1. Qualcomm's acquisition of NXP is the fastest to re-submit the application today.
It is rumored that the layoffs of staff and senior staff are affected more, and engineers and senior engineers are less affected. In the next two years, except for 5G-related jobs will be in the United States headquarters, other aspects of the work will be transferred to India. Senior management will stay at the headquarters in San Diego, Qualcomm is currently in the process of discussing the hiring of the park in Hyderabad, India.
Sources pointed out that Qualcomm has long been deployed in India and the software team is basically in India. In recent years, Qualcomm has also invested in India for many times. The US government’s emphasis on Qualcomm’s 5G international competitiveness reflected in the Broadcom purchase case is seen in the 5G sector. Staying in the United States is inevitable, while other teams are shifting to other countries or intending to reduce costs. After all, Qualcomm is now facing huge financial pressures. After that, the Qualcomm layer announced a $1 billion annual cost reduction plan.
After experiencing Broadcom’s hostile takeover, Qualcomm continues to return to growth. The board of directors urgently needs shareholders’ approval. NXP’s acquisition is seen as an important transaction that boosts share price and shareholder confidence. On the one hand, Qualcomm needs to convince Nichi. Pu's shareholders agreed to this acquisition, on the other hand, to wait for the global regulatory review.
In January of this year, NXP announced that the deadline for the completion of the transaction was extended to April 25, which has been postponed several times. From the current situation, Qualcomm may also need to negotiate with the NXP to postpone again.
At the same time, Qualcomm’s acquisition of NXP was only inferior to the position of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, but with the escalation of trade frictions between China and the US, China is slowing down the review of Qualcomm’s acquisition transaction, which has added to NXP’s acquisitions. Multivariate.
In April of last year, Qualcomm submitted a review application to the Ministry of Commerce of China. Usually, the review period is six months (180 days). If the deadline is exceeded, the application must be resubmitted. On April 17, Qualcomm submitted the second review to the Ministry of Commerce. Deadline.
Informed sources said that as the Ministry of Commerce slowed down the approval process, Qualcomm had withdrawn its application last Saturday and will soon re-apply to the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, which is intended to give the Ministry of Commerce more time for approval. In order to avoid this transaction was rejected. And the merger and acquisition case has also become the first time in recent years that the Ministry of Commerce has used two 180-day deadlines without review.
In view of the current complex trade situation between China and the United States, the suspension of auditing chip transactions may become an important bargaining chip for China to deal with the US trade war. It is expected that Qualcomm’s approval of the NXP acquisition will still be difficult to pass. (Proofreading/Fan Rong)
2. "Craftsman": Zhang Yujing, Yin Zhiji, etc. jointly discuss the development of China's integrated circuit industry;
In the episode of micro-networking, in 2018, "Creation Times" launched a grand special annual program "Yong Li Chao Tau", which was supported by the Shanghai Municipal Committee of Science and Technology, the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, and the Press Office of the People's Government of Pudong New Area. Support. The program has a total of ten issues, from the aviation, aerospace, medical, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, space exploration, future cities, innovation and many other dimensions, to explore the development of Shanghai Science and Education.
Among them, around the IC dimension, the program team has specially planned a program titled “The Core”. The core is the “core” of the chip. It tells how the scientific researchers in the semiconductor field in China use confidence, determination and perseverance. For decades, building a microcosm of precision between square meters, achieved key breakthroughs in core technologies and led the upgrade of the entire integrated circuit industry.
According to the statistics of the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Association (WSTS), the global semiconductor market in 2017 was US$408.691 billion, which was a year-on-year increase of 20.6% and exceeded the US$400 billion mark. However, China’s chip industry has been controlled by foreign manufacturers for a long time, and the annual import amount exceeds US$200 billion. At the same time, in order to maintain its dominant position in the semiconductor industry, Western countries have imposed strict sealing on related technologies, which has kept the Chinese semiconductor industry at the international advanced level. This further restricts industrial development and technological upgrading. In order to change this backward situation, the National Science and Technology Major Project for Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Equipment and Sets of Processes began to be implemented in 2008. A number of core technologies were gradually broken through; in June 2014, the country spent another RMB 120 billion. The establishment of an integrated circuit development fund and the development of the international intellectual property system, marketization, and globalization have opened a new chapter in the development of China's semiconductor industry.
