antonius123
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Here is an example of the kind of power Apple wields in the semicon market...
https://www.investopedia.com/articl...0-major-companies-tied-apple-supply-chain.asp
Apple is called a 'Tier One' client.
Take a standard 120 gb 300 mm NAND wafer, for example. Each die is theoretically rated at 128 gb capacity. But there are manufacturing flaws so each die is built with redundant cells. During functionality testing, if a cell is found defective, the test program will deactivate the defective cell and build a new pathway to a backup cell in the redundant array. When this occurs, the die is classified as a 'repaired' die.
Sometimes, a die has enough manufacturing defects that all redundant cells are needed to create that 128 gb capacity. Sometimes, a die has so many repairs that even when all redundant cells are used, the die still cannot make that 128 gb capacity. In this case, the die is re-rated and will sell as 64 gb capacity. Sometimes, a die will be re-rated as even lower to 32 gb.
Non-repaired dies are called 'prime' dies. Prime dies are usually at the %50 center area of a wafer. Apple will buy ONLY prime dies and will pay top money for them. The more prime dies per wafer a NAND manufacturer proved to produce, the more secured the contracts to Apple. So just because a wafer have %90 yield, that does not mean can be an Apple candidate. Of that %90 yield, a generous estimate of %50 of that %90 would be prime dies.
https://www.waferworld.com/wafer-manufacturing-wafer-grades/
Only prime wafers can produce prime dies.
http://www.usbtalk.net/2009/09/nand-flash-chip-grades-explained/
A NAND manufacturer will not risk an existing Apple contract by buying from unknown suppliers. If he is faced with an unknown Chinese supplier with lower prices vs a Western supplier with established reputation and with higher prices, he will buy from the Western supplier. Whether the NAND maker is Chinese or JPNese or Korean, he will not risk losing his Apple contract and will cut out the Chinese bidder. Whether the product is a wafer or an vapor deposition oven or a robotic arm, the NAND maker will not risk buying from an unknown brand. The robotic arm can fail at the worst moment and ruin a boat filled with finished wafers worth hundreds of thousands on the open market. Or worse, the robotic arm can fail catastrophically that it can hurt or even kill a worker.
And you know China fab like SMIC etc doesnt supply chip to Apple yet... So what make you think banning the tools and equipment to chinese fab will harm Chinese economy?
How many thinks the J-20 is flying with Chinese made semicon devices made entirely by Chinese tools, eh?
TSMC and SMIC can help to produce longsoon or shenwei for J-20.
China's semicon industry is deeply entrenched with non-Chinese sources and tools.
Not so deep as you think. China has her own domestic semicon equipment & tool manufacturers.
http://semimd.com/blog/2015/12/10/china-bolsters-its-ic-gear-business-with-mattson-acquisition/
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