Chapter 206: Now is the Critical Moment of Life and Death

"Why?"

"Is it just because of the previous restrictions?"

Marcello's expression was unsightly, but even though he was mocked to his face, he did not stand up and leave; instead, he continued to explain:

"You should know that is not something we can decide. To put it bluntly, we are just an ordinary integrator without much power, needing advanced equipment and materials from various parties to produce our Advanced Lithography Machine."

"If we don't listen, we also won't be able to produce an Advanced Lithography Machine, and even if we wanted to cooperate with you, there would be no way."

"I know you must have grievances against us because of what happened before, but you should be able to see that this is not our problem."

He forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and said with a sincere face:

"We are a business; there is no distinction of nationality, no distinction of race, and no distinction of skin color. Everything should be based on profit first."

"I know that you, being able to sit in your current position, are definitely not someone who acts on impulse."

"What's more, the complex capital behind your company and the more than ten thousand employees inside do not allow for sacrificing profits just to vent one's anger."

"Commercial behavior should be thought about and measured using commercial rules. Whether we can cooperate should mainly depend on the product."

The middle-aged man sitting opposite him looked indifferent, watching him with a half-smile.

That condescending, yet slightly mocking, indifferent smile made Marcello feel as if the other party were watching a monkey performance at a circus.

This made Marcello so angry that his heart twitched faintly, and he almost couldn't control the expression on his face.

But there was no other way.

He had already met with several Long Country semiconductor manufacturers in succession, and all he faced were rejections.

If he had still held some posture at the beginning, feeling that no matter what, he wouldn't really fall to the point of begging others.

But after being rejected time and time again, he understood that he had to be humble.

Otherwise, if he could not complete the task assigned by the board of directors and reach a cooperation with a Long Country enterprise, his position would certainly not be secure.

Marcello was able to go from an ordinary employee to his current position step by step, becoming the vice president of a high-tech company with a market value of over a trillion; not to mention his ability, his skin must be thick enough.

When necessary, no matter how he had to put down his dignity, it was fine.

Therefore, he pretended not to see the other party's gaze and continued to say with a sincere face:

"Tianke No. 1 certainly has high parameters in every aspect, but it is a brand-new product after all."

"Including every major component, almost all are brand new and have not been tested by the market. If you purchase it rashly and later discover that Tianke No. 1 has defects in some aspect, it is very likely to drag down a company because of this."

"After all..."

"That is a piece of high-precision equipment worth about one billion. Once such a large procurement business has a problem, it is very likely to drag down the entire company's capital chain, thereby causing the whole company to fall into trouble and encounter many risks."

"Its number of parts reaches over one hundred thousand. If there is even a small problem, without experienced after-sales engineers, it is simply impossible to find the problem, let alone solve it."

"I know you all believe in Su Xin's strength and feel that he can solve all pre-sales and after-sales problems, but he is only one person, and his main energy is focused on researching new products; it is absolutely impossible for him to serve as an after-sales engineer for a long time."

"Ordinary problems still have to rely on the engineers that Tianqi Core Technology hired only two or three months ago."

"I have looked into it; among those so-called engineers, more than half have no experience in the Lithography Machine industry, and the other half are not well-known senior engineers in the industry either."

"Forgive me for being presumptuous, but the engineering team at Tianqi Core Technology is truly terrifyingly crude."

"Rashly accepting orders publicly like this is simply irresponsible to customers."

"If a problem occurs later and after-sales cannot solve it in time, affecting your production and leading to order delays, thereby incurring huge breach-of-contract fees and reputational damage, this is not a problem that money can solve."

Such words should not have come from the mouth of a high-level executive; it would make him appear to lack poise.

But Marcello could no longer care about these things now; even if he knew such words made him appear to lack poise, he had to analyze the pros and cons of both sides clearly and strive for the other party's recognition as much as possible.

But no matter what he said.

The middle-aged man sitting opposite him just looked at him with disdain.

After he finished speaking.

The middle-aged man still smiled mockingly:

"Unexpectedly, the famous Mr. Marcello, the famous ASML, would also have such a humble day."

