Dong Mingzhu first stated that he would not invest in investing 50 billion yuan to make chips. Afterwards, Konka Group announced the establishment of the Semiconductor Technology Division. Changhong, Haier, and TCL have also long been cultivating the chip industry. Why black power, white giants have set foot on the According to interviews with reporters, according to interviews with reporters, at present, domestic household electrical appliances mostly use imported chips, mainly because domestic chip companies lack complete solutions and yield and stability verifications, and cannot be used on a large scale by home appliance manufacturers, resulting in no improvement. Trapped in a 'dead circle'. Now that home appliance makers are marching into the chip industry, they may give domestic chips a chance to verify, and at the same time they are expected to increase the core competitiveness and profitability of home appliance manufacturers.
Appliance giants join forces with 'core'
On the 21st, Konka Group announced the establishment of the Semiconductor Technology Division at the 38th Anniversary Celebration and Transformation and Upgrade Strategy Conference, which means that this home appliance giant officially entered the semiconductor industry.
According to Li Hongyi, vice president of Konka Group and head of the semiconductor technology division, the development of semiconductors is not only a response to national strategies, but also due to the huge demand for components from Konka. According to reports, Konka’s semiconductor purchases in 2017 exceeded US$1 billion. It is expected that it will reach 10 billion yuan in 2018 and increase by more than 30% annually. Konka will focus on the field of memory chips, IoT chips, etc. The goal is to become the top ten semiconductor companies in the country.
In the home appliance industry, chip applications are everywhere. In addition to general-purpose power management chips (such as AC/DC), voltage regulator circuits, etc., the core of white and small home appliances is MCU (micro control unit) and motor drive chips. The core of black power is MCU and audio and video codec SoC chip. In addition, some home appliances will also use various types of screen driver chips, WIFI chips, etc.
In addition to the latest 'statement' of Konka, not long ago, Gree Electric Chairman Dong Mingzhu also said that even if the investment of 50 billion, Gree will have to chip research success. Gree's previous 'no dividends' once made the market awkward, in the deep exchange In the reply to the letter of concern, Gree said that the company will need to make appropriate capital reserves for the non-dividend, and the retained funds will be used for technology development and marketing of new industries such as integrated circuits.
More home appliance giants have already embarked on the 'core' journey. TCL, Changhong, etc. have continued to increase the layout of the core chips and other areas, such as TCL investment chip company, the introduction of Ziguang as a strategic investor, also set up a merger and acquisition fund.
In fact, this is the second time that the home appliance industry has entered the chip field on a large scale. In 1999, the state increased its support for the chip industry, and then guided the “Several Policies to Encourage the Development of the Software Industry and the Integrated Circuit Industry” (No. 18). In the following, many home appliance giants tried to extend to the chip field. For example, Haier established two IC companies in Beijing in 2000 and Shanghai.
'Correction' is still outside the chip
Why did household appliance giants have a special liking for the chip? The reporters learned from multiple interviews that at present, the black chips used in China's black-and-white and almost all of the chips used by the White Paper rely on imports. This has huge potential space. In the case where the home appliance market is becoming saturated, this is Good direction of extension.
For the cause of the current status of the use of imported chips by home appliance manufacturers, the industry's general answer is: Domestic chip companies lack a complete solution, not only in terms of performance indicators and the international advanced level, there is a big gap, and more importantly, the chip yield rate. , Reliability and stability cannot meet the requirements of home appliance manufacturers. Some industry insiders who have long been engaged in research and development of MCU chips for home appliances have stated that home appliance manufacturers did not reject domestically produced chips. They merely require domestic chips to be as good as imported chips in performance, but the price Better deals.
However, it is also emphasized by the semiconductor industry that the real dilemma is: Not to be used in batches by the entire plant, and not to give 'trial and error' opportunities, domestic chip manufacturers never know how to improve the yield, stability and reliability. Lead to an endless loop. High reliability and stability are the 'heap' of investment. Different life cycle products correspond to different product designs, production, and costs are different. It is difficult to meet the 'high quality and low' expectations of the entire machine manufacturer. .
So, is the home appliance giant having a promising future for chip development? 'Perhaps the probability of success is even higher than that of chip technology experts. The home appliance giant has greater advantages in terms of capital, management capabilities, social influence, and business appeal capabilities. The key is to Real input. 'In the assessment of the semiconductor industry, more importantly, home appliance companies will have higher tolerance for self-produced chips, and will give domestic chips 'trial and error' opportunities, and domestic chips will be able to continue to improve.
However, the home appliance giant must be their own to do the chip? There are senior chip R & D personnel said that in the case of consumer electronics chips have been blooming, the black power manufacturers do not have to self-development of the necessary chips; but the white power involved in strong electricity, Chips in industrial control and electrical fields, with high thresholds and high profits, are worth intervening.