1. The global semiconductor material market ranks second only to Taiwan in the mainland;
According to the micro-network news, International Semiconductor Association (SEMI) pointed out that in 2017, the global semiconductor material market grew by 9.6%. Global semiconductor revenue grew by 21.6% from 2016 last year. In 2017, the wafer manufacturing materials and packaging materials market scale was 278 respectively. Billion U.S. dollars and 19.11 billion U.S. dollars, respectively, in 2016, were 24.7 billion U.S. dollars and 18.2 billion U.S. dollars, respectively, 12.7% and 5.4% year-on-year growth.
Due to the accumulation of large-scale fabs and advanced packaging facilities, Taiwan has become the largest consumer of semiconductor materials for the eighth consecutive year, with a turnover of 10.3 billion US dollars, a market share of 10.29%, and an annual growth rate of 12%. Mainland China has consolidated its Second place, with a 7.62% share, also with a growth rate of 12%, followed by South Korea and Japan. Taiwan, China, Europe and South Korea have the strongest revenue growth, while North America, the rest of the world (ROW) and Japan The material market experienced a modest single-digit growth.
2. Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Mirror: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. exceeded Intel in 2021;
Reporter: Shaohui Shao, Shanghai Report
Zhang Yujing, who is known as the "Father of Chinese Semiconductors," has a new position.
On May 4, an industry information website displayed a document. The document shows that Zhang Haojing was officially appointed as the lifelong honorary president of the Micronano Technology Institute of Qingdao University on May 3.
Previously there were reports that while Zhang Jianjing was actively preparing for the third venture, he was also planning to jointly organize the 'Micron Technology Technology College' with Qingdao University to train and transport talents for the integrated circuit industry. Today, the rumors come true.
When Zhang Junjing joined Texas Instruments, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, in 1977, his boss was Zhang Zhongmou, who was later known as the “Taiwan Semiconductor Godfather.” In 1985, at the invitation of the Taiwan authorities, Zhang Zhongmou resigned from Texas Instruments Vice President’s job and returned to Taiwan to serve. The head of the ITRI, and in 1987 he founded the Taiwan Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC, referred to as TSMC).
With the rise of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry, TSMC has also grown to become the 'Jumbo' in the global semiconductor industry.
Although from the revenue point of view, TSMC's 2017 revenue of 32.105 billion US dollars and chip giant Intel's revenue of 62.8 billion US dollars is still a gap, but according to the latest data from Yahoo Finance, TSMC current market value of about 194.88 billion US dollars, the company valuation of about 207.25 billion US dollars. For 25 consecutive years to occupy the 'world's first semiconductor manufacturers' throne of Intel's current market value of about 243.62 billion US dollars, the company's valuation of about 244.6 billion US dollars. The two are not far apart.
Global role
According to Wang Yanhui, secretary general of the China Semiconductor Investment Association, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry has already occupied an important part of the global industrial chain. 'On wafer foundry, TSMC is in the first camp; on third-party packaging and testing, Taiwanese companies are also in the first camp and have strong companies like Riyueguang. 'Wang Yanhui told reporters in the 21st Century Business Herald: 'In terms of IC design, Taiwan as a whole is not weak, with MediaTek and other companies.'
Ji Jianhong, a research manager of Jibang Consulting Development Research Institute, pointed out on 21st Century Business Herald reporter on May 4th that from the perspective of the global semiconductor industry, Taiwan’s strengths lie in manufacturing and packaging and testing. 'Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The market accounted for 70% of the total. Taiwan's OSAT accounted for nearly 50% of the world's total. 'He said, 'In terms of current semiconductor development, the consumer electronics and communications industries are among the Fabless. The most important industries, Taiwan's semiconductor companies also play an important role.
According to data updated by IC Insights, a semiconductor industry research agency, on April 24th, TSMC’s revenues of US$32,163 million were among the largest foundries in the world, and its size was even five times that of No. 2 Grovefontein ( GlobalFoundaries), 10 times the fifth-ranked SMIC, with a market share of 51.6%.
In addition to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, there are two Taiwanese companies, UMC and Powerchip, which together account for over 88% of the global foundry market.
In the field of packaging and testing, the data from Jibang Consulting and Tuoba Industrial Research Institute showed that among the top 10 professional integrated circuit packaging and testing manufacturers in 2017, there were Riyueguang, Silicon Products, Licheng, Jingyuan Electronics, and Nanmao. Five Taiwanese companies were included in the market. The share also reached 10.1%, 5.2%, 3.7%, 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
Take the example of the sun and moon light. As the world's leading packaging and testing company, after years of accumulation, the company has the dual advantages of technology and scale. In 2017, the company's packaging and testing business revenue exceeded 5 billion US dollars, gross margin reached 26.6%. The company also holds top-notch packaging and microelectronics manufacturing technologies and is the first to mass-produce TSV/2.5D/3D related products. Riyueguang's R&D expenses in 2017 also reached NT$11.3 billion, accounting for 4.1% of revenue. , In the advanced packaging field formed a positive cycle of orders and inputs.
