redvbooks Chapter 89 Bystander
Chapter 89 Bystander
At 3 p.m. the day after the agreement was signed, Weigan’s official WeChat account released an announcement.
The title is "Announcement Regarding the Signing of a Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Microsensor Semiconductor and Hongyuan Intelligent on the Improvement of UAV-Grade IMU Process".
The announcement explained three things—
First, both parties signed a twelve-month process improvement cooperation agreement on the low-temperature drift problem in the micro-sensor drone-grade IMU production line.
Second, the agreement includes a performance-based clause: if the low-temperature drift cannot be reduced to 75 points or above of the equivalent Bosch BMI088 index within the next six months, Hongyuan will not be entitled to any compensation; if successful, the two parties will share the relevant patents and process know-how according to their contribution.
Third, Hongyuan will have priority supply rights in the sensor procurement contracts of Microsensor for the next two years (provided that the unit price difference does not exceed 20%).
Ten minutes after the announcement, 36Kr reprinted it. Thirty minutes later, TMTPost reprinted it. At 8 PM, CBN published an analysis article titled "A Drone Company Boss's Bet on a Semiconductor Production Line" on its online edition.
The article's argument is skeptical.
"The temperature control precision in semiconductor processes is the result of decades of equipment iteration and parameter tuning. Bosch has been making MEMS sensors since 1972, accumulating nearly fifty years of process data. ST and TDK are next. Among the four domestic IMU manufacturers—MicroSensing has been established for eight years and its production line has been in operation for six years; its equipment precision lags behind that of leading international companies by a generation."
"As an entrepreneur in the drone industry, Mr. Su Chen helped a semiconductor production line improve its low-temperature drift index in a short period of time through consulting—a goal that, in the eyes of semiconductor industry practitioners, has a probability of being close to zero."
The comment section below the article quickly split into two camps between 9 pm and 11 pm that night.
One group believes Su Chen is overconfident. One of the most representative comments comes from a user with the WeChat ID "Former SMIC Process Engineer": "Process improvement is not algorithm optimization. Algorithms can run in a virtual environment. Processes must be tested on an actual production line. Mr. Su may be very skilled in flight control—but flight control is not MEMS. Flight control is software logic, while MEMS is physical materials. They operate under completely different physical laws."
The other group consists of Su Chen's former fans. They listed seemingly "impossible" things Su Chen had done in the past three years—growing a valuation of 300 million from 1.2 million, establishing the four-tier licensing system for his flight control SDK as an industry standard, and reversing the Haotai lawsuit. "Su Chen hasn't lost a battle in three years. Why should he lose this time?"
The next morning, things started to escalate.
A tech blogger with around 500,000 followers posted a long video titled "Why I'm Pessimistic About Su Chen's Promise This Time." In the video, he spent twelve minutes explaining the complexity of MEMS manufacturing processes—including three key aspects: deep hardening temperature control, wafer stress release, and packaging humidity control—and presented data on the differences between major domestic and international manufacturers in these three aspects.
At the end of the video, he said, "I hope Su Chen can make it happen. But professional judgment tells me that reducing the low-temperature drift to Bosch's 75 points within six months requires a technological miracle, not just engineering effort."
This video received over a million views within 24 hours.
Public opinion has begun to shift.
On the third day—that is, the third day after the agreement was signed—the percentage of people who were optimistic about Su Chen had dropped to below 15%.
Reporters began gathering outside the Microsensor Semiconductor Company the day after the agreement was announced. The small road in Wuxi New District, usually deserted, was jammed with nearly thirty cars carrying reporters on the first morning.
The receptionist was so stressed during those two days that she couldn't even eat lunch. Every five minutes, a reporter would come in demanding to see Zhao Jiancheng or Su Chen. All interview requests were politely declined by Zhao Jiancheng's assistant.
By 4 p.m. on the third day after the agreement was signed—December 4, 2019—there were more than eighty reporters at the entrance.
Zhao Jiancheng came out at 5:15 p.m. and gave a five-minute response.
"Dear journalists, I'd like to give a brief response to your most pressing question. Mr. Su began observing our production line the day before yesterday. He hasn't yet offered any specific suggestions for process improvements. According to our communication with him, he needs to observe the production line for at least three to four rounds before formally proposing the first version of the improvement plan. Based on our batch production cycle, the first version of the improvement plan shouldn't be available until around mid-January next year."
