As a semiconductor giant, Texas Instruments produces many other chips in addition to mobile CPU chips.
However, the technological content and unit price of these chips are much lower than mobile phone chips, and they are also easier to design.
Williams elaborated,
"Chairman, Texas Instruments' charging chip only supports the current mainstream 5W charging. Our Xinyi fast charging chip, on the other hand, supports 10W fast charging, doubling the speed!"
Wang Yi was very satisfied:
"Excellent, after the tape-out is successful and mass production begins, the Xinyi second-generation can be equipped with self-developed power management chips and fast charging chips! And it will announce the fast charging standard one year ahead of Qualcomm!"
"That's absolutely no problem!"
Williams was confident.
Currently, the fastest charging efficiency is only 5V 1A, which is five watts.
Xinyi fast charging at ten watts is already double the current speed.
Wang Yi remembered that in his previous life, Qualcomm only released its first-generation fast charging standard, which was 10W, in 2013.
Xinyi Technology can absolutely release it this year.
Don't underestimate a mere one-year time difference; it makes a huge impact, a full generation ahead.
Originally, Wang Yi was worried about the lack of highlights for the Xinyi second-generation in the second half of the year.
Now, with self-developed fast charging chips and battery management chips, especially the doubled fast charging efficiency, it's definitely a killer feature.
After all, OPPO's advertisement "Charge five minutes, talk two hours" attracted many fans.
What's more, the Xinyi second-generation offers double the charging efficiency!
Williams led Wang Yi to George's department:
"Chairman, the smart home SOC chip, power management chip, and fast charging chip were all developed by George and his team!"
Wang Yi smiled and extended his hand:
"Excellent, George, you've done a great service!"
George laughed heartily:
"Thank you for your trust, Chairman. It's my duty. Currently, we are developing Wi-Fi chips and Bluetooth chips, which are essential for smart homes. We are striving to make breakthroughs as soon as possible."
Wi-Fi chips and Bluetooth chips are also much simpler than mobile phone chips.
It can be said that high-end mobile phone chips might not succeed in a year, but several simple chips like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be developed in a year.
George and his team had worked on these types of chips at Texas Instruments before, so there were no technical difficulties, but those were Texas Instruments' patented technologies.
Therefore, George and his team's development had to circumvent Texas Instruments' patented technologies and find new solutions to achieve better results.
Wang Yi nodded:
"Since Wi-Fi chips and Bluetooth chips are being developed, why not develop router chips as well? Once successful, we can produce our own routers!"
Routers are also core devices for smart homes, so Xiaomi and Huawei are both making them.
Wang Yi wouldn't give up on that either.
Simply put, using routers from other brands would require setting up and linking Xinyi Technology's smart home products one by one.
But with Xinyi Technology's own router, a one-click direct connection is possible!
Even if a new Xinyi router is replaced, you can log in to your account with one click and control all smart home devices.
"Router chips are not difficult, absolutely no problem,"
George responded decisively.
Wang Yi, however, smiled slightly:
"The router I want is not an ordinary router, but a dual-band router. It must support not only the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band but also the 5GHz Wi-Fi band!"
George looked somewhat incredulous:
"5GHz Wi-Fi, which is the 802.11ac protocol just released a few days ago, has just been launched. Do we really need to directly develop dual-band Wi-Fi supporting the 5GHz band? Shouldn't we wait and see?"
Wang Yi waved his hand:
"No hesitation, develop it directly. In the future, 2.4GHz + 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi will be mainstream."
5GHz Wi-Fi was a standard just released on February 18th this year.
In his previous life, many companies reacted slowly, and this year's routers did not support 5GHz Wi-Fi.
It wasn't until 2013 that mainstream dual-band routers supporting both 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and 5GHz Wi-Fi would appear.
At that time, single-band routers only supporting 2.4GHz Wi-Fi would be completely obsolete!
If Xinyi Technology developed such single-band routers this year, they would surely be obsolete as soon as they hit the market, a definite suicide move, and Wang Yi would not make such a mistake.
Of course, it's better to go all-in on dual-band routers!
"Alright!"
