In 2021, the global semiconductor industry is changing, some are facing difficulties, and some stand out in the torrent of history. At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the core master specially launched the "2021 core record". In this article, we will take you back to the hot events of the global semiconductor industry in 2021 and focus on industrial changes.
01
month
1. Microchip issued a price increase letter, and multiple product lines increased prices
On January 4, Microchip issued a notice of price increase letter, saying that from January 15, 2021, Microchip will increase the price of multiple product lines. In December 2020, a notice about the extension of the Microchip window said that due to the particularly large demand for Microchip products, the number of undelivered orders in the first and second quarters continued to grow, and it was decided to change its "no cancellation, no re-planning" window for all undelivered orders with a delivery period of less than 90 days from January 1, 2021, and extend it to 90 days.
2. Riyueguang started the price increase and signed a long contract with the customer for the first time
Taiwan media reported on January 5 that Riyueguang urgently purchased thousands of wire welding machines in 2020, and in order to reflect the strong rise in gold prices and new Taiwan dollars, the fourth quarter of 2020 has increased prices by 10%-20% for customers with monthly revenue of about $1 million or more, and the price has been raised again in the first quarter of this year, and the price of some products has been adjusted to 20%. In the research report of foreign investment on Sun and Moonlight, it was pointed out that in terms of wire packaging, Sunlight Holdings received a full load of orders, and the legal person also said that in order to ensure that the investment expansion capacity was returned, Sunlight Investment Control signed a long contract with the customer for the first time.
3. UMC raised the 12-inch wafer foundry quotation
Following the increase in the 8-inch foundry price, on January 5, UMC confirmed that it had recently raised the 12-inch foundry quotation, and new orders in 2021 began to apply the adjusted quotation. This also means that the tide of wafer foundry price increases has spread from 8 inches to 12 inches. UMC did not disclose the price increase, the industry revealed that according to different degrees of cooperation, the increase ranged from about 3% to 10%.
4, passive components supply is tight, Sanhuan Group increased by 15%
Taiwan media reported on January 13 that the first shot of the passive component industry price increase sounded, led by the global chip resistance upstream material alumina ceramic substrate leader Lushang Chaozhou Sanhuan Group, an increase of 15%. Chip resistance supply has been quite tight, the price is stupid, the upstream key materials have risen sharply, igniting the price increase of chip resistance manufacturers such as Guoju, Huaxinke, dayi, etc., and the industrial chain is facing a comprehensive price increase.
5. Foxconn officially entered the automotive foundry industry
On January 13, Foxconn Group officially announced its entry into the automotive foundry industry. Nanjing Futeng New Energy Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., wholly owned by Foxconn's Hongfujin Precision Industry (Shenzhen), was established on January 12, with a registered capital of about 323 million yuan, and its business scope includes research and development of auto parts and components, auto parts and accessories manufacturing, etc.
6, Samsung CMOS image sensor quotation has been raised by 40%
According to a market research firm Omdia report, CIS with 5 million and 8 megapixels used in low-end smartphones is facing a serious shortage of goods, and South Korean CMOS giant Samsung has raised its CIS quotation by 40% since December 2020, and the quotations of other CIS suppliers have also increased by about 20%. Because the 8-inch semiconductor factory has a mature process, it is responsible for the production of products such as CMOS, RF, embedded memory, CIS, MEMS sensors and so on. After entering the 5G era, the demand for various semiconductor components has doubled, resulting in a shortage of 8-inch wafer foundry capacity in the world.
7. Shengqun will increase the price of all product lines by 15%.
MCU factory Shengqun sent a letter on January 29 saying that all IC products will be shipped on and after April 1, and the price will be raised by 15% across the board. For the reason for the increase, Sheng Qun stressed that the main reason is the imbalance between supply and demand in the market, the price of raw materials is rising, the fab has started the second wave of foundry price increases, and the packaging plant has also begun to raise the price of the sealing and testing commission in an all-round way, so the company announced the price increase. Shengqun said that this is the first comprehensive product price increase since the company's establishment.
02
1. In-vehicle semiconductors are out of stock, and GM's four assembly plants will reduce production
GM said on February 3 that plants in Fairfax, Kansas, Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, and San Luis Potosí, Mexico, will cut production for a full week starting Feb. 8 due to a shortage of in-vehicle semiconductors. Plant No. 2 in South Korea's Fuping District will also halve its capacity that week. GM did not say how much production it would lose and which suppliers would be affected by the chip shortage. According to research estimates, GM lost nearly 10,000 vehicles in a week of shutdown.
2, Tsinghua Unigroup Zhanrui consumer electronic products line price increased by 10-20%
On February 8, chip design company Unigroup Zhanrui announced that due to the rising prices of raw materials and the continuous tight supply capacity, the price of consumer electronic product lines has been raised by 10-20% as a whole. Tsinghua Unigroup's products include mobile communication central processing units, baseband chips, AI chips, RF front-end chips, RF chips and other communication, computing and control chips, customers include Hisense, Nokia, TRANSSION, Lenovo, ZTE, TCL, Meizu and so on.
