The Chinese semiconductor industry, including
IC design and manufacturing, forms a major part of mainland China's IT industry.
China's semiconductor industry consists of a wide variety of companies, from
integrated device manufacturers to
pure-play foundries,
fabless semiconductor companies and OSAT companies.
Integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) design and manufacture integrated circuits.
Pure-play foundries only manufacture devices for other companies, without designing them, while
fabless semiconductor companies only design devices. Examples of Chinese IDMs are
YMTC
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is a Chinese semiconductor integrated device manufacturer specializing in flash memory (NAND) chips. Founded in Wuhan, China in 2016 with government investment and a goal of reducing the country's dependenc ...
and
CXMT, examples of Chinese pure-play foundries are
SMIC,
Hua Hong Semiconductor
Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited is a publicly listed Chinese pure-play semiconductor foundry company based in Shanghai, established in 1996 as part of China's national efforts to boost its IC industry. Currently, Hua Hong's most advanced node is ...
and
Wingtech
Wingtech Technology is a partially state-owned semiconductor and communications product integration company based in Jiaxing and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Its main business includes semiconductor chip design, wafer manufacturing, op ...
, examples of Chinese fabless companies are
Zhaoxin,
HiSilicon and
UNISOC, and examples of Chinese OSAT companies are
JCET, Huatian Technology and Tongfu Microelectronics.
Overview
China is currently the world’s largest semiconductor market in terms of consumption. In 2020, China represented 53.7% of worldwide chip sales, or $239.45 billion out of $446.1 billion. However, a large percentage are imported from multinational suppliers. In 2020, imports took up 83.38% ($199.7 billion) of total chip sales. In response, the country has launched a number of initiatives to close the gap, including investing $150 billion into its domestic IC industry through avenues like the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (CICF), with a “Made in China 2025” goal of 70% domestic production.
China leads the world in terms of number of new fabs under construction, with 8 out of 19 worldwide in 2021, and 17 fabs in total are expected to start construction from 2021 to 2023. Total installed capacity of Chinese-owned chipmakers will also increase from 2.96 million wafers per month (wpm) in 2020 to 3.572 million wpm in 2021.
Due to the rapid pace of Chinese semiconductor industry advances, on October 7, 2022, the U.S. government announced a major set of export restrictions toward China, with a focus on artificial Intelligence and semiconductor technologies, with the aim of disrupting the development of China's semiconductor industry.
Foreign companies
There is a large number of foreign semiconductor companies operating fabrication plants and design facilities in China, including the largest companies such as
SK Hynix,
TSMC,
Samsung,
UMC,
Texas Instruments,
Micron and until 2021,
Intel. Currently, the most advanced foreign made node in mainland China is 16 nm manufactured by TSMC in
Nanjing.
Samsung, who is currently the world's largest producer of NAND flash memory, has two plants in
Xi'an which accounts for 42.5% percent of its total production capacity, and 15.3% of worldwide NAND production capacity. It was the company's largest overseas investment in chip production with an initial cost of $7 billion.
Domestic companies
Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs)
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC)
Yangtze Memory Technologies
Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is a Chinese semiconductor integrated device manufacturer specializing in flash memory (NAND) chips. Founded in Wuhan, China in 2016 with government investment and a goal of reducing the country's dependenc ...
Corp (YMTC) is a Chinese semiconductor
integrated device manufacturer specializing in
flash memory
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
(NAND) chips. Founded in
Wuhan, China in 2016, the company received backing from
Tsinghua Unigroup. Prior to YMTC, China had no company capable of producing flash memory. Its consumer products are marketed under the brand Zhitai.
As of 2020, YMTC is using a 20 nm process to make 64-layer 3D NAND flash. In April 2020, the company unveiled its first 128 layers vertical NAND chip, currently the most advanced layer count in mass production, based on XTacking architecture, which has since entered production.
As of 2021, YMTC is producing around 80,000 wafers per month, with plans to expand its first plant to reach 100,000 wpm capacity by 2022, which would give it around 6-8% of global market share.
ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT)
ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is a Chinese semiconductor
integrated device manufacturer headquartered in
Hefei
Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...
,
Anhui specializing in the production of
DRAM
Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxid ...
memory.
