Chapter 96 ARM Perpetual License

Chapter 96 ARM Perpetual License

Chapter 96 ARM Perpetual License
After coming out of WeCool Electronics, Xu Shenxue went up to the 30th floor to check on Zhiyun Semiconductor and several other subsidiaries.

Zhiyun Technology obtained a large amount of funds after financing, and also obtained a large amount of cash flow due to the launch and sales of the C1 mobile phone. Therefore, it has acquired many companies during this period.

For example, Anlong Precision, which is engaged in aluminum alloy, Meixiu Company, which is engaged in beauty algorithms, and Wanjin Technology, which was originally engaged in access control fingerprint recognition.

Then it also set up some wholly-owned subsidiaries, such as Zhiyun Semiconductor for chips, Zhiyun Trading for online business channels, Zhiyun Mall Technology for Android mall, and subsidiaries for developing some small software, such as Zhiyun Software for video call software and other small software.

Zhiyun Technology now has six wholly-owned subsidiaries and five holding companies. In addition, it has invested in seven or eight companies, including some companies in the Wecoo system, such as Wecoo Electronics, Wecoo Trading, and Wecoo Industrial.

Due to the large number of subsidiaries and previous financing needs, Zhiyun Technology Co., Ltd. was officially renamed "Zhiyun Group Co., Ltd." in April.

The 30th floor is currently the office space of Zhiyun Semiconductor. There are not many people there at the moment, only about a hundred or so, and the company is still in the process of recruiting on a large scale.

After Xu Shenxue went up, he met Mei Jianye.

Mei Jianye introduced him to the current status of chip development.

"We have reached an ARMv7 architecture-level license with the British company ARM. This is a permanent license. We are currently conducting in-depth research and development of our own architecture based on this architecture and designing corresponding chips!"

"But this part of the work still needs time. Once we have perfected the architecture, we will enter the design process. Even if everything goes well, it may take until next year to see the design of the first chip!"

"In order to reduce risks, our first SOC chip design is positioned as a low-end solution, and the design is based on the performance standards of the 7227 chip. This will make the design less difficult and less risky, but it is still unknown what it can achieve and whether it can meet the performance requirements of the company's mobile phones!"

Xu Shenxue said: "The design and development of SOC chips is not easy. I have expected this. You don't have to worry that I don't have the patience. You can rest assured to polish the details, build the architecture, and perfect it. Then we can discuss the specific chip application issues."

The architecture is the foundation of chip research and development. It is impossible to produce a good chip without a solid foundation.

So Xu Shenxue didn’t ask to come up with any good chips right now, he just asked to complete the architecture first.

At this time, Mei Jianye continued: "In terms of communication baseband, this is relatively more difficult. On the one hand, there is the issue of patent restrictions. Qualcomm and several other manufacturers have monopolized CDMA-related patents. Moreover, this patent is not only a patent for product design, but they have also directly integrated this patent into the communication protocol... As long as we use the current 3G communication protocol, we will not be able to bypass the patents of Qualcomm and several other companies!"

Xu Shenxue said: "Patents in the 3G era are difficult to obtain, so what about 4G?"

Mei Jianye said: "A lot of 4G patents have actually been registered, but there are still some loopholes that can be exploited to bypass some patents. Overall, it is easier to do than 3G, but the difficulty is also very high!"

"In addition to the patent issue, another point is that communication chips involve too many fields and need to be adapted and tested with a large number of base station equipment. We are relatively lacking in this aspect, but the technical reserves of Warwick next door are quite good!"

"I heard that HiSilicon is also working on chips, and probably communication basebands as well!"

"They have the advantage of technical reserves and some patents, so they will probably be able to do it more smoothly than us."

After hearing this, Xu Shenxue said: "It's not a big problem. If 3G is not easy to develop, then we can develop 4G. According to the current pace, China will soon transition to 4G. As long as we can follow up with 4G in a few years, we should also lay out 5G patents in advance and participate in the promotion of 5G protocols!"

"SOC and baseband are more difficult, so we can take our time. However, power management chips are a little more urgent. Some domestically produced chips are not very easy to use, and imported ones are expensive. The cost of using them in mid- and low-end models is too high!"

"So you need to work harder on the power management chip and strive to have your power management chips used in our mid- and low-end mobile phones next year!"

After listening to the brief introduction, Xu Shenxue also went to the R&D department for a look... But it seemed that there was nothing interesting to see. A group of engineers were all facing the computer, and there was no sample for him to see... And he couldn't understand the various dense codes on the display screen...

So I could only give him some pretend encouragement, ask him about his well-being, and then leave.

However, the engineers in the R&D department actually like Xu Shenxue's style... Boss Xu doesn't understand, but he doesn't complain.

Unlike some technical managers who understand technology but do not continue to study at the forefront of technology, they like to make comments just because they know a little bit.