3. Blizzard, Texas, USA, Samsung, NXP and Infineon announced the suspension of production
Affected by winter storms in much of Texas due to a February snowstorm, utilities were forced to reduce their power supply. The move led to the partial suspension of production by a number of semiconductor companies, including Samsung, NXP and Infineon. Samsung Electronics said it had suspended operations at its multibillion-dollar manufacturing plant in Austin on Feb. 16 and said there was no clear timeline for resuming production. On February 17, NXP Semiconductors announced that it has suspended production at two plants in Austin, Texas, USA. In addition, a plant in Austin, which Infineon acquired last year, has also entered a state of shutdown.
4. The Fukushima earthquake in Japan affected many semiconductor factories
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the waters off Fukushima City in Japan on February 13, local time, followed by a highest aftershock of magnitude 5.3. Chipmaker Renesas Electronics announced the suspension of production at its Ibaraki plant, a number of chemical companies that supply raw materials to chipmakers have also suspended production, automobile manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation's production line in Japan has been suspended, Murata Battery Factory has also been affected, and Shingoku has announced the closure of the plant.
5. Nuvoton confirmed the price increase of the MCU for the first time
Xintang held a legal meeting on February 19, in response to the recent frequent price increases in the same industry, general manager Dai Shangyi confirmed for the first time that due to the tight production capacity of wafer foundry and sealing and testing ends, in order to reflect the rising cost, the price of MCU has been raised since the fourth quarter of last year, and adjustments have been made according to each product line, but emphasized that "it must be upward adjustment".
6, Guoju resistance in March price increased by 15-25%
Taiwan media reported on February 23 that some agents said that the resistance factory Guoju will increase the price of resistance for agents in Greater China, with an amplitude of 15 to 25%, and the new price will take effect on March 1. This is the second resistor manufacturer to raise for agents in 2021 after Wangyi announced the price increase in January.
03
1. The mobile phone chip is in full shortage, and qualcomm's delivery period has been extended to more than 30 weeks
At the beginning of March, mobile phone supply chain sources said that Qualcomm's full range of material delivery time has been extended to more than 30 weeks, and the delivery cycle of CSR Bluetooth audio chips has reached more than 33 weeks. Some mobile phone supply chain people said that mobile phone manufacturers, including Huawei, OPPO, vivo, one plus, are increasing the number of mobile phone products, which undoubtedly increases the imbalance between chip supply and demand.
2. GF invested about 9 billion yuan to increase chip production
On March 3, chip foundry foundry CEO Thomas Caulfield said that the company will invest $1.4 billion (about 9 billion yuan) in 2021 to increase production at its three plants in the United States, Singapore and Germany as global semiconductor shortages boost chip demand. Caulfield said about a third of that investment will come from customers (securing chip supply). Starting in 2022, these factories will increase production to produce chips from 12 to 90 nanometers.
3. All silicon products of Xinyue Chemical are raised by 10%-20%
On March 3, Shin-Etsu Chemical, the world's largest semiconductor wafer manufacturer, announced that the company will raise prices for all silicon products by 10%-20% from April. This is the first time since 2017 that Shin-Etsu Chemical has announced a price increase for silicon products. The reason is that the main raw material silicon metal continues to rise under the strong demand in China, and the cost of auxiliary materials and logistics is also rising, which will be passed on to the price of silicon products. In addition, due to the shortage of supply, the cost of methanol and catalyst raw materials (including platinum costs) are also increasing, as well as cost factors such as logistics costs and secondary material costs.
4, Leon Micro: 6-inch silicon wafers in short supply, is undergoing the second round of price increases this year
On March 18, Leon Micro said that the company's 6-inch silicon wafer products have undergone a round of price increases in early 2021, and are currently undergoing a second round of price increases, which are expected to increase in early April 2021. The company's other large-sized wafers are currently in communication with customers to negotiate price increases. On February 1, Leon Micro said on "whether the price of wafer products has increased" that as of now, the price of 6-inch silicon wafer products has been increased. Subsequent product pricing plans will be comprehensively determined according to factors such as cost and market conditions.
5. Renesas Electronics had a fire and the wafer production line was discontinued
On March 19, a fire broke out at the Naka plant of Renesas Electronics, a major Japanese semiconductor company, and some production lines for automotive semiconductors ceased operations. According to reports, the Naka plant is an important factory under Renesas to produce automotive semiconductors, and the disaster is a 300 mm wafer production line for cutting-edge products, and 17 manufacturing equipment have been damaged. Renesas Electronics said that it will take about a month to restart production at the Naka plant, which was suspended due to the fire, and is expected to result in an economic loss of 17 billion yen, and it is estimated that it will take 3-4 months before shipments return to normal levels. Renesas President Hidetoshi Shibata said at a news conference that some of the inventory of automotive chips produced at the N3 production line of the Naka plant will be depleted in late April, and supply will be stopped at that time.