In addition, although it is widely believed that the industry is over-prone to OEM, Taiwanese companies still excel in IC design. Lin Jianhong pointed out that currently in the field of IC design, the TV Soc/Driver IC industry in Taiwan is a global leader in mobile phone chips. Ranks second in the world.
The data updated by IC Insights on March 22 shows that in the pure IC design (fabless manufacturers) field, the market share of Chinese mainland manufacturers has grown to 11%, but it still lags behind Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturers. The rate reached 16%. Among them, MediaTek, Novatek, and Realtek all exceeded US$1 billion in revenue, and both entered the world's top 20 pure IC design companies.
TSMC's storage technology breakthrough
On April 19, TSMC released its first-quarter earnings report for 2018 as of March 31. Its revenue for the first quarter was US$8.46 billion, and its revenue for the second quarter was expected to be US$7.8 billion to US$7.9 billion. TSMC will report revenue for the first quarter and The decline in net profit was attributed to the poor demand for 'a very high-end smart phone', and it is expected that the revenue in the second quarter will be further impacted by 'weakened demand for mobile services'.
Affected by this information, many Wall Street analysts pointed out that this may indicate that Apple’s iPhone product demand is less than expected, and some people think this is a sign of the chip industry sluggish. Many organizations have therefore lowered their expectations of Apple’s performance, Apple’s The stock price also suffered continuous setbacks on several trading days after the release of TSMC's earnings report.
According to Wang Yanhui, this is one of the examples of TSMC's huge influence on the global semiconductor industry chain: '(Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) will disclose some information from suppliers or customers in advance, if it makes the second-quarter performance expectation. Adjustments, we will immediately determine whether Apple's shipments should be reduced.'
Lin Jianhong also pointed out that because the mobile products represented by TSMC involve many manufacturers in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and often have a large relationship with consumer demand, its performance and expectations have often been used as a benchmark for the market.
On April 17th, the latest report of the Linley Group, a technology analysis company reprinted by Taiwan's science and technology media company, revealed that Intel’s long-standing advantage in wafer manufacturing technology is disappearing and it is also lagging behind in the development of new processes. Linley Group predicts that TSMC Samsung and Grooming are narrowing the gap with Intel and are likely to complete Intel's advancement in 2021.
Linley Gwennap, Linley Group's chief analyst, believes that Intel has been repeatedly delayed in the development of 10-nanometer process technology, which has lagged behind TSMC and other companies in the progress of the next-generation chip process. However, Gwennap also pointed out that the more advanced the semiconductor process, the corresponding The more complex and precise the lithography equipment, the greater the completion of the Intel in the future also means that TSMC and other companies will challenge the next generation of lithography technology before Intel to take risks in the manufacturing process.
Raise password
Recalling the history of the development of the semiconductor industry in Taiwan, Lin Jianhong believes that the government's investment in capital, industry positioning, and talent education, as well as foreign talents and international cooperation have all played an important role.
In the early 1970s, Taiwan's electronics industry was only the export processing area for leading companies in the United States, Japan and other countries.
In 1975, the government will push Taiwan’s semiconductor industry onto the fast track of development. The Korean government’s high-paying US Korean researchers returned to invest in the development of the electronics industry. The Taiwan authorities established the “Industrial Technology Research Institute” (ITRI ) In addition to setting up electronics centers, a group of engineers were selected to study RCA's design and manufacturing technology for integrated circuits. These engineers have become key figures in the rise of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry in the future, including the founder of MediaTek Cai Ming. Jie Jie, former world advanced chairman Zhang Qingyu, Genesis Technology Chairman Wang Guoyi, Winbond Electronic Founder Yang Dingyuan.
At the same time, the Taiwan authorities launched the 'Electronic Industry Research and Development Program' in three phases. During this period, UMC, TSMC, Taiwan masks, and advanced semiconductor companies were conceived. In 1987, they worked at Texas Instruments. Zhang Zhongmou, the senior vice president, returned to Taiwan and founded TSMC.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Junjing, who once worked at Texas Instruments Zhang Mingmou, also set up the world’s largest product in 1997. After the company was acquired by TSMC, he went to Shanghai to establish SMIC, which has now become China’s mainland. One of the representatives of semiconductor manufacturers, ranked second in the world's foundry rankings in 2017 after Samsung, ranked fifth.
However, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry also experienced setbacks. During the financial crisis, six DRAM storage vendors in Taiwan suffered serious losses. To respond to the crisis, Taiwan’s related departments set up a Taiwan Memory Company (TMC). The company expects to control and integrate six companies. However, due to the lack of Due to the government’s dominance and advancement, the integration could not be completed. In addition, as the “DRAM industry reengineering program” was rejected by Taiwan’s “Legislative Yuan” in October 2009, relevant government funds were banned from investing in TMC, Taiwan’s DRAM industry consolidation plan. Failed to declare, the DRAM industry has been sluggish since then and eventually disappeared.
