On January 10, according to Snowball Finance, Midea Group said on the investor interactive platform that the company officially entered the chip field in the second half of 2018, and the chips it developed began mass production in 2021. At present, the main production is MCU control chips, with an annual output of about 10 million units, and will continue to increase chip production capacity in the future.
In addition to MCU control chips, the future of the United States will further involve power chips, power chips, IoT chips and other home appliances chips. At the same time, it is also laying out automotive chips, hoping to alleviate the current urgent situation of global chip shortage.
It is understood that the MCU chip mainly refers to the micro-control unit, also known as a single-chip microcomputer or single-chip microcomputer, which is an entry-level product in the chip field. However, the application range of MCU chips is very extensive, including almost all home appliances in life, such as refrigerators, air conditioners, remote controls, chargers, thermometers, mice, keyboards and so on. Therefore, the demand for MCU chips in different industries is very large, and Midea, as a large manufacturer in the field of home appliances, its home appliances cover various categories, and the demand for chips is more exaggerated.
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Last year, the global severe chip shortage began, although only automotive chips are the hardest hit areas, but its radiation impact is very wide, resulting in limited production capacity of chips in other fields. In contrast, the rapid increase in consumer purchasing power can be seen from the record turnover of 618 and Double 11.
Nowadays, the pace of upgrading of home appliances is accelerating, a large number of smart home appliances have emerged, and many consumers have the idea of replacing old home appliances with new ones. Therefore, manufacturers must increase production capacity to meet market demand, and the indirect demand for chips is also increasing.
Midea's entry into the chip field and self-sufficiency can reduce its dependence on chip suppliers and ensure that the production capacity of products will not be affected. In the future, with the gradual expansion of its chip production capacity and the rich variety of chips, it may also be able to ship to other manufacturers to alleviate the shortage of chips in the entire industry.
Why is the lack of core in the automotive industry so serious, so that all car companies have to suffer? It is understood that the production of a car requires at least more than 1,000 chips, these chips may come from dozens or hundreds of different suppliers, any one of the production is limited, it may affect the overall production process of the car. The demand for chips in the automotive field is huge, and the types of chips covered are also very large, which has led to a lack of cores for a year and still cannot be improved.
I hope that the next road of Midea's core manufacturing can be more smooth, which will not only alleviate the needs of the industry, but also a major progress for domestic manufacturers in the field of chip semiconductors. In the future, there should be more companies entering the chip field, and I hope that there will be more domestic brands.