Local storage manufacturers have officially started to catch up. No matter where they are in the value chain, each manufacturer is working together to write the industry history of domestic storage replacement. In addition to the upstream Yangtze River Storage and Changxin Storage's efforts in manufacturing, Shichuang Creative, which recently launched 256GB eMMC, has also made a breakthrough on the product side that has attracted the attention of the industry.
Ni Huangzhong, chairman of Shi Creative, believes that embedded storage has a promising future, and only high-end products can be substituted for domestic products. In compliance with the changes in the current industrial environment, Shichuang Creative not only began to return to the domestic market, but also targeted high-threshold embedded storage.
Shenzhen Creative Electronics Co., Ltd. was established in 2008. It is a national high-tech enterprise with chip design, software and firmware research and development, packaging testing, manufacturing and application capabilities in the storage field. The company's products and business cover SSD solid state drives, DRAM memory modules, embedded memory chips, OEM and ODM of portable storage products, etc.
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Aiming at embedded storage, the first 256GB eMMC
eMMC (Embedded Multi Media Card) is a popular local storage solution for mobile devices, mainly composed of flash memory , flash memory controller and eMMC protocol interface, etc., and are packaged together in the form of BGA. Currently, eMMC is mainly used in consumer electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets that have high requirements for storage capacity.
Focusing on the emerging markets brought about by 5G and the Internet of Things, as well as the demands of terminal products for eMMC to improve capacity and performance, Shichuang Creative regards embedded storage as one of the focuses of the company's product layout.
According to Ni Huangzhong, around the core of storage, the company's products include PC, smartphone and mobile storage consumer. In the mobile storage consumer market, Shichuang adheres to the principle of not competing with customers and insists on being an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer); however, industry markets such as data centers require Shichuang to enter with its own brand. Based on this, the company decided to focus on the industry market and try a more advanced ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) model.
Ni Huangzhong pointed out that the strategy of building its own brand is also answering the question of the company's future competitiveness.
In 2018, Shi Creative entered the field of embedded storage and established its own embedded storage chip R&D teams in Shenzhen and Taiwan.
In the second quarter of 2019, SCY officially launched its own brand of SCY eMMC series products, starting with 8GB/16GB/32GB and gradually expanding to 64GB/128G. According to reports, large capacity and high performance are the outstanding highlights of this series of products.
In October this year, Shi Creative released a 256GB eMMC memory chip with a further upgraded capacity. The product complies with the JEDEC5.1 standard, is backward compatible with the 4.51 standard, supports HS400 mode, and has read and write performance of 290MB/s and 220MB/s respectively. Due to the adoption of the industry's advanced 8 Die stacking technology, it can meet capacity upgrade needs within size constraints.
"From OTT boxes and tablets to mid-to-low-end mobile phones, and then to high-end smartphones and industrial-grade storage; customers have gradually grown from third- and fourth-tier customers to large first- and second-tier customers." How. To gradually lay out the embedded memory chip market, Shi Chuangdao has already drawn a clear blueprint.
Currently, terminal markets such as mobile phones are beginning to accept UFS flash memory solutions, and UFS is gradually becoming a new trend. While consolidating the eMMC series of products, Shi Creative has also started the development of UFS high-end mobile phone storage chips, and is expected to launch a 256GB-1TBUFS series of chips in the second half of 2021.
Ni Huangzhong revealed that self-owned brand SCY products have contributed hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue to the company and are expected to become the fastest growing business segment in the future. "After the introduction of chips from Yangtze Memory and Changxin Memory, the market has mainly promoted eMMC, and eMMC has ushered in very good development opportunities.
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Use R&D strength to support high-end positioning
Whether it is launching its own brand or focusing on the high-end market, it all points to the brand that Shi Creative is committed to creating. High-end positioning. In fact, the embedded storage products that the company focuses on have high thresholds.
Ni Huangzhong said: "Embedded storage products have the highest threshold among all storage products currently. "In addition to the original manufacturers involved in embedded storage products, many domestic manufacturers have already deployed here. After increasing capital, there will be more players.
However, he also emphasized: It is easy to get in, but difficult to survive.
On the one hand, it is because embedded storage itself has high technical barriers. “This product type tests the manufacturer’s product definition, product development and problem-solving capabilities, and creativity goes from definition to selection. From model to packaging to customer response, it has unique advantages. "Although Shichuang has achieved full capacity coverage in less than two years, the accumulation of research and development began as early as 2013.
