pertwk Chapter 373 A Price Station in the Lithography Machine Industry?
Chapter 373 A Price Station in the Lithography Machine Industry?
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
The sales president also slammed his fist on the table.
"If we don't lower the price, all our customers will leave; if we lower the price, we'll sell at a loss."
Choose one.
The meeting room was in complete chaos, but Wen Ningke remained silent throughout.
He stared at the information about the Morningstar lithography machine on the screen for a long time.
He couldn't figure it out.
In his mind, China's semiconductor equipment had always been at the stage of being usable but not very good.
Naura Technology Group and AMEC have indeed made rapid progress in recent years.
But lithography machines... that's another matter.
The lithography machine is the crown jewel of semiconductor manufacturing. Although the 193 dry lithography machine is not as advanced as the immersion DUV and the EUV they are developing, it is still a masterpiece that integrates countless optical, precision mechanical and control systems.
How did Chuanyin manage to complete a route that Asmail had taken 20 years to traverse in such a short time, using a completely different method?
He found some more information:
Their backgrounds mainly include Transsion Holdings, Changchun Institute of Optics and Electronics Technology, Shanghai Weixin Electronics, and the Department of Precision Instruments at Tsinghua and Peking Universities...
And of course, there were those engineers who joined China, those traitors!
Yes! Traitor!
"Have you checked the source of the technology?"
The general counsel nodded: "It's been checked."
They started applying for patents intensively three years ago, and currently have more than 200 publicly disclosed patents, basically bypassing our core patents.
Moreover, all the patents they can apply for are unimportant ones; they keep their real patents very well hidden.
For example, they took completely different approaches to fixed light sources and projection lenses. We use mercury lamps, while they use a variant of PP light sources, which solved the power stability problem.
As for the specifics of how it was resolved... there is currently no publicly available information.
"No infringement?"
"As of now, there is no infringement."
Their patent lawyers are very skilled; they've done an extremely clean job of circumventing patent restrictions.
Wen Kening closed his eyes again.
This is the part that terrifies him the most. If Morningstar had started by copying others, he could have used patent litigation to hold them off for several years.
But they managed to get around it, and not only that, they created something even better.
This is no longer the old narrative of Chinese plagiarism, but a true technological revolution that subverts its competitors from the ground up.
"1.2 million."
As soon as Wen Ningke spoke, everyone's attention immediately turned to him.
"Reduce the price of the XT:1450 to 1.2 million."
The CFO panicked instantly: "Peter, at this price, we're losing money on mature processes..."
"I said, 1.2 million." Wen Ningke looked at the other party with a face full of anger. "Do you think you're the only one who can do the math?"
"If it drops to 1.2 million, how much loss per unit?"
"...About 400 million euros," the finance director said, head bowed.
"Have you considered the consequences of not lowering the price?"
Everyone in the conference room lowered their heads.
If they don't lower the price, TSMC's 20 units will just be the beginning. They will add 30, 50... until all the dry-type machines are replaced with MStar.
Once Sansun and Nvidia confirm that MStar's equipment is reliable, they will not hesitate to switch orders.
By then, ASML won't even have the chance to lower its prices.
Because by then, Morningstar's production capacity will also ramp up, and their costs will further decrease.
Even if you gave ASMAR machines away for free, customers wouldn't use them.
And all the machines they were manufacturing were completely wasted.
After figuring it out, no one raised any further objections.
"Moreover," Wen Ningke gritted his teeth and said something that deepened everyone's fear, "1.2 million is not enough."
The CFO even thought he had misheard: "What?"
Peter, you…”
"We need to lower the price again." Wen Ningke gritted his teeth again. "China's real trump card is not the price of 8000 yuan, but their public commitment."
The cost of consumables during the maintenance period is 40% lower than that of ASMAL.
The customer isn't calculating the price of the machine, but rather the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Even if we reduce the machine price to 1.2 million, the total cost, including subsequent maintenance and consumables, will still be much higher than MStar's. Customers aren't stupid.
"So you mean...?"
"1.1 million." Wen Ningke finally nodded. "1.1 million for the machine, and a 30% reduction in maintenance costs. This is a good plan."
The CFO immediately turned off the microphone, but his liver-colored face said it all.
crazy!
They've all gone mad!
The sales president then seized the opportunity to ask, "What about the immersion machine?"
"Don't move!" Wen Ningke regained his previous domineering aura. "No matter how much technology they have hidden, as long as they haven't shown it, we are technologically superior."
Since we're in the lead, there's no need to be subservient.
However, in the field of lithography machines, our influence is not as strong as before.
The meeting eventually ended amidst their sighs and lamentations.
Within half an hour, official news of the price reduction spread.
"To thank our global customers, we are reducing the price of our T-series dry lithography machines, effective immediately, with a suggested global price of 1.1 million Taiwanese dollars."
Everyone could see the mess that followed this announcement.
"Giveback? That's hilarious. Why didn't you say 'giveback' when you raised prices every year a few years ago?"
"Top Translator: I got hurt by Morning Star."
"I heard that Sansang has already made purchases?"
"Upstairs, your information is outdated. Nvidia has already made purchases, and they're much bolder than Samsung, buying 15 units directly."
But I'm curious, what did they mean when these devices were sent to America? [doge emoji]
"I imported something that I was prohibited from exporting. [doge emoji]"
Of course, the digital chat site wasn't idle either; it posted a Weibo message overnight.
"A certain company's 8-year-old machine kept getting more and more expensive, but as soon as the domestically produced equipment came out, it started to give back to customers all over the world. The speed of this return is too fast."
That's 4000!
That's no small sum, but since the price has already dropped, why can't we just go for the best deal from the start? Cutting flesh with a dull knife is the most painful thing.
But how about we do some activities in other situations too?
This highly unusual announcement from the digital chat site has actually piqued the interest of many viewers. After all, something unusual must be going on, so could there be another breakthrough?
"Do you have a more advanced machine for station songs?"
"Absolutely! But I'm curious about the C model—is it exclusive to Transsion or is it available for delivery?"
"Forget about whether you sell it or not. Just say that the machine was originally worth 1.5 million, but when domestic equipment came out, it directly gave up 4000 million in profit."
What is a monopoly? This is a monopoly!
"Our domestic manufacturers have been paying so much unnecessary money; thankfully, we've made a breakthrough."
"The upstairs neighbors at Asmaier didn't lower their prices; they just redefined them."