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posted by martyb on Friday November 15 2019, @03:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the smaller-faster-cheaper dept.

SMIC Begins Volume Production of 14 nm FinFET[*] Chips: China's First FinFET Line:

SMIC has started volume production of chips using its 14 nm FinFET manufacturing technology. The largest contract maker of semiconductors in China is the first company in the country to join the FinFET club, as only a handful of companies have managed to develop fabrication processes that rely on such transistors. SMIC's FinFET line is considerably smaller than those of other foundries, yet the fact that the company is using it is already a big deal for China.

SMIC's previous-generation manufacturing technology is 28 nm, so the 14 nm process tangibly increases transistor density, boosts performance, and lowers power consumption, which naturally enables the company to produce more complex and expensive chips that were otherwise outsourced to its larger rivals. At present, SMIC ramps up production using its 14 nm process technology at one of its 300-mm fabs, so initial volumes are not high. Meanwhile, SMIC's plans include building up a new 300-mm production line for 14 nm and thinner process technologies with a monthly capacity of 35,000 wafer starts per month. Construction of the fab was completed earlier this year and the company is currently installing production equipment.

In addition to ramp of its 1st Generation FinFET platform, SMIC's development of its 12 nm process is well underway and there are customers who plan to use the technology. Furthermore, the company is developing more advanced processes, including those that will require extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) tools, that will be used next decade. In fact, the company has even acquired an EUV step-and-scan system from ASML[**], but it has not been installed so far.

[*] Wikipedia FinFET entry.
[**] ASML home page and Wikipedia entry.

The Chinese GPU manufacturer Jingjia Micro has been reportedly working on a "28nm" GPU that could take on Nvidia's "16nm" GTX 1080. Improved (but not "industry leading") process nodes from SMIC could allow Chinese companies to pump out dirt cheap hardware that can compete favorably with products from the likes of Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. Here's a video (13m37s) about how there could be a 5-way GPU market (Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Jingjia, and ARM).

Previously: China Lags Behind Other Countries in Semiconductor Manufacturing
China's SMIC Produces its First "14nm" FinFET Chips


Original Submission

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China Lags Behind Other Countries in Semiconductor Manufacturing 21 comments

China Is Still Multiple Generations Behind In Chip Manufacturing

When it comes to the actual foundries China has within its borders, the picture isn't good for the country. Perhaps the most advanced foundry there is owned by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). A company spokesperson late last year said, "Our 14nm technology will start risk production by 2019, 12nm process development is completed and under customer verification."

Keep in mind how much further along the rest of the world is: TSMC (Taiwan) is already producing high performance AMD CPUs on its 7nm process with low power Apple parts having shipped in 2018, Samsung is readying advanced EUV production lines for NVIDIA's next generation of graphics chips, and Intel is rolling out its 7nm-equivalent this year as well. We even reported yesterday that TSMC is now actively developing its 2nm node!

If China's most advanced foundry is only beginning low-volume 14nm production this year, that would put them about four or five years behind the rest of the world. An eternity in the world of semiconductors.

For now, Huawei is building their world-class and cutting edge SoC, Kirin 980 on TSMC's 7nm process. If they were forced to use SMIC's 14nm process it would force them to regress in both performance and efficiency which would be a death-knell. Currently the Kirin 980 can compete with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855, but should Huawei be forced to fab its chips within its own countries[sic] borders this wouldn't be the case.

[...] It seems Chinese companies will have to do things the old fashioned way and grit their way through the learning curve with using these chip-production tools. One way around this would be to hire talent away from companies with a mature understanding of the technology, but even this is proving difficult.

For instance a Chinese DRAM company CXMT attempted to hire away a top Samsung engineer who had expertise in his field, but a South Korean court blocked the move. Kim Chi-wook headed the company's DRAM design team and would be a home-run hire for any DRAM company lacking knowledge. The court made no qualms about the fact that the engineer getting hired by CXMT would potentially hurt Samsung's competitive edge. They wrote, "Chinese semiconductor companies are estimated to be three years to 10 years behind in technology gap regarding DRAM designing technique."


