At the same time, some industry chain people said that in this security industry that in this best scenario of artificial intelligence implementation, due to the outage of TSMC's supply to Huawei, HiSilicon AI security chips Hi3559, Hi3159 and other series of AI chips have been o

Zhidongxi (public account: zhidxcom)

text | Li Shuiqing

Zhidongxi reported on August 27 that recently, a Huawei HiSilicon chip sales agent told Zhidongxi that the current unit price of the smart security chip Hi3559AV100 channel has reached 3,000 yuan without tax, and he only gets 100 pieces. At the same time, some industry chain people said that in this security industry, in this best scenario for artificial intelligence to be implemented, due to the outage of supply from TSMC to Huawei, the HiSilicon AI security chips Hi3559, Hi3519 and other series of AI chips are out of stock, and the highest price has been hyped to more than ten times the price of !

In the past few months, the United States has been increasing its ban on Huawei, and TSMC has cut off supply to Huawei may become a foregone conclusion. Yu Chengdong, president of Huawei Consumer Business, said that after Huawei P40 Pro, the Kirin 9000 will become out of print, which makes the technology circle confused. This confusion also continued to the artificial intelligence industry.

Huawei Consumer Business President Yu Chengdong holds Kirin chip

Intelligent security is considered to be the best scenario for the implementation of artificial intelligence technology at present. Now this fast lane leading to the future AIoT world is facing a sudden "black swan"! The camera at the

traffic checkpoint instantly intelligently recognizes pedestrians with license plates, face scanning machine 0.1S at the door of work to identify faces for clocking in, and cross-AI cameras to find the missing elderly in just a few dozen minutes... These smart scenes that people are becoming more and more accustomed to are not dependent on AI chips, or HiSilicon chips.

Smart transportation application based on smart cameras

Many people know that HiSilicon is the hero behind Huawei's supply of chips such as Kirin and Balong, and the security chip is the most successful chip direction Huawei sells to the outside . It can be said that the leaders in the field of AI chips are undoubtedly Nvidia and Intel, and in the security chip market, China is the world. HiSilicon can be said to have crushed its competitors and occupied more than 70% of the security market market share !

What kind of stimulation does the AI ​​application based on HiSilicon smart security chips exhibited at Shanghai Si at the 2019 Security Expo

technology ban and the supply and demand situation of HiSilicon chips bring to the security industry? If HiSilicon chips are cut off, is there any good alternative? How many are happy or sad? In order to answer these questions, conducted in-depth investigations and visits to the industrial chain.

1. TSMC cuts off supply, has HiSilicon Security chips been discontinued? Why are the prices of chips such as

Hi3559A soaring so fast? Has the "Hi35xx" series of HiSilicon chips been cut off?

A senior person from the AI ​​chip industry told Zhitiao that he believed that the production of chips such as Hi3559A will be affected by TSMC's supply cutoff, and even will stop production of , and the corresponding substitute products basically do not have .

Zhitiao discussed with a senior security industry person. After careful thinking, he told Zhitiao that there are currently some speculation on concept in the market, some stockpiling goods and safe-haven , and some fostering goods and price speculations. The only thing based on is the news that "TSMC will not give Huawei OEM". However, the current supply of to three security companies (Hikvision, Dahua Shares, and Univision Technology) has not affected . "Let the bullets fly for a while."

A person in charge from Tiandi Weiye also expressed his judgment that Hi3559A, Hi3519A and other chips have not been discontinued for . Some are still controlling in , and some channel vendors are selling in . High-end and low-end hot products, the supply of these two parts is very tight.

Zhitie asked HiSilicon related person , and the other party only replied that it was market hype and did not answer whether the production was suspended.

In short, there is no accurate information in the security circle regarding whether HiSilicon security chips have been discontinued. But there must be no stock. The chip

has undoubtedly caused the industry's anxiety or confusion. It can be felt from the highest price increase of more than ten times, and from the words of security personnel. When talking about the impact on the TSMC supply cutoff incident, a person in charge of Tiandiwei said: "We security manufacturers are worried about , and there is nothing they don't worry about."

Why does HiSilicon security chip represented by Hi3559 affect the nerves of large security manufacturers?

2. Domestic HiSilicon chips occupy the security market, but chip manufacturing relies on foundries such as TSMC and

, so we have to start with "Little HiSilicon". HiSilicon has always been the "mysterious hero" behind Huawei's chip research and development. In 2019, Shao Yang, chief strategic officer of Huawei's consumer business, publicly revealed for the first time that HiSilicon is divided into "Dahaisi" and "Little Haisi" .