On the other hand, it involves the company's overall business layout. Shichuang In the past three years, we have continuously improved our product lines, and our product portfolio can be flexibly adjusted with industry cycle fluctuations to cope with risks. “The next thing to deal with is the issue of market response. ”
In short, Shi Chuangdao not only uses high-end positioning to build competitiveness, but also uses a broad business layout to spread risks. Ni Huangzhong emphasized that what can truly support the positioning of high-end products must be the strength of R&D and manufacturing .
According to reports, Shi Creative currently has more than 600 employees, more than 300 of whom are R&D personnel, and most of the key R&D personnel come from prestigious universities at home and abroad and have core position experience in leading companies in the industry. It has established its own R&D teams in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Taiwan, and has set up chip testing laboratories in Shenzhen and Taiwan.
In addition, the company has also cooperated with Shenzhen University to build a joint laboratory for embedded memory chips. Research and development of cutting-edge technologies for generation memory chips.
Shichuang Chuangdao has been committed to building hardware facilities at the level of international manufacturers. Currently, more than 80% of the company's R&D and production packaging equipment are world-class and domestically first. With the continuous updating of facilities and equipment, the company's fixed assets have accumulated from 30 million yuan in 2016 to 300 million yuan today.
In terms of patents, the company has authorized and is accepting invention patents. More than 60. At the same time, the company has developed a large-scale internal patent reward mechanism. According to predictions, the company's annual invention patents will maintain an annual growth rate of 50%. It is understood that the company's latest eMMc product uses its own patents. TLC direct writing and flexible management algorithms ensure product life while achieving high performance.
Ni Huangzhong said: Manufacturing and R&D should be improved simultaneously; manufacturing is in Baoan, Shenzhen, where the talents are, and the R&D center is located. Where.
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Adhere to the long-term strategy and make the best storage products
In addition to the debut of 256GB eMMC products, there have been news surrounding Shi creative in recent times. , the most eye-catching thing is its delivery strength during the epidemic, Ni Huangzhong generously shared his experience on how the company can build reliable delivery capabilities and cope with emergencies like the epidemic.
First of all, The company has established long-term strategic partnerships with several major international original manufacturers to ensure a stable supply of raw materials during the epidemic; secondly, the company is a full industry chain company with a rich product layout. It usually has sufficient raw material inventory, and also has sufficient raw material inventory during special periods. The supply of raw materials for some products can be adjusted to ensure the continuous supply of scarce goods. In addition, the market prediction ability of the company's decision-makers can also play a certain role.
Ni Huangzhong believes that storage is "the boss's business." Business". To survive in the rapidly changing storage industry, the judgment of decision-makers is crucial. To this end, Ni Huangzhong insists on running three kilometers every day, hoping to meet daily affairs with a good mental state. "Storage is an exciting industry. "Based on this understanding, Ni Huangzhong can always respond optimistically.
It is worth mentioning that Shi Creative also achieved a breakthrough in production and sales during the epidemic. In this regard, Ni Huangzhong said that this year's breakthrough in production and sales The key lies in the company's persistence in long-term strategy - insisting on making the best products.
Ni Huangzhong said that this strategy has never changed. Around this goal, the company focuses on building the most advanced storage packaging factory and stacking technology. In addition, whether the storage engineers are the best and whether the management methods are appropriate have become the indicators he focuses on.
According to reports, Shi Creative’s embedded memory chips are completed in-house from software and hardware design, raw material procurement and selection, packaging testing and production, and every link is controlled by itself. We also insist on using the best raw material particles and substrates, and adhere to high standards in terms of production yield, product quality consistency, technical support and delivery capabilities.
Currently, Shi Creative’s production capacity is basically at full capacity. "Especially after August, products have been in short supply."
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The slogan of domestic substitution is loud, changes in the political and economic situation affect people's hearts, and how macro variables exert influence on manufacturers at the micro level Influence?
Ni Huangzhong believes that the market will gradually open the door to domestic storage manufacturers, which will be a visible change after 2018. "Previously, large domestic companies did not believe in domestic chips." In the future, Shichuang Creative will gradually increase its domestic market share; in terms of supply, the company has also begun to try to use domestic memory chips.
In addition to deploying embedded storage, choosing high-end positioning, adhering to long-term strategies, and strengthening collaboration with the local supply chain are also Shi Creative’s positive responses to current industry opportunities.