HPDBC Chapter 169 Bosch's Decision
Chapter 169 Bosch's Decision
Stuttgart, Germany, Bosch Group headquarters.
At 9:00 AM local time on November 20 – 4:00 PM Beijing time – Müller, President of the MEMS Business Unit, convened an emergency video conference.
Attendees included: Klaus, Global Vice President of MEMS Business Unit; Akira Ishikawa, Director of Asia Pacific Region; Weber, Project Manager of Suzhou Base; Stein, Director of Technology R&D Center; Heinz, Director of Market Strategy Department; and Zhang Li, the newly appointed Head of Public Relations for China Region.
The meeting had only one theme:
Su Chen's 250mm test was successful.
Muller sat at the head of the conference table, a picture displayed on his laptop screen—a scanning electron microscope image released in Hongyuan Feiniao's official statement. The image clearly showed the sidewall morphology of deep silicon etching, with the sidewall angle labeled: 12.03°.
"Gentlemen," Muller's voice was calm, without anger or agitation, "before we discuss this, I'd like to confirm one fact—Ishikawa Akira, have you verified the 12.03 degree figure?"
Akira Ishikawa's face appeared on the video conference screen. He was in his Shanghai office, with a cup of coffee that had gone cold in front of him.
"It's been confirmed. I had the technical team analyze the metadata of the SEM images they released. The images are authentic and haven't been post-processed. The 12.03 degree figure... is reliable."
Muller nodded, then looked at Stein, the director of the technology research and development center:
"Stein, I need you to answer a question. If we use Bosch's existing technology—including our state-of-the-art seventh-generation DRIE process—to perform the same deep silicon etching on a 250mm scale, what level of precision can we achieve?"
Stein pushed up his glasses and remained silent for a few seconds.
"Mr. Mueller, I need to answer this question honestly. We haven't performed full-cavity verification of deep silicon etching on a 250mm scale. Our largest verification scale is 200mm, and the control precision of the sidewall angle is approximately ±0.15 degrees."
"±0.15 degrees," Muller repeated, "Su Chen's is ±0.02 degrees."
"Yes."
The meeting room was silent for five seconds.
Muller tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table, then said:
"Alright. Now let's get down to business."
He opened the second slide, which had two lines of text on it:
Question 1: Technological gap – Equivalent thermoelastic approximation method
Question 2: China Market Strategy – Follow-up to the $15 Billion Statement
"Let's discuss the first question first."
Klaus spoke first:
"Müller, before discussing the technological gap, I think we need to address a personnel issue first."
His gaze passed across the screen to Ishikawa Akira's image:
"The 800 million yuan joint laboratory issue has already been exposed by Lin Wei in her open letter. Fang Jianhua's suspension and investigation, the withdrawal of the open letter from the six professors, and the termination of the joint laboratory agreement—all these things point to us. Ishikawa Akira, this was a 'proxy strategy' you orchestrated. Now, this strategy has not only failed, but has also severely damaged Bosch's brand image in China."
Akira Ishikawa's expression remained unchanged. He had anticipated this moment.
"Klaus is right, the agency strategy failed. I take responsibility for that. But now is not the time to assign blame."
"When is that?" Klaus asked sharply.
Müller raised his hand to interrupt the two:
"Klaus, I'll handle Ishikawa Akira's responsibility separately. Let's focus on technology and the market now. Don't waste time arguing about personnel in this meeting."
Klaus paused for a moment, then nodded.
Müller continued:
"Stein, what I want to know is—can we replicate the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method?"
Stein adjusted his glasses again. This 48-year-old German engineer, who had worked at Bosch for 23 years, was one of the world's leading experts in MEMS etching technology. But when faced with this question, his expression was hesitant.
"Mr. Muller, the core paper on the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method—the part that Su Chen hand-wrote the derivation in that live stream—has been widely circulated on the internet. Our technical team spent three days analyzing the derivation process."
"in conclusion?"
The conclusion is that the derivation is complete and mathematically consistent. We can understand it. But…
Stein paused for a moment.
"But understanding it and using it are two different things. The core of the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method is not a formula, but a complete method for coupled temperature and stress field modeling. This method requires parameter calibration for cavities of different sizes. Su Chen's calibration parameters for 200mm are different from those for 250mm. How he determined the calibration parameters for 250mm—he didn't disclose this step."
In other words, we have the formula, but no parameters.
"You can understand it this way. It's like knowing the schematic of a lock, but not knowing the shape of the key's teeth."
Muller tapped his fingers on the table twice more.
