The Japanese Semiconductor Industry Rise and Fall for 40 Years
In recent days, the U.S. government punished ZTE for semiconductors, and semiconductors began to enter the field of ordinary readers.
In the mind of ordinary readers, semiconductors are first used for radio parts such as diodes or transistors. However, in reality, they are widely classified. If semiconductors are classified according to manufacturing technology, they can be classified into: integrated circuit devices, discrete devices, and optoelectronic semiconductors. , Logical ICs, analog ICs, memory devices, etc. Companies differ in their classification of semiconductors. Japanese companies generally prefer to divide semiconductors into ICs (Integrated Circuits), LSIs (Large Scale Integrated Circuits), VLSI ( Super LSI) etc. In addition, according to the signal it is processed, it is divided into analog, digital, analog digital mixing and function classification methods.
In the 1970s, Japanese companies were committed to introducing semiconductor R&D and manufacturing technologies from the United States and other countries. In the 1980s, semiconductor production and research and development entered its peak period. In the 1980s, the most fierce battlefield in the Japanese-American trade war was semiconductors. The failure of the US-US trade war tactics, combined with the rigidity of the Japanese enterprise system in the late 1990s, Japan began to lose ground in the new round of semiconductor competition. By 2016, the only Japanese company can still be ranked in the semiconductor industry in the world. Toshiba (6th place) in the top 10 of the company can only rely on selling this business to maintain its own survival.
Japan’s semiconductors have gone through a process of prosperity. Not that Japanese companies do not know how important semiconductors are. They are the country’s mistakes in the US policy, coupled with the fact that they have failed to change their R&D system in a timely manner. Just watched the entire Japanese semiconductor industry one day less than a day.
Think of the top ten semiconductor companies in the world in 1995, NEC (first), Toshiba (second), Hitachi Manufacturing (third), Fujitsu (eighth), Mitsubishi Electric (ninth). 2005, Toshiba (Fourth) NEC Electronics (tenth) can barely maintain it. But by 2018, if Toshiba sells its semiconductor unit, the brilliant era of Japan's semiconductors will be completely overturned.
From the introduction of technology in the 1970s to Xiao He’s sharp point in the 1980’s, he became prosperous in the 1990’s and began to decline in 2000. Until now, he has to rely on selling children and selling women. The Japanese semiconductor industry has gone from weak to strong for 40 years. , The process of changing from strong to bad.
The development and production of former calculators and laptops
The development of semiconductors was first started with American companies. In 1970, Intel Corporation developed DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory, the most common system memory) '1103' that shakes the entire world. Intel Corporation Naturally Is an important manufacturer of semiconductor technology. Soon Japanese companies participated in the Intel Corporation's R & D, in 1972, Japanese companies and Intel jointly launched the microprocessor '4004'.
In 1972, Japanese companies were able to produce 1K bit of DRAM, seeing that IBM's new system required a 1Mbit product 1,000 times larger than 1K bit, and it was almost desperate. It was completed in a relatively short period of time by one company. This task was almost hopeless. At that time, Japan’s Ministry of Economy and Trade (Japan’s Ministry of Economy and Trade), which had a strong appeal for the company, immediately summoned Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba to form a “Super LSI Technology Research Group”. Such a corporate consortium. MITI officials are directly responsible for the advancement of related projects. From the four-year period from 1976, the Japanese national budget for semiconductors used in large-scale computers is 70 billion yen, including direct grants from the state. 290 billion yen, Japan is willing to invest in revitalization of the semiconductor industry, and the United States basically rely on companies themselves to R & D, at this time the two countries' practice has been clearly divided.
Japanese companies and companies at the primary stage have clear guidelines on how to develop semiconductor technology in the future and how to make the relevant manufacturing equipment domestically. This is an important reason why Japan rapidly surpasses other countries. First, in terms of technology, Japan focuses on the development of micro Processing equipment, in order to increase the capacity from 1K to 1M, needs to shorten the interval between semiconductor circuits. This requires sophisticated processing technology and related equipment. Under the command of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the development of related equipment has progressed considerably. Smooth. In the 1970s, Japan’s semiconductor manufacturing equipment was basically imported from abroad, but by the early 1980s, more than 70% of Japan’s equipment could already be manufactured by itself.
On the other hand, Japan needs to upgrade the silicon crystallization technology. If the silicon crystal size is large, the waste can be reduced when the wafer is processed. A wafer can function as a variety of components. In terms of basic R&D, the enterprise is screwed into a rope. , Collaborative advancement, When it comes to specific production, each company takes its own path. Since the products are almost the same, several companies can launch roughly equivalent products at the same time. Japan’s semiconductor group has both manufacturing and domestic advantages. To upgrade equipment and product competition, the level of technology has been continuously improved, and the world has begun to take a look at Japan.
One of the characteristics that Japanese companies quickly formed in the 1980s was that their semiconductor products were extremely inexpensive and could provide related products to any country in the world. At the same time, all companies were able to guarantee the use of their products for 25 years and sell to the world in such conditions. In the era of products, there was not a single one. At that time, Japanese companies quickly occupied the world's semiconductor market. In 1985, the role of Japanese companies and American companies in the semiconductor production market share changed: Japan first, the United States 2. As for enterprises in Europe and other places, their total volume is below 10%, with little market significance.
In the mid-1980s, more than 50% of the world's semiconductor products were produced in Japan, and people said that the basis for 'Japan's first' was here.
We saw that in 1985 Intel Corporation announced that it would withdraw from DRAM manufacturing and only concentrate on producing microprocessors.