George nodded, still somewhat puzzled:
"Chairman, there's a problem. 5GHz Wi-Fi has stronger anti-interference capabilities than 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, with stable network speeds and support for higher-speed transmission. But once it encounters obstacles, the attenuation will be more severe than the 2.4GHz band, and the coverage range will be smaller."
"It can be said that up close, 5GHz Wi-Fi's network speed and stability are many times better than 2.4GHz. But once further away, with more obstacles, such as in large apartments or villas, 5GHz Wi-Fi is inferior to 2.4GHz. Sometimes 5GHz Wi-Fi can't even provide full coverage, while 2.4GHz can. What should we do about this?"
Wang Yi smiled slightly:
"This problem is simple. We can develop a function called Mesh networking. By connecting several slave routers to the main router with network cables, we can achieve full coverage in villas and large apartments. We can also launch this function simultaneously and integrate it into our smart home solution."
In the future, Xinyi Technology's smart home products can be purchased and DIYed by users, or Xinyi Technology can provide customized complete solutions and on-site installation.
This includes furniture and home appliances, wiring, construction, and full 5GHz Wi-Fi coverage throughout the house...
Mobile phones are just the starting point for Xinyi Technology; the ultimate goal is full-house smart home appliances.
George took careful note:
"So, what network speed should we aim for?"
Wang Yi thought for a moment:
"Currently, network speeds are mainly 5M, 10M, 20M, which are still very slow. A 100M router is sufficient. However, routers are products used for several years, so we must also consider the significant increase in network speeds a few years from now. Achieving gigabit all at once would be too aggressive and stressful. So, let's aim for 500M. We can achieve gigabit in subsequent upgrades."
"Alright, I'll get that implemented immediately!"
George was young, driven, and decisive, and Wang Yi was very pleased with this.
Of course, all these chips would have to be manufactured by TSMC.
There was no other way; the Xinyi Wafer Fab had not yet been delivered and could only produce some low-end chips next year.
Afterward, Wang Yi and Williams came to his R&D department:
"Chairman, the development of the 28nm flagship SOC is generally progressing smoothly. The CPU part, in particular, has seen faster progress. However, the SOC also needs to integrate a GPU and a baseband. The GPU is relatively straightforward as we can directly use ARM's public architecture, so it's not very difficult. But the baseband is very challenging and will require another six months."
"Once the GPU, baseband, and other components are successfully developed, they will also need to be packaged together. If all goes well, tape-out could happen before the end of the year. After a successful tape-out, trial production and mass production can begin... But if the tape-out fails, we'll have to continue development, which would push it into next year."
Wang Yi nodded, understanding Williams' difficulties.
After all, developing the most advanced 28nm SOC right from the start, especially an advanced system-on-chip integrating GPU and baseband, is indeed very challenging.
It's worth noting that Qualcomm hasn't even reached this point yet.
It wasn't until early next year that Qualcomm released the world's first SOC with an integrated baseband, the Snapdragon 800, but that was just a release.
By the time phone manufacturers design and release phones equipped with the 800, it would be mid-year or even the second half of the year.
Similarly, if Xinyi Technology's 28nm SOC development proceeds smoothly, its release time would be similar to Qualcomm's, and coupled with phone development, it would also hit the market in mid-year or even the second half.
These things couldn't be helped.
Wang Yi looked at Williams:
"What's your confidence level for a successful tape-out by the end of the year?"
Williams sighed:
"Around 40%, I'd estimate. After all, the baseband technology is so far behind. Vireo's previous basebands were 55nm and external, and now to integrate it into a 28nm chip, it's incredibly difficult."
"Only 40%?"
Wang Yi considered:
"It's fine, the development of the flagship SOC should be steady. Trying to accomplish too much at once is too difficult. If it can be done by the end of the year, that's great; if not, it's okay, just keep working hard."
"Thank you for your understanding, Chairman."
Williams breathed a sigh of relief; the pressure on him was immense.
Qualcomm hadn't even managed to produce a 28nm SOC with integrated baseband, and it was truly difficult for him to do it.
Wang Yi changed the subject:
"However, even if the SOC with integrated baseband can't be completed this year, you must still produce a quad-core processor without a baseband, and simultaneously develop an external baseband chip. This must be done by the end of this year, and its performance must surpass Nvidia's Tegra 3 and Qualcomm's APQ8064 quad-core flagship!"