As of 2020, ChangXin can manufacture LPDDR4 and DDR4 RAM on a 19 nm process with a capacity of 40,000 wafers per month. The company plans to increase output to 120,000 wpm and launch 17 nm (LP)DDR5 by end of 2022, with a target total capacity of 300,000 wpm in the mid-long term.
Pure-play foundries
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is a partially state-owned publicly-listed Chinese pure-play semiconductor foundry company. (published 05-09-2019) (published 05-24-2019) It is the largest contract chip maker in main ...
(SMIC) is a partially state-owned publicly-listed Chinese
pure-play A pure play company focuses solely on a particular product or activity. Investing in a pure play company can be considered as investing in a particular commodity or product of a company.
Pure play firms either specialize in a specific niche, or hav ...
semiconductor foundry company.
[ (published 05-09-2019)][ (published 05-24-2019)] It is the largest contract chip maker in
mainland China and 5th largest globally, with a market share of 5.3% in 2Q21.
[ (published 05-25-2019)][ (published 02-18-2019)]
SMIC is headquartered in
Shanghai and incorporated in the
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
.
It has
wafer fabrication sites throughout mainland China, offices in the
United States,
Italy,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and
Taiwan, and a representative office in
Hong Kong.
It provides
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
(IC) manufacturing services on
350 nm
The 350 nanometer (350 nm) process refers to the level of semiconductor process technology that was reached in the 1995–1996 timeframe by leading semiconductor companies like Intel and IBM.
Products featuring 350 nm manufacturing process ...
to
14 nm
The 14 nm process refers to the MOSFET technology node that is the successor to the 22nm (or 20nm) node. The 14nm was so named by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Until about 2011, the node following 22nm was expe ...
process technologies. State-owned civilian and military telecommunications equipment provider
Datang Telecom Group
Datang Telecom Group (officially Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group) is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications equipment group headquartered in Beijing, China. The group was founded in September 1998 by the China Academy of Telecommu ...
as well as the China National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund are major shareholders of SMIC.
Hua Hong Semiconductor
Hua Hong Semiconductor
Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited is a publicly listed Chinese pure-play semiconductor foundry company based in Shanghai, established in 1996 as part of China's national efforts to boost its IC industry. Currently, Hua Hong's most advanced node is ...
Limited is a publicly-listed Chinese
pure-play A pure play company focuses solely on a particular product or activity. Investing in a pure play company can be considered as investing in a particular commodity or product of a company.
Pure play firms either specialize in a specific niche, or hav ...
semiconductor foundry company based in
Shanghai, established in 1996 as part of China’s national efforts to boost its IC industry. Currently, Hua Hong’s most advanced node is achieved by its subsidiary Shanghai Huali (HLMC), which can manufacture 28/22-nm process and is currently developing advanced 14-nm technology.
It is currently mainland China's second largest chip-maker behind rival
SMIC and 6th largest globally, with a market share of 2.6% in 2Q21.
Other companies
*Nexchip
*Wingtech Technology
Fabless companies
Zhaoxin
Zhaoxin is a
fabless semiconductor company, created in 2013 as a joint venture between
VIA Technologies and the
Shanghai Municipal Government.
The company manufactures
x86-compatible desktop and laptop
CPU
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
s.
The term ''
Zhào xīn'' means ''million core''.
[In China 兆 can mean either short-scale million (1e6) or trillion (1e12). However, for IT-related topics 兆 always means mega/million in Mainland China.] The processors are created mainly for the Chinese market: the venture is an attempt to reduce the Chinese dependence on foreign technology.
HiSilicon
HiSilicon is a Chinese
fabless semiconductor company based in
Shenzhen, Guangdong and wholly owned by
Huawei. HiSilicon purchases licenses for CPU designs from
ARM Holdings
Arm is a British semiconductor and software design company based in Cambridge, England.
Its primary business is in the design of ARM processors (CPUs). It also designs other chips, provides software development tools under the DS-5, RealView an ...
, including the
ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore,
ARM Cortex-M3
The ARM Cortex-M is a group of 32-bit reduced instruction set computer, RISC ARM architecture, ARM processor cores licensed by Arm Holdings. These cores are optimized for low-cost and energy-efficient integrated circuits, which have been embedd ...
,
ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore
The ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore is a 32-bit microprocessor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture announced in 2011.