As for Boss Xu, he just didn't understand and didn't ask about the detailed technical details. He wouldn't understand anyway, so Boss Xu only increased the salary, asked about the well-being and boosted morale...

They like bosses like this!

Even the group of mobile phone engineers in Zhiyun Technology actually think that Boss Xu is a good person, although sometimes the requirements he puts forward are quite harsh, and even make people in the industry feel that he lacks common sense and is out of touch with reality.

But they only put forward requirements at the application level, and they don’t care how you implement it.

For example, for that damn aluminum alloy body, Xu Shenxue had only two requirements: the cost must be controlled within a certain range, it must not be easily bent or deformed when used, and it must be usable!
As for specific technical indicators, no mention is made at all.

As for the detailed R&D work and technical route, they don't interfere at all. And the salary and benefits are sufficient, and the face is also given.

What a great boss!
So even though a group of technical personnel occasionally complain that Xu Shen doesn't understand any technology and makes some inexplicable and even unrealistic demands every day...but if you ask them to change their boss, especially a boss who understands technology, they really won't be happy!

This is just like the coal boss at the film festival. He only sleeps with the female lead, and doesn't care about the content of the movie or how it was created. All he cares about is that you just shoot and I just sleep, and no one interferes with anyone else!

Moreover, coal bosses generally have good aesthetic taste, so the heroines of the movies they invest in are often beautiful women.

Compared with some companies in the industry that invest in filming, these companies that have a lot of trouble every day are more popular with directors and producers.

In the field of R&D, Xu Shenxue's basic approach is similar to that of the coal bosses: he spends money generously and doesn't care about anything else as long as he has the product.

After visiting the R&D departments of various subsidiaries today, Xu Shenxue has gained a basic understanding of the current R&D progress of each company.

In general, the progress in mobile phones and related industries has been relatively stable, without any major surprises.

According to the plan, it is estimated that the TD-CDMA and CDMA1 versions of C2000 will be available to the market starting next month.

With the two C1 versions being supplied to the market, the sales volume of C1 mobile phones will be further expanded...

Around July or August, Wecoo Electronics will be able to release mid- and low-end smartphones, driving the price of smartphones down to less than 2,000 yuan, ushering in the era of 1,000 yuan phones.

The sales volume of a 3G smartphone that costs more than one thousand yuan will be more exaggerated than that of a smartphone that costs two to three thousand or even four thousand yuan... because there will always be more poor people in this world.

Although smart phones at this price may not bring much hardware profit to Vicoo Electronics, they can bring huge value-added service income, such as built-in software... Currently, Mobile QQ is negotiating with Vicoo Electronics about built-in channels, and other major software manufacturers are also negotiating with Vicoo Electronics about built-in software.

The built-in fees alone are a considerable source of income, and there is also channel fee income from the software mall, which is also a major source of income.

You have to know that the channel fee standard set by Weiku Electronics for its own system mall channel is 15% to 70%!
For some tool-type software that has strong user demand but does not make much money, the channel fee is very low, only between 15% and 30%, depending on the type of software... The APP store will provide support policies.

But for games, the channel fee is very expensive...the starting price is 50%.

For some small games that have no special features and need to rely on the APP store for promotion, you can also selectively sign a higher-level promotion profit-sharing plan. Zhiyun APP will provide you with traffic support and promotion, but the profit-sharing ratio will vary depending on the level of traffic support, up to 90%.

Don't ask why it's so dark.

Anyway, Zhiyun APP doesn’t force you to use it, it’s up to you whether you want to use it or not... You can choose the support and promotion plan by yourself. If you don’t choose it, you can promote it and find users by yourself, and the channel fee is only 50%.

If you want support for promotion and traffic, then you can choose a different level of traffic support and then divide it into 50% to 90%.

At the same time, there are only two Chinese Android ecological channels, namely Google and Zhiyun APP... and Google is facing huge troubles and it is estimated that it will withdraw from the market soon.

By then, Zhiyun APP will have a monopoly on the market... at least in the short term!

Relying on various value-added services, Weiku Electronics can still generate some additional income and will not worry too much about not making money due to too little profit from hardware.

Besides, the profit margin of Weiku Electronics' hardware is low, but that is only relative to Zhiyun Technology's high-end phones. It doesn't mean that they really make less money... Anyway, they make more money than selling feature phones.

As for Zhiyun Technology, it plans to release its flagship phone and C2 phone in September... to compete head-on with smartphones from Apple and other international manufacturers.

According to reliable sources, China Unicom has reached a basic agreement with Apple. If nothing unexpected happens, Apple phones will be launched in the domestic market in September or October.

For Zhiyun Technology, this is a huge threat!

But it's just a threat!
Xu Shenxue is confident that he can compete with Apple in terms of brand positioning by relying on the excellent performance and body design of his future flagship phone.

We are also confident that the C2 phone will be able to make money by shipping in large quantities thanks to its relatively high cost-performance ratio.

Combining the two, Xu Shenxue is still full of confidence!

(End of this chapter)