Episode 127. S-Project.
The head of the TM Foundry development team looked surprised.
“90nm (nanometers)?”
“..I’m sorry, but no company has succeeded in the 130nm process yet. After completing the 130nm process development, how about moving to 90nm? If you rush, you may lag behind other competitors in development speed.”
“If we finish 90nm development before other competitors finish developing 130nm process, then there is no problem, right?”
The development team leader has a lot to say, but he put on a face that he didn’t know what to say first.
“..it would be best if we could, but it’s difficult for us to do.”
“What is the biggest obstacle to moving to the 90nm process now?”
“The biggest problem is that the resolution of the light source used to draw the current circuit is low.”
Resolution is the ability to distinguish between different objects.
For example, when objects A and B are very close.
When illuminated by a light source with poor resolution, the two objects appear to be blown up.
Conversely, when illuminated by a light source with good resolution, the two objects appear to be separated from each other.
The minimum distance at which A and B can be distinguished from each other differs from light source to light source.
As the minimum distance is smaller, a finer circuit can be drawn.
“The light source is a problem.”
“yes. KrF (Krypton Fluoride), which is currently used as a light source, is not capable of drawing 90nm. If the 90nm process must be performed, an ArF (argon fluoride) light source must be used, but it is not verified yet, so the risk is high.”
verification?
I didn’t need any of that.
In the future, ArF light sources will become mainstream.
“In my opinion, there are no major problems with the ArF light source. So don’t worry and change all your light sources to ArF.”
“..all?”
“yes. However, for the production line that is running now, please change the process conditions after completely setting the process conditions.”
“..The foundry line has almost reached Full CAPA (maximum production) with only 2 drills. There is no separate line equipment to test the process conditions, so where are you talking about?”
“Did you know that we are setting up a corporation in the United States right now?”
At the request of US President Edward, it was decided to establish a corporation in California, which has the largest number of electoral colleges.
The selection of the factory site has been completed.
“We will order all the facilities for the 90nm process. We will hire people from the development team and the manufacturing team to create a separate setup team for the US corporation. Then, you can test the new process together.”
“yes. Please prepare like that and let me know if you have any problems.”
#Mid September.
The Gathering Center, the driver’s conference room.
We were talking with CEO Chae Ki-hwan about the next-generation touch screen.
“Chief Chae. We plan to put a slightly different type of touch screen on the D-Tab3.”
“If it’s another format, do you mean to use a decompression method or some other method instead of the mutual capacitance method?”
“Oh, no, I want to literally change the way we touch. Until now, I had only touched with my hand, but this time I want to make it possible to touch with a pen.”
“You can do it with your hand, but is there any reason why the pen has to be touched? It’s cumbersome, so I don’t think I’ll use it well.”
“It can be more cumbersome than your hands. But writing with a pen has its advantages.”
“What are the advantages?”
“It means you can take a picture of the part you want with much more detail than your hand. Besides, it can give different effects depending on the pressure you press. For example, if you press the pen hard, it writes boldly. What if it had the same effect on the touch screen?”
CEO Chae savored my words for a moment, then slammed his palm down with his fist.
“okay! If you have a pen with such a function, you can use the touch screen like paper. I can write more plausibly than handwriting, and when I draw, I can express myself as precisely as if I was drawing on a canvas.”
“Right. So this time, please develop not only the touch screen but also the touch screen pen.”
“I know. I will prepare like that.”
I called Daewon hyung.
“Hyung, is D-Tab2 doing well?”
“It’s too good to go out. Especially when it was released in the US last month, I thought I was going to die because of the production volume. and! In the United States alone, 3 million units are sold a month?”
“haha. Those who have been wanting to buy it for a while are buying it all at once. I don’t think this month will be that much.”
“right. 500,000 units this month in the US and 1 million in the rest of the world. The total was about 1.5 million.”
“If you think about it, isn’t it worth doing this month?”
“right…”
“..but? What’s the sad face?”
“..Actually, last month was a bit difficult, but I think that time was good, so the net profit was over 1 trillion won.”
“It’s like a slave to this money. It’s not going to end after a day or two of business, but it’s going slowly. Moreover, even if only 1.5 million units are sold, the net profit is more than 400 billion won. There are very few companies in Korea that make this much a month among large companies.”
Daewon washed his face dry as if his older brother was trying to shake off his regrets and continued.
“It is. It’s been a little over three years since we started our business, and that’s great.”
“yes. And it’s nice to be idle. After a while, you will miss the free time you have now, so enjoy it to the fullest.”
“..what else are you planning?”
“Thanks to the tablet business, we have enough money now. So, by the way, I want to start a new project.”
“New project?”
“I named it the S-Project, and it is a project that requires thorough security management just like the previous T-Project.”
Daewon hyung’s face was dyed with curiosity.
“okay? What do you want to make this time?”
“It’s a smartphone!”
“Smartphone? What is it?”
“Have I told you before? You think the world will change when the D-Tab gets smaller until it fits in the palm of your hand?”