"This... alright!"
Williams agreed:
"A quad-core chip without an integrated baseband is much simpler than an SOC with an integrated baseband. With the addition of a large number of R&D engineers from Texas Instruments, it shouldn't be a big problem. There's also hope for the external baseband. Surpassing Nvidia and Qualcomm's flagship performance this year is also achievable."
Wang Yi nodded:
"Excellent. This way, the Xinyi Xphone 3, featuring our self-developed 28nm chip, can be released in the first half of next year."
Although Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 SOC integrated a baseband, considering the phone development time, it would hit the market in the second half of the year, or even the fourth quarter.
It can be said that even if the Xinyi Xphone 3 uses an external baseband, it would be unrivaled in the first half of next year.
As for competitor Snapdragon 800 phones coming out in the second half of next year, would the Xinyi Xphone 3 fall behind?
Again, not a problem!
After a year and a half, Xinyi Technology's flagship SOC with integrated baseband would have been successfully developed and mass-produced.
Wang Yi could then launch the Xphone 3 Pro, equipped with the Xinyi SOC, in the second half of next year!
It could still compete with the Qualcomm 800.
Without Texas Instruments' chip engineers, Xinyi Semiconductor certainly couldn't beat Qualcomm in a short time.
But with a large number of Texas Instruments' chip engineers, Xinyi Semiconductor has hope of having a good fight with Qualcomm.
No other reason, Texas Instruments' team's CPU R&D capabilities have always been superior to Qualcomm's.
However, Qualcomm's GPU uses a self-developed architecture, which sometimes significantly leads Xinyi Technology's public architecture, and sometimes completely fails...
Furthermore, Qualcomm's baseband far surpasses Xinyi Semiconductor's baseband.
After all, most of Xinyi Semiconductor's baseband R&D personnel were acquired from Vireo and MediaTek, and indeed, they are not as good as Qualcomm.
It can be said that compared to Qualcomm, Xinyi Semiconductor has an advantage in CPU, its GPU performance depends on whether Qualcomm's fails, and its baseband lags behind Qualcomm.
Overall performance might not be as good as Qualcomm's, but in terms of heating and power consumption, it will be better than Qualcomm's.
After all, Texas Instruments excels at low power consumption and high performance, while Qualcomm's heat generation is always at least 30% higher than its competitors.
As a result, a Snapdragon can accidentally turn into a "fire dragon," and the actual user experience might even be worse than the previous generation.
This kind of thing is common.
Wang Yi then remembered the 4K TV chip matter and instructed:
"William, let's proceed according to this plan: First, by the end of the year, produce a 28nm flagship chip with an external baseband, having the strongest current performance and supporting 4K hardware decoding. Qualcomm's new SOC next year will also support 4K decoding."
Williams nodded:
"Alright, our GPU uses the latest architecture, so 4K hardware decoding should not be a problem!"
Wang Yi continued:
"Second, make some cuts on this chip, remove the modules not needed for TV chips, and optimize it for display and decoding to create a 4K TV chip capable of hardware decoding H.264 and H.265, launching them simultaneously by the end of the year."
"The chairman wants a 4K TV chip!"
Williams understood Wang Yi's meaning:
"No problem, TV chips are simpler than mobile phone chips. We'll subtract from the mobile chip design, and optimize for image quality and decoding. It's totally achievable."
Wang Yi nodded:
"Third, before March next year, the flagship SOC with integrated baseband should be successfully developed and mass-produced!"
"Okay, March next year, that's enough time."
Williams breathed a sigh of relief.
In reality, Xinyi Semiconductor's chip development had started last year.
By the end of this year, after more than a year, launching a chip with an external baseband wouldn't be too much pressure.
By March next year, after nearly a year and a half, the SOC flagship chip would also be ready.
"I look forward to your good news!"
Having finalized these matters, Wang Yi patted Williams on the shoulder and turned to leave.
Previously, Wang Yi had worried that these chip engineers, headhunted from Texas Instruments with high salaries, might be inefficient.
But now, it seemed he had overthought it.
