As we all know, the rapid development of all walks of life in the field of science and technology is inseparable from the chip driver. In the field of chips, from chip design to chip manufacturing, the West has an absolute advantage, such as chip architecture, ARM and X86；; EDA software in the field of chip design; ASML mask aligner, who is used for chip foundry, can't escape American technology.
According to public data, three American companies, Synopsys, Cadence and Mentor, monopolize about 90% of the EDA software market in China. Chip foundry giants TSMC and Samsung, which adopt American technology, monopolize 70% of the world's foundry share, while TSMC and Samsung, which adopt mask aligner in ASML, form an absolute monopoly in the field of 7nm and 5nm ultraviolet OEM. With the increasing competition between Chinese and Western technologies, Huawei can't get chips with 7nm and 5 nm processes, and SMIC, a domestic chip foundry giant, has been "starving" and can't purchase advanced EUV mask aligner.
Recently, news from American media said that US Congressman Michael Mccaul and Senator Tom Cotton put forward a "proposal" to the US Department of Commerce, demanding that the previous "chip ban" against Huawei be extended to below 14nm manufacturing process, and all China chip companies should be targeted. This is undoubtedly "bad news" for China's chip industry!
We should know that although the 14nm process of domestic foundry giant SMIC has been mass-produced, it still cannot get rid of its dependence on western technology. For chip design companies like Huawei and Ali, it will not be able to obtain more advanced OEM support; This also means that all domestic chip companies can't escape, and this move by the United States is undoubtedly locking domestic chip companies, which is undoubtedly fatal to SMIC and Huawei.
For the chip industry at this stage, the ban should not fall immediately. Because of the epidemic and the chip ban, the world has fallen into a "chip panic" situation. Whether it is mobile phones, automobiles or other fields, it has been affected by the insufficient supply of chips, and the United States has ignored it. Industry experts said that in order to solve the problem of tight supply of chips, SMIC of 10 is needed. For this reason, the ban will not fall for the time being.
In fact, whether it is the technical blockade of 7nm, 5nm or 14nm, Huawei has publicly stated that it has no illusions about the United States. At present, all the strategies are "how to survive under the entity list for a long time". In the field of chips, Huawei has started research on optical chips and manufacturing methods, and published related technical patents, including wafer cutting and etching.
TSMC said that mass production of 3nm process chips will be realized in 2022, which also means that traditional process chips will touch the ceiling, and the answer to overtaking in corners with traditional chip technology has become clear. It is precisely because the traditional chip has reached the physical limit that the next chip era is coming, and the manufacturing process, manufacturing materials and manufacturing equipment will undergo tremendous changes.
Huawei started the research on optical chips in advance, on the one hand, it can get rid of its dependence on traditional western chip technology and avoid being stuck in the next era; On the other hand, it is also very likely to overtake in the future chip market. I have to say that Ren is still far-sighted.
It is believed that in the world's largest chip market, domestic chip technology will inevitably get healthy and stable development under the circumstance that the semiconductor industry is vigorously incubating. At this time, for chip companies and chip researchers, hard work and down-to-earth may be the best gesture in this "time change"!
What do you think of this matter?