Even if Huawei engages in semiconductor manufacturing, there is a high probability that it will still be restricted by the United States.
Semiconductor manufacturing and semiconductor chip design are completely two-level development routes. Even if Huawei develops the chip manufacturing industry in the early stages, it may not be able to break the monopoly of European and American countries by now.
First of all, Huawei’s Kirin chips are not very technologically advanced. Compared with my country’s Loongson, which has independent intellectual property rights, Huawei’s Kirin is a bit inferior.
Huawei’s Kirin chip first purchases ARM’s public version architecture and IP usage rights, then hands it to HiSilicon Semiconductor for independent design, then hands it to TSMC and other foundries for manufacturing, and finally integrates it. It is sold to consumers on mobile phones.
From the development of the underlying architecture, to subsequent design optimization, to packaging and testing. Huawei can only participate in the design. For architecture development and chip packaging and testing, Huawei does not have the corresponding technology to connect.
When it comes to chip design, Huawei can only participate in the design process. If Huawei is developing chip manufacturing, there is a high probability that it will only be able to participate in a certain aspect of the work. For semiconductor manufacturing, two important points must be met:
1. There should be a technical expert to take the lead and form a team for technological development.
2. Establish a cooperative relationship with the global industrial chain and gradually develop its own localized industrial chain.
Let me tell you the first point first. Anyone who knows the semiconductor manufacturing industry will know Liang Mengsong.
Liang Mengsong comes from Taiwan Province of my country. He studied under Hu Zhengming, the father of semiconductor wafer processing technology, and worked at AMD after graduation. In the past few years of working at AMD, Liang Mengsong created a large number of semiconductor technology patents. It is no exaggeration to say that Liang Mengsong is a top scientist in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Later, Liang Mengsong resigned from AMD and joined TSMC, becoming TSMC’s chief scientist. Liang Mengsong leads TSMC to make rapid progress. Between 2007 and 2008, Liang Mengsong developed 45nm and 40nm process technologies, directly allowing TSMC to lead the world in chip manufacturing.
Later, Liang Meng-sung had dissatisfaction with TSMC’s executives and resigned from his position at TSMC.
After Liang Mengsong resigned, Samsung directly sent a private plane to take Liang Mengsong to the headquarters for cooperation negotiations. But at that time, Liang Mengsong still had a contract with TSMC that had not been terminated, and he was temporarily unable to join other companies. Therefore, Liang Mengsong stayed in Korea to teach at a university through his wife’s relationship.
On the surface, he was teaching, but behind the scenes, Liang Mengsong’s students were all technicians and executives at Samsung Semiconductor Company. In 2011, when TSMC's contract expired, Liang Mengsong directly announced that he would join Samsung Semiconductor.
Samsung attaches great importance to Liang Mengsong. Not only did it adjust his salary to three times that of TSMC, it even put the entire industry chain of Samsung Semiconductor in his charge. It can be said that Liang Mengsong's status in Samsung Semiconductor at that time was second only to the person in charge of the Li family.
After Liang Mengsong joined Samsung, he directly stopped the 20nm process that Samsung was planning to develop at that time, and directly led Samsung to develop the 14nm process technology. After three years of development, Samsung's 14nm process technology has officially been put into mass production and commercial use, and the yield rate is extremely high. At that time, TSMC had not even reached the 16nm process.
The rise of Samsung's manufacturing technology has directly taken away most of the orders for Apple's bionic chips and Snapdragon chips, leaving only 20% of the orders for TSMC. At the international level at that time, Samsung was considered the world's top chip manufacturer.
Later, TSMC used technology patents as an excuse to sue Samsung Semiconductor and Liang Mengsong to the International Court of Justice. In the end, TSMC won the lawsuit and Liang Mengsong was forced out of Samsung.
After Liang Mengsong left Samsung, my country’s SMIC extended an olive branch to him. Liang Mengsong thought again and again and finally chose to join SMIC.
After joining SMIC, Liang Mengsong once again reproduced the development speed of Samsung at that time. At that time, the world's mainstream process technology was 10nm, but SMIC was still stuck at 28nm, and the yield rate was very low.
Liang Mengsong leads the team to directly develop the 14nm process node. After two years of development, SMIC's 14nm process has been put into mass production testing, and the yield rate has reached more than 95%. On old processes such as 28nm, Liang Mengsong has gradually begun to develop de-beautification technologies.
Later, the United States restricted SMIC and stopped the supply of materials and equipment for advanced processes such as 7nm. As a result, SMIC also suspended the development of 7nm technology. The development of de-beautification of the 14nm process was also greatly affected. Influence.
At this time, we come to the second point mentioned just now.
In the context of the global industrial chain, no manufacturer can achieve self-research and production of semiconductors. Even Samsung, the overlord of the industry chain, still needs to cooperate with American companies in manufacturing equipment. If you want to break away from the technological product monopoly of European and American countries, you must develop domestically produced technological equipment.
SMIC was originally the company most likely to reach this level, but the US sanctions directly cut off this possibility temporarily. Even if Huawei develops its manufacturing field in the early stages, it still needs to rely on European and American countries for materials and technical equipment. As for industry giants like Liang Mengsong, there is TSMC in the past and Samsung in the future. It is very unlikely that Huawei wants to poach him from them.