"How long will it take us to find this 'key' ourselves?"
Stein thought for a moment:
"If we were to assemble a dedicated research team of seven to tackle this problem—conservatively speaking, it would take at least a year. But that year is contingent on—Su Chen not continuing to evolve his method during that year."
Müller said slowly:
"He's already working on 300mm."
The meeting room fell silent again.
Heinz—Director of Marketing Strategy—broke the silence:
"Mr. Muller, I need to say something that might make you uncomfortable."
"explain."
"This is not a lose-lose situation."
Muller looked at him.
"After Lin Wei's open letter was published, I had my team conduct a public opinion analysis. On Chinese social media, Bosch's brand favorability dropped by 17 percentage points in the past 24 hours. But at the same time, Hongyuan Feiniao's brand favorability rose by 34 percentage points."
The article by 36Kr, titled "Bosch Invested 15 Billion Yesterday, Su Chen Responded with a 12.03 Degree Today," has been forwarded more than 120 million times on WeChat Moments.
In other words, our 15 billion declaration was intended to demonstrate Bosch's strength and determination to the market. However, after the successful verification of the 250mm diameter, the effect of this declaration was completely reversed.
It became our endorsement of Su Chen.
The public's interpretation is: 'Bosch used 15 billion to prove that Su Chen is a formidable opponent.' Some even said: 'Bosch spent 15 billion to give Su Chen a taste of defeat.'
This isn't a lose-lose situation, Mr. Muller. It's a one-sided loss for us, and a one-sided gain for Su Chen.
Muller closed his eyes briefly.
He had worked at Bosch for 31 years and had witnessed countless instances of market competition. But this was the first time he had encountered a situation where a competitor could turn your strategic statement into propaganda in their favor based solely on a single technical statistic.
"Alright," Muller opened his eyes, his voice still steady, "that concludes the discussion. I have three decisions to make."
He stood up:
"First, establish a special research group for the 'Thermoelastic Approximation Method.' Stein will lead the group, drawing seven of the best engineers from the global R&D center to fully study Su Chen's method. There is no budget limit. The goal: to master complete parameter calibration capabilities within one year."
"Secondly, the construction schedule for the Suzhou base has been brought forward. Originally planned for production in the fourth quarter of 2021, it's now scheduled for the third quarter of 2021. Weber, you need to reassess the timeline and submit a new plan. Use production capacity to bridge the technology gap—maintain market position with economies of scale until we master his methods."
"Third, the public relations strategy for the China region will be completely adjusted. Zhang Li, from now on, all public statements by Bosch in China will no longer mention Hong Yuanfei or Su Chen. Any statements targeting Su Chen—whether public or through an agent—must cease."
I don't want to see a second 'Fang Jianhua incident'.
Muller paused, glancing around at everyone's faces:
"There's one more thing. I need everyone to be clearly aware of one fact—what Su Chen is doing, Bosch cannot do at present."
It's not that I can't do it. It's that I can't do it.
An accuracy of ±0.02 degrees, on a 250mm scale, using analytical methods instead of finite element simulation—this has never been achieved in the history of the MEMS industry, including at Bosch.
So don't comfort yourself with thoughts like "I'll make him regret it." Su Chen won't regret it. He doesn't even know we exist.
What we need to do is not make him regret it, but rather not let him leave us too far behind.
End of the meeting.
……
After turning off the video conference, Akira Ishikawa sat alone in his Shanghai office for a long time.
He picked up his phone, opened Lin Wei's open letter, and read it again.
When he read the sentence, "We don't need to cut off anyone's supply; we just need to do what others can't," a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
Akira Ishikawa has been working in the Chinese market for seventeen years. He has seen countless kinds of opponents—those who wage price wars, those who wage patent wars, those who wage relationship wars, and those who wage propaganda wars.
But this was the first time he had encountered an opponent like Su Chen.
Su Chen's weapon is not price, not patent, not connections, not public opinion.
Su Chen has only one weapon—technology itself.
And this is precisely the most irrefutable weapon.
You can win a price war with lower prices. You can win a patent war with more patents. You can win a relationship war with deeper relationships. You can win a propaganda war with better public relations.
But how do you defeat the technology itself?
You can only use better technology.
Bosch, for the time being, does not have a better technology for the equivalent thermoelastic approximation method.
Akira Ishikawa put down his phone and looked out the window at the Shanghai skyline.
"This person..." he murmured, leaving the rest unfinished.
It was exactly the same thing he said a month ago after successfully verifying the 200mm.
This time, however, there was something extra in his tone.