The first guest of the program was Dr. Zhang Xiaojing, who was dubbed the “Father of Semiconductors.” He shared the long road to the development of Chinese chips. He also believes that for integrated circuit projects, domestic capital, market, and government’s determination And support is not a problem. What is lacking most now is the talent and management team. We hope that more young people will invest in this industry to contribute to the motherland's chip industry.
The second guest of the program was Academician Zou Shichang, a famous scientist who also participated in two major special projects in China, and Chen Shou-Mian, the president of Shanghai IC R&D Center. The two guests chatted with the host on the scene about China's integrated circuit industry. development of.
The third guest of the program was Dr. Yin Zhiyi, founder of China Semiconductor Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. He stated that the plasma etching machine and MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition) equipment developed by China Microelectronics have entered the international On February 9, 2015, the U.S. Department of Commerce cancelled the plasma etching machine export control to China because China Microelectronics has developed a high-end etching machine.
The last guest was Dr. Yang Chonghe, one of the founders of Qiqi Technology, who shared the difficulties in the chip design process with the host and picked up the memory buffer chip that Science and Technology now focuses on.
At the end of the program, the above five distinguished guests and Mr. Cao Resheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Association, discussed in depth the problems existing in the Chinese semiconductor industry today and how to overcome these bottlenecks.
3. Run sub-exposure millet new machine using MediaTek processor stability;
According to the micro-network news, last year, Xiaomi had almost no cell phone with MediaTek's processor. Both P30, P23, P25, and Xiaomi were not interested in it. Whether this year's Xiaomi will continue to use MediaTek's strategy last year. Device?
The answer is no, previous reports pointed out that MediaTek P60 won 2 to 3 models this year at OPPO, Vivo has a model, Xiaomi also has a model outsourcing, these three mobile phone manufacturers belong to MediaTek this year, the more important three Large customers, MediaTek processor began to be re-activated by Xiaomi.
On April 12th, Xiaomi, a mobile phone codenamed cereus, appeared in the Geekbench4 running library, with a single core 745 points and a multi-core 3562 points. It was pre-installed with Android 8.1, supplemented by 3GB of memory. At first glance, it was a proper low-end configuration. Not surprisingly, Xiaomi's red rice series, and it is equipped with the processor is MediaTek's MT6765, clocked at 2GHz.
According to information sources familiar with MediaTek's processor, the processor on this new millet is actually MediaTek MT6762, and MediaTek's MT6765 processor will have a higher clock speed. Although the display is all MediaTek MT6765 processor, but the actual The clock speed of the small core is only 2.0 GHz, not the 2.3 GHz of the MT6765, so it may be the low-frequency MT6762.
Although this millet relied on MediaTek processor, it did not know what purpose it was considering, but it was certain that the days of MediaTek would definitely be better than last year. (Proofreading / Xiaoqiu)
4. Samsung considers using a blockchain to manage its supply network: It can save about 20% of the cost;
Sina Technology News Beijing time on April 16 morning news, According to Bloomberg News, the world's largest smartphone and semiconductor maker Samsung will use the technology behind the cryptocurrency to manage their huge global supply network.
Song Kwang-woo, CEO of Blockchain, a Samsung Group logistics and information technology company SDS, revealed that Samsung Electronics is currently considering using the blockchain accounting system to sell tens of billions of dollars in goods it sells to the world every year. Tracking. SDS believes that this system can help Samsung save about 20% of the transportation cost each year.
Currently, on a global scale, there are already many companies that are considering using blockchain technology to manage their respective products and services, covering all types of goods from cross-border payment to the sale of chicken meat in supermarkets. But the Samsung Group It is one of the first global manufacturers to consider seriously using this technology in its operations. SDS is currently developing this system for Samsung Electronics.
