It is no exaggeration to say that whoever owns the most complete and sophisticated chip industry chain has absolute power, because it can completely lock in the economic and technological development space of chip importing countries by cutting off supply and restricting exports.
So how dependent is China on imported chips now? In 20 18, among China's 14.09 trillion yuan of imported goods, the import value of chips was nearly 2.06 trillion yuan, accounting for 14.62% of China's total imported goods, which was higher than that of oil imports10.59 trillion yuan. You know, this is still the import amount restricted by the Wassenaar Agreement.
According to the information shown in the Yellow Book of G-20 National Innovation Competitiveness, 80% of high-end chips in China are imported.
So where is China's chip industry stuck? A complete chip industry chain involves many links and can be divided into several main parts: design, manufacturing (wafer manufacturing or OEM), packaging and testing.
For SMIC, the three key figures in its development process-Zhang Rujing, Tzu-Yin Chiu and Liang Mengsong-all come from Taiwan Province Province of China, and they are also closely related to TSMC, the global leader in the field of chip manufacturing.
1948, Zhang Rujing was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu, and came to Taiwan Province with his parents when he was a baby in Zhang Rujing. When he grew up, he completed his undergraduate studies in Taiwan Province Province with excellent academic performance, and then went to the United States to study, obtaining a master's degree in engineering and a doctor's degree in electronics.
After graduation, Zhang Rujing and Zhang Zhongmou, the founder of TSMC, who is 18 years older than him, walked out of almost the same career path: they also entered Texas Instruments, engaged in integrated circuit manufacturing, worked in Texas Instruments for more than half a century, and got a high position and salary.
The only difference is that Zhang Zhongmou resigned voluntarily and left Texas Instruments, while Zhang Rujing retired early at Texas Instruments. But later, the life trajectories of these two former colleagues at Texas Instruments coincided again.
Zhang Zhongmou left Texas Instruments and returned to Taiwan Province Province. At the age of 55, he founded TSMC, separated the wafer manufacturing process and established the foundry model.
In the face of this world university, which was established only three years ago, it can break ground in front of the prince and obey TSMC. Zhang Zhongmou decided to take all measures to remove the thorn in his side as soon as possible. However, Zhang Zhongmou did not compete in normal business, but directly acquired Shida Semiconductor in 2000 at a sky-high price of $5 billion.
After losing control of the company, Zhang Rujing did not choose to stay in TSMC. In 2000, Chinese mainland's chip industry was still in its infancy. At that time, document 18, which promoted the semiconductor industry to the national strategic level, and some policies to encourage the development of the software industry and the integrated circuit industry had just been issued. So Zhang Rujing made a decision that shocked the whole "Taiwan authorities": he came to Shanghai with 300 engineers and technicians and founded SMIC.
After learning the news of SMIC's founding, in order to prevent the advanced chip manufacturing technology from leaking to the mainland, the "Taiwan Province provincial authorities" blocked Zhang Rujing in every way, issued several huge fines to him and asked him to return to Taiwan Province within a time limit.
Therefore, Zhang Rujing was disheartened by the Taiwan Province authorities, ignored the "wanted order" of the Taiwan Province authorities, and even made an unexpected move: giving up the "Taiwan Province household registration".
In this way, Zhang Rujing officially turned against the Taiwan authorities, abandoned everything and devoted himself to SMIC, and in 2004 led SMIC to be listed in Hong Kong and the United States. Although it was listed, the development of SMIC in the following years was not satisfactory.
In the following years, SMIC experienced a management change like a merry-go-round, until it went to Shanghai to start a business with Zhang Rujing from Taiwan Province, and Tzu-Yin Chiu, a former TSMC executive, took office.
Although SMIC's profitability and production capacity are constantly improving, the gap between SMIC and global competitors such as TSMC and Samsung in chip manufacturing is growing.
Especially after the arrival of the 4G era, the demand for consumer electronic chips broke out, and the technological requirements of smart phone chips became higher and higher. Due to the gap in the process, SMIC failed to catch up with this wave of dividends. When the chip revenue of TSMC 10nm process has reached 20 17, SMIC still has low profits in the low-end processes of 150nm/ 180nm and 55nm/65nm, and the 28nm process has just been mass-produced.
At present, there is still a big gap between SMIC and global competitors. In terms of revenue, SMIC's leading position in China is unshakable. Its revenue is more than four times higher than that of Hua Hong Semiconductor, the second largest company in China, but it is only a fraction compared with TSMC, the world's number one company. But for such a company that has not been established for too long, it is commendable to be the fifth in the world.
For example, Huawei, the number one private enterprise in China, almost all its high-end products are made by TSMC. Even if it wants to give it to SMIC, it can't give it away.
Looking back at the development of SMIC, it is simply a testimony of cross-strait friendship. Many chip experts from China and Taiwan Province Province went to the mainland to help China realize the independence of chip manufacturing and constantly improve its technical level. Until today, SMIC has made some achievements.
However, it is not enough to rely solely on the introduction of talents from Taiwan Province Province or overseas. The development of chip industry in China relies more on the cultivation of internal talents. When will China's semiconductor, microelectronics and integrated circuit talents get decent salaries like Internet companies? Perhaps the rise of China's chip industry can be truly realized.