Last time it was a warning.
This time it's—reverence.
……
Shenzhen, headquarters of Hangxindatong Technology.
He Zhiqiang read the full text of Lin Wei's open letter in his office.
His expression was complicated.
As the founder and CEO of Hangxindatong, the ink on his strategic cooperation agreement with Bosch for the TianShu chip was still wet—and Lin Wei's open letter brought this cooperation agreement to the public's attention as evidence of the "third encirclement and suppression."
"The third wave of attacks: market substitution. Hangxindatong's TianShu chip + this giant's MEMS sensors = a complete drone flight control solution. Who are the target customers for this solution? All of Hongyuan Feiniao's downstream customers."
He Zhiqiang looked at these words and remained silent for a long time.
He wasn't angry. Because what Lin Wei said was true.
The R&D goal of TianShu Chip is indeed to compete with Hongyuan Feiniao's flight control modules. The strategic cooperation with Bosch is indeed aimed at developing a complete flight control solution. And the target customers for this solution are indeed Hongyuan Feiniao's downstream customers.
But He Zhiqiang also had his own reasons.
He was not a pawn of Bosch. The TianShu chip was a product he and his team independently developed over two years. The collaboration with Bosch was because Bosch's MEMS sensors were indeed the best in the world—before Su Chen appeared.
Before Su Chen appeared.
He Zhiqiang turned to the latest page of his notebook, which read:
Tian Shu chip – Expected tape-out date: May 2021
Six months later.
But what will Su Chen do during these six months?
The 250mm diameter has been successfully verified. The 300mm diameter is already under construction. The equivalent thermoelastic approximation method has been confirmed.
Six months later, when the Tian Shu chip is fabricated, Su Chen may have already completed the 300mm verification.
At that time, was the TianShu chip + Bosch sensor solution still competitive?
He Zhiqiang picked up his phone and found a contact.
He thought about it for a long time, but ultimately didn't make the call.
He put his phone back on the table, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling.
"Su Chen, oh Su Chen..."
He said it again. This was the third time he had said it.
The first time was when the 200mm verification was successful.
The second time was when the Bosch cooperation agreement was signed.
The third time is now.
Every time I say this, my tone is different.
The first time was jealousy. The second time was anxiety.
The third time—it was an emotion he himself couldn't quite explain.
Perhaps it's confusion.
Perhaps it's some kind of vague, unacknowledged...admiration.
……
At nine o'clock in the evening, Su Chen folded the sixth draft paper and put it into the drawer on the left side of the lab bench.
Shen Zhiming has already gone back. Only Su Chen remains in the lab.
He stood up and stretched. Through the laboratory window, he could see the lights of countless homes in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.
His phone had been off all day. He knew what was happening outside—Lin Wei had posted a long article, Bosch was in a meeting, and the whole country was discussing it.
But these things have nothing to do with him.
There is only one thing related to him: the thermal field distribution of the 300mm cavity, and the existence of a third-order nonlinear coupling term in the edge region. This coupling term can be ignored on the 250mm scale, but it will significantly affect the prediction accuracy of the sidewall angle on the 300mm scale.
He needs to find a way to handle this coupling item.
Looking at the lights outside the window, Su Chen suddenly remembered a night three years ago.
Winter 2017, three months after my discharge from the military. A 15-square-meter rented room in an urban village. A MEMS development board bought for 280 yuan from Huaqiangbei. A multimeter bought online for 19 yuan.
That night, he stood by the window, looking at the lights outside.
But back then, outside the window were densely packed tin roofs and clotheslines of urban villages.
Looking out the window now, one sees the high-rise buildings and bustling traffic of Nanshan District.
Three years.
He progressed from a development board costing 280 yuan to a 250mm wafer-level DRIE cavity.
From a 15-square-meter rented room in an urban village, I walked to a laboratory equipped with scanning electron microscopes and plasma etching machines.
From a veteran, he rose to become a rival that Bosch had to spend 15 billion to deal with.
But Su Chen knew that none of that mattered.
The important thing is tomorrow.
Tomorrow he will continue calculating that third-order nonlinear coupling term.
He turned off the lab lights, locked the door, and walked into the November night in Shenzhen.
Behind him, the book "300mm DRIE Cavity Design Scheme - V0.1" lay quietly in the darkness after the lights were turned off on the experimental table.
On the open page, there was a red circle drawn with a marker:
300mm – Target sidewall angle: 12.08 ± 0.03 degrees
At this moment, only Su Chen in the whole world knows this number.
But soon, the whole world will know.