Original Submission

China's SMIC Produces its First "14nm" FinFET Chips 7 comments

SMIC: 14nm FinFET in Risk Production; China's First FinFET Line To Contribute Revenue by Late 2019

SMIC, the largest contract maker of semiconductors in China, announced this month that it would start commercial production of chips using its 14 nm FinFET manufacturing technology by the end of the year. This is the first FinFET manufacturing line in China, making it a notable development for a country that already houses a significant number of fabs, as the world's leading-edge manufacturers never installed FinFET technology in China for geopolitical and IP reasons. SMIC in turn seems to expect a rather rapid ramp of its 14 nm node, as it anticipates the new manufacturing line will meaningfully contribute to its revenue before the end of the year.

According to SMIC, their 14 nm FinFET manufacturing technology was developed entirely in-house and is expected to significantly increase transistor density, increase performance, and lower power consumption of chips when compared to devices made using the company's 28 nm process that relies on planar transistors. Earlier this year it was expected that SMIC would start production of 14 nm chips already in the first half of 2019, so the firm seems to be a little behind the schedule. Nonetheless, an in-house FinFET process technology is quite a breakthrough for a relatively small company that puts it into a club with just five[*] other foundries with FinFET technologies.

Fin Field-Effect Transistor (FinFET).

[*] SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) would be joining the ranks of these five other companies with FinFET technology: TSMC, Samsung Electronics, Intel, Global Foundries, and SK Hynix.

Previously: China Lags Behind Other Countries in Semiconductor Manufacturing


Original Submission

How China Plans to Lead the Computer Chip Industry 23 comments

How China plans to lead the computer chip industry

On a university campus on the outskirts of Hong Kong a group of engineers are designing computer chips they hope will be used in the next generation of Chinese made smart phones. Patrick Yue leans back in his chair in a coffee shop on the campus, sporting a Stanford University t-shirt. He is the lead engineer and professor overseeing the project. His research team designs optical communication chips, which use light rather than electrical signals to transfer information, and are needed in 5G mobile phones and other internet-connected devices.

[...] China has made no secret of its desire to become self-sufficient in technology. The nation is both the world's largest importer and consumer of semiconductors. It currently produces just 16% of the semiconductors fuelling its tech boom. But it has plans to produce 40% of all semiconductors it uses by 2020, and 70% by 2025, an ambitious plan spurred by the trade war with the US. [...] In October this year, in its latest bid to help wean the nation's tech sector away from US technology, the Chinese government created a $29bn (£22m) fund to support the semiconductor industry.

"There is no question that China has the engineers to make chips. The question is whether they can make competitive ones," questions Piero Scaruffi, a Silicon Valley historian, and artificial intelligence researcher who works in Silicon Valley. "Certainly, Huawei can develop its own chips and operating systems, and the government can make sure that they will be successful in China. But Huawei and other Chinese phone makers are successful also in foreign markets, and that's a totally different question: Will Huawei's chips and operating systems be as competitive as Qualcomm's and Android? Most likely not. At best, it will take years before they are," Mr Scaruffi adds.

Mr Scaruffi estimates that China could be as many as 10 years behind the leading producers of high-end computer chips. The majority of chips made for high-end electronics are manufactured by specialist foundries like the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). It produces more than 70% of chips designed by third party companies.

[...] [Yue] believes that Chinese technology is three to four generations behind companies like TSMC. China lacks the industry experience to manufacture high end chips, he says. But he believes that companies like Huawei are already competitive when it comes to designing chips.