Overview
It has two target applications; firstly as a smaller, simpler, and more power-efficient succes ...
,
ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore,
ARM Cortex-A53,
ARM Cortex-A57 and also for their
Mali graphics cores. HiSilicon has also purchased licenses from
Vivante Corporation for their GC4000 graphics core.
HiSilicon is reputed to be the largest domestic designer of
integrated circuits in China. In 2020, the U.S. instituted rules that require American firms providing certain equipment to HiSilicon or non-American firms who use American technologies that supply HiSilicon to have licenses and Huawei announced it will stop producing its Kirin chipset from 15 September 2020, onwards. HiSilicon has since been overtaken by Chinese rival
UNISOC in terms of mobile processor market share.
UNISOC
UNISOC is a Chinese
fabless semiconductor company headquartered in
Shanghai which produces chipsets for
mobile phones. UNISOC develops its business in two major fields - consumer electronics and industrial electronics, including smart phones, feature phones, smart audio systems, smart wear and other application fields; Industrial electronics cover the fields such as LAN IoT, WAN IoT and smart display.
As of 2021, it is the fourth largest mobile processor manufacturer in the world, after Mediatek, Qualcomm and Apple, with 9% of global market share.
Other companies
*
Phytium Technology
*
Loongson Technology
*
Jiangnan Computing Lab (Sunway)
*
Alibaba Group (Yitian)
*
GigaDevice
GigaDevice Semiconductor () is a Chinese NOR flash memory designer. It also produces microcontrollers, some of them are based on the ARM architecture (GD32 series), and other on the RISC-V architecture (GD32V series). GD32 chips were introduced i ...
*
OmniVision Technologies
*GalaxyCore
*Smartsens
*
Moore Threads
*Jingjia Micro
*
Horizon Robotics
The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether ...
*Cambricon
Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT)
JCET
JCET Group Co., Ltd. is a public company headquartered in
Jiangyin on China's eastern coast.
It is the largest Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) company in mainland China and the third-largest globally.
JCET was formed in 1972, when
Jiangyin converted a local factory to produce transistors. JCET went public on the
Shanghai Stock Exchange
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exc ...
in 2003 and continued to grow over time. JCET provides a range of semiconductor packaging, assembly, manufacturing, and testing products and services.
Other companies
*Huatian Technology
*Tongfu Microelectronics
Semiconductor equipment manufacturers
Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE)
Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE) is a semiconductor manufacturing equipment manufacturer based in Shanghai, supplying
lithography (DUV immersion) equipment and other equipment used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Currently, its most advanced product is the SSA600, with a resolution of 90 nm. SMEE is developing the SSA800, with a resolution of 28 nm, which will be followed up by the SSA900, with a resolution of 22 nm. In December 2022, the
United States Department of Commerce added SMEE to the
Bureau of Industry and Security's
Entity List
The Entity List is a trade restriction list published by the United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), consisting of certain foreign persons, entities, or governments. Entities on the Entity List are subject to U ...
.
China Electronics Technology Group (CETC)
China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) is China's third largest electronics and IT company behind only Huawei and Lenovo. Its fields include communications equipment, computers, electronic equipment, IT infrastructure, networks, software development, research services, investment and asset management for civilian and military applications.
The company also manufactures semiconductors and semiconductor equipment used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, largely for military applications.
Other companies
*Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China (AMEC)
*NAURA Technology Group Co., Ltd.
*China Resources Microelectronics Limited (CR Micro)
Other developments
Huawei
Huawei is reportedly planning to build its own
fabs, in cooperation with SMIC, in an attempt to promote vertical integration and reduce impacts of sanctions.
[https://techtaiwan.com/20220104/huawei-foundry-speculation/ ]
See also
*
Semiconductor industry
The semiconductor industry is the aggregate of companies engaged in the design and fabrication of semiconductors and semiconductor devices, such as transistors and integrated circuits. It formed around 1960, once the fabrication of semiconduct ...
*
Semiconductor industry in Taiwan
*
Semiconductor industry in India
*
Economy of China
The China, People's Republic of China has an upper middle income Developing country, developing Mixed economy, mixed socialist market economy that incorporates economic planning through Industrial policy, industrial policies and strategic Five- ...
Notes
References
{{reflist, colwidth=30em
Semiconductor industry by country
Industry in China
Semiconductor device fabrication