China's "semiconductor godfather" forced by $65,438 +0
1953, a young master of MIT got an offer from both Ford Motor Company and Hinivanya Company. At that time, Ford Motor Company was the overlord of the global automobile industry, and its strength and prospects were not comparable to those of the latter. Hinivanya is engaged in the semiconductor industry. At that time, the global semiconductor development was only a few years, and it belonged to an emerging industry with an unknown future.
This multiple-choice question was originally easy to do. Anyone will choose to work in Ford, but when it comes to salary, Ford's salary is less than Sivania's 1 dollar, which makes the young master change his mind and choose Sivania, which earns more 1 dollar, to enter the semiconductor industry.
This is sometimes the case in life, because the "short-sightedness" and "impulsiveness" in youth have created the rise of a generation of people of the hour. This young master is the godfather of China's "Semiconductor" and founded TSMC Zhang Zhongmou, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer.
This "semiconductor godfather" forced out by 1 USD may not be so well-known in Chinese mainland, but not many people know and know him except those in semiconductor related industries. However, in China, Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province, and the United States, he is synonymous with "the light of China" and the most successful "China entrepreneur".
How powerful is TSMC he founded? There is a saying in the industry that "global high technology cannot be separated from him".
We all know that high-tech products such as semiconductors and chips are the "heart" and foundation of many top products. After some events in the past two years, I think China people have a personal understanding of the importance of chips.
A brief talk about the global chip industry model here can well illustrate the power of TSMC.
At present, the global international chip manufacturers are divided into two modes:
One is IBM and Intel, which independently develop patented technologies and then authorize manufacturers to produce them. Big profits from patented technology, small profits from assembly and production.
There is also a TSMC model, in which patented technology and assembly production are made by ourselves, and both can reach the top level in the world, especially in the OEM market share. Although a large number of OEM companies have risen, they still can't shake his position and still occupy about 55% of the global share, which can be described as "putting all your eggs in one basket".
And all this, it is Zhang Zhongmou who built the country with one hand. Seeing this, do you begin to admire him?
2、
After the "troubled times",
We should lead the "big era"
Zhang Zhongmou was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang on 193 1. My father is the county finance director, and his family is quite well off, which also creates a good educational environment for him.
But in that war-torn era, Zhang Zhongmou was inevitably displaced with the fate of the motherland. 1932, Zhang moved to Nanjing. 1937 When War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out, the family hurried south to Guangzhou. Soon after, Guangzhou was bombed by the Japanese army and moved to Hong Kong. But after staying in Hong Kong for several years, Hong Kong fell, and the family was still worried day and night in the rain of bullets, dragging out an ignoble existence.
Zhang Zhongmou still remembers the scene that the Japanese army attacked Hong Kong for a week, and the whole city ran out of water and food: "The food in the hotel gradually ran out, and then all the cans were eaten up. Fortunately, martial law was over at that time, and by the time my parents came home, the property had been robbed by gangsters ... "
After that, the family went south to Chongqing, and it was scary and narrow to cross the war zone all the way. 1945, the Japanese army surrendered, and after a brief ecstasy, the civil war broke out and the Kuomintang forcibly introduced the "currency reform." In fact, it is to exchange worthless "golden coupons" for gold and dollars in the hands of ordinary people and rob people of their property for them to escape.
Zhang Zhongmou saw with his own eyes in Shanghai that due to the lack of confidence in golden certificates, people rushed to spend all their money on real estate to preserve their value, which led to the rise of Shanghai house prices several times a day. This is a madness at the end of the regime.
On the occasion of the change of the country, the Zhang family moved to Hong Kong again and studied at the local Peiying Middle School. After graduation, I studied in the United States and entered Harvard University.
From the moment he flew to the United States, Zhang Zhongmou knew that his "chaotic era" of more than ten years was over. Many years later, when Zhang Zhongmou deeply understood the prospect of the semiconductor industry, he made a judgment: "The chaotic era of careerists leading the world has passed, and the future is an era of peace and economic struggle, while entrepreneurs are the figures leading this great era."
