Episode 181. One trillion clubs.
I answered the question of Oh-chan Jung, president of Hongin Media.
“That’s right. Because 4G has a transmission speed equivalent to VDSL, Dflix service is possible.”
“Actually, I heard that the world telecom sector is rapidly expanding the area of 4G infrastructure, so you can use that.”
“yes. Besides, we need Dflix to break the resistance of the four major carriers.”
I talked to President Jeong and Managing Director Kwon about the launch of Viewizon’s combined wired and wireless plan.
President Jung asked me.
“I understand the situation. But how are you going to use D Flix…?”
“We plan to launch a D phone plan that includes all D Flix viewing rights. For example, if you sign up for a plan over a certain amount, you can watch D Flix for free. And I don’t plan to charge a separate fee for the data used to watch D Flix. In fact, for Dflix, an unlimited data plan is released.”
“Five! Good idea. If such a plan is released, it will be popular with people who like video content. You have to pay to watch cable TV anyway, but even if you are like me, I think I would choose D Flix, where I can choose what I want to watch.”
“Yes? Since you can get a high-performance portable PC, fast wireless Internet service, and free TV viewing rights all at once, the number of people choosing the D-Phone will increase. At the same time, we have D-flix customers, so this is one stone two trillion.”
“Oh, by the way, isn’t 4G service only available in some parts of the United States yet? Would that be a problem?”
“It will not. We are working hard on global telecommunications, so in the next two months or so, the entire state of California will be covered by 4G telecommunications. Although California is only one of the 50 states in the United States, it has a population of 35 million, or 70% of the total population of Korea, and is the most populous state in the United States. It’s pretty symbolic. If we could only take full control of California, that alone would make a lot of money, and the other four major carriers would see it and raise their white flags. It’s just a matter of time before that happens in other states anyway.”
“okay. Now that the DDC (Damoyo Data Center) US corporation is ready to operate, it seems like DDC will take over the hosting service of Dflix in the US.”
“haha. The truth is, I called President Jung to tell you that. It’s nice to have a conversation with Mr. Jung. And Manager Kwon, please take charge of negotiating content contracts with American broadcasters. The deadline for negotiations is two months. When the 4G infrastructure is completed in California, we will launch D-flix in the US at the same time, so please complete all preparations within that time.”
Director Kwon nodded his head.
#MS Headquarters CEO office.
CEO Bill Arts was talking with Justin, the head of the software business, about a proposal from Hwansung Electronics.
Bill asked Justin.
“So, Hwansung Electronics in Korea is making smartphones, and you have been told that you want to cooperate with us?”
“If it’s a collaboration, do you mean that you want to use the D-window we developed for the drill CPU?”
“..that doesn’t seem to be the case. If you meet a Hwansung Electronics official who will come to America tomorrow, you will know exactly, but they didn’t even talk about D-window over the phone, and they mostly asked about our office programs.”
Bill laughed bitterly.
“okay. Well, I wouldn’t even think that I’m using D-window right now, but I had high expectations. Because of D-Talk and U-map released by Damoye, D-window has even lost its presence, and the market share of Windows, an OS for desktop PCs, is also declining…”
Justin had a sad expression on his face.
“..Mr. Kang is truly a person that is difficult to describe in words. We deliver the service that the most people will like at the most appropriate time… As someone who works in a company, I know how difficult it is, so I can’t understand how we can do that every time.”
“So do I. I’ve heard a lot of good things about myself too, but looking at Mr. Kang, I can’t help but think that I was just a normal person. Anyway, it’s a pity, but I think this D-window release is a failure.”
Bill thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“The existing Windows project team will be maintained, but the D-Window project team will be disbanded and relocated to the game division as of this month. Even in the desktop PC OS market, Easy OS is increasing its share, so we can’t just rest easy, so Justin encourage the members to release the next version of Windows as soon as possible.”
Justin asked, surprised by Bill’s declaration that he would completely close the D-Window.
“..Tablet PCs and smartphones mostly use drill CPUs, but are you saying that you are going to give up on that market?”
“To be precise, we want to give up only the OS. We’re not just doing the OS. Although the market share has decreased quite a bit due to the office program package from Haehungeul in Korea, our share of MS Office is still over 70%. We also have strengths in programming tools like Visual Studio and data management systems like SQL Server.”
“But isn’t the OS market the most profitable market?”
“It is. In fact, even until D-Tab4 was released, I was thinking of developing the next version of D-Windows and trying to stick with it. But when I saw the D phone released by Damoye this time, I realized that it was going to be useless. In the future, all mobile phones will be replaced by smartphones. And all those smartphones will use the Easy OS. If you don’t use that OS, the environment has been created so that communication with other people is difficult.”
