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Opinionated - China Chipping Away to Semiconductor Dominance

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1407729161951612928
Global Times @globaltimesnews
China state-affiliated media

China's first & the world's third #silicon carbide vertically integrated industrial chain will soon be put into production in Changsha High-tech Industrial Park in C. China's Hunan Province, a further step in developing the domestic semiconductor sector.


www.globaltimes.cn

China's first silicon carbide vertically integrated industrial chain put into operation - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn
11:56 PM · Jun 23, 2021
 
This is following a well established pattern.

US banned satellite sales to China. Today, China makes and launches satellites in great numbers.

US banned China from International Space Station. Today China has its own space station.

US bans China from using American chip technology. Guess what. In a few years, China will have its own eco-system for silicon chips.
 
Since US disrupted the supply chain this will be the incentive that China needs to put the semiconductor industry priority number 1. With mass investments and talents working on issues to further enhance the necessary development of the required machinery China will eventually become fully independent in the chip sector which will enable China mass producing chips without constraints. ASML will lose revenues from the China market and gain another competitor in the lithography domain.
 
Chinese firms eye car chip testing platform to cut foreign reliance, ease shortage

Local certification to help cut foreign reliance, ease shortage: experts

By GT staff reporters
Published: Jun 10, 2021 09:18 PM

An employee checks a printed circuit board containing integrated circuit microchips at CSI Electronic Manufacturing Services Ltd. in Witham, the UK, on April 28, 2021. Photo: VCG

An employee checks a printed circuit board containing integrated circuit microchips at CSI Electronic Manufacturing Services Ltd. in Witham, the UK, on April 28, 2021. Photo: VCG

Industry players in China's auto chip sector on Thursday called for the establishment of a domestic testing and certification platform for car chips as part of the effort to create more supportive alternative for domestic industries in order cut reliance on foreign supply and help ease the tightened chip supplies.

At a car chip industry forum, part of the World Semiconductor Conference & Nanjing International Semiconductor Expo that took place in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, industry indsiders highlighted the urgent need for forming China's own car chip testing and certification platform in a bid to reduce the heavy reliance on the Western ones, which are often very time-consuming and hard to get for many domestic chip producers.

Zou Guangcai, deputy general manager of National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, expressed his concerns over the lack of domestic testing and certification platform for car chips at the forum.

"In China, all safety components are certified, except chips. There is a lack of a complete testing and evaluation platform and certification mechanism between chip and car industries," said Zou.

Zou noted that the imperfect standard system and the lack of domestic testing and certification platform have become key problems restricting the development of car chips in China.

The certification barrier is one of the obstacles hindering the domestic chip companies to enter the car chip market.

For domestic chip companies to enter the car market, they need to obtain AEC-Q100 and other car level certification. But the certification process is controlled by European and US agencies, and it takes about 12 to 18 months to complete and could cost about 50 million yuan ($7.83 million), an engineer with Huahong Semiconductor told Chinese media Yicai in an interview in May.

Car chips require a rigorous certification process, including verification of reliability, quality management, and functional safety. Part of the reason for the long certification process is because there is a higher safety requirement for car chips, which is much more time-consuming than those for mobile phones, experts said.

However, because of the long process, some new companies spend several years and tens of millions of yuans to get the certification and verification, which is hard to sustain often due to limited cash flows, industry insiders said.

A sales manager with Jiangsu-based IC company surnamed Zhang also expressed the same concern.

"The sophisticated testing and certification may not be very 'friendly' to some start-up Chinese chip producers with tightened cash flow, because by the time some small companies complete the certification, they might have already run out of money," Zhang told the Global Times at the forum.

Even if they pass the test, some companies, especially the large ones, are reluctant to use the products of new start-up companies in China, to avert risks, according to Zhang.

To tackle such issue, Zou said one of their projects is to establish China's car chip test standard system and evaluation database and provide third-party evaluation and certification.

"It's all about solving a problem of trust for the upstream and downstream," Zou said.

In May, more than 10 global car companies were forced to suspend or reduce production due to varying degrees of chip shortages, according to media reports.