Song said: "The blockchain technology will have a huge impact on the supply chain of the manufacturing industry. Blockchain technology will play a key role in our digital transformation process. 'Song himself is also vice president of SDS.
With the sudden popularity of Bitcoin, blockchain technology has also received a great deal of attention. It will change the way transactions are recorded, verified, and shared. Even though blockchain technology has so far had no impact on large companies, Too large, but Gartner predicts that by 2025, businesses related to blockchain technology will create $176 billion in value.
People who are committed to changing the logistics industry with blockchain technology believe that this technology can reduce the time required for logistics companies in their day-to-day operations, such as reducing the various procedures required to communicate with customs.
This year, SDS will handle 488,000 tons of air cargo and 1 million TEUs of sea freight, including Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S9 with OLED screens. After using blockchain technology, Samsung will be able to shorten the time between product release and actual shipment, and make its products more competitive than its competitors. Cheong Tae-su, professor of industrial engineering at Seoul National University in South Korea, believes that after using the blockchain, Samsung can China and other markets have greater advantages.
Cheong said: "Blockchain technology can cut costs and eliminate bottlenecks. Its core function is to maximize the supply efficiency and visibility, so that consumers have more confidence in the brand. (Yueheng) Sina Technology
5.The IC Market Becomes a World with Money 'Overlord'...
The total market share of the top five chip manufacturers in the world in 2017 accounted for 43% of the overall market; the market began to be a decade ago, and the trend of concentrating on a few manufacturers has become increasingly apparent...
Given the wave of consolidation in the semiconductor industry in recent years, the trend of the market focusing on the hands of a few manufacturers has become increasingly apparent. It does not seem so surprising.
According to the latest report from IC Insights, a market research organization, the combined sales of the top five semiconductor suppliers in the world accounted for about 43% of the overall market in 2017; this figure was increased by 10% compared with a decade ago. The agency pointed out that last year the world's top five chip suppliers (excluding foundries) were in order: Samsung, Intel, SK Hynix, Micron, and Broadcom.
Among the top five semiconductor suppliers, memory manufacturers accounted for most of them. It can be seen that the astonishing performance of the memory industry in 2017 has also contributed to the trend that the market is concentrated in the hands of a few manufacturers. Samsung, Hynix and Micron's sales growth rate in 2017 are both More than 50%, mainly because the DRAM and NAND flash memory market grew by 77% and 47% respectively.
The upsurge of the memory market will eventually subside, and most market observers expect the market's growth to slow this year. However, IC Insights believes that the IC industry's continued entrenchment of the “merging and madness” will also increase the market share of leading chip manufacturers. Raise to a higher level.
The trend of large chips market and the large-scale consolidation are actually the product of the same thing: that is, the difference between 'rich people' and 'poor boy' in the semiconductor industry.
Rob Lineback, senior analyst at IC Insights, said in an interview with EE Times that the increase in the market share of large chip suppliers is also due to 'large companies often have deep pockets and financial resources, and can continue to keep technology costs high. Expand market and grow, and survive in areas where small and medium-sized chip makers may be difficult to compete for a long time.
According to Lineback, the IC market is concentrated in the hands of a few manufacturers. It was a reversal of the industrial ecology that began to boom in the 1980s. At that time, the fabless semiconductor company and the foundry's cooperation model rose, making the number of small and medium-sized chip design companies. Increase; and now the situation is back to the early 1970s IC industry development, when the world's top five to ten chip manufacturers also occupy most of the market, those manufacturers are large vertical integration of electronics manufacturers.
Lineback said: "We believe that after the mid-1980s, more chip vendors seized the market because of the success of the fabless campaign. About twenty years later, we began to see the launch of larger chip vendors. The integration and market expansion is due to the high cost of competition in many fields and the ten-year boom in industrial M&A activity. Compilation: Judith Cheng eettaiwan