All final exams were over, and Wang Yi felt refreshed, heading straight to Lin Shu's house without hesitation.
At this moment, Lin Shu was wearing an apron, busy in the kitchen.
Seeing Wang Yi about to enter, Lin Shu quickly stopped him:
"Brother, don't come in yet, wait for me for a bit."
Wang Yi became interested:
"Is there a surprise?"
"Yes, you'll know in a while, just sit and drink some juice first."
Lin Shu pulled Wang Yi back to the living room, poured him some freshly squeezed juice, and gave him a kiss:
"Wait for me a bit."
"Okay."
Watching Lin Shu's graceful departing figure, Wang Yi chuckled to himself, wondering what kind of surprise Lin Shu had prepared.
But having a girlfriend like this rich little woman truly made him a winner in life.
One must know that most relationships easily sour.
People who once liked each other drift apart over time.
Even if they managed to persevere and walk into the hall of marriage, their feelings would be eroded by daily trivialities and financial pressures.
If lucky, they might meet someone with a good personality, and even if love fades, family affection remains, allowing them to live well, like brothers sharing a bunk.
But if unlucky, encountering someone gentle before marriage but irritable afterward, creating daily fuss, constantly blaming and criticizing, and complaining about their useless partner, then life would truly be unbearable.
As for those who met through blind dates, it goes without saying; once the honeymoon period is over, they all become Pandora's boxes, with unknown outcomes.
It can be said that marital happiness largely depends on the partner's personality.
If they are gentle, understanding, and adore and cherish their boyfriend like Lin Shu, then happiness and contentment are natural.
But unfortunately, such people are very rare, and most people don't encounter them.
On the contrary, more people become incredibly irritable and critical due to various trivial matters, scolding their partners and children all day long...
To meet someone like Lin Shu, who is willing to cook for you and constantly gives surprises, is truly rare.
As Wang Yi pondered, the living room lights went out, and candlelight flickered, illuminating the room.
Lin Shu pushed a small cart with a large cake on it, walking out from the kitchen.
"What day is it today?"
Wang Yi was pleasantly surprised, not expecting such a surprise.
"Today is a special day to celebrate Xiao Yi successfully finishing all his exams!"
Saying this, Lin Shu took out a bouquet of flowers from under the cart and handed them to Wang Yi:
"Wishing my dear baby a smooth and victorious new year!"
"Thank you, Xiao Shu!"
Wang Yi was very touched and suddenly realized that Lin Shu had been making this cake in the kitchen earlier.
That's right, this large cake wasn't bought; Lin Shu made it herself.
The blueberries, strawberries, and mangoes on top were all fruits Wang Yi liked.
Actually, Lin Shu had wanted to make a big cake for New Year's Day and celebrate with Wang Yi.
But Wang Yi had a New Year's Day press conference the next day, so he naturally had no time, and they could only celebrate the end of his final exams today.
Wang Yi was even more moved, taking the flowers and hugging Lin Shu tightly:
"Xiao Shu, it's so good to have you."
Lin Shu smiled sweetly, said nothing more, stood on tiptoe, and offered her cherry lips.
In the candlelight, the two kissed passionately.
...
Xinyi Media presented a completely different scene.
It was late at night, and Wang Ziyi still kept herself locked in her office.
Playing on her computer screen was the hugely popular "Cliff"!
Looking at the dense bullet comments and online viewership on Xingyi Video, Wang Ziyi was filled with regret:
"I sold the permanent copyright for over 100 or 200 million, and I sold it for 20 million. I was so foolish, really!"
"This time, I've lost at least over 100 million!"
"Chairman Wang, your vision is too sharp! Alas!"
But alas, there's no medicine for regret in this world.
Such exclusive hit dramas are always the best for attracting new members.
Like "The Knockout" in the previous life, it added 17 million paying members to iQiyi.
If calculated based on a standard golden monthly membership of 25 yuan, and assuming each member only subscribes for one month, that's 425 million yuan.
Moreover, many people subscribe to the 50 yuan per month diamond membership.
And many others subscribe to more expensive quarterly or even annual memberships.
It can be said that "The Knockout" brought iQiyi over 500 million yuan in membership revenue!
Coupled with the sponsored advertisements in the bottom left corner, embedded ads, and paused ads—ads that even VIPs couldn't skip—every ad slot was ridiculously expensive.
With so many views, "The Knockout" generated over 2 billion yuan in profit for iQiyi in one quarter, with total subsequent profits exceeding 3 billion yuan!