"Therefore, from today until mid-January next year—about a month and a half in between—there will be no noteworthy developments. Colleagues, please don't wait here."
He finished speaking and turned back.
A murmur of disappointment rippled through the group of reporters at the entrance.
A month and a half. This meant the next peak in this topic wouldn't come for at least six weeks. The reporters began to disperse. Some went straight back to their hotels to check out. Others started calling their respective editorial departments to discuss the next hot topic.
Several of the reporters turned their attention elsewhere.
Haotai Capital. Tianying Technology. Lianchuang Group. Hongyuan's own supplier chain—Bosch, TDK, and Sony's China public relations. They set off separately.
Haotai Capital's response came faster than expected.
Xia Kanghao accepted a phone interview with Caijing magazine at 7 p.m. that evening. This time, he didn't make a direct slip of the tongue like last time. He spoke very tactfully.
"Mr. Su is a respectable young entrepreneur. Everything he has accomplished at Hongyuan is evident to all. But what I want to say is—the first element of a company's success is self-awareness. The most dangerous time for an entrepreneur is often not when facing external competition, but rather when their judgment tends to drift after achieving success."
"The issue of low-temperature temperature drift—only a handful of people in the entire Asian semiconductor industry can solve it. I hope Mr. Su is setting a reasonable goal this time. If not—then the next time we discuss him in the media, the topic might not be how successful 'Hongyuan' is, but how important 'judgment' is."
"Furthermore—" Xia Kanghao paused, "I'd like to add something. There have always been differing opinions within the industry regarding whether the original technical contributions to Hongyuan Flight Control belonged to Mr. Su personally or his early team. I don't want to delve into that topic today. But I hope Mr. Su will be more cautious in his future public statements regarding technical contributions."
The reporter from Caijing Magazine published this passage verbatim.
That evening, these words caused a stir in WeChat groups within the drone industry. But this time, the reaction was different from the last—the last reaction was anger at Xia Kanghao's "contempt for self-developed technology"; this time, it was a strange emotion, somewhere between doubt and expectation.
"Xia Kanghao isn't entirely wrong. Su Chen's challenge this time is indeed enormous."
"If Su Chen really succeeds, then he won't just be an entrepreneur, he'll be a god."
"I've always wanted to ask about the ownership of the flight control system. Zhang Lei and Liu Yu from Su Chen's team—their public profile is indeed disproportionate to their actual technical contributions."
The topic began to escalate online in a way that Su Chen himself hadn't expected.
Su Chen saw Xia Kanghao's words at 8:20 PM on December 4th in his hotel room in Wuxi. Fang Xu sent him a WeChat message to remind him.
He watched it twice.
Then he called Zhang Lei.
"Engineer Zhang."
"President Su."
Xia Kanghao mentioned the issue of flight control system ownership in Caijing magazine today. Did you see it?
"I saw it."
What do you think?
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. Then Zhang Lei spoke.
"President Su, it's been over four years since I signed with Hongyuan. I've never felt that the flight control system was mine. It was developed by you, Liu Yu, and the dozen or so people in the R&D team. In your interviews—you've never once mentioned that it was solely your work. As for what Xia Kanghao is trying to sow—he can't sow anything. You know that, and I know it too. That's enough."
Su Chen remained silent for two seconds on the other end of the phone.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhang."
"Mr. Su, you're welcome. Please finish your work. Don't worry about the flight control system."
Su Chen hung up the phone.
He walked to the window. The night in Wuxi in early December had a desolate quality. There were no reporters left on the small street outside the window. Only a few taxis occasionally drove by.
He knew what was going on outside. He also knew that this explosion wouldn't affect what was happening on the micro-sensor production line. The first data report sent back by the on-site engineer this afternoon was already on his laptop. The data showed that Huang Zhihua had already begun adjusting the process parameters according to the first round of suggestions given by Su Chen yesterday.
The first round of trial production is scheduled for December 9th.
Five days left.
He drew the curtains and returned to his desk. On the desk lay nearly fifteen pages of notes he had taken throughout the day on the production line.
Public opinion dictates that it should stop, that it should rise, and that it should fall.
He only did one thing—to get the things that needed to be done in those five days.