shipments, and publicize that the memory chip factory under Fan Investment Group has reduced production along with other major companies." Fan Wubing looked at the three people present and said solemnly, "At the same time, increase the purchase of raw materials, produce memory chips at full capacity, and make full efforts to reserve."

"Make full efforts to reserve?" The three people were stunned after hearing Fan Wubing's decision.