For example, George's department had successfully developed the smart home SOC, power management chip, and fast charging chip in just a few months.
These are low-end chips; the manufacturing process doesn't need to be high, 40nm is already top-tier in the industry.
After all, current competitor mobile phone chips are 45nm.
Then, Wang Yi approached Zhu Changlin:
"Changlin, please contact TSMC to schedule a time. Tell them we have several chips that need tape-out."
The smart home SOC chip, power management chip, and fast charging chip have all been successfully developed.
Next is tape-out.
If all goes well after tape-out, trial production and mass production can begin.
As for why TSMC was chosen over SMIC?
No other reason than that SMIC currently cannot produce 40nm chips, and Samsung is unreliable, so TSMC was the only option.
"Okay, Chairman, how about next month, after the Mobile World Congress?"
"No problem."
Wang Yi nodded.
The Xinyi Technology new product launch and the Mobile World Congress were just a few days away, so there was indeed no time to deal with the tape-out.
It would have to wait until after this busy period.
Over the next two days, Xinyi Technology began a new flurry of activity – traveling abroad.
The Mobile World Congress 2012 was scheduled to be held in Barcelona on February 27th.
HTC was preparing to launch the world's first quad-core flagship phone, the HTC One X, on February 26th, the day before the conference, with a market release in April.
Unexpectedly, Wang Yi was planning to preempt them.
On February 23rd, a piece of news shocked the world:
[In two days, Xinyi Technology will hold its 2012 Spring New Product Launch Conference in Barcelona, on the eve of the Mobile World Congress, to release brand new, major products!]
As soon as this news broke, it instantly caused a global sensation.
Not only domestic users were excited, but overseas users were also thrilled.
With the sale of gray market Xphone 1 abroad, Xinyi Technology's international recognition soared rapidly.
Public opinion was buzzing:
"Here it comes, Xinyi Technology's new product launch is finally here! What new products will there be?"
"I bet the Xinyi Tablet is a sure thing, but the Xinyi phone is hard to say."
"The tablet is definitely coming, but a phone is unlikely. After all, the Xphone 1 was just released three months ago and is selling well. There's no reason to launch a new phone so soon."
"Yeah, forget about the phone. The Xinyi second-generation phone will probably be in the second half of the year at least. But the tablet is a definite buy, looking forward to it."
"The Xinyi phone is already so excellent, the tablet surely won't be bad, maybe even better."
"Looking forward to Xinyi Technology releasing new products. Money is ready."
"It's not just about new products. The Mobile World Congress has always been a way for major brands to launch new products and show off their capabilities. Basically, all kinds of new products and cutting-edge technologies will be showcased at the conference. Xinyi Technology will be no exception."
"Really? Then it's really something to look forward to!"
"I am from the Empire, and I really like Xinyi Technology's products. I hope the new products can be launched simultaneously overseas."
"I am a German, and I am also looking forward to it. Germany also needs Xinyi phones and Xinyi tablets!"
"Xinyi Technology is truly impressive, even foreigners are starting to become obsessed. This is truly remarkable."
...
Amidst widespread anticipation, HTC also noticed this development.
The vice president was somewhat worried:
"Chairman, our HTC is launching the world's first quad-core phone on the 26th, but Xinyi Technology is holding its launch event a day earlier. Do you think they might steal our thunder for the world's first quad-core phone?"
Wang Zhanggui waved his hand:
"Probably not. They just released the Xphone 1; there's no need to release a new phone."
"That's good. If they launch the world's first quad-core phone first, we'll be at a disadvantage,"
The vice president breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Zhanggui also grew a little concerned:
"It's unlikely, but we must be prepared. Have someone investigate what Xinyi Technology plans to release."
"Okay."
Soon, the investigation results came back:
"Xinyi Technology will release the Xinyi Tablet X1 and X1 Pro. The former features a Qualcomm dual-core processor, and the latter an Nvidia quad-core processor. They will be available for sale immediately upon release, and stock is already being distributed."
Wang Zhanggui breathed a sigh of relief:
"It's a tablet after all, no phone?"
His subordinate replied:
"No, we've had people check, and they are only stocking two tablets, no phones."
