About damn time. There is no good reason why China can't simply push MediaTek and Qualcomm out of the handset mainstream SoC market into niche status.
Chinese semiconductor industry
- Thread starter Hendrik_2000
- Start date
- Status
About damn time. There is no good reason why China can't simply push MediaTek and Qualcomm out of the handset mainstream SoC market into niche status.
antiterror13
Brigadier
I bet it would after receiving pressure from the master ... but thats nothing really
Hard to say, western nations are a bit schizo ... i think i heard Bozo Johnson praised China at least once and wanted better buisness relationship
The article compares the purchase of this UK, Whales plant which manufactures 32,000 200mm wafers at 180nm to a US, Utah plant which manufactures 70,000 300mm wafers at 25nm. Effin retards.
FriedRiceNSpice
Captain
Cloud and chips are much more important than phones for driving economic and technological growth and productivity increases.
In the UK's defense it does seem to be the one of best fabs they do have left. It is pretty pathetic though. It is even worse than the fabs the Russians have. They certainly cannot expect to be paid more for it than what the Micron fab went for. The equipment is really outdated and the fab capacity isn't that high in modern terms at least to manufacture logic.
This deal is a lot more comparable than the Micron fab discussed in the article.
GlobalFoundries sold Fab 3E in Singapore to Vanguard International Semiconductor in late 2019 for $236 million. That manufactures 35,000 200mm wafers at 180nm.
This article talks about the UK fab being sold for £63 million, plus they will pay £20 million for an HSBC debt, and £18 million to the Welsh government. That is $139 million. Considering it is a highly distressed asset with slightly lower capacity and two years have passed (an eternity in semiconductor terms) the deal does not seem that bad to me. $1 billion like the article claims the factory is worth? Ludicrous.
It is not like China or that Chinese company will be getting a really good deal out of it. The previous owner of the fab seemingly will still keep their IP so it seems like the Chinese will only get the fab. For what it's worth Texas Instruments bought a fab in Chengdu, China, over a decade ago from SMIC, that fab also manufactures with 200mm wafers at 180nm. The technology itself is old hat.
Nexperia, the company they are talking about, already owns a similar 200mm wafers fab in the UK at Manchester, and another similar fab in Germany at Hamburg. For Nexperia this fab is useful because they mostly manufacture discrete electronics like transistors.
This deal is a lot more comparable than the Micron fab discussed in the article.
GlobalFoundries sold Fab 3E in Singapore to Vanguard International Semiconductor in late 2019 for $236 million. That manufactures 35,000 200mm wafers at 180nm.
This article talks about the UK fab being sold for £63 million, plus they will pay £20 million for an HSBC debt, and £18 million to the Welsh government. That is $139 million. Considering it is a highly distressed asset with slightly lower capacity and two years have passed (an eternity in semiconductor terms) the deal does not seem that bad to me. $1 billion like the article claims the factory is worth? Ludicrous.
It is not like China or that Chinese company will be getting a really good deal out of it. The previous owner of the fab seemingly will still keep their IP so it seems like the Chinese will only get the fab. For what it's worth Texas Instruments bought a fab in Chengdu, China, over a decade ago from SMIC, that fab also manufactures with 200mm wafers at 180nm. The technology itself is old hat.
Nexperia, the company they are talking about, already owns a similar 200mm wafers fab in the UK at Manchester, and another similar fab in Germany at Hamburg. For Nexperia this fab is useful because they mostly manufacture discrete electronics like transistors.
Last edited:
antiterror13
Brigadier
huhhh, 200mm wafers at 180nm lithography? why China bother really
huhhh, 200mm wafers at 180nm lithography? why China bother really
It is the potential.
The current equipment in that fab, has no potential.
But the new owners, flushed with cash, can upgrade the equipment. Therein lies the potential.
That is what business is about, opening doors.
- Status