Although "Cliff" wasn't as explosively popular as "The Knockout", it was still a hit.
Even if it only brought in a quarter of "The Knockout"'s total new members, which is 4.25 million.
If each member costs only 15 yuan and only subscribes for one month, that's 63.75 million yuan.
Plus quarterly and diamond memberships, the membership fees could exceed 80 million yuan.
And advertising fees, sponsorship fees, even if only a tenth of "The Knockout"'s, would still be 150 million yuan.
A total revenue exceeding 200 million yuan is just the beginning.
As time goes on, more and more new members will be attracted, and membership and advertising revenue will continue to increase.
Moreover, there are also second, third, and fourth round satellite TV broadcast rights fees, which belong to Wang Yi and can also sell for a considerable amount.
An investment of 20 million yuan, with revenue of 200 to 300 million yuan—this kind of return on investment is exceptionally appealing.
So much so that Wang Ziyi regretted it so much her intestines turned green:
"If I had known, I would have sold it for at least 100 million!"
However, she also understood that if it were truly 100 million, Wang Yi wouldn't have bought it, and no one would.
In those years, such high royalties simply didn't exist.
Moreover, buying copyrights was always a gamble!
No one knew if a show would become a hit before it aired; if it flopped, with few new members and few advertising sponsors, let alone making money, even the 20 million yuan royalty wouldn't be recouped.
To put it bluntly, it was all a gamble, depending entirely on vision and luck.
Wang Ziyi thought this, finally feeling a little relieved:
"Chairman Wang, I don't believe you can win every gamble!"
"The 20 million yuan 'Cliff' exploded in popularity, earning you a fortune."
"But 'Beijing Love Story', bought for 40 million yuan, is also coming soon, and it might not be a hit!"
The reason why the royalty price for "Beijing Love Story" was higher than "Cliff" was naturally because the first round of satellite TV broadcast rights for "Cliff" was sold to three broadcasters, leaving not much satellite TV revenue afterward.
Whereas "Beijing Love Story" only sold its first round of satellite TV broadcast rights to one broadcaster, allowing it to continue selling later!
In addition, the target audience for spy dramas like "Cliff" primarily consisted of users aged thirty and above.
Major video platforms mostly have young users, so they naturally weren't optimistic about "Cliff" and thus it didn't fetch a high price.
Conversely, youth idol dramas like "Beijing Love Story" were favored by video platforms and sold for higher prices.
However, what Wang Ziyi didn't realize was that Xingyi Video was different from other platforms.
Not only did it have a large number of young users, but it also attracted a large group of drivers aged 30 and above through its joint promotion with Gaode Navigation.
This group has jobs, income, and cars, making their economic strength quite high, and they enjoy spy dramas.
A 15 yuan monthly membership fee was no burden for them at all.
Thus, spy dramas like "Cliff" also became hugely popular on Xingyi Video, attracting a large number of new members aged thirty and above.
This was the effect of joint promotion.
It was also why Wang Yi created a "Spy Drama Zone" – to capture these groups aged 30 and above!
Especially middle-aged people over forty, who were the most valuable VIP member group.
They couldn't find pirated resources when searching online, so they had no choice but to subscribe for a membership.
As for watching TV... actually, TV users are becoming fewer and fewer.
Students at school don't have TVs.
Young people who just started working mostly rent rooms and don't have TVs either.
They all use mobile phones, tablets, computers + instant noodles and snacks to binge-watch shows.
Even for people who own homes, even if they have TVs, they have work, social engagements, and occasional overtime, so they can't always sit in front of the TV to watch live broadcasts on time every day.
Even if they could watch live broadcasts every day, they'd have to see if their wife agreed.
If the husband wants to watch "Cliff", the wife wants to watch variety shows, and the kids want to watch cartoons, what then?
It's more convenient to subscribe to a Xingyi Video membership and watch shows anytime, anywhere.
For these reasons, the popularity of "Cliff" brought a large number of new members to Xingyi Video.
"Wang Yi, you are so lucky!"
Wang Ziyi felt a bit envious:
"But I don't believe that 'Beijing Love Story,' which you bought for 40 million, will also be a hit!"
"After all, a drama by a new director + new actors has a high probability of flopping!"
Wang Ziyi sighed, closed her computer, and left the company.
People, ah, all hope others live well, but don't want them to live too well.
The next day, Wang Yi arrived at Xingyi Technology.