Related: China's SMIC Produces its First "14nm" FinFET Chips
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) Starts "14nm" FinFET Volume Production


Original Submission

China's Largest Semiconductor Foundry Raising $6.55 Billion or More in Funding 11 comments

SMIC – China's Largest Semiconductor Foundry – to Raise Around $6.55 Billion in Fresh Funding as the Company Leverages Its Enhanced Importance

SMIC, the operator of the largest semiconductor foundry in China, has adopted a pivotal role in the ongoing multi-faceted spat between the U.S. and China. The company has become the focal point of a concerted effort by Beijing to maintain a continuous supply of semiconductors to the local industry even as Washington tries to thwart this flow, as evidenced by the Trump administration's efforts to block silicon heavyweights around the globe from delivering semiconductor components to Huawei or its affiliate HiSilicon.

Nonetheless, SMIC appears ready to deploy its added heft in order to secure economic gains. As an illustration, in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Sunday, the company revealed that it will raise as much as 46.29 billion yuan or $6.55 billion by selling new shares on the exchange at a price of 27.46 yuan per share. Interestingly, the latest financing target is more than double the 20 billion yuan that SMIC originally sought to raise.

[...] As stated earlier, leading Chinese tech enterprise have been subjected to a relentless volley by Washington over the recent months as the multifaceted spat between the U.S. and China continues to escalate. Back in May, the U.S. banned the export of any semiconductor that incorporated American technology to Huawei or its affiliate, HiSilicon. Given these evolving dynamics, Huawei is now increasingly relying upon the silicon components sourced from SMIC for the wide range of its products.

See also: How much trouble is Huawei in?
Intel resumes shipment to Chinese server maker Inspur
Huawei builds up 2-year reserve of 'most essential' US chips

Previously: China Lags Behind Other Countries in Semiconductor Manufacturing
China's SMIC Produces its First "14nm" FinFET Chips
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) Starts "14nm" FinFET Volume Production
How China Plans to Lead the Computer Chip Industry
TSMC Dumps Huawei


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Friday November 15 2019, @04:26AM

    by RamiK (1813) on Friday November 15 2019, @04:26AM (#920609)

    Cheaper IoT light bulbs.

    Btw, feel free to spare us the double quotes when mentioning nodes add just add something like a footnote saying something like "All quoted node sizes are per the manufacturer's own definition and change according to their whims and fancies between product releases".

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    compiling...
  • (Score: 2) by jasassin on Friday November 15 2019, @04:27AM (1 child)

    by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Friday November 15 2019, @04:27AM (#920610) Homepage Journal

    This is great news. The only reason NVidea and AMD make any significant progress is because they're competing. I can't wait to see what Intel is going to offer. I hope Jingjia gives NVidea and AMD a kick in the butt.

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    jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
    • (Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Friday November 15 2019, @04:53PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday November 15 2019, @04:53PM (#920719) Journal

      I think the deal is that Intel will offer 128 EU for mobile, and 256 and 512 EU discrete options. Compare to the 24 EUs they have typically had for mobile, with 64 EU only coming recently [anandtech.com] with Ice Lake.

      Obviously there will be performance improvements for discrete cards that aren't limited by mobile power constraints.

      https://www.pcgamesn.com/intel/xe-gpu-release-date-specs-performance [pcgamesn.com]

      Later generations (2021+) could actually live up to the "Xe" name by pasting GPUs together in an MCM [soylentnews.org].

      Jingjia GPUs may not escape China so it will be interesting to see what kind of market effect they have. Broadly speaking, lithography production local to China for the Chinese market could eventually alleviate some of the capacity shortages elsewhere (Intel can't make enough chips, AMD has to wait in line behind Apple and Huawei).

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @06:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @06:27PM (#920745)

    used to make solarcells too?
    link: https://www.reuters.com/article/smic-units-idUSSHA6201720090319 [reuters.com]

    just saw some a while back but didn't test them. their solar cells looked mighty fancy ... proud enough to etch their initials in for everybody who cared to look to see.
    i think they were used by a "blacksite-under-the-radar"(*) monster solar park in the swamp area of thailand (ayutthaya) but got flooded big time (duh) and were
    then "second-handed" to off-set the failure.
    (*) profits going to "who we cannot name"?

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