"I expressed my meaning very clearly just now; I don't need your Lithography Machine, and I don't want to cooperate with you anymore. Do you understand?"

"I will also tell you directly: I was willing to see you today just to reject you to your face and vent the pent-up anger in my heart."

"I also know that what happened back then was not your subjective wish, but so what? Since you represented certain interests and righteously refused to cooperate with us, now we can also refuse to cooperate with you."

"The Semiconductor industry of Long Country is destined to rise. It is already too late for you to lift the restrictions. We have Tianqi Core Technology now, and we don't look down on your Lithography Machines anymore."

"Even after a period of time, we will become the new leader of the global Semiconductor industry, and all mid-to-downstream manufacturers will have to change their attitudes and beg us for cooperation."

"Tianke No. 1 is much stronger than you imagine; you are already about to be eliminated."

No matter how thick Marcello's skin was, he could not bear being scolded to his face like this. Hearing the other party's words, his face could not help but turn livid.

Just at this moment.

The phone in his pocket vibrated.

That was the vibration mode he had specifically set before the meeting started.

Taking a deep breath, Marcello stood up and said in a deep voice: "Let's go."

The other party had already spoken to this extent, so he couldn't be bothered to greet the other party again, turning around and leaving the conference room directly.

Several subordinates hurriedly followed.

Arriving outside, Marcello took out his phone to look, then hurriedly connected.

"How is the negotiation in Long Country?"

Sergei's voice came from the receiver.

"It's not going well. Every enterprise firmly rejected our cooperation request. Even though I talked to them humbly, I was met with decisive rejection and even repeated mockery."

"As expected."

"Hmm?"

Before Marcello could continue to ask, Sergei on the other end of the phone continued:

"I have already learned more performance parameters of Tianke No. 1 from others."

"They not only possess sufficient stability, but their production efficiency has also reached 240 units per hour."

"240 units?"

Marcello was shocked and asked subconsciously: "Is that 12-inch wafers?"

"Nonsense! Of course it is."

Marcello could not help but gasp.

Their latest model of Advanced Lithography Machine currently only has a production efficiency of 200 units per hour, which they already considered the limit.

Yet Tianke No. 1 is actually 20 percent higher?!

As an industry insider, he naturally knows what such production efficiency represents; it represents lower labor costs and time costs.

Furthermore.

Lithography Machines have a service life; under the same duration of use, Tianke No. 1 can produce 20 percent more chips, which is equivalent to significantly diluting the equipment cost of the Lithography Machine.

Coupled with higher production capacity, it can also bring more orders to chip manufacturers, occupy more market share, and improve market status.

For any chip manufacturer, these are huge attractions.

Sergei continued:

"Moreover, the factory price of Tianke No. 1 is only 800 million Long Coin, which is 20 to 30 percent lower than ours."

Marcello exclaimed even more:

"How is that possible?!"

"Where did they get such low..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered a very important question—

Tianxin Industrial Park was built entirely with Tianqi Core Technology Company as the core, and the core technologies of all supporting companies were developed by Su Xin.

Tianqi Group is either a major shareholder of these companies or owns them outright.

In short, rather than saying Tianxin Industrial Park is an industrial park formed by various companies, it is better to say they are all industries under Tianqi Group.

That is to say, the vast majority of core equipment and materials for Tianke No. 1 can be obtained at relatively low internal prices.

Unlike them, where every piece of equipment and material is provided by top suppliers from various countries, with prices that are ridiculously high one by one.

After all, those suppliers of theirs are leading enterprises in various industries globally, each mastering unique core technologies, so the prices supplied to them are naturally very high.

This is very normal and very reasonable.

In the past, as the industry's only supplier of Advanced Lithography Machines, ASML also had an extremely high market status; even if the procurement cost was high, it did not matter, as it could be passed on to customers anyway.

Those chip manufacturers had to buy even if they did not want to.

Because there was no choice.

As long as they controlled the price to a certain level that would not affect the customers' profitability, their orders would be endless.

But that is no longer possible now.