Just as he was about to process work emails, he received a call from GoerTek's Chairman Jiang Hongzhi:
"Congratulations, Chairman Wang, xphone 1 is selling like hotcakes, and x buds are also selling extremely well!"
It was clear that Jiang Hongzhi's words were filled with excitement.
How could he not be excited?
When Wang Yi invested, GoerTek's stock price was only 6 yuan.
Wang Yi spent 1.8 billion yuan to buy 300 million shares, holding a 10% stake and becoming the second-largest shareholder.
Following the news of Wang Yi's investment and the official announcement of the ten-million-unit x buds OEM order, GoerTek's stock price quickly soared, soon rising to 8 yuan and remaining very stable.
After the New Year's Day press conference, x buds had another surge in orders, and Wang Yi decisively added another 10 million units of x buds!
As soon as the news was disclosed, GoerTek's stock price surged again, now reaching 10 yuan!
There was no way around it; x buds were popular nationwide, and as the sole OEM manufacturer, GoerTek secured two ten-million-unit orders in a short period.
Both its revenue and market value would climb a notch, making it hard for the stock price not to rise.
From the previous 6 yuan to the current 10 yuan, an increase of 66.67%, it was simply terrifying!
And GoerTek's market value also rose from the previous 18 billion yuan to 30 billion yuan!
GoerTek employees were all in high spirits about this.
In 2010, GoerTek became an Apple supplier, and its stock price surged.
At the end of 2011, GoerTek became a Xingyi Technology supplier, and its stock price surged again.
For this type of OEM factory, their own products are not prominent; revenue and stock price depend entirely on large OEM orders.
Wang Yi's investment and large orders increased GoerTek's market value by 12 billion yuan, making Jiang Hongzhi overjoyed.
Wang Yi chuckled:
"Congratulations to both of us. We said before that GoerTek's market value could reach 36 billion yuan, and now it's 30 billion yuan. The future is promising!"
"Yes, Chairman Wang. When you said it back then, we were actually a bit skeptical, thinking, how could it rise so fast? But now, it's rising even faster than we said! Hahaha!"
Jiang Hongzhi was in a great mood, feeling that introducing Wang Yi's investment was absolutely the right decision.
He even felt a bit fortunate, fortunate that he made the right choice then!
At that time, GoerTek faced two major choices:
One was to introduce Wang Yi's investment, make Wang Yi the second-largest shareholder, fully align with Xingyi Technology, and OEM x buds for Xingyi Technology.
The other was to stand opposite Xingyi Technology, leverage GoerTek's foundation to reverse engineer, clone x buds, mass-produce them, and even OEM x buds for other mobile phone manufacturers.
After much deliberation, Jiang Hongzhi still chose to align with Wang Yi.
Fortunately, in just over a month, GoerTek secured two ten-million-unit x buds OEM orders, and its market value soared by 66.67%, promising a brilliant future.
If he had chosen wrongly and insisted on opposing Xingyi Technology and cloning x buds, the outcome might have been very different.
After all, those who opposed Chairman Wang never ended well.
HM was like that, Zara was like that, and even Baidu, the leader of BAT, ended tragically.
As for Kailide, which wanted to grab the navigation market and pick the peaches, it completely collapsed across the board.
Jiang Hongzhi was relieved:
"Chairman Wang, GoerTek has added more production lines. Currently, we can produce 130,000 x buds daily, and in a week, we'll reach 150,000 x buds daily! Four million x buds for the entire month of January is no problem!"
Originally, with only a ten-million-unit order, GoerTek's daily capacity was 100,000, to be delivered in four months.
Now with an additional ten-million-unit order, GoerTek decisively scaled up, increasing daily capacity to 150,000 units.
"Four million units a month? Very good, enough to sell!"
Wang Yi smiled:
"Chairman Jiang, this pace is good. Let's finish these two ten-million-unit orders first, and then adjust again based on the situation."
"Okay, Chairman Wang. Please rest assured, no matter how great the market demand for x buds is, GoerTek will always meet it fully and promptly."
"Good."
Wang Yi said calmly, feeling that this call was not so simple; he was likely expecting a third ten-million-unit order!
Even a fourth ten-million-unit order!
If they secured another twenty million x buds orders, GoerTek's stock price would advance further, potentially hitting a 36 billion yuan market value.
But Wang Yi did not directly agree to this.
After the New Year's Day press conference, x buds had been selling very well these past few days, with hundreds of thousands of units sold daily.
