News on China's scientific and technological development.

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tokenanalyst

Brigadier
Registered Member

Another Look at China's Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Industry​

For years, China has been building up its own semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry – it's maybe time for the country to make its presence heard.

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In the semiconductor industry, manufacturing equipment takes years to transform a prototype into an equipment product with sufficient yield and volume. Furthermore, even if the quality and cost-performance of an equipment unit can satisfy the manufacturer, it still requires years of refinement and lots of minor tweaks to optimize the production process. Therefore, once an SME company meets chip manufacturers' requirements, they will bond together and develop a long-term collaboration.
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Technologically, China's SME firms are still a
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; this is one reason why the top local chipmakers often have little interest in cooperating with them.
A way alternative to the simple buyer/seller relations is cooperating on R&D, which benefits both sides. The SME firms can be involved in the manufacturing processes to understand the practical needs further, thereafter refining their products. For the chipmakers, having local SMEs can offer a strong cost-benefit compared to purchasing equipment from overseas suppliers.
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There are more local champions producing equipment in several manufacturing processes in China. Proverbially (and truthfully) enough, 'necessity is the mother of invention,' and the need for a local equipment ecosystem may soon narrow the gap with the leading companies.
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mossen

mossen

Junior Member
Registered Member
Impressive, but sometimes the wind doesn't blow. Need a massive nuclear buildout since the backbone of any system is the baseload. Nuclear should go to 50% or more of total electricity output so that coal can be retired. I'm hopeful that Fusion might become viable in a few decades time given rapid advances, though fusion has long had delays.
 
FairAndUnbiased

FairAndUnbiased

Brigadier
Registered Member
mossen said:
Impressive, but sometimes the wind doesn't blow. Need a massive nuclear buildout since the backbone of any system is the baseload. Nuclear should go to 50% or more of total electricity output so that coal can be retired. I'm hopeful that Fusion might become viable in a few decades time given rapid advances, though fusion has long had delays.
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Coal isn't so bad. Current plants in China can get 50% efficiency with supercritical steam and combined cycle. It's a domestic fuel.

As for climate change aspects, certain countries should be the ones to reduce ICE car ownership and fossil fuel use first before asking China to do anything.
 
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