South Korea and Japan are powerful
In 2016, among the top 20 global semiconductor companies, U.S. companies took the lead with a total revenue of US$11.97 billion. According to regional rankings, in 2016 South Korea earned revenues of US$58.7 billion from Samsung and Hynix, second only to the United States. Second in the world; third in the world is Taiwan, China, TSMC, MediaTek and UMC’s total revenue is US$ 42.289 billion; the world’s fourth is Europe, NXP, Infineon and STMicroelectronics (ST) Total 24.35 billion US dollars.
The Korean semiconductor industry began in 1965. It began with an assembly base that was mainly invested by semiconductor manufacturers in the United States and Japan. At that time, South Korea began to import and replace its export-oriented strategy, began to focus on turning to high-potential industries, and actively encouraged foreign high-tech companies. Investing and setting up factories in South Korea. According to the latest statistics released by the Korea Customs Agency at the end of March this year, semiconductors are South Korea's leading export-led commodities. Last year, exports reached 99.71 billion U.S. dollars, which was the first time that a single commodity export exceeded 90 billion U.S. dollars. China (39.5%) is South Korea's largest export market for semiconductors, followed by Hong Kong (27.2%), Vietnam (9.3%) and the United States (4.5%). Semiconductors accounted for 17.4% of total exports last year. , 4.8 percentage points higher than the previous year (12.6%).
The 'ultra-conventional development' of South Korea's semiconductor industry has made chips a new business card for South Korea. The data disclosed by South Korea’s “Central Daily” in 2017 showed that the proportion of semiconductors as a whole has exceeded the Korean tradition of steel, shipbuilding, and automobiles. Competitive Industries. Wen Bingji, chief researcher of the Korea Trade Association, also stated that the export volume of South Korean semiconductors was equivalent to the total export volume of South Korea in 1993. South Korean semiconductor companies such as Samsung and Hynix dominate the industry for the year. Samsung Electronics April 6 Japan released performance data to initially verify that the company’s operating profit in the first quarter of 2018 was 15.6 trillion won (approximately RMB 92.6 billion), an increase of 57.6% year-on-year, and a 3.0% increase from the previous period, setting a new record. The sales amount was 60 trillion won. , an increase of 18.7% over the same period last year.
Japan was ranked fifth in the world's semiconductor industry in 2016. An owner of a company that does electronic component trade in Tokyo told the Global Times on the 22nd that Japan has a lot of chip manufacturers independently researched and developed and with very good performance. The major brands are Toshiba, Renesas, Sony, Fujitsu, Murata, ARM, etc. Among Japanese chip makers, Toshiba’s memory memory chips are among the best in the world, and Sony’s audio electronics components are very popular in the industry.
Japan has always been very protective about its high-tech products. Japan's "Daily News" reported on the 22nd that Toshiba is currently discussing the termination of the sale of its chip business. Toshiba, Japan, is currently selling its 'Toshiba Flash' business to Bain Capital. The plan is now being revisited.
Semiconductor is the lifeblood of Taiwan's economy
The Taiwanese region of China has been developing semiconductor-related industries since the 1970s. At present, TSMC, MediaTek, UMC, and South Asia Co., Ltd. rank among the top companies in the world.
The “Guide to Foreign Investment and Cooperation (Regions)” issued by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in late 2017 pointed out that the IT industry in Taiwan has world-leading technologies. Currently, only Taiwan and the United States can produce computer motherboard chips' North Bridge South Bridge. 'and 'Central Processing Unit (CPU)'. TSMC is currently the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, and its global wafer foundry market share in 2016 reached 58%. The Guide points out that Taiwan's semiconductor, optoelectronics, information and communications The global market share of such products exceeds 70%, the industrial output value of wafer generation accounts for 67.4% of the world, and the downstream packaging and testing industry ranks first in the world.
Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of China Mobile, told the Global Times reporter on the 22nd that although it has achieved the above market status, Taiwan’s chip industry chain is basically positioned as a third-party service and is not at the top of the entire industry.
Taiwan’s “Central News Agency” stated that the semiconductor industry is the lifeblood of Taiwan’s economy and plays a key role in the export growth engine. In 2016, Taiwan’s exports of semi-conductor equipment (excluding re-exports) were US$600 million, an increase of 17% year-on-year, and exports to mainland China were about 4 percent. Billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 56%, the United States, Singapore, and Japan accounted for 2-4, accounting for 9%, 8%, and 6%, respectively.
According to Taiwan Customs statistics, in 2016 Taiwan’s exports to the mainland totaled 73.8 billion U.S. dollars. The main products exported were integrated circuits and memory, liquid crystal devices and components, semiconductor devices and components, and printed circuits, which accounted for all exports to the mainland. %, 7.48%, 3.98%, 1.53%.
Europe is beautiful, after Asia
Market research firm Gartner's global chip industry data show last year that Europe has gradually become a 'third party' for competition between the United States and Asia. In the list of the top 10 chip companies in the world, Europe only has NXP Semiconductors in the Netherlands. 2. Infineon Germany, which is still on the Top 10 list, and STMicroelectronics, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, have disappeared.
Some media also pointed out that although the European chip industry is not as good as the U.S. and Asian rivals, it cannot be replaced in many fields. For example, Infineon Technologies AG is Europe’s largest supplier of automotive electronic chips. Among the approximately 80 million new cars produced worldwide each year, the average There are 67 devices in each one from Infineon. Infineon is also currently the promoter of the German 'Industry 4.0' strategy.
The German "Business Daily" pointed out that the European chip industry is declining. The main reason is that Europe does not pay enough attention to the chip industry. The European Semiconductor Industry Association had previously calculated the burden of a model enterprise under different investment conditions. The result is that A model company has a net profit of nearly 1.5 billion euros in South Korea within five years, but it can only reach 700 million euros in Germany. Europe needs to support research, development and innovation through tax incentives.