Taiwan experience mirror
Lin Jianhong pointed out to 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the current disadvantage of the semiconductor industry in Taiwan is that, except for manufacturing and packaging, there is not much advantage in other application areas.
'Taiwan is relatively weak in semiconductor key IP/EDA/materials/equipment etc.' He pointed out, 'In the field of IC design, limited by the small size of the Taiwan market, design firms must rely on manufacturers outside Taiwan, and Containment and testing focus on the role of OEM. Therefore, in the direction of independent innovation, we must rely on the guidance of design or IP vendors.
Some analysts believe that underinvestment is one of the main reasons Taiwan's semiconductor industry is currently facing some deficiencies, which also led to the lack of an independent core technology system in the Taiwanese semiconductor industry.
However, Lin Jianhong does not fully agree with this. 'In fact, semiconductors are industries with a high degree of professional division of labor, and Taiwan has a decisive position in the vertical division of labor system.' He said, 'Taiwan is in overall semiconductor development.' Due to limited resources, limited resources must be placed on specific projects, resulting in a lack of investment in key IP/EDA/material/equipment areas and becoming a weak link in Taiwan's semiconductor development.
Lin Jianhong pointed out that semiconductor is a highly-scale economic industry. The prosperous development of wafer foundry in Taiwan and the frustration of the memory industry in Taiwan are affected by economies of scale. 'Therefore, when deciding to invest in resources, we must know the current investment. In the link, where is the economic size of the industry, and then decide the strength of the input resources.
Wang Yanhui believes that the current situation of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry focusing on OEM is related to the ecological environment and inherent thinking of Taiwan’s industry. Taking Korea as an example, from the start of the industry, it was positioned as a “brand”, now Samsung, SK. Hynix's two major storage giants are the fruits of achievement. Taiwan’s electronics industry is more committed to OEMs, whether it’s the electronics giant Foxconn, or the foundry giant TSMC, and the sealing giant Sun Moonlight, whose business is based on OEMs. Instead of building its own brand.
'This is actually not good or bad, because Taiwan has focused on foundry, so it has created TSMC, the world's leading companies such as Sun Moonlight. 'Wang Yanhui said, 'You can not say that it does not have the core technology, OEM also needs the core technology.'
Speaking of Taiwan's defeat in the DRAM industry, Wang Yanhui believes that this is also related to the inherent thinking that it is mainly foundry-based. 'The problem with the storage industry is that (the market) is particularly good when it is good, and bad when it is bad, so some When the manufacturers do their work, they want to go back and work for OEMs. The risk is relatively small. They say, 'In other words, they have a way back.'
In his opinion, this is not entirely a 'defect'.
'We do not need to reflect on the so-called 'shortcomings' in the development of the semiconductor industry in Taiwan. Each region has its own ecology. 'He said: 'The world is able to develop the whole industry chain only the United States and China, even Korea, Japan, Can only lead in a few links, not committed to the entire industry chain. '21st Century Business Herald
3. 10 Gigabit network intelligent controller chip unveiled;
On May 5th, Beijing Xunxun Technology Co., Ltd. independently developed China's first 'Flash Xeon 10GbE Intelligent Controller' through the results appraisal.
This achievement is an essential part of the computing and storage equipment. Its role is to control and process the input and output data when the equipment is connected to the network. It is China's first self-developed enterprise-class Ethernet high-end controller, and the overall technology is internationally advanced. Level.
The photo shows scientists and technicians show 'Flash 10G network intelligent controller' chip. Reporter Zhou Weihai photo Technology Daily
4. Wanzhou's first semiconductor chip industrialization project started with a total investment of 1.4 billion yuan
On the 4th, the reporter learned from the Wanzhou District of Chongqing City that Wanzhou’s first semiconductor chip project, Wei Ke Sa Lian Microelectronics Co., Ltd. started the semiconductor chip industrialization project, with a total investment of 1.4 billion yuan, which will drive Wanzhou Semiconductor Industrial Development.
The reporter learned that the project has a total land area of 75 mu and a total construction area of 32,000 square meters. It is mainly engaged in compound semiconductor wafers such as gallium arsenide and indium phosphide, substrates, epitaxial wafers, chips, optoelectronic modules, and optoelectronic devices. Photovoltaic systems, electronic components, semiconductor devices, etc. R & D and manufacturing.
According to the relevant person in charge of the project, the project's products can be widely used in face recognition, 3D sensing, iris recognition, driverless, laser radar, 5G and Internet of Things, AR technology and other emerging applications, and for LED lighting, consumption Electronic mobile terminals, data centers, night security and other broad and rapidly growing consumer market.
The person in charge of Wanzhou District stated that this project is the first semiconductor chip project in Wanzhou, which is very effective and it is believed that it will attract more industrial chain supporting related projects to enter Wanzhou.
It is reported that the project will be constructed in two phases, including a total investment of 800 million yuan for the first phase of the project. It is expected to be completed and put into production by the end of this year.