Among them, "Dahaisi" develops Huawei's own chips such as Kirin, Ascend, Kunpeng, Balong, Lingxiao, and Taishan; while " Xiaohaisi" produces chips sold to the outside world, including video surveillance chips, TV set-top box chips, etc.

and video surveillance chips are the most successful chip directions provided by Huawei to the external market! According to statistics, Huawei's security chips are each Annual revenue reaches the order of US$1 billion, accounting for 70% to 80% of the market share in China and even the world!

It can be said that the leaders in the field of AI chips are undoubtedly Nvidia and Intel, while in the security chip market, China is the world, and HiSilicon can be said to have crushed its opponents!

However, HiSilicon's security SoC chip was strangled by the United States.

In May 2019, Huawei and its subsidiaries were beaten by the United States The Ministry of Commerce of China has been listed on the entity list, prohibiting Huawei from purchasing important U.S. technology without special approval. On May 15 this year, the U.S. Department of Commerce revised its export control regulations, restricting Huawei's ability to use U.S. technology and software to involve and manufacture semiconductors overseas . Recently, the Trump administration has increased restrictions on Huawei, prohibiting Huawei from obtaining U.S. chip technology through indirect means, and MediaTek's subscription plan has also failed.

is the most famous Hi3516D in HiSilicon V300, Hi3519A V100, Hi3559A Among smart security chips such as V100, no exception is the 2~28nm chip process, and relies on foundry technologies of manufacturers such as TSMC and SMIC, which are backed by US technology, and are restricted by US bans. Although

is not officially announced to be out of print like Kirin chips, industry insiders said that if Huawei really can no longer use foundry from , H3559 and other manufacturers will be discontinued. Almost certainly. If HiSilicon security chips are stopped due to TSMC's supply cutoff, the entire security industry may be worried.

Although Zhitie also received answers from executives of Hikvision, Suzhou Keda and other related companies, "It made plans very early" and "has an impact but not a big impact." However, there are also reports that can replace only low-end security chips, while mid-to-high-end chips are very It is difficult to replace quickly.

So why is this chip so difficult to replace? Why can't manufacturers that have not been banned from American technology?

Let's start with Hi3559A, which was originally priced at 600 to 800 yuan, and was once hyped up to 3,000 yuan.

3, Hi35xx series, squeezed the security circle of TI and Nvidia "Kirin" The core

Hi3559A is a SoC chip used in an 8K ultra-high-definition mobile camera, which integrates multiple modules such as NNIE (neural network engine), DSP, CPU, GPU, ISP (image signal processing), codec unit, etc.

Hi3559A chip real image (picture from the network)

It supports multiple sensor inputs and H.265 encoding output, power consumption as low as 3W, provides 5T of intelligent computing power, can be used for network cameras (IPCs) that support intelligent identification on the end side, and can also be used for intelligent processing centers that support multiple IPCs on the edge side. How important is

chip for security? It can be simply believed that for the smart camera industry, it is equivalent to Snapdragon and Kirin chips in smartphones.

as an example. In the security giant Hikvision Among the first-generation AI cameras of of , the GPU of Nvidia was selected, but due to the power consumption of up to ten watts, it is difficult to achieve mass production of Hikvision's first-generation AI cameras. When it comes to Hikvision's third-generation AI cameras of , Hikvision began to choose the special chip for Hikvision Hi3559A, which greatly reduced power consumption and cost and realized the cost of AI cameras.Compared with

NVIDIA GPU and HiSilicon Hi3559A chip,

NVIDIA's products are priced at a price of several thousand yuan, while the corresponding hiSilicon's hundreds of yuan can achieve lower power consumption and higher performance, mainly because Huawei has chosen a dedicated chip route that is different from GPUs and is more suitable for the security field.

Choose the right technical route, which was the most valuable choice made by HiSilicon to seize share from the security market divided by foreign capital at that time.

Ten years ago, when the security market was still the world of foreign manufacturers such as Texas Instruments and Anba, Huawei HiSilicon also used this technical route to obtain 70% of the security market under the noses of foreign investors in 2016, and even squeezed TI out.

4. With its dedicated chip technology route, it outperformed the security giants TI

TI was also a well-deserved wealthy family in the security industry in 2010. With the popularization of H.264 and promoting the development of cameras in high definition, the early application of artificial intelligence technology represented by license plate recognition has also begun to appear. And this also made a battlefield for the upstart HiSilicon to challenge the industry's wealthy TI .

At that time, in order to occupy the market, TI packaged a license plate recognition algorithm while selling chips. Soon HiSilicon also began to package a license plate recognition algorithm.

But the difference is that HiSilicon has adopted a more revolutionary technical solution .