Guo Haifeng, an industry expert in technology development, told the Global Times on Thursday that chip certification should go hand in hand with chip manufacturing, because there are more companies designing chips than those who produce them.

With the formation of domestic testing platform, the chip supplies may also be partially eased, experts said.

Chips for cars involve many links from design to production, including a long chip testing cycle. If the domestic testing platform is established, it will help to accelerate the process and enable more capable domestic chip producers to get into the supply chain, a manager with JL Semi, a domestic network communication chip design company, surnamed Feng, told the Global Time on Thursday.

But Feng also noted that simplifying the certification process is only a part of the solution for the tightened chip supplies, since other factors such as material shortage is also a big issue to tackle at the moment.
 
Huawei "saved"?SMIC risk mass production of 7nm, domestic lithography machine also reports good news

2021/06/30 15:44:44

After the implementation of the chip ban, the development of China's domestic semiconductor field has ushered in a golden period. Major companies continue to increase R&D investment, hoping to achieve a certain breakthrough at this critical moment and change the current dilemma China faces in the chip field.
The future of domestic chips
Relevant data show that in the past year, more than 20,000 semiconductor companies have used it. All major companies are making continuous efforts to contribute their own strengths in order to realize the localization of chips. It is worth mentioning that we have made certain achievements in many aspects.

1625051001324.png


For example, SMIC has already mass-produced 7 nanometers at risk, Tsinghua University established the Institute of Integrated Circuits, Nanjing established the country's first integrated circuit university, Ziguang Zhanrui launched the 6-nanometer chip Huben t7520, and China Micro Semiconductors has developed a 3-nanometer chip. Etching machine. All of these are undoubted proof that China Semiconductor is developing in a better direction.

1625051021969.png


Many people heard these news. Will sigh, Huawei is saved, and China Semiconductor is also saved. Maybe in 2-3 years, Huawei will be able to use domestic 7-nanometer chips, and there are even many people who say that domestic chips will become worthless after ten years, because by that time there will be excess chip production capacity. Case.
Are you saved?

Such a beautiful vision is indeed worth looking forward to, but is it really the case? The current domestic goal is to build the entire industrial chain, so we don't need to be too happy for these partial victories. Relevant data show that from 2018 to 2020, the domestic semiconductor investment will be close to 200 billion yuan. However, domestic chip imports have increased from US$260 billion to US$370 billion.

1625051043883.png


More importantly, this trend will continue to rise, which means that the return on investment cycle of independent research and development is longer than we think. This process is long and difficult. Last year, China's integrated circuit output was 261.47 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29.56%. The import of production equipment reached 32 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 205.216 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20%. However, this is not the same as R&D. The equipment can be effective when it is purchased, and the output can be guaranteed when the order is received.

1625051056784.png


But in R&D, in addition to huge investments, we also need luck and determination to be wrong. In 2019, chip imports were $6.6 billion less than in 2018, but in 2020, chip imports were nearly $64.5 billion more than in 2019. This increase is still very large compared to 2018.

1625051072647.png

It was previously reported that Shanghai Microelectronics will deliver 28-nanometer lithography machines to SMIC this year, but now there is new news. It was reported on May 10 that the Shanghai Microelectronics engineer stated in an interview that the 90-nanometer process lithography machine is still the main pillar of seriousness, and the yield of the 28-nanometer and 14-nanometer chip production lithography machine still has room for improvement.
1625051138206.png


This means that although the 28-nanometer lithography machine cannot be realized in a short time, it has found a precise and accurate direction. The key issue is that SMIC's 14-nanometer yield has reached the level of TSMC, and adjustments are needed. It shows that this is definitely not just a simple delivery and replacement, and the time for mass production will be extended indefinitely. Therefore, all Huawei can do at present is to wait until the yield of the 28-nanometer lithography machine reaches the highest rate.


 
Mass produced 14nm chips the launchpad for China’s chipset industry
JULIAN BRIGHT 05 JULY 2021

Mass production of 14nm chips will be the launchpad for China’s domestic chipset industry


Dr. Wen Xiaojun, Deputy Director, CCID
Achieving mass production of 14nm chips will secure China’s place as a domestic chip producer at scale, says the deputy head of the country’s leading technology research centre.

