Release time: 2017-03-24

Due to the relatively mature development of the foreign semiconductor industry, advanced technology is monopolized by industry giants in the United States, Japan and other countries. Although some design companies have begun technical cooperation with Chinese companies, high-end manufacturing processes and equipment are still technologically blocking Chinese companies.

"What is the status of China's integrated circuit industry in the international arena? It is still very backward." After the "Industry and Technology Investment Forum" of SEMICON China 2017, Wu Ping, the founding partner of Wu Yuefeng Capital, expressed his voice.

Although the development of my country's integrated circuit industry has been greatly improved compared with the past, it still faces the problem of high dependence on foreign countries, and key core technologies are still monopolized by foreign companies. Take the large-size IC-level single-crystal silicon crystal growth and silicon wafer manufacturing with a diameter of 300 mm/200 mm as an example. Due to the complicated technical process, most companies such as Japan have a high degree of monopoly.

In recent years, with the support and encouragement of the central and local governments, hundreds of billions of integrated circuit funds have also become substantive. So, can my country get rid of the pain of "core shortage"?

The annual import value exceeds 200 billion U.S. dollars

The integrated circuit industry is a strategic industry for my country's economic development, and it is also known as the "Pearl" of the national industry. It is a kind of miniature electronic device or component. It is manufactured into small or several semiconductor wafers or dielectric substrates by interconnecting the transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors and other components and wiring required in the circuit through related processes.

According to the reporter's understanding, integrated circuit technology includes chip manufacturing, design, processing equipment, technology, testing and other aspects. The core (semiconductor) materials of integrated circuits are located in the upstream of the semiconductor industry chain, and are mainly used to manufacture important basic materials for transistors, integrated circuits, power electronic devices, liquid crystal display panels, and optoelectronic devices. Not only that, it also supports military communications, television, electronic equipment, computers, cameras and other industries.

Earlier, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology once stated in public that, as a major global electronics manufacturing country, integrated circuits have always been one of China's most important imports. 90% of domestic chips rely on imports. In 2015, imports amounted to US$231.3 billion.

Data shows that my country's integrated circuit output value is less than 7% of the world, and domestic chips used in computers, mobile phones and other accessories are all dependent on imports. At present, the import value of integrated circuits has exceeded US$200 billion for four consecutive years.

According to customs statistics, in 2016, integrated circuits imported 342.55 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, and the import value was US$227.07 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2%. In the same period, China’s crude oil imports were only 607.8 billion, and China’s expenditure on semiconductor chip imports has been nearly twice that of crude oil.

Zhou Youzhi, chairman of Shandong Xiaoya Group Co., Ltd., said in an interview with a reporter from China Sankei Shimbun that almost all the chips in the controllers used by some domestic companies are imported from abroad, and these imported chips are not High-precision products.

The reporter learned during the interview that every electronic control board on every product of Xiaoya Group has one or even several chips from imported brands. Zhou Youzhi told reporters frankly that there is no alternative. Although these chips are not sophisticated products, they are produced by almost no domestic companies. Even if there are manufacturers, the cost is high and the quality is not stable. As a company, we don’t have time. And cost to be a "guinea pig".

According to data from Bain & Co, China’s annual consumption of semiconductors is worth more than 100 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for nearly 1/3 of the total global shipments, but China’s semiconductor output value only accounts for 6% to 7 of the world’s total. %. Many imported chips are assembled in personal computers, smartphones, and other devices, and then exported overseas. However, there is still a huge gap between the number of semiconductors produced by Chinese chip manufacturers and the number of semiconductors consumed by China itself.

Qiushi, a well-known household appliance industry observer, said in an interview with the "China Sankei Shimbun" that because my country's semiconductor industry is relatively late and has long relied on imports from Japan, South Korea, Europe, America, and Taiwan, its cost is also high.

It is worth mentioning that the initial capital investment in the semiconductor industry is relatively large, often tens of billions of investment, and the capital payback period is long. However, in recent years, my country's integrated circuits have developed rapidly, especially after the display field has entered the multi-screen era, there is a strong demand for semiconductor materials and related equipment.

The reporter learned during the interview that due to the relatively mature development of the foreign semiconductor industry, the photoresist market is basically monopolized by industry giants in the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries. The domestic photoresist production companies are "very few". The fundamental reason lies in the high-end photoresist research and development funds and equipment, which domestic small and medium-sized enterprises cannot afford.

Why is semiconductor "not big"?

Some analytical articles believe that from the perspective of market size and self-control capability, China has a huge demand for semiconductors. In 2015, China's semiconductor demand ranked first in the world, accounting for 29%, but the supply and demand of China's semiconductor industry is seriously mismatched. In terms of supply, the market share of semiconductor products and services supplied by mainland China is only 4%, which is very large. The gap between supply and demand.

It is not difficult to see that the reason for the weak development of the integrated circuit industry lies in the imbalance of semiconductor supply and demand. In this regard, national and local governments have provided unprecedented policy support for the semiconductor industry. According to the reporter's understanding, since 2000, my country has also issued a series of policies to support the development of the semiconductor industry. For example, in June 2014, the State Council issued the "National Integrated Circuit Industry Development Promotion Outline", which proposed to break through the key equipment and materials of integrated circuits, strengthen the integration of integrated circuit equipment, materials and processes, and develop lithography machines, etching machines, and ion implanters. To develop key materials such as photoresist and large-size silicon wafers, strengthen cooperation between integrated circuit manufacturing companies and equipment and materials companies, accelerate the process of industrialization, and enhance the supporting capabilities of the industry.