But what about later?
That was hard to say.
According to Wang Yi's estimation, selling twenty million x buds a year was no pressure, but whether they could sell thirty million was debatable.
It was not advisable to take too big steps in the early stage.
Seeing that Wang Yi did not state his position, Jiang Hongzhi changed the subject:
"By the way, Chairman Wang, to thank Xingyi Technology for its support of GoerTek, GoerTek plans to change the payment settlement cycle from monthly to quarterly. Chairman Wang, do you have any objections?"
X buds were not only OEMed by GoerTek, but many components also came from GoerTek.
Logically, part of the payment for goods and OEM fees should be paid in advance.
But with Wang Yi as a major shareholder of GoerTek and such a large order, Jiang Hongzhi was very accommodating, directly stating that GoerTek would advance the costs, and Xingyi Technology could settle the payment the following month after delivery.
Now, proactively proposing quarterly settlement was equivalent to giving Wang Yi an additional three months of buffer time.
One could only say this was an extraordinary gesture!
In the new year, Xingyi Technology was developing rapidly and needed money everywhere.
Quarterly settlement, delaying payment by two more months, would give Xingyi Technology more relaxed cash flow!
Wang Yi smiled slightly:
"Thank you, Chairman Jiang. Rest assured, GoerTek's future will only get better and better!"
"With Chairman Wang's words, I'm relieved!"
Jiang Hongzhi was in a good mood.
That's the reassurance he wanted.
"Produce x buds as quickly as possible. Once the domestic market is saturated, simultaneously spread them overseas."
"Okay, Chairman Wang, I'll arrange it as soon as possible!"
Jiang Hongzhi breathed a sigh of relief; the x buds order was secure.
He had firmly latched onto Chairman Wang's leg.
Even with quarterly settlement, it was worth it.
Wang Yi also made a huge profit from this investment.
GoerTek's stock price rose from 6 yuan to 10 yuan, and Wang Yi's 300 million shares also increased in value from 1.8 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan, appreciating by 1.2 billion yuan.
It was remarkably substantial, but Wang Yi didn't plan to sell in the next two years; he still needed to observe GoerTek's future development.
Subsequently, Wang Yi checked BYD's stock price.
BYD, bought at a low of 10 Hong Kong dollars, saw its stock price surge to 20 Hong Kong dollars due to the anti-freeze battery and Wang Yi's 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollar investment a while ago.
Later, xphone 1 sold out, Wang Yi frantically increased orders for BYD's anti-freeze batteries, and BYD also OEMed xphone 1.
Under various positive factors, BYD's stock price surged again, reaching 28 Hong Kong dollars before New Year's Day.
But unfortunately, the year-end financial report was still not very good, and BYD's stock price fell back to 25 Hong Kong dollars.
There was nothing to be done; Wang Yi's large orders could bring considerable revenue to BYD, allowing BYD to turn a profit in December and increase profits.
But it still couldn't reverse BYD's decline in the first eleven months.
Once the 2011 annual financial report was released, the stock price dropped a little.
If it weren't for Wang Yi's large orders, BYD's stock price would have dropped more than just a little after the annual report.
However, things would be better in 2012.
Most of the orders for anti-freeze batteries and xphone 1 OEM would be delivered in 2012, so BYD's revenue would naturally skyrocket, and its stock price would also be pulled up again.
But even so, from 10 Hong Kong dollars to 25 Hong Kong dollars, BYD's stock price and market value had already risen by 150%!
Wang Yi's 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars also appreciated to 8.75 billion, earning him 5.25 billion!
However, this was just the beginning.
Wang Yi remembered that BYD had a major positive development at the beginning of 2012, which caused its stock price to soar.
But in the middle and latter half of the year, there were also black swan events.
Wang Yi didn't know if a turning point would appear, but it didn't matter.
He had originally considered partially reducing his holdings to cash out before the black swan event, and then increasing his holdings later.
Now it was unnecessary.
As long as he wasn't desperately short of money, and hadn't reached a dead end, he wouldn't reduce his BYD stock holdings if he didn't have to.
If a black swan event truly occurred and BYD's stock price plummeted, Wang Yi would continue to increase his holdings!
Wang Yi was long-term bullish on BYD!
In the afternoon, Jian Ziyan returned to the company, her face not looking too good.
Wang Yi spoke to comfort her:
"What's wrong? The discussion at ASML's Imperial capital branch didn't go well?"