“But I didn’t tell you how it would change the world. I’ll tell you now. What if the D-Tab, which is as small as the palm of your hand, can make calls like a mobile phone? And what if you can connect to the internet wirelessly, so you can access the internet anytime, anywhere? People will be able to see in real time most of what is happening on Earth. The changes that result from that will be enormous.”
Daewon-hyung seemed to be shocked by my words, and he hardened like ice and couldn’t say anything.
After a while, he grabbed my shoulder tightly.
“You, you child! So you bought World Telecom? Are you going to make that smartphone?”
“yes. I was already thinking about starting a computer business in Yongsan with his older brother. At the time, I didn’t have the courage to do it because I didn’t have the money or the skills, but I thought I could start it now, so I brought this up.”
Daewon opened his mouth with a face that said he was shocked.
“Wow, what am I supposed to say about this? I knew you were a really great guy, but this isn’t it. It is not easy for ordinary people to even come up with the concept of a smartphone, but you made the concession a hundred times because you were a genius. But even so, in most cases, it’s just imagination. It doesn’t cost a penny or two, because it requires a lot of things besides money. But you were planning to make it real from the start! After just three years, the preparations have already been completed. Ha…how could that be?”
“I guess it’s because I’m a genius, just like hyung said. haha. Anyway, the smartphone project will be called S-Project for short, so please gather the project members. First, we need mobile phone communication experts and semiconductor experts.”
“semiconductor? Are you not an expert in semiconductors?”
“To be precise, I specialize in communication chips and computational semiconductors such as CPUs and GPUs. Smartphones will need a lot of semiconductor chips, from flash memory to be used as a storage device to PMIC (Power Management Integrated Circuit) that manages power.”
“..why do you need so many chips?”
“Smartphones should be the size of the palm of your hand. In order to reduce the size by that much, many circuits that make up the D-Tab board now have to be replaced with semiconductors that perform the same function.”
Daewon nodded as if he understood.
“I see.”
“Besides, I’m basically a manager, not an engineer, right? You can’t be stuck at work all day. If you ask a semiconductor expert, TM Logic, a fabless company, they will introduce you.”
“And we need touch and display experts. You should also be introduced to the driver and TM display.”
Daewon looked at me with eyes that said he was tired of hyung.
“..you really prepared it well. Now it feels like the puzzle is being put together. D-Tab was just a bridge to get through, and you bought it from the start because those companies needed them to make smartphones, right?”
“Right. So I told you. I think I’m ready now.”
“..can I just ask one thing?”
“Why did you choose me when you started your business in Yongsan then? It didn’t have to be me. At that time, there were many more competent and business-minded people in the Yongsan store.”
“I just like him. What do you do when your heart goes out? If I had to look for the reason, it must have been that my brother’s ancestors accumulated many merits.”
To be more precise, the future member’s brother has accumulated merit.
“..when I get home, I have to hold a ancestral rite. I haven’t been here for three years, but I’m sure you’ll understand.”
“yes! You will understand. haha.”
Gathering Center, Entertainment.
Today was the day when Damoye Entertainment received a report on the results of its investment in Hollywood movies.
President Kim Soo-chan started the briefing with a recalled face.
“Mission Impossible 2 results have been roughly counted. To summarize, the total production cost was about 120 billion won, and even after taking all the guarantees and distribution costs apart, the income is about 480 billion won. We invested half of the production cost, so 240 billion won is the return on this investment. Of course, this could also increase further depending on what happened to secondary distribution.”
“Good for you. 240 billion is about 400%? I invested last year, so it’s a hassle after a year.”
“yes. Actually, I was nervous, but the representative’s choice was right. The highest-grossing film this year was Mission Impossible 2, so you shot it really well.”
“I told you. I’m good at taking one picture.”
“That’s it. I’ll admit it now. I think you have a special feeling that ordinary people like me do not have.”
“Is that right? So just trust me and follow me. haha. Then, the proceeds will be reinvested in Hollywood, so please collect investment proposals for a movie to be released next year.”
“Did the actors you manage on our side increase?”
“yes. The actor Hwang Kyung-min, who introduced me, did a good job, so the rumors of our entertainment went well. After that, actors started joining little by little, and not long ago, actor Song Jang-ho also came to our side.”
Song Jang-ho.
He has made several films in which he starred, including the Joint Security Area JSA.
The famous actor who became the first Korean actor to surpass 100 million viewers in the lead movie came to us?
“The stock price must have been high these days, but it seems that our entertainment has been well-received.”
“yes. Actually, the CEO said that actor management should not be for profit, right? So there were many things I could do for the actors than other agencies.”
The purpose of attracting actors to the entertainment industry was not to make money.
It was one of the means to elevate the image of Damoye, to become the best company that not only converts the value into money but also the brand.
And investing in Hollywood is not just for financial gain.
Currently, there is only one movie that has successfully invested in Mission Impossible 2.
If I continue to make successful investments in the future, my influence on the American film industry will grow stronger.
And if that’s strong enough, I’ll be able to lead American culture itself.
I was aiming for that.
“okay. Please continue to do so.”
“All right. But, representative. Do you have any acquaintances with Minkle member Kim Yeon-hee?”
