How China Plans to Lead the Computer Chip Industry
takyon writes:
How China plans to lead the computer chip industry
On a university campus on the outskirts of Hong Kong a group of engineers are designing computer chips they hope will be used in the next generation of Chinese made smart phones. Patrick Yue leans back in his chair in a coffee shop on the campus, sporting a Stanford University t-shirt. He is the lead engineer and professor overseeing the project. His research team designs optical communication chips, which use light rather than electrical signals to transfer information, and are needed in 5G mobile phones and other internet-connected devices.
[...] China has made no secret of its desire to become self-sufficient in technology. The nation is both the world's largest importer and consumer of semiconductors. It currently produces just 16% of the semiconductors fuelling its tech boom. But it has plans to produce 40% of all semiconductors it uses by 2020, and 70% by 2025, an ambitious plan spurred by the trade war with the US. [...] In October this year, in its latest bid to help wean the nation's tech sector away from US technology, the Chinese government created a $29bn (22m) fund to support the semiconductor industry.
"There is no question that China has the engineers to make chips. The question is whether they can make competitive ones," questions Piero Scaruffi, a Silicon Valley historian, and artificial intelligence researcher who works in Silicon Valley. "Certainly, Huawei can develop its own chips and operating systems, and the government can make sure that they will be successful in China. But Huawei and other Chinese phone makers are successful also in foreign markets, and that's a totally different question: Will Huawei's chips and operating systems be as competitive as Qualcomm's and Android? Most likely not. At best, it will take years before they are," Mr Scaruffi adds.
Mr Scaruffi estimates that China could be as many as 10 years behind the leading producers of high-end computer chips. The majority of chips made for high-end electronics are manufactured by specialist foundries like the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). It produces more than 70% of chips designed by third party companies.
[...] [Yue] believes that Chinese technology is three to four generations behind companies like TSMC. China lacks the industry experience to manufacture high end chips, he says. But he believes that companies like Huawei are already competitive when it comes to designing chips.
Related: China's SMIC Produces its First "14nm" FinFET Chips
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) Starts "14nm" FinFET Volume Production
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