Compared with TI's general chip architecture "Arm+DSP", HiSilicon chose the "Arm+IVE" dedicated chip architecture. HiSilicon has made video codec algorithms and artificial intelligence algorithms into dedicated chip cores, using hardware decoding, so the efficiency is greatly improved and it is better than TI in terms of power consumption and cost.

In September 2014, based on the latest H.265/HEVC standard, HiSilicon launched Hi3516A, the first high-definition network camera processor in the industry. This not only became an important step in defeating TI, but also promoted the entire security industry to evolve into the high-definition and intelligent era.

After many similar battles, by 2016, HiSilicon's market share of security chips had exceeded TI in one fell swoop, with IPC video coded chips exceeding 60%, and DVR products accounted for 70%, and even became the main video surveillance chip supplier in Taiwan and South Korea markets.

Until now, from Hikvision and Dahua to various small camera manufacturers in Shenzhen Huaqiangbei, they are all customers of Hikvision chips. It was Dahua that gave HiSilicon the first real order for export chips. In 2007, Dahua Yidan signed a contract with HiSilicon for 200,000 H.264 video encoding chips (Hi3510, Hi3511) for use on the second-generation hard disk recorder that was rapidly developing at that time. After 2010, HiSilicon began to enter HiSilicon supply chain again.

5. Behind "choosing the right technology" is huge talents and money investment. It is still hard to compete hard to compete against the victory of the century-old cutting-edge industry of the US imperialist empire and HiSilicon, and it is also a victory of technological choice. Behind it is a huge investment in with huge technology.

004, which was still the early stage of the start of China's Internet, Ren Zhengfei found He Tingbo.

said: "Give you 20,000 people, and you will have a R&D cost of every year. You must stand up, appropriately reduce your dependence on the United States. The chip is useless for the time being, and you must continue to . This is the company's strategic banner and cannot be moved."

He Tingbo (first from left) and Ren Zhengfei (second from left) attended the meeting together

You must know that at that time, Huawei had only 30,000 people, and the R&D funding was less than 1 billion US dollars !

This year, HiSilicon was officially established.

Some industry insiders reviewed the process of HiSilicon core making and sighed that from 2004 to 2014, HiSilicon core making was blocked abroad and was ridiculed at home. They lost for ten years and "lost a Xiaomi" , barely stocked. However, a semiconductor , which has just made a profit for less than four years, now requires to compete with the cutting-edge industry and dozens of cutting-edge companies in the century-old US. Is this realistic?

Some time ago, there was news that Huawei is building lithography machines and 48nm new product manufacturing lines. However, industry insiders said that after evaluation, it was difficult to find that the domestic production rate could only reach 20%. If Huawei really has this backup plan, it is gratifying; but if it cannot be achieved, it is even more understandable!

Huawei chip runs very fast, but it is unrealistic to "release satellites".

6. HiSilicon has made the security chip business awesome. Other chip manufacturers cannot drink soup

On the one hand, HiSilicon is charging forward, and on the other hand, other domestic chip manufacturers are also being dumped farther and farther away. It is suppressed by HiSilicon's cost-effective, fully covered product line and mass-produced , so there is no room for development .

HiSilicon covers almost all IPC side and edge video surveillance equipment in high, medium and low ends, and occupies most of the security market.

Hisi's full-line security chip display

A security industry insider analyzed the advantages of HiSi's chip products in this way:

cut the performance of the flagship 4T computing power chip Hi3559A by half to 2T, and the price dropped, forming a Hi3519A; then cut the performance of Hi3519A by half to 1T, and the price dropped again, forming a Hi3516DV300; cut the performance of the 0.5T computing power, and the price dropped again, and another extremely low price Hi3516CV500. This mode can also be continuously combined with lens, CPU and other components to form more products.

supports AI-powered HiSilicon Hi35xx series chip series

series chips almost cover a few dollars to dozens of dollars, from 2 million to 16 million pixels, and all video smart chips from low, medium and high series are covered. Moreover, these four AI chips belong to SoCs. Different coprocessors from some competitors can work independently to realize AI capabilities. For example, Huawei's Atlas500 currently relies on embedded 3559A to realize facial and license plate recognition and other functions.

It can be said that chip manufacturers in the video surveillance SoC market cannot compete with HiSilicon in terms of price, chip series integrity, and performance. For these chip companies, whether they still have room for survival in the security market depends on how much space HiSilicon can leave.

Therefore, it may not be exaggeration to say that the security chip industry is the only one who eats meat. Secondly, the third one drinks some soup, and the rest cannot even be eaten.

