This is completely redundant. The supply disruptions caused by a war would take all those machines out of commission regardless of any kill switch.
Chinese semiconductor thread II
- Thread starter vincent
- Start date
It's a pretty damning statement for the western equipment in general, who in the Global South will ever buy their things again if they can disable them remotely?
SDF proving the stooges wrong by following a simple economic rule: Supply And Demand.
Basically high school economics.
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SMIC was added to the U.S. Entity List, a trade blacklist, in late 2020 and has been exploring domestic supply alternatives to ensure continuity of production.
The latest localization drive goes beyond efforts to use more domestic chipmaking equipment, a segment that was directly hit by tighter U.S. regulations, and extends to the supply of hundreds of chemicals, materials and gasses, potentially pushing foreign suppliers out of the market.
Materials are just as critical to chipmaking as the production tools themselves. Chipmakers are generally hesitant to switch to new sources and new chemical formulas because any changes could lower the production yield, or the share of usable chips produced from a given number of wafers. Washington is hoping allies such as Japan will impose more restrictions on China's access to advanced materials.
Chip industry executives told Nikkei Asia that established chipmakers usually give new chemical and material makers two chances to submit samples for verification. But in China now, local suppliers have almost unlimited chances, because chipmakers are so keen to reduce their reliance on foreign supplies, three people briefed on the matter said.
"There are subsidies not only for these materials and chemical makers. Chipmakers who use local suppliers can also get credits," one of the sources said. "The biggest change from the U.S. constantly tightening export controls is there is a strong push to purge foreign suppliers if there are local alternatives."
Chipmakers are maintaining ties with foreign chip chemical suppliers to avoid any sudden harm to production quality, another chip industry executive said. But the strong incentives are nevertheless giving a leg up to Chinese material suppliers who previously had little chance to serve the semiconductor industry.
The push is being applied first to less advanced 55-nanometer and 40-nanometer chip production processes but will eventually move into 28-nanometer and beyond, sources briefed on the matter said.
Many foreign providers of chip packaging and testing services have exited the Chinese market due to strong local competition. More than five such companies -- ASE Tech Holding, Qorvo, Powertech, Western Digital and King Yuan Electronics -- have sold majority stakes in their China operations since 2021. China outsourcing sector for chipmaking packaging and testing services is already the second largest in the world after Taiwan's.
"It's cruel that once China manages to have local solutions, it immediately edges out foreign suppliers, especially now they take supply security into account," a chip packaging executive whose company sold its China plants told Nikkei Asia.
"We're seeing a push in China to use more local chip materials whenever possible," Tseng said. "Going forward, foreign chip chemical or material makers will likely need to either deepen their partnerships with local players to maintain their market share or focus more on higher-end products for the Chinese market."Basically high school economics.
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SMIC was added to the U.S. Entity List, a trade blacklist, in late 2020 and has been exploring domestic supply alternatives to ensure continuity of production.
The latest localization drive goes beyond efforts to use more domestic chipmaking equipment, a segment that was directly hit by tighter U.S. regulations, and extends to the supply of hundreds of chemicals, materials and gasses, potentially pushing foreign suppliers out of the market.
Materials are just as critical to chipmaking as the production tools themselves. Chipmakers are generally hesitant to switch to new sources and new chemical formulas because any changes could lower the production yield, or the share of usable chips produced from a given number of wafers. Washington is hoping allies such as Japan will impose more restrictions on China's access to advanced materials.
Chip industry executives told Nikkei Asia that established chipmakers usually give new chemical and material makers two chances to submit samples for verification. But in China now, local suppliers have almost unlimited chances, because chipmakers are so keen to reduce their reliance on foreign supplies, three people briefed on the matter said.
"There are subsidies not only for these materials and chemical makers. Chipmakers who use local suppliers can also get credits," one of the sources said. "The biggest change from the U.S. constantly tightening export controls is there is a strong push to purge foreign suppliers if there are local alternatives."
Chipmakers are maintaining ties with foreign chip chemical suppliers to avoid any sudden harm to production quality, another chip industry executive said. But the strong incentives are nevertheless giving a leg up to Chinese material suppliers who previously had little chance to serve the semiconductor industry.
The push is being applied first to less advanced 55-nanometer and 40-nanometer chip production processes but will eventually move into 28-nanometer and beyond, sources briefed on the matter said.
Many foreign providers of chip packaging and testing services have exited the Chinese market due to strong local competition. More than five such companies -- ASE Tech Holding, Qorvo, Powertech, Western Digital and King Yuan Electronics -- have sold majority stakes in their China operations since 2021. China outsourcing sector for chipmaking packaging and testing services is already the second largest in the world after Taiwan's.