But China’s manufacturers must first build on the technical achievements already made in the development and production of high-performance chips if they are to keep pace with their peers in the global market for integrated circuit technology, according to Dr. Wen Xiaojun, Deputy Director at China’s Electronics and Information Industry Development Research Institute (CCID).

China’s chip manufacturers must also increase their commitment in terms of investment and manpower and actively collaborate with domestic players across the semiconductor technology chain if they are to meet the explosion in demand for high-performance chips says Dr. Wen, who expects the development and mass production of 14nm chipsets to mark a watershed in China’s home-grown chip production capability.

Dr. Wen’s assessment of China’s domestic, high-end chip production capability comes against a background of exploding worldwide demand for the kind of high-performance chips used in applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, augmented and virtual reality, and AIoT (the convergence of AI and IoT), driven by applications for the automotive sector, high-end consumer electronics, mobile phones and high-speed computing, but also exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and trends such as the move to home working and remote connectivity.

Overcoming the technical challenges of mass production

Mass production of 28nm chips, which is expected to commence this year, will be the starting point for domestic chips in China, says Dr. Wen. Among the use cases for which 28nm chips are proving to be a mainstream application are 5G infrastructure and mobile phones, consumer electronics, automotive, industrial applications and data centres.

Mass production of 14nm chips will start in 2022 notwithstanding the technical challenges involved, adds Dr. Wen. In fact, many of the technical problems associated with the development and production of 14nm chipsets and which cover the entire integrated circuit industrial chain system in China, have already been overcome, and progress towards mass production is clear to see, said Dr. Wen.

For example, key equipment and processes such as etching machines and thin film deposition have been realized from scratch; back-end packaging and integration technology have been fully developed; and hundreds of key materials, such as polishing agents and sputtering targets, have passed the assessment of large production lines and have entered mass sales.

The rapid development of domestic 14nm chips has proven the success of China’s ‘returning’ strategy, whereby manufacturers went back to a well-established technological base in order to meet the general chip requirements and paid more attention to design and packaging optimization, rather than blindly pursuing high-level manufacturing processes, said Dr. Wen. The strategy helped to allow development time for semiconductor applications and the entire industry chain he added.

In Dr. Wen Xiaojun’s opinion however, financial support will still be required in order to expand the production capacity for 14nm chips. Equipment such as photolithography machines, cleaning equipment or polishing equipment is not only expensive, but also consume huge amounts of water and electricity. In addition, and to ensure that production capacity is fully utilized, thorough integration work should be done at the supplier level, including the supply of raw materials and components.

14nm technology has the greatest market value today

Mass production of 14nm and 12nm chips is critically important to the semiconductor industry, said Dr. Wen. According to statistics, sales of 14nm chips accounted for 65% of the entire USD200 billion semiconductor market in the first half of 2019, whereas 25% of sales were of 10nm and 12nm chips, and only 10% of chip sales were accounted for by 7nm technology.

While 28nm technology is already very mature in the global semiconductor industry, 10nm technology or above is still cutting-edge, and only a few top players, such as TSMC, Samsung and Intel, have started using this technology, observed Dr. Wen.

So 14nm technology, which is in the middle of the two, has become the main processing technology for most mid-to-high-end chips, has the widest range of uses, and is the most highly valued in the market. It has great development potential in AI chips, high-end processors, and for the automotive market, while other applications include high-end consumer electronics, high-speed computing, low-order power amplifiers and baseband.

Along with 12nm technology, 14nm chips are capable of meeting 70% of the needs of current semiconductor manufacturing demand. Mid-range 5G chips are already using 12nm technology, and 14nm technology can meet the needs of the manufacturing process required by desktop CPUs.

China’s chip producers must work hard to catch up with industry peers

As latecomers in the large-scale production of chips, Chinese manufacturers will need to put more manpower and financial support into their businesses, and ramp up efforts to stand out in the industry, according to Dr. Wen. This is particularly true as, compared to the industry’s leading manufacturers which have many years of production experience in 14nm chips, Chinese businesses have no advantage in terms of cost competition with other manufacturers.

