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
Related Stories
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
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
US poised to restrict TSMC's chip sales to China's Huawei
The United States has been aiming to curb the supply of chips sold by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to China's Huawei Technologies Co. through planned heavier sanctions against the Chinese telecom equipment giant, according to a Reuters report.
The report said while tensions between Washington and Beijing have been escalating with both sides blaming each other for spreading the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Trump administration has a plan to introduce new measures to further restrict global chip sales to Huawei.
Under the proposed new rules, the report, dated Thursday (March 26) in Washington, said foreign companies that use U.S. production equipment to roll out their chips would be required to obtain a U.S. license ahead of sales of certain chips to Huawei, which was blacklisted last year.
Boon for Apple, AMD, Nvidia, etc. or a disaster in the making?
Also at Tom's Hardware.
See also:
AMD is set to become TSMC's biggest 7nm customer in 2020
Report: TSMC's Reducing Its Reliance on Huawei Amid US Government Scrutiny
Related:
AMD Says TSMC Can Meet Epyc Demand; Launches New, Higher-Clocked 64-Core CPU
How China Plans to Lead the Computer Chip Industry
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
China's antitrust regulator is scrutinizing the attempt by Diodes Inc. – an American manufacturer and supplier of discrete, logic, analog and mixed-signal semiconductors – to acquire the Taiwan-based Lite-On Semiconductor Corp. along with its Shanghai-based affiliate, On-Bright Electronics Inc. According to Bloomberg, the scrutiny was necessitated by fears in China that the $428 million deal would deliver the Chinese affiliate of Lite-On into American hands and compromise national interests.
As a reference, Diodes Inc. has a market capitalization of $2.33 Billion and a trailing twelve-month income of $138.3 million. On the other hand, On-Bright – the Chinese maker of chipsets for power management that's listed in Taipei – has a market cap of NT$9.88 billion ($324 million).
The Texas-based Diodes Inc. had launched its bid in August for Lite-On Semiconductor which, as per regulatory filings, holds almost a third of the Chinese Bright-On firm. The deal was expected to conclude by April 2020. Moreover, a Lite-On Semiconductor representative informed Bloomberg that Diode had filed for an antitrust review by Chinese authorities in mid-September.
This development marks the growing suspicion that American M&A activities presently garner in China. The State Administration for Market Regulation in China seems to be receptive to the cautionary note emanating from multiple industry organizations regarding this acquisition. Consequently, the regulator may call for the exclusion of the Chinese affiliate from this deal.
Diodes Incorporated and Lite-On.
Related: How China Plans to Lead the Computer Chip Industry
(Score: 3, Informative) by Mojibake Tengu on Wednesday November 20 2019, @04:20PM (8 children)
An interesting article about some beliefs of Mr. Scaruffi.
Now, reality check:
https://eu.jsonline.com/story/archives/2017/08/02/china-engineers-its-next-great-leap-its-students/527951001/ [jsonline.com]
That was two years ago. You have already lost. 5G comm is a proof of that.
Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday November 20 2019, @04:44PM (6 children)
Yes/No.
China produces excellent technologists, scientists, etc. It also leads the world in faked results. And the person in official charge of reducing that appears to be a strong practitioner of faking. https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/11/19/a-research-scandal-in-china [sciencemag.org]
So they've got some management problems to overcome, at minimum.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @05:03PM
It also leads the world in "borrowed" results
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @05:07PM
I think this sort of argument is akin to trying to assess China's ability to manufacture products by looking at the cheapest shoddy knock-offs you can find, and then implying that such an issue is inherent in all Chinese manufacturing. Of course what matters is what's happening as a whole. Are they advancing or not? At what rate? E.g. I think most of our entire field of psychology, let alone the psychotropics and "psychological techniques" it peddles, are going to go down in history about as well as astrology and lobotomies have. But the nonsense going on over there has in no way interfered with e.g. our progress in advancing space technologies or continuing to explore particle physics.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Mojibake Tengu on Wednesday November 20 2019, @05:08PM (3 children)
In Chinese cultural paradigm, Qi is a legitimate concept, rooted in philosophy.
Compare that to the fact many of old European universities still have plenty of theology faculties, graduating priests by the very same academic rituals as scientists and engineers, often in very same halls.
https://www.ktf.cuni.cz/KTF-1.html [ktf.cuni.cz]
https://htf.cuni.cz/HTF-1.html [htf.cuni.cz]
https://www.kuleuven.be/english/ [kuleuven.be]
https://www.ku-eichstaett.de/en [ku-eichstaett.de]
In western culture, theology is still a science. No wonder Chinese despise us as barbarians...
Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:33PM
Yeah, we should also add liberal arts to the list of theologies and "education through sports" bright idea (noticed last weekend at Princeton)
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by HiThere on Wednesday November 20 2019, @08:18PM
Excuse me, but I don't see how that justifies using copied photographs in different studies.