"It's cruel that once China manages to have local solutions, it immediately edges out foreign suppliers, especially now they take supply security into account," a chip packaging executive whose company sold its China plants told Nikkei Asia.
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A 500 million yuan semiconductor new material project was signed and settled in Changle, Fuzhou
On May 18, the launch ceremony of the 2024 China Fuzhou International Investment Month and the "Thousands of Businessmen Gather in Fuzhou" Global Investment Conference were held. According to the Changle District Media Center, at the project signing ceremony held on site, Changle signed four projects: Xinmi new energy vehicles, aviation modification and repair, new semiconductor materials, and smart ecological wind farms, with a total investment of 12.5 billion yuan.
Among them, the semiconductor new materials project is planned to be built by the foreign company Xierong Dongming Diamond Industry (Fuzhou) Co., Ltd. with an investment of 500 million yuan. It is located in Hunan Town, Changle District, with a planned land area of about 50 acres. It will build a nano product grading center (16,000 square meters), a research and development and warehousing center (4,000 square meters), a diamond electrode production center (8,000 square meters), and a coating and polishing liquid product production center (2,000 square meters). After completion, the project can achieve an annual output value of 800 million yuan.
Etman Semiconductor
GaN epitaxial plant opens
On May 17, according to the official WeChat account of "Invest in Xiamen", Etman (Xiamen) Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. held the opening ceremony of Etman Xiamen Epitaxy Factory in Jimei Mingsheng High-tech Industrial Park on the 13th .
According to reports, the factory is the second demonstration epitaxial factory built by Etman Semiconductor . It will deploy 14 MBE equipment, including 8 advanced 1400 model Hybrid-MBE. This equipment can greatly increase the production capacity of epitaxial wafers and provide services for radio frequency, Power Devices provides high-performance, low-cost GaN epitaxial wafers.
Etman Semiconductor was established in January 2020, and its headquarters moved to Jimei District in December 2021. With molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology as its core, the company provides customers with solutions for compound semiconductor materials such as GaAs, InP, and GaN, assisting the development of optical communications, 5G, data centers, new energy, Micro LED and other fields.
It is worth mentioning that in June 2023, Etman Semiconductor also cooperated with the Guangzhou Research Institute of Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology to build the "Gallium Nitride Semiconductor Research Center" to further promote the development of GaN technology.
Yuteng Technology:
GaN epitaxy begins production
According to Tongchuan Daily, the gallium nitride epitaxial wafer production project of Shaanxi Yuteng Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. has entered a new stage.
It is reported that Yuteng Technology’s gallium nitride epitaxial wafers have entered the production stage, and their products have been certified by many customers.
According to previous reports by "Experts Say Three and a Half Generations", in 2021, Yuteng Technology's gallium nitride third-generation semiconductor epitaxial wafer project was signed as a key municipal investment attraction project and settled in Tongchuan, Shaanxi. The total project investment is 680 million yuan . The project is planned to be divided into four parts. With a period of investment and a construction period of 4 years, a total of 20 extension production lines have been built and put into operation ; in October 2020, the project started construction.
In April last year, Yuteng Technology announced the completion of a tens of millions of Pre-A rounds of financing . The funds will be mainly used for R&D investment in GaN and other aspects, production line expansion and market expansion acceleration.
Tongfu Microelectronics' advanced packaging project was successfully signed
On May 16, the Tongfu Microelectronics Advanced Packaging Project was successfully signed. Nantong Vice Mayor Li Ling attended the event and witnessed the signing. Tongfu Microelectronics' advanced packaging project was successfully signed On May 16, Tongfu Microelectronics' advanced packaging project was successfully signed. Li Ling, deputy mayor of Nantong City, attended the event and witnessed the signing. Yu Yuesong, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Suxitong Science and Technology Industrial Park, Huang Xiaofeng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Suxitong Science and Technology Industrial Park, Shi Lei, Chairman and President of Tongfu Micropower, Shi Mingda, Honorary Chairman, Executive Vice President of Tongfu Micropower, Chief Operating Officer Xia Xin, Group Vice President Li Hairong and others attended the event.
China Titanium Doped Quartz Material production project will launch in June, an ultra low thermal expansion material for EUV Lithography parts, mirror blanks and mask blanks manufacturing. Along with others 138 projects. The supply of this material is tightly controlled by Germany and Japan.
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