In 2016, the Ministry of Finance also issued a notice on preferential corporate income tax policies for the integrated circuit industry. The reporter learned during the interview that relevant departments have invested in the integrated circuit industry including chip manufacturing, chip design, testing and other fields, and the total amount has reached 100 billion U.S. dollars.

According to the reporter's understanding, in order to support and encourage the development of the integrated circuit industry, Fujian, Sichuan and other provinces have introduced relevant policies. For example, the "Implementation Plan for the Development of Integrated Circuit Industry in Haicang District, Xiamen City" expert demonstration meeting is underway. The Tianfu New District of Sichuan Province is also studying and formulating the "Guiding Catalog for the Development of Integrated Circuit Industry in Sichuan Tianfu New District."

Although the Chinese government's policy support for the integrated circuit industry or the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund is not small, the support from the state and local governments is not small. Why does my country still rely on imports for core materials for integrated circuits?

"Although some of the country's policies are good, this field is not accessible to ordinary enterprises. In addition, the basic raw material of wafers has not been solved in our country for large-diameter industrial production problems." Zhou Youzhi said frankly, June 7 of the last century In the ten's, the world developed from a single transistor to an integrated transistor circuit (integrated circuit), but our country did not realize it. It was not until the reform and opening up that my country found a large gap with other countries in this regard.

"Using ism and market-for-technology was the fastest choice of the year." Zhou Youzhi said that all the low-end products bought from abroad were all low-end products. , The country has also introduced a series of policies "combined boxing." However, although many policies have been promulgated, there is still a certain gap with foreign countries.

According to Zeng Haiwei, Dean of the Industrial Research Institute of Huaqi Business School, the semiconductor equipment industry has a very high threshold and is currently in an oligopoly situation.

It is not difficult to see that after decades of rapid development in the semiconductor industry, the semiconductor industry has also developed to a highly specialized stage. From a global perspective, the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands are the world’s three major power semiconductor equipment manufacturing countries, and are well-known in the world. Semiconductor equipment manufacturers are also mainly concentrated in these countries.

In an interview with a reporter from China Sankei Shimbun, Zeng Haiwei believed that although China is the world’s largest consumer market, its self-sufficiency rate is only 27%. The reason for this large but not strong first is that China’s semiconductor industry is a latecomer and started. Late. Second, the current global semiconductor industry is already in a mature stage, such as slow growth, intensified mergers, and ever-larger ones, and fierce competition.

Industrialization still has a long way to go

According to the reporter's understanding, in 2016, the scale of investment in the field of integrated circuit manufacturing increased by 31%, but compared with the current demand, its investment is still insufficient.

Zhou Youzhi told reporters that chips are technology, talent, and capital-intensive companies, and large companies with talents and sufficient funds can do it. However, some key equipment foreign companies still "lock their throats" on our country. In the future, only the state attaches importance and investment, and at the same time, it is necessary to move from laboratory to industrialized production as soon as possible. Only in this way can the current predicament be completely solved.

Zeng Haiwei said that in semiconductor materials, large silicon wafers and other raw materials account for a high proportion. Raw materials are the most important materials affecting the semiconductor manufacturing process, and the major categories with the highest proportions are overseas oligopolys. Many restrictions on the development of the materials industry lie in patent barriers, and the country is solving foreign monopolies through cross-licensing patents and independent research and development.

Qiushi believes that in 2016, China's integrated circuit product sales accounted for only about 7.3% of the world, and there is still a lot of room for growth. At the same time, the development of my country's integrated circuits is still at a relatively low level, especially in the fields of semiconductor displays and semiconductor chips, which still need to continue to increase investment. Optimize production capacity allocation, strengthen R&D investment, cultivate a leading talent team, and fundamentally master the core technology in the semiconductor field. It is necessary to have a high starting point and high manufacturing, and can no longer follow the old roads of the past. Therefore, to continuously improve the voice of Chinese companies in the global semiconductor industry, to be both strong and large requires long-term unremitting efforts from all parties such as the government and enterprises.

Insiders pointed out that the "strong core" policy has risen to the height of the national strategy. It is estimated that my country's investment in the semiconductor field will reach 170 billion U.S. dollars in the next 5-10 years. The period of adjustment and transformation of global integrated circuit technology is also a period of excellent development opportunities for domestic industries. my country has established a development fund with a scale of 100 billion yuan, which will focus on investment in integrated circuit chip manufacturing, taking into account chip design, packaging and testing, equipment and materials, etc. This is greatly beneficial to the development of the integrated circuit industry.

However, according to the "Integrated Circuit Market Demand Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report" of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, although some design companies have begun technical cooperation with Chinese companies, high-end manufacturing processes and equipment are still technologically blocking Chinese companies. . There is a serious shortage of advanced technology in the entire industrial chain of China's integrated circuits, and it will take at least more than 10 years for Chinese companies to learn and catch up.