I've got nothing against Qi or chi or even elan vital in a study, but that doesn't justify fraudulent evidence. (And, of course, your evidence will need to be a lot stronger. Rhine didn't make the cut.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday November 21 2019, @03:31PM
And SN has Karma which one gets by up mods from other weirdos on the internet. This is all deeply relevant to management problems in China.
You definitely should turn that into a YouTube video. I can see the obvious, logical extensions of this principle. Scientists drive on roads, so do pimply, teen-age burger flippers. So in Western culture, burger flipping is still a science!
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday November 20 2019, @04:57PM
quantity vs. quality. Political biases could preclude the latter. How many foreigners are flocking to Chinese universities?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 5, Interesting) by fadrian on Wednesday November 20 2019, @05:06PM (2 children)
A hostile takeover of TSMC via a hostile takeover of Taiwan solves the "10 years behind" problem. Think bigger, rather than myopically focusing on some puny industry sector, BBC - the world does not stay stable.
We've built a world in which might makes right. The world is about equally balanced in various countries' abilities to inflict mayhem (social and/or physical) on each other's countries. The only thing stopping the PRC is a fervent desire not to upset the whole fucking apple cart. But thin-skinned egotists being in charge just about everywhere hasn't helped anyone. Who knows what tomorrow may bring.
That is all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @05:29PM
I'm expecting my new couch tbh
(Score: 5, Informative) by legont on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:38PM
This was said overnight by some official. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_say_we_didn%27t_tell_it_before [wikipedia.org]
In Chinese diplomacy, this is typically the last call before a war.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday November 20 2019, @07:12PM
The Chinese can lead the world in their production and consumption of silicon chips.
Just let America lead the world in their production and consumption of potato chips.
When you GOTO a dark place, always PEEK before you POKE.
(Score: 2) by ilsa on Wednesday November 20 2019, @08:40PM (1 child)
Is this a different one from the one that's currently a warzone? Kinda hard to make chips when you arrest all the engineers.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday November 20 2019, @10:06PM
They really can make those engineers a very compelling proposal, if not one the engineers can't refuse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday November 20 2019, @11:22PM (5 children)
The law of diminishing returns guarantees there will be areas of application where "three to four generations behind" technology is good enough.
In China's case, all that matters is that the user will be responsible to compensate for any of the technology's shortcomings that may result in a lower social credit system [wikipedia.org]; by behaving double-plus good. So, actually, that's not a bug, it's a feature (grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 20 2019, @11:43PM
3DSoC built using "130nm" process technology could outperform "3nm" planar chips. That's more like 10 generations behind. There's some great IP out there for China to
stealcopydraw inspiration from. I wonder how good Minnesotans [skywatertechnology.com] are at securing their data.[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by driverless on Thursday November 21 2019, @03:43AM (3 children)
They've also now got a huge motivation, thanks to random and arbitrary embargoes by Trump, to catch up quick. Short-term it'll hurt China while they have to fill in the gap caused by the absence of US products that they're currently dependent on. Then once they get up to speed and start churning out the same stuff, or better, in China at a fraction of the price that the US vendors are charging, it's curtains for a lot of US vendors.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday November 21 2019, @05:16AM (2 children)
On the same line, just in case one doesn't know how come China has its own space program in non-trivially advanced stages, a brief reminder of the Chinese exclusion policy of NASA [wikipedia.org].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday November 21 2019, @08:47AM (1 child)
Ah, good point! And that link points out they then ended up teaming up with Europe and Russia for it, which advanced the Chinese, European, and Russian programs, not just the Chinese one alone. If they do the same thing with the cellular/electronics technology they used to get from the US, it'll also end up benefitting China, Russia, and Europe, which presumably is the last thing the US wants.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday November 21 2019, @10:24AM
And they can actually play nice/bring value in research collaborations.
See EAST [wikipedia.org], on a shoestring budget of $37M, contributing back into ITER [wikipedia.org] Achieved record (electron) temperatures one year ago [sciencealert.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by khakipuce on Thursday November 21 2019, @09:22AM (1 child)
Last time I checked, China was a communist state controlled country, who thinks they give a flying frig about the competitiveness of an industry which they see as of national strategic interest? And besides they are amongst the most competitive manufacturers in the world, that’s why so much stuff is manufactured there.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday November 21 2019, @12:09PM
They can compete with some stuff two nodes ahead, like discrete GPUs [pcgamesn.com], just by cutting the profit margin and making power-hungry chips. Nvidia, Intel, and AMD are making bank but exposing themselves to attack by a Chinese entrant.
Piero Scaruffi is talking about mobile chips, where you want to be on the bleeding edge node to reduce power consumption, reduce die sizes, and increase performance per Watt. TSMC's top priority customers are getting mobile SoCs. The top priority customers are Huawei and Apple, in that order.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]