Chapter 410 BIDC Cooperation and Meeting Tan Again
"That's for sure. It can be seen from the success of Stanza, the company's main layout editing tool product, in Silicon Valley founded by Yu Zhiping and Liu Weiping, the former backbone of the Panda project. Our Panda EDA system In many details, it is still not inferior to foreign EDA giants such as Synopsys Technology of the United States!”
Academician Wang replied confidently.
Then he handed Li Xiaofan a copy of the latest "Electronic Products World" magazine. This magazine is a professional journal jointly organized by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information under the Ministry of Science and Technology and the American IDG International Data Group, where Xiong Xiaoge works.
"Xiao Li, you just said that you want to invest in our domestic Panda EDA system. You can first read a report in this issue of "Electronic Product World"..."
Li Xiaofan took a look at the latest "Electronic Product World" magazine. The page Academician Wang opened had a "Company Interview": "China's EDA Industry Goes to the World from Here - Interview with Wang Qinsheng, President of Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center" professor".
This interview article says:
In Dashanzi Electronic City, Beijing, there is a sophisticated white modern building. There are only more than 150 employees in it, but its total assets are as high as 100 million yuan. This is Beijing Integrated Circuit Design, which is well-known in the field of microelectronics at home and abroad. Center BIDC. Recently, the reporter had the honor to interview Professor Wang Qinsheng, President of Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center, and asked her to introduce BIDC's achievements in the EDA industry.
Mr. Wang’s opening statement was surprising. According to IDC research, the output value of EDA in the United States is US$1.6 billion, but it supports the integrated circuit IC industry of US$80 billion, and integrated circuits support the complete machine market of US$800 billion. Therefore, in the past, the most severe export restrictions imposed by Batumi on mainland China were design tools. It can be seen that EDA plays a key role in the entire electronics industry...
Today, the domestic Panda EDA system has its seventh version: Panda 2.2, which can support million-component-level integrated circuit design...
At the same time, BIDC is also looking for opportunities to compete in the international market. Many large foreign companies tend to develop front-end and high-end design, while we focus on back-end development...
…
After Li Xiaofan carefully read this report, he asked:
"Academician Wang, according to the above report, the fixed assets invested in the Panda Project have reached 100 million yuan. So who are the shareholders of BIDC, the Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center?"
Academician Wang explained: "The Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center BIDC is affiliated to the Ministry of Electronics Industry and is a state-owned enterprise. So, Xiao Li, you want to invest in this Panda EDA project, your idea and starting point are very good. However, there may not be what you want. It’s so simple, this requires specific communication and negotiation with the Ministry of Electronics Industry..."
At this time, Dr. Jiang Lixin added:
"Director Li and Academician Wang once presided over the successful research of our first 1024-bit MOS DRAM dynamic random access memory in New China, which greatly promoted the development of my country's MOS integrated circuit technology. Academician Wang was also appointed by the leaders above and served as a concurrent As long as Academician Wang is willing to help coordinate this matter, the person in charge of the Microelectronics Bureau of the Fourth Machinery Department, the predecessor of the Electronics Department, I guess there is still a possibility..."
Next, Li Xiaofan briefly reported to Academician Wang his investment ideas and layout in the chip industry...
After Academician Wang listened carefully, he couldn't help but clapped his hands in praise and said with a smile:
"Xiao Li, your ideas and ideas are very good. Your idea of investing in the Panda EDA project is definitely a good thing, and I am willing to facilitate this. But before reporting to the Ministry of Electronics Industry, a lot of preparation work may need to be done. For example , you first need to communicate with the Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center BIDC about the specific preliminary cooperation methods, and we and BIDC also need to do a comprehensive background investigation on your company's background, including the current cooperation with Academician Ni on the Joint Microelectronics Design Center project. …”
"Great, Academician Wang, we will fully cooperate, thank you!"
Subsequently, under the arrangement of Academician Wang Yangyuan, Li Xiaofan and his party visited Professor Wang Qinsheng, President of BIDC, Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center.
President Wang Qinsheng warmly received Li Xiaofan and his delegation.
Because the Panda EDA project has completed large-scale investment and concentrated research in the early stage, the operation of the project is now mainly maintained by its own sales revenue and hematopoietic mechanism.
Four years ago, after the domestic Panda EDA system was launched, the cumulative sales once exceeded the 50 million yuan mark, and the situation was once very good.
However, since three domestic EDA giants, including Cadence, Synopsys and Mentor Graphics, entered the country two years ago and dumped their products at low prices, their domestic Panda EDA system market shrunk on a large scale. Difficulty moving.
If they continue to develop like this, without state subsidies in the future, they will encounter difficulties in surviving independently, let alone subsequent large-scale R&D investment to compete with several foreign EDA giants that have already entered the mainland.
Therefore, when President Wang Qinsheng heard that the famous Yahoo shareholder and investor Li Xiaofan and others were interested in investing in the Panda project to compete with foreign EDA giants such as Synopsys, she was very excited and expressed a warm welcome.
Her concerns were the same as Academician Wang's, because BIDC was a purely state-owned enterprise, affiliated to the Ministry of Electronics Industry. The asset evaluation and joint venture application procedures were relatively complicated. If any of the steps were blocked, the cooperation between the two parties would be far away...
Finally, Li Xiaofan expressed his simple wish: he just wanted to do what he could to build a domestic chip ecosystem. It would be ideal if the relevant departments could approve his cooperation with BIDC. Even if it was not approved, he didn't care.
Before returning to Singapore, Li Xiaofan discussed with Academician Ni and designated Lin Feiyan and Dr. Jiang Lixin to temporarily take charge of the cooperation with BIDC on the Panda EDA project.
…
After Li Xiaofan returned to Singapore, Lin Muchu had completed the resignation procedures at Tengfei Group and officially reported to work at Yifan Company.
Afterwards, Li Xiaofan sent her to San Francisco to be responsible for the preparation and establishment of the offshore incubator in Silicon Valley with Gu Qijun.
Before they set off, Li Xiaofan gave Gu Qijun a task:
"Ah Jun, when you go to Silicon Valley, if you have time, go visit a company called Stanza. This company was founded by your Tsinghua senior, Dr. Yu Zhiping, and others. Dr. Yu Zhiping should currently be a researcher in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University..."
After sending Lin Muchu and others to the car, Li Xiaofan turned around at the door of the building and bumped into a young man wearing a UPS-specific "Pu-style brown" uniform. He couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "Ah Tan!"