It is out of the feelings similar to those of the ancient intellectuals in China that Zhang Zhongmou, 56, accepted the invitation of "Taiwan Province Institute of Industrial Technology" at 1987 as the dean, but he was not satisfied with his work in the laboratory. He wanted to set up a chip company in China, so he started his first venture.
In that era when personal computers were rarely contacted and smart phones did not appear, it was easy to expand the market in the semiconductor chip industry.
In front of Zhang Zhongmou, there are also industry operators such as IBM and Intel, which occupy a huge market share. As a person with a technical background, it is even more difficult to catch up without knowing the operation of capital. It is such a reality that many people laugh at this 56-year-old semiconductor veteran for coming out to "toss". Some people advised him to retire after working in a big enterprise for a few more years, leading a high pension and becoming a "dean" with both fame and fortune. Isn't that a good day?
People who want to do things will always experience these taunts and incomprehension. If they, like ordinary people, are content with the status quo and just want to live a good life, who will work miracles?
3、
"Veterans don't die, they just wither."
In the face of many difficulties, Zhang Zhongmou, adhering to the heart of leading the great era, faced them one by one.
First of all, making chips requires a huge amount of money, which Zhong Zhang didn't have, but he thought of a way. TSMC first provides chip foundry, so that small-scale manufacturers can focus on developing semiconductor-related intellectual property rights without paying huge fixed costs first, which greatly reduces the threshold for semiconductor enterprises to enter.
In the second year of TSMC's establishment, it welcomed its first big customer, Intel. Andrew Grove, one of Intel's founders, personally visited Taiwan Province Province. After seeing Zhang Zhongmou's products, he even gave 266 defects. TSMC engineers worked day and night to optimize the process, and finally passed Intel's certification and won the first big contract.
This order is very crucial, which not only brings profits to TSMC, but also makes TSMC's reputation in the industry slowly start because of Intel's endorsement.
In the next 30 years, Zhang Zhongmou led TSMC to a new height step by step.
From 65438 to 0997, TSMC was listed on NYSE.
In 2002, TSMC became the first wafer foundry company to enter the top ten in the semiconductor industry.
In 20 10, TSMC provided services to more than 400 customers around the world and produced more than 7,000 kinds of chips. In the same year, the annual revenue was NT$ 419.54 billion, constantly setting a new record.
On March 20th, 20 17, TSMC, the richest man in market value, surpassed Intel to become the chip company with the highest market value in the world. In the same year, TSMC's net profit reached 80 billion yuan, twice that of Huawei.
In 20 19, TSMC was selected as "Fortune 500" magazine, ranking 363rd in revenue scale and 39th in profit scale. In the same year, in August of 20 19, the company ranked 37th in the list of "Global 100 Top Companies".
Zhang Zhongmou, 89, announced his retirement from TSMC on 20 18, leaving all the company's business to the younger generation. However, he started another career, that is, writing. In Zhang Zhongmou's own words, retirement means "veterans never die, just wither".
As a teenager, Zhang Zhongmou was a literature lover and had a writer's dream. But after reading his article, my father said, "If you choose to be a writer, I'm afraid you will be hungry." . This sentence awakened Zhang Zhongmou. After reading his article carefully, he also realized that there is still a big gap between himself and a professional writer. So I gave up applying for liberal arts and chose business.
"The world is clear, everything is learned, and people's understanding is an article." Zhang Zhongmou is young and ignorant, and all he writes is "adding words to grieve". Now, after more than 80 years of vicissitudes, he not only studied thousands of books, but also took the road of Wan Li, and led the rise of an era. Besides, he has a lot of free time after retirement. He finally picked up a pen and prepared to write a biography for himself.
I believe that this must be a wonderful biography, which will help us to know more about Zhang Zhongmou and the "chaotic times" and "great times" he experienced.