currently has 10nm and below chip technology, with only three manufacturers, namely TSMC, Samsung , and Intel . All other wafer manufacturers have a process of 10nm or above.
However, in addition to these three companies, manufacturers such as UMC , Grid , and SMIC are also working hard to move towards 10nm. Grid and UMC, which were previously said to be stopped at 10nm, also reported that they wanted to enter below 10nm.
But seriously, in my opinion, there are only 4 manufacturers that really need 10nm and below technology, and need to find ASML to buy EUV lithography machines. There is not much need from other manufacturers. (This is not to mention memory chip manufacturers, such as Micron , SK Hynix , etc., which do not include)
, these four manufacturers are TSMC, Samsung, Intel, and SMIC. For other manufacturers, just keep a 10nm or above process, don’t waste money.
Why do you say so? Intel has its own manufacturing needs and cannot hand over all its chips to foundry manufacturers. In addition, Intel is now implementing the IDM2.0 plan and also needs to help others produce, so it must enter 10nm, otherwise it will no longer compete with AMD and other CPU\GPU manufacturers.
TSMC and Samsung already have 5nm technology. They are going to enter 3nm this year and are already the two foundries. TSMC has won 50% of the world's foundry share, and Samsung has won 20% of the share, of course, technology below 10nm is needed.
The reason why SMIC needs it is because China's market is too big. Mainland China imports 70% of the world's chips, with annual imports of more than 400 billion US dollars.
Mainland China has a large demand for chip manufacturing below 10nm. The most important thing is that under the external situation, TSMC, Samsung, etc. cannot help mainland manufacturers successfully produce OEMs, so they must have manufacturing capabilities below 10nm.
As for GF, UMC, etc., there is really no need, because the demand for foundry below 10nm chips is so large, and TSMC and Samsung can all follow it. If you add intel and SMIC, you may have overcapacity.
and enter the process below 10nm, the investment is very large, and a production line construction requires 10 billion yuan. If the orders are not large, it may lose money. This is also the reason why GM and UMC said they stopped at 10nm before.
