On the foundry technology, SMIC is definitely the "leader" of the mainland semiconductor manufacturing industry, which is not an exaggeration at all. Whether " China Chip " can achieve self-sufficiency has played an important role. According to the latest wafer foundry ranking data, there are three companies in the mainland on the list, and SMIC ranked the top, ranking fifth.
At present, SMIC's most advanced process technology is 14nm. Although the gap still exists compared with the 3nm and 2nm processes of giants such as TSMC, , Samsung , etc., it is precisely SMIC's opportunity. Liang Mengsong helped SMIC make great improvements in its process, but until the EUV lithography machine was "bottled" and SMIC had to make new decisions.
Since then, SMIC has changed its development direction and no longer seeks "new" but seeks "stability". As Academician Hu Weiwu said, as long as realizes the localization of 14nm or 28nm processes, it can meet the chip needs of more than 90.9% of domestic applications, thereby solving the problem of chip "bottleneck". SMIC has also realized the importance of gaining a foothold in the mature process chip market.
Entered 2022, due to the "cold" of the consumer electronics industry, chip manufacturers have a difficult life. Especially after the US promulgated a new chip bill, TSMC was unable to expand its advanced process factories in the mainland, so it intends to "go back" and has also begun to turn its attention to the mature craft market. However, SMIC did not give TSMC the opportunity, and took decisive action and continued to increase its investment in the mature process chip market such as 28nm.
Recently, SMIC officially announced that the original planned 32.05 billion yuan will continue to increase by 13.55 billion yuan, and capital expenditure will reach 45.6 billion yuan! You should know that SMIC's total revenue in the third quarter was only 13.826 billion yuan. With such a large amount of money, it is obvious that SMIC is determined to win the mature process chip market!
In contrast, semiconductor giants such as TSMC, AMD, and GM have basically lowered their capital expenditures from this year to next year, and have also seen a series of operations such as "encouraging employees to take leave", "shut down lithography machine ", "laid off 20% of employees", and "freeze recruitment" and other operations. The intention to reduce expenses is very obvious.
The reason why SMIC has such confidence and confidence is because it is backed by the huge Chinese market. Currently, SMIC's monthly production capacity has reached 706,000 pieces. In addition, China's new energy vehicle market has rapidly grown to the "world's best", which also makes SMIC full of confidence in the mature process chip market. New energy vehicles do not have that high requirements for chip process technology. Mature processes such as 28nm are enough, so the mature process chip market has great potential, and SMIC has a promising future.
focuses on mature process chips, which does not mean giving up advanced chips. But in our current situation, it is more important to first win the mature process chip market. As long as the domestic production of mature process chips is realized, there will be bargaining chips to impact the high-end chip market. You have to eat rice bite at a time, and you have to walk step by step!
As Ren Zhengfei said, peace is "fighting". As long as SMIC stands firm in the mature process chip market, there is no need to worry about EUV lithography machines. Do simple things first, and when the technology is accumulated in place, high-end will come naturally. Therefore, in the face of competition from giants such as TSMC and Samsung, SMIC still needs to have this spirit of not admit defeat and continue to "fight"! What do you think about this? Welcome to comment and leave a message!