Jian Ziyan nodded:
"Chairman, ASML is very arrogant. Anyone who wants to buy their DUV lithography machines has to fill out an application first. Only after their approval, ASML will send people to the wafer factory for on-site inspection. If the inspection passes, then they will sign the order."
Wang Yi smiled, as expected.
As the Imperial country suppressed the semiconductor industry in Neon country, Nikon and Canon successively abandoned high-end lithography machines.
Now, ASML had become the lithography machine hegemon, an absolute oligopoly, naturally making it assertive.
New semiconductor companies, small companies, simply couldn't pass ASML's assessment.
Wang Yi's current wafer factory was being officially built and hadn't even been completed or delivered yet.
ASML had nowhere to inspect, and buying lithography machines was a problem.
No wonder Jian Ziyan had a headache over this; even Wang Yi found it hard to solve.
"Chairman, Gao Qun, the vice president of ASML's Imperial capital branch, was quite amiable. As soon as he heard that Xingyi Technology wanted to buy lithography machines, he tried his best to help, wanting to exceptionally apply to headquarters."
Jian Ziyan elaborated:
"But Elk, the branch president, an arrogant Imperial man, was not so easy to talk to. He insisted on following the rules, submitting the application first and waiting for the approval notice. Gao Qun couldn't do anything about it. Higher rank crushes people. That damned Elk!"
Wang Yi nodded:
"It's fine, I'll handle this."
"Elk, huh? Alright, I'll remember this score."
Wang Yi leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.
The predicament of Hancheng Hanxin in his previous life was somewhat similar to Wang Yi's Xingyi Semiconductor.
At that time, Hanxin had just been established and managed to obtain the first 1980Di DUV lithography machine in the mainland, which was exceptionally glorious.
This implied that Hanxin had undergone ASML's inspection and signed the order even before it was built.
Both were emerging semiconductor companies, and both had not yet completed their wafer factories.
Why was Xingyi Technology's approval stalled, while Hanxin passed smoothly?
This clearly did not conform to ASML's review procedures.
There was a big problem here!
Wang Yi thought carefully for a long time before he suddenly realized.
The reason was that Hanxin tricked Old Jiang into coming out of retirement, having Old Jiang as a strong backing!
Old Jiang, as a former senior executive of TSMC, had received hundreds of ASML lithography machines and was very familiar with ASML personnel.
With Old Jiang's endorsement, ASML's review was just a formality; even if Hanxin had issues, they still had to sell the machines.
There was no way around it; they had to sell out of respect for Old Jiang.
It could be said that the establishment of Hanxin and the procurement of lithography machines were largely due to Old Jiang.
But in the end, Old Jiang was also severely exploited by them...
Similarly, the current Xingyi Semiconductor was also like this.
Like Hanxin in the previous life, it had just been established, and the wafer factory was not yet visible.
Now, when trying to order lithography machines, ASML simply ignored them, and the review couldn't even pass.
But if Wang Yi also invited a big shot like Old Jiang, then there would be no problem.
Currently, Old Jiang had returned to TSMC, so Wang Yi didn't consider him.
He was more interested in poaching Old Liang.
Unfortunately, in 2009, Old Liang had just left TSMC and moved to Samsung.
Two months ago, TSMC sued Old Liang on grounds of a non-compete agreement and leaking technology.
With the three parties still embroiled in disputes, it was unrealistic for Wang Yi to invite Old Liang to leave Samsung now and join Xingyi Semiconductor.
Wang Yi knew that Old Liang lost that lawsuit and was prohibited from working for Samsung until the end of 2015.
Similarly, due to the non-compete agreement, he couldn't work for Xingyi Technology either.
In other words, Wang Yi could only invite Old Liang after 2016.
In his previous life, Old Liang only joined SMIC in 2017, bringing brilliant development to SMIC.
But Wang Yi couldn't wait that long.
He couldn't possibly wait four or five years until Old Liang's non-compete agreement expired, could he?
By then, it would be too late.
What should be done?
Wang Yi felt a headache, depressed, extremely depressed.
Seeing this, Jian Ziyan also felt worried.
She quietly walked behind Wang Yi, stretched out her hands, and massaged his neck and shoulders.
This made Wang Yi feel very comfortable and refreshed.
Then his eyes lit up:
"That's right, Old Liang is currently bound by a non-compete agreement, so he can't be poached. But Old Hu, Old Liang's teacher, can be poached!"