“..Mr. Arts must have judged that…”
“yes. In my opinion, Easy OS is already standing in the same position as our Windows in the past. It is said that it is impossible to break that dominance unless you have something new that goes beyond the existing product by a few steps like the Drill CPU. So, until we get something like that, let’s temporarily stop D-Windows development and focus on developing applications for Easy OS. If you hesitate any longer, you will lose even the application market because you will be pushed by a company like the one below.”
“All right. We will rush to develop applications for Easy OS.”
“And Justin. The advent of smartphones is not necessarily bad for us. PCs are often shared by a family, but since each smartphone will be used one by one, the number of customers will increase significantly as a result. If we sell the application well, we will make enough money.”
Justin’s face brightened a little.
“I guess so. However, there are programs that D phone uses independently, such as the one below, so it will be difficult to sell our programs there, and it will be important to strengthen cooperation with other smartphone manufacturers and build good relationships.”
“Right. So tomorrow’s meeting is important. Hwansung Electronics is the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer after Nakia. They will also have a lot of trouble with the D phone, so if we talk well, we will come up with a plan that is beneficial to each other.”
“okay. We will talk with Hwansung’s side and let you know as soon as the results come out.”
With the sales team leader’s end-of-month performance announcement, the management status check meeting began.
“The production has doubled thanks to the three newly constructed lines for the US subsidiary and the first for the Korean subsidiary, which have been put into operation since last month. And the operating profit has grown beyond that, exceeding 1 trillion won per month for the first time since its inception.”
At those words, the exclamations of the executives came from all over the place.
“group 1! That’s great.”
“Five! Although we are the last of the TM groups, we have finally joined the group 1 club!”
TM Logic had already achieved 1 trillion won in monthly revenue two years ago, and now it is generating nearly 2 trillion won in profits.
TM Display surpassed 1 trillion won in monthly revenue at the end of last year by overlapping the effect of the new LTPS method on line extension.
TM Foundry also introduced a 45nm (nanometer) process earlier than its competitors, resulting in a surge in orders.
The increased production by expanding the line directly led to profits, and eventually reached 1 trillion won this month.
I said to the executives at the meeting.
“Everyone worked hard. We are well aware that TM Foundry has been able to achieve a very good performance of 1 trillion won in monthly revenue thanks to the hard work of all of you who thought of the company’s business as if it were your own and actively performed it. If this atmosphere continues, there will be a large-scale promotion with a special bonus at the end of the year, so please look forward to it.”
My words immediately erupted into applause.
The development team leader, Cha Ki-hyun, exclaimed.
“You are so humble. CEO! It was not that we did well, but that the representative led them well.”
At his words, words of approval flowed everywhere.
“you’re right. You brought in more than 10 trillion won and invested in the line, and you also led the development of the new process, right?”
“There are a lot of fabless companies that entrust their supplies to us because of your reputation.”
“haha. Thank you all for thinking that way. However, even if the performance has risen to this level, we cannot be vigilant. Now, competitors such as Wontel and ASMC are focusing their efforts on the development of the 45nm process. In particular, Wontel, which used to produce only its own production, declared that it would accept external supply after the CEO change and is concentrating its capabilities on the foundry, so we do not know when it will catch up with us. So we need to run further forward again. In that sense, the development team leader, Kihyun Cha, has a job to do.”
At the beginning of this year, Onetel CEO Craig Martin resigned after taking responsibility for poor performance.
Owen Baker, who has been appointed as the new CEO, is shrinking the CISC CPU division, which has largely lost competitiveness compared to the Drill CPU series.
We took a policy to strengthen the foundry sector.
As if he was a fairly competent person, the development speed of the new process was twice as fast as the level I had known in my previous life.
“The development of the 45nm process has just ended, but the development of the 22nm process starts right away. And this time, please proceed with the development of the 10nm or less process at the same time.”
Managing Director Cha looked at me with a surprised face.
“Are you saying that we are going to try a process below 10nm?”
“yes. The 10nm process will be a completely different level of difficulty from the processes we have developed in the past. In particular, the ArF (argon fluoride) laser light source we used to draw the circuit has a long wavelength, so it cannot be used in the 10nm process. You will have to develop a new laser light source, and besides that, there will be many difficulties. It will take at least two to three times longer than the previous process development, so we need to prepare now.”
“I see what you mean. So, do you have a light source in mind for a process below 10nm?”
“Sure. The next light source will go to EUV.”
EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet).
It was only about 13.5 nm, which is one tenth, than the ArF light source with a wavelength of 193 nm, so it was a light source that could draw much finer circuits.
In the future, foundry companies will use EUV as the main light source for sub-10nm processes.