"Good, I understand."
Wang Zhanggui completely relaxed.
The gimmick of the world's first quad-core phone was still very useful, and Wang Zhanggui certainly didn't want to give it up.
At the same time, Wang Yi and Song Sining had already arrived in Barcelona.
Looking out the hotel window at the exotic scenery, it felt like a truly unique experience.
Ancient Gothic architecture intertwined with modern skyscrapers.
Quaint old quarters were interspersed with modern commercial buildings.
This strikingly abrupt layout was commonplace in Barcelona, yet it didn't feel out of place, contributing to a unique style.
"The scenery is beautiful, historical sites are everywhere, and the climate is pleasant. This Barcelona is truly wonderful,"
Wang Yi remarked, looking out at the distant Mediterranean Sea.
Their hotel happened to be a Mediterranean sea-view room.
Song Sining embraced Wang Yi from behind and smiled, saying,
"I felt you would like it here, so I had them book a Mediterranean sea-view room."
"Sining, it's so good to have you!"
Wang Yi said with a smile, his hand gently lifting Song Sining's chin.
Their eyes met, no words needed, only the indulgence after a brief reunion...
Without knowing when it started, both had grown accustomed to this long-distance relationship.
Normally, one was in the Imperial Capital and the other in Jeju, each busy with their own affairs.
But whenever there was a press conference or an event, and they arrived in the same city, it was like a new honeymoon after a brief separation!
An hour later, Song Sining lay in Wang Yi's arms, playfully tickling Wang Yi with her hair, making him itch.
Wang Yi could only gently flick a certain spot on Song Sining with his finger, performing his "Divine Flicking Skill."
"You're incorrigible,"
Song Sining chided, but Wang Yi burst into laughter.
The next day, Song Sining and Wang Yi arrived at the launch venue for a simple rehearsal.
After all, they were abroad, but the staff had everything arranged, and there were no glitches.
In the afternoon, Wang Yi and Song Sining visited a nearby Xinyi Flagship Store.
When Wang Yi decided to launch new products in Barcelona, he arranged for people to acquire three shops and renovate them into Xinyi Flagship Stores.
After tomorrow's launch event, these three flagship stores in Barcelona would officially open and sell Xinyi Technology's new products.
Due to patent issues, the Xphone 1 could not be sold.
But Xinyi tablets, power banks, Xbuds, and other products could all be launched for sale.
As for why only three?
Naturally, it's because Barcelona is a small city, with only 1.6 million people, unlike first and second-tier cities in China that easily have eight or ten million people.
For a population of over a million, and not selling phones, three flagship stores were basically sufficient.
Moreover, there was also the Meiyou International Mall for online sales!
Early on February 25th, Wang Yi and Song Sining, accompanied by their team, arrived at the launch venue again.
To Wang Yi's surprise, the venue was already packed with people.
There were Chinese international students, overseas Chinese, and many foreigners.
Many media outlets were also present, both domestic and international.
Wang Yi smiled slightly, Xinyi Technology's internationalization was starting to show results.
Ten minutes later, the press conference began, live-streamed globally by Xinyi Video, Xinyi Technology's official website, Changliao, Meiyou, and numerous domestic and international media.
Wang Yi walked onto the stage and looked around at everyone:
"Thank you all for attending Xinyi Technology's 2012 Spring Launch Conference."
"First, I'd like to report on our achievements: since the Xphone 1 was launched on December 1st last year, its sales have exceeded 15 million in three months! Thank you all for your support!"
As he spoke, an image of the Xphone 1 appeared on the large screen behind him.
It's worth noting that Wang Yi naturally spoke in Mandarin, while the translations on the surrounding large screens were simultaneously displayed in English.
Clap! Thunderous applause erupted, astonishing everyone.
15 million sales in three months, even Apple would be impressed.
Of course, foreigners were mostly envious.
The Xphone 1 was not officially released overseas, so if they wanted to buy it, they could only get gray market versions.
However, the price of a gray market Xphone 1 was not starting from 3299, but from 6499, doubling the price!
But even so, many foreigners still gave up on the iPhone 4S and paid extra to buy the Xphone 1.
(End of chapter)