Old Hu, as Old Liang's mentor, was also the first Chief Technology Officer of TSMC.
It was he who led TSMC to overtake rivals, defeating IBM and allowing TSMC to gain a firm foothold in the semiconductor field.
More importantly, Old Hu was the founder of the FinFET 3D architecture!
Previously, the semiconductor industry used 2D architecture and was unable to break through the 20nm process limit.
So much so that Moore's Law became a joke, and many people began to doubt Moore's Law, thinking that it had reached its end at 20nm and could not advance further.
It wasn't until Old Hu unexpectedly developed the revolutionary 3D FinFET architecture that the 20nm process limit was broken!
It extended Moore's Law for another ten years!
It made future 20nm, 16nm, 14nm, 12nm, 10nm, 7nm, 5nm, 4nm possible.
Wang Yi knew that even the 4nm chips ten years later relied on Old Hu's FinFET architecture process.
But more advanced 3nm chips would require new materials and a new architecture—GAA (Gate-All-Around) structure.
Whether it was TSMC, Samsung, or Intel, from 20nm to 4nm, they all used Old Hu's FinFET architecture.
It can be said that without Old Hu's FinFET architecture, it would be years before TSMC, Samsung, and Intel could break through the 20nm barrier.
Since Old Liang couldn't be poached, what if they directly poached Old Hu and had Old Hu preside over Xingyi Semiconductor?
Wouldn't that stabilize everything?
Old Hu's influence was no less than Old Liang's, and perhaps even greater.
If Old Hu joined, then Xingyi Semiconductor would be completely stable.
With Old Hu's reputation and appeal, top semiconductor talents from around the world would likely be willing to join Xingyi Semiconductor.
Not to mention 65nm, 55nm, even 28nm, 22nm, and future 20nm, 16nm... would not be a problem.
With Old Hu, it wouldn't even be a problem to invite Old Liang after 2016!
Old Liang initially rose rapidly when his mentor, Old Hu, served as TSMC's Chief Technology Officer.
This plan was entirely feasible.
Wang Yi made his decision and immediately looked up Old Hu's information.
From 2001 to 2004, he served as TSMC's first Chief Technology Officer, concurrently holding the TSMC Distinguished Chair Professorship at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2004, he left TSMC and returned to teach at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2007, he was elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In 2008, he served on the board of SanDisk.
Wang Yi had a plan.
Currently, Old Hu was teaching and serving as a SanDisk director; he wasn't employed in any other work.
He had left TSMC seven or eight years ago, so there were no non-compete restrictions!
He could definitely be poached!
However, such a prominent figure, being a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an academician of the Imperial Academy of Engineering, and a top expert in the semiconductor field.
Even his student became a top expert!
This kind of talent is cherished by countries worldwide, and it would be difficult for Wang Yi not to personally invite him!
It seemed he would have to travel to the Imperial country again before the New Year.
As long as Old Hu could be persuaded, lithography machine orders would not be a problem, semiconductor talent would not be a problem, and process manufacturing would not be a problem.
Once the Xingyi wafer factory was in production and process breakthroughs were made, even if the Imperial country imposed sanctions, Wang Yi would not be afraid, he could greatly research and produce chips independently.
As for the possibility that the Imperial country might go to extremes, making ASML remotely lock down the lithography machines Wang Yi had stockpiled?
There's no need to worry about that point.
Firstly, ASML is not foolish and will not completely side with the Imperial country.
Every time the Imperial country tries to sanction and suppress, ASML will find ways to secretly sell!
Secondly, if ASML dared to remotely lock down machines, it would completely lose the mainland market.
At that point, it wouldn't be able to sell anything other than mid-to-low-end EUV lithography machines and might even go bankrupt.
High-end EUV lithography machines have small production capacity, and demand isn't high; only TSMC, Samsung, and Intel need them.
ASML's biggest sales and highest revenue still come from mid-to-low-end lithography machines and the mainland market.
Daring to remotely lock down backend data, unless ASML wants to go bankrupt!
Thirdly, in the great power game, there are always means of mutual checks and balances.
The Imperial country also wouldn't dare escalate things to this point.
If they really locked down lithography machines remotely, Xia Nation would also flip the table and cut off exports of raw materials like gallium and germanium!
Note, it would be a complete halt, not a restriction.
Without basic raw materials, the global semiconductor industry would be completely crippled!
The trip to the Imperial country was imminent!
(End of chapter)