SMIC, as the chip semiconductor foundry with the most advanced technology and the most mature technology in my country, can be called the "hope of the whole village" in the current domestic semiconductor industry. Despite the technical limitations and the embargo of advanced lithography equipment, SMIC still achieved a zero breakthrough in domestic 14nm wafer chips on the basis of independent research and development and innovation, and under the leadership of experts such as Liang Mengsong, Launch a charge towards a more advanced chip manufacturing process.
However, recently on SMIC's official website, all the process introductions about the 14nm chip process have been taken off the shelves. There is still a gap in the level, but in China, it is also second to none. Why is SMIC eager to remove the 14nm process technology before it has made a breakthrough in the more advanced process technology?
Re-layout, SMIC is optimistic about 28nm
Regarding SMIC's 14nm process technology, Shanghai officials have made a special announcement before, and SMIC has already achieved mass production as early as two years ago. Years ago, Huawei's revived Kirin chip, the Kirin 910A chip, was manufactured by SMIC's 14nm process technology. According to industry insiders, the manufacturing yield rate of SMIC's 14nm chips has reached more than 95%, which is already the world's advanced level.
Although there is still a big gap between 14nm and the world's top 3nm, the 14nm process technology can already meet more than 80% of the chip demand on the market. After all, not all chip requirements must be the same as high-end smartphones, with high operating speed and compact size as must. For example, on-board chips, intelligent machine tool chips, etc., as long as they can operate, there is no particularly high requirement for the size of the chip. Using 14 or even 28nm process will reduce the purchase cost of the chip and sacrifice some unnecessary space. acceptable.
Because of this, in view of the fact that the market demand for mature process chips is still very strong, SMIC has also focused on mature chip manufacturing processes represented by the 28nm process in recent years. At present, SMIC has removed all the introductions about the 14nm chip process from its official website, which means that SMIC has gradually reduced its investment in 14nm process chips, and has even reduced related production capacity arrangements. As for the official website, it is no longer advertised.
At present, SMIC has successively established 12-inch wafer chip factories in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Tianjin, which are dedicated to the production of mature process chips such as 28nm, in order to meet the growing demand from industries such as smart cars and the Internet of Things. chip requirements. After all, SMIC has mastered 14nm wafer technology, and it has just passed the threshold of high-end process chips. It will be very difficult to iterate to more advanced processes, subject to lithography equipment, and it will be very difficult for more advanced chips. In terms of manufacturing process, TSMC, Samsung and other industry giants have already competed for it. Expanding production of 28nm chips is the most pragmatic choice for SMIC at present.
The mature chip market is hot, and China Chip is expected to break through
Just after SMIC launched 28nm and other mature process chips, a dramatic scene happened. With the current consumer electronics, such as mobile phones, computers and other electronic products in the market, the sharp decrease in shipments has gradually led to an oversupply of high-end process chips. Many chip manufacturers, such as TSMC, have reduced High-end chip production capacity. On the contrary, the mature process chips represented by 28nm, along with the development of smart cars and AI industry, ushered in the favor of the market, and consumption was extremely hot for a while.
Prior to this, major chip manufacturers such as Samsung, Intel, and TSMC, because they have tasted the sweetness of high-end chips for a long time, their respective chip production capacities have completed the transition to high-end process chips. It is too late to switch production capacity to mature processes such as 28nm. After all, it will take two years at the fastest to rebuild a 28nm wafer chip factory. On the contrary, China's SMIC has an obvious advantage in production capacity. If all four of its new 12-inch fabs are put into production, the monthly wafer production capacity will conservatively increase by 360,000 wafers. Higher production capacity means that SMIC can have faster shipments, and it will also greatly help customers shorten the chip profit cycle.
In addition, even if the production capacity of chip foundries such as TSMC and Samsung will increase in the future, when it comes to quality, SMIC's 28nm yield rate is not inferior at all. On the contrary, in terms of foundry quotations, in recent years, along with the previous global "shortage of cores", the foundry costs of Samsung and TSMC have risen again and again, which has already caused many chip customers to complain. SMIC's foundry costs have always been maintained at a relatively reasonable level, maintaining a certain price competitive advantage, and have been favored by many customers.
On the mature process chips represented by 28nm, SMIC is not only quite mature in terms of technical reserves, but also in the upstream and downstream supply chains and supporting production lines, SMIC has already laid out for a long time, even for the indispensable wafers. The lithography machine, my country's Shanghai Microelectronics, has conquered and launched a domestic alternative product suitable for the 28nm process. Therefore, SMIC is fully able to achieve a stable output of 28nm chips under the condition of self-sufficiency.
Of course, SMIC's current choice of 28nm chips as the main development direction must be only a temporary move to respond to market demand. After all, with the development of related domestic industries, there is so much demand for mature chips, and the money should be earned by yourself. You still have to earn by yourself.
In the long run, SMIC has never stopped moving forward in the research and development of higher-end chips. You must know that as early as 2020, Dr. Liang Mengsong of SMIC revealed that he has mastered the core of the 7nm chip manufacturing process. Technology, as soon as the lithography machine arrives, work can start. It has been more than two years now, let us wait and see the next breakthrough of SMIC.