The emergence of Japan-US trade war and the division of labor
The United States was very dissatisfied with Japan’s rapid occupation of the U.S. market after the Second World War. In the 1950s, there was already a one-dollar shirt made in Japan that entered the U.S. market and began to experience textile friction between Japan and the United States. By the 1960s, it was trade friction in the steel industry. Originally, Japan’s steel technology was very underdeveloped. It was the United States that helped Japan upgrade its rolling technology. However, in the twinkling of an eye, Japan invested steel products in the United States. Since the 1970s, Japanese household appliances have entered the US market in large numbers. In the 1980’s, relations were The United States national security semiconductor products from Japan poured into the United States.
The United States began to counterattack. After Japan’s semiconductor industry’s share of the world market surpassed that of the United States in 1985, the United States used its absolute power in politics, military, and diplomacy in 1986 to force Japan to sign an alliance with the U.S.-Japan semiconductor agreement. The agreement is to prevent Japanese companies from dumping against the United States. However, the dominant position of Japanese companies in technology, etc., cannot be shaken. The United States proposes a numerical target and requires that there must be a 20% share of US semiconductor products in the Japanese market. Japan has promised this requirement. Because of the technical level, product quality is there, and the rigid market share does not mean that U.S. companies have advantages. Japan does not know that this U.S. requirement gives U.S. companies a chance to breathe, although U.S. companies are in technical terms. No one can beat, but if the product is replaced, American companies can come back.
Japanese companies sit tight on Taishan’s posture and continue to provide low-cost and 25-year shelf life products for computers and other companies. However, the market suddenly changed. With the advent of laptop computers, the demand for semiconductor components has increased even more. At one time, it could not keep up, but South Korea suddenly broke out a company called 'Samsung', which specializes in manufacturing computer-use semiconductors. For Samsung's R&D and production capabilities, Japanese companies did not see it at the beginning and it is estimated that it will not take much time. , Samsung's product level will be eliminated. Japanese companies absolutely stigmatize Samsung, foreshadowed its subsequent failure.
From the point of view of production methods, the production methods of component parts in the computer era have undergone great changes, and the horizontal division of labor has begun to become the mainstream. The vertical division of labor system preferred by Japanese companies is increasingly unable to cope with the new situation. At this time ARM is responsible for research and development. The tsmc company is responsible for the general trend of production into new production methods. The relationship between Intel and Samsung also has the characteristics of this level of division of labor. Japanese companies' R&D and production in the semiconductor industry cannot be compared with other companies in the world. The reason is that Japanese companies must both research and develop and produce, R&D investment is huge, and production needs to constantly update equipment. If both can't take care of it, only those left behind are left behind.
By 1993, Intel, which had been defeated by Japanese companies, began to launch the Pentium, paving the way for the emergence of Microsoft. At this time, Japan was just entering the stage of the collapse of the bubble economy. The rigid vertical division of labor also made Japan Can not be improved.
Japanese companies have retreated
The defeat of the soldiers came to an end. By the late 1990s, what people heard was almost the news of the defeat of Japanese semiconductor companies.
As a result of the consolidation, the following companies were substantially changed during that period: In 1999, Fujitsu withdrew from the DRAM business. In 2001, Toshiba also withdrew from the DRAM business. In 2002, NEC separated the semiconductor sector where the deficit occurred. In 2008, Fujitsu stripped the LSI business that had been in deficit.
Companies that can continue to do so can only keep warm. In terms of DRAM business, in 1999 Japan established ELPIDA company, which was mainly composed of NEC and related departments of Hitachi. Mitsubishi Electric joined in 2003. In system LSI business In 2003, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric formed the RENESAS (Renesas) company. In 2010, NEC's related departments joined in. Unfortunately, these weak and weak joint ventures are in a bad situation. In 2013, ELPIDA went bankrupt and was finally absorbed by Microsoft. In the same year Renesas changed to Japan.
In some cases, people are worse off. For example, before the arrival of the mobile phone era, ELPIDA prepared the latest DRAM for this new era of products. Its market share is high, but after the mobile phone market really appeared, the financial crisis in 2008 As the Japanese exchange rate appreciated, ELPIDA’s own finances were flawed and had good technology, but they were not really used in the market.
Toshiba survived the financial crisis. Research and development in flash memory was well-prepared for smart phones and semiconductors used in digital cameras. Unfortunately, Toshiba’s failure in nuclear power caused the company to finally sell the semiconductor unit to Japan, the United States and South Korea. Of course, the decision to sell also requires the final outcome of the deliberations of the Chinese government. Certainly, no conclusions can be reached until the end of May 2018. Toshiba also hopes to push back as far as possible so that the semiconductor sector can provide more benefits for Toshiba. The days will be better.
Last but not least, Japanese companies are not entirely useless in semiconductors. Sony now holds CMOS sensor technology in cameras for smartphones; Renesas Semiconductor components in the automotive industry and Mitsubishi Electric's energy semiconductor technology in controlling electricity are still in the world. Shangbao has a decisive position.
Japanese companies were very strong in the 1970s and 1980s because of the guidance of national policies. In the mid-1980s, they were damaged by Japan-US trade wars. After the 1990s, they were mainly limited by the vertical division of labor in the country and began to decline. Can companies in South Korea and other countries always maintain their absolute superiority in semiconductors? It is also hard to say. Semiconductors are quicker to update, equipment investment is huge, and basically there will be a big cycle every four years (Moore's Law). More sophisticated, larger capacity development. Gradually into the ultimate stage, technological innovation has become more difficult, and technology itself is more difficult to maintain through the blockade. 'Chen Yan is executive director of the Japan Enterprise (China) Institute'
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