They have an incomparably powerful competitor; the other side not only has stronger technology and stronger financial strength, but also relies on Long Country, which possesses the entire industrial chain, and additionally controls all core industries of Lithography Machine manufacturing, making their costs unbelievably low.

A selling price of 800 million Long Coin.

Thinking of this, Marcello's breathing almost stopped.

It is not that ASML cannot afford to sell at this price; there is even a decent profit.

But after deducting all costs, the net profit per unit would only be a little over 100 million.

And their previous profit, regardless of how the prices of materials or equipment parts fluctuated, remained at about 500 million Long Coin per unit.

The difference between the two is five times!

If the profit margin really dropped to such a level, I am afraid many shareholders would withdraw their capital on the spot.

For capital, it only ever pursues higher returns; if ASML's profitability suddenly becomes much worse, many capitals will definitely abandon it at the first opportunity.

Those capitals will not care about ASML's life or death, let alone what kind of industry status and significance ASML possesses.

Moreover, if the performance report data is made public, the sharp decline in profit margin will directly impact the stock market, causing shareholders to sell off, leading to a rapid drop in market value.

Therefore, once ASML and Tianqi Core Technology fight a price war, I am afraid they will quickly become a second-rate enterprise before the two sides even determine a winner.

And a price war is bound to fail.

A company going public has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that it can allow the company to develop faster; the disadvantage is that it will add many constraints to the company.

But if they do not fight a price war, what should they do?

Their price is over 1.1 billion, while Tianqi Core Technology's Lithography Machine is 800 million; even counting logistics and other various expenses, it is only a little over 800 million.

The price difference is 300 million!

Not every enterprise is as wealthy as Tianqi Group; a gap of 300 million is enough to make the vast majority of people ignore many flaws.

What's more, Tianke No. 1 currently appears to have no flaws, and on the contrary, it is stronger than their Lithography Machine in every aspect.

How can they compete with this?

Marcello was completely numb.

But Sergei on the other end of the phone continued to speak of negative news:

"Their production capacity is also very high; currently, it is known that they have received at least twenty orders for Tianke No. 1, and all guarantee delivery starting this year."

"This means that their production lines and supporting industrial chains are likely already mature."

"Such high production capacity has already caused us a huge impact; many international manufacturers are negotiating specific cooperation plans with Tianqi Core Technology, which is why they are deliberately stalling us."

"Once their cooperation plans are finalized and formal contracts are signed, they might directly cancel our cooperation at that time, making all our efforts during this period go to waste."

"Including the production capacity we worked so hard to increase over the past two years, there will be a large surplus, which will bring us great pressure."

Speaking of this, Sergei's tone had become incomparably serious.

"Therefore, the next period of time may be the most critical moment of life or death for ASML."

"We must completely cast aside our former pride and, like a fledgling salesman, approach those chip manufacturers who once begged us, humbly pleading for cooperation with an attitude of utmost modesty."

"You are responsible for the Long Country market."

"Within half a month, reach a definitive cooperation agreement with at least one Long Country enterprise; we must hold a press conference to stabilize market confidence."

"No matter what means you use."

"The board of directors has just issued a mandatory order; if this task cannot be completed, you can prepare to leave in half a month."

Hearing this, Marcello's expression turned gloomy.

He had already been rejected by every top chip manufacturer in Long Country, and things had even ended quite unpleasantly.

Especially since he had just been mocked to his face and the other party had even unceremoniously ordered him to leave, and he had turned and walked away without even saying goodbye.

In this situation, how could he continue to negotiate?

But if he didn't go back to them, was he supposed to go find those small companies with market values of only a few billion? Even if they were willing to cooperate, they couldn't afford an Advanced Lithography Machine.

The Advanced Lithography Machine is such a high-end, expensive piece of equipment that only a few dozen companies in the entire world can afford to buy and use it.

Thinking of this, Marcello's head felt like it was about to explode.

But for the sake of his position, he had to swallow his pride, turn back, and continue seeking out enterprises like Longxin International, going door-to-door time and again to beg for cooperation.