7. HiSilicon wrestling forces a number of chip players to "grab the hydrangea"

HiSilicon wrestling, from another perspective, also brings opportunities to manufacturers with ability or potential to provide alternative solutions, forcing these manufacturers to make up their minds to overcome difficulties.

Some people are looking for alternatives, while others are willing to offer alternatives.

Bitmain is one of them. An executive from Bitmain told Zhitiao that Bitmain's AI chip BM1684 can be used on the edge of video surveillance, and a chip with a larger computing power can replace four, and some manufacturers are already using it. This chip replaces HiSilicon's corresponding products. It is said that at present, this type of chip can produce tens of thousands of yuan per year, but it cannot be used on the camera side.

At the 2019 APP Expo, Bitmain Intelligent Cloud Core mainly showed the SA5 smart server

based on BM1684 chip. A technical architecture manager of Yitu Technology has also paid close attention to the situation of HiSilicon chips recently. He said that if 3519 and 3559 are out of print like Kirin, there will be many alternatives, such as Cambrian, Bitmain, Yitu and other chips that can all be topped. Perhaps it will not take long to fill the hole of HiSilicon, the key is to look at the determination of each manufacturer.

is collected according to the opinions of industry insiders. In terms of front-end chip , a series of manufacturers such as Fuhan Micro, Zhongxing Micro, Guoke Micro, Junzheng, Lingsheng, and Ruixin Micro are possible substitutes; in terms of edge side chip , Horizon, Cambrian, Bitmain, Yitu, Yuntian Lifei and others have also shown their muscles. Among overseas and Taiwanese manufacturers, Anba, Shengmai, Mstar, etc. can all be considered.

However, it is still difficult to have a SoC solution that can provide as complete as HiSilicon, and it will take time to achieve sufficient mass production.

is tomorrow. Lingsheng Technology , which is backed by Qualcomm and Datang Electronics, will release its 1nm process technology AIoT SoC chip product, which is used for video signal processing, encoding and decoding, and can be used in intelligent security monitoring, face recognition, video conferencing, etc. It is said that one-time flow has been successfully produced and is expected to be officially mass-produced by in the second half of this year.

An executive of the security product line from Suzhou Keda Company also admitted to Zhidongxi that there are several choices for mid-to-high-end (chips), but the product is generally implemented, so it takes a process.

8. Hikvision: When Huawei was doing security, Hikvision started chip planning.

In 2019, as machine learning refreshed the security industry, Huawei's move caused a shock in the security circle. That is to enter the security industry personally. With its chip advantages and experience in cooperation with security companies such as Hikvision and Dahua, Huawei has thrown out innovative technologies and applications such as software-defined cameras, Holosens Store, and video storage platforms, and is determined to be the first in security in five years.

All-series software-defined cameras exhibited by Huawei at the 2019 ATV

The former customers have changed from suppliers to competitors on the battlefield. For example, such as Hikvision and Dahua, they may feel cold on their backs for a moment, so they begin to look for alternatives to chips.

At the Hikvision mid-year financial report conference call for Hikvision, Hikvision said when talking about chip supply that it was also worried that "friendly companies have to do security, and Hikvision's chips will not be sold to Hikvision", so it has long started planning . It is said that there are many application-oriented technologies in the security field, with development thresholds but not very high, and there are alternatives.

You can see that Hikvision and other security companies have long registered chip replacement, but the filing is still unknown, and it is certain that the plan conversion will take a certain amount of time.

Now Huawei's security process may also be dragged down by the risk of chip breaking. For Huawei, because they entered the security market of their customers, it caused fear among many customers such as Hikvision and Dahua; and since 2019, sanctions on Huawei chips from overseas have also led to some Hikvision customers accelerating their transfer to other chip suppliers. The current new ban in the United States has made Huawei's security business even worse.

However, for the specific development, we still need to "let the bullets fly for a while", of course we hope to develop in a better direction.

Conclusion: The fate of HiSilicon security chips is uncertain, "Let the bullets fly for a while"

The US ban and TSMC's supply cuts will undoubtedly have an impact on Huawei chips, which will affect consumer electronics fields such as smartphones to To B industries such as smart security. As the best scenario for the implementation of artificial intelligence and the largest window to the future world of AIoT, the atmosphere in the intelligent security industry has also begun to become tense, and the soaring chip prices can reflect one or two.

If HiSilicon mid-to-high-end security chips are cut off, it will be difficult for security manufacturers to find suitable replacements in the short term; at the same time, some chip manufacturers who hope to become alternatives are also moving around to prove their mass production capabilities and seize the opportunity to get new orders. Of course, Huawei chips have a lot to do at the moment, and all parties still have not confirmed that the news has been leaked, so it is still necessary to "let the bullets fly for a while."