However, their reward will be the huge opportunities for 14nm process chips, Dr. Wen suggested. With the advent of 5G and the AIoT era, products in areas such as smart cities, autonomous vehicles and IoT monitoring are becoming increasingly abundant, and chip technology can gradually start to focus on optimization for specific scenarios where it can unlock huge potential.

developingtelecoms.com

Mass produced 14nm chips the launchpad for China’s chipset industry

Achieving mass production of 14nm chips will secure China’s place as a domestic chip producer at scale, says the deputy head of the country’s leading technology research centre.
developingtelecoms.com developingtelecoms.com
 
are there overseas chinese returning to china with trade secrets?
 
CIA Mole said:
are there overseas chinese returning to china with trade secrets?
Click to expand...

China has had semiconductor fabs since the 1980s and has always had a foundation in rad hardened semiconductor for aerospace.

Rad hardened is very different than commercial (which is usually much faster and has smaller feature sizes, but less reliable) and has vastly different requirements for materials, chemistry, architecture, etc. But it is a base to build on.

Contrast to certain countries that never took semiconductor seriously, had nothing and still have nothing despite vast tech transfers and a huge diaspora that is supposedly working in semiconductor.
 
Huawei to deliver first flexible OLED driver chip by end of 2021: reports
Global Times
16:03 Jul 19 2021
Photo taken on Feb. 26, 2018 shows a screen displaying the 5G technology at the booth of China's telecom giant Huawei during the 2018 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.(Photo: Xinhua)

Photo taken on Feb. 26, 2018 shows a screen displaying the 5G technology at the booth of China's telecom giant Huawei during the 2018 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.(Photo: Xinhua)

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is expected to deliver its first flexible OLED driver chip to suppliers by the end of 2021, according to media reports on Monday, in a move that could mark a breakthrough for Huawei to counter the US' chip bans.

The OLED driver chip, which controls the lighting of each pixel in a display, was designed by Huawei's chip arm HiSilicon, industry media outlets reported on Monday, noting that the OLED driver chip uses a 40-nanometer (nm) process technology, which is scheduled for mass production in the first half of 2022.

Sample chips have reportedly been sent to Huawei, Honor and BOE Technology Group, a Chinese flexible panel producer, for testing.

If successfully launched, the move could help Huawei cope with the US' bans that have made it almost impossible to manufacture smartphone processors for its high-end products, leading to losses in market share and smartphone shipments, analysts said.

If OLED chips can't be imported, the production and manufacturing of mobile phones will be affected, Xiang Ligang, director general of the Beijing-based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Monday.

Since the US issued chip bans on Huawei, the global foundries have been unable to produce 14-, 7-, 5-nm and other advanced chips for Huawei. The bans also affected Huawei's flexible OLED cooperation with companies like Samsung.

As the OLED driver chip mainly adopts 28-, 40- and 55-nm chips, Huawei has been able to find more foundries to make the chip, as the production process is not as complicated. The self-produced OLED driver chip will be rather lucrative for Huawei, as the chip can be widely used in products such as TVs, screens and cameras, analysts said.

It is expected that 584.5 million smartphone OLED panels will be shipped in 2021, up 28 percent year-on-year. In this segment, China's OLED sector is entering a large-scale competition, and shipments are expected to exceed 100 million pieces for the first time in 2021, bringing huge market opportunities to OLED driver chips, according to research institute Omdia.

OLED driver chip makers in the Chinese mainland can't keep up with domestic demand. If Huawei's HiSilicon enters the market, it would have a chance to share in the fast-growing OLED driver chip market in China, said industry insiders.

"China has the world's most complete industry chain for making chips. Thus, the industry has the capacity to develop and make breakthroughs for any type of chips, without strict limitations," said Xiang, adding that China has been making all-round, diversified efforts to produce chips to solve such bottleneck problems.

The Huawei Kirin 710A chip, based on 14-nm semiconductor technology, went into commercial mass production in May 2020. It was the first purely Chinese chip with independent intellectual property rights.
 

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