6. Lei Jun hangs up Xiaomi to build a car, with an investment of 10 billion yuan in the first phase
On March 30, Xiaomi Group issued an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, officially announcing its entry into the field of car manufacturing. Xiaomi Group announced that the company's board of directors officially approved the establishment of the smart electric vehicle business. The company intends to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary to be responsible for the smart electric vehicle business. The initial investment is RMB 10 billion, and the investment is expected to be US$10 billion over the next 10 years. Mr. Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi Group, will also serve as CEO of the Smart Electric Vehicle Business.
04
1. Realtek informs customers that the delivery time is extended to 32 weeks or more
In early April, Realtek, a major chip manufacturer, recently issued a notice letter saying that due to the extension of supply chain delivery and delivery shortages, the company's delivery period was extended to 32 weeks or more, and it will continue to retain the flexibility and power to modify the delivery time. In addition, the delivery time will not be arranged after receiving orders in the future.
2. ADI will increase the price of some products
On April 7, global analog chip giant ADI emailed agents to increase the shipment price for some products, and the new price will take effect on May 16. ADI said that due to the supply chain cost pressure caused by rising raw material and packaging costs, and recognizing the importance of continuing to manufacture some of the old product lines for customers, it had to increase the shipment price of some old products to continue to maintain the manufacturing capacity of this part.
3. The United States has included 7 Chinese supercomputing entities in the entity list
On April 8, local time, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security announced that seven Chinese supercomputing-related entities would be included in the "Entity List" to restrict the use of U.S. technology by these entities to engage in activities that run counter to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. The seven Chinese entities included in the "Entity List" by the United States are Tianjin Feiteng Information Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai High-performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Chengdu Shenwei Technology, National Supercomputing Center Jinan, National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, National Supercomputing Center Wuxi, and National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou.
4. MCU factory Shengqun announced the suspension of orders
Following Elong's suspension of order receiving MCUs, Shengqun Semiconductor issued a notice on April 21 saying that it would suspend orders from now on. Affected by the tight production capacity of 8-inch wafer foundry and other factors, the production lines of many major MCU manufacturers at home and abroad are still in short supply at full load, the price of MCUs is rising, and domestic and foreign MCU manufacturers have also raised their quotations.
5, the price increase tide spread to the sealing and testing plant, Chaofeng May price increase will be as high as 20%-30%
The Economic Daily reported on April 27 that the packaging and testing factory Licheng's packaging and testing factory Chaofeng launched the first package quotation increase measures in more than 20 years, and will fully increase the price of the wire packaging in the near future, with an increase of at least 10% and a jump, and some of the increases are even 20%-30%. Chaofeng confirmed the price increase news on April 26, and the company said that it would negotiate with customers to adjust the quotation from March to May to reflect the sharp increase in the price of raw materials.
05
1. The Japanese government will formulate a national strategy for semiconductors
On May 5, the Japanese government announced that it will consolidate its national strategy to strengthen its development and production systems for semiconductors installed in all electronic devices this month. In addition to seeking stable supply with an eye on the expansion of fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, there is also a dispute over technological hegemony between the United States and China that has increased the importance of semiconductors in terms of security. Focusing on cutting-edge products, Japan will cooperate with some countries in the United States and Europe and Taiwan, which has a high global market share. Strive to attract overseas manufacturers to set up large-scale production bases in China and strengthen the supply chain.
2. South Korea plans to set up a $248 million fund to cultivate the system semiconductor manufacturing industry
On May 6, South Korean Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that the South Korean government plans to expand the tax credit program around chip manufacturing, aiming to cultivate the system semiconductor manufacturing industry by supporting investment in research and development and facilities in related fields. It is reported that the South Korean government is studying ways to increase tax incentives and policy support for the semiconductor industry to help local chipmakers improve their competitive advantage. Hong said South Korea plans to set up a 280 billion won ($248 million) fund to support chip manufacturing technology development this year.
3. Wingtech Technology officially took over Guangzhou Delta
On May 10th, the asset delivery ceremony between Wingtech Technology and OFILM was held in Guangzhou, marking that of OFILM's specific customer-related business was officially taken over by Wingtech Technology. The chairman of Wingtech Technology said that the completion of the delivery means that Wingtech Technology has opened up a new track of optics on the basis of the two major business areas of semiconductor IDM and communication product integration, promoted the implementation of the In house strategy, and helped the company form a development pattern of the whole industry chain of semiconductor IDM, optical module and communication product integration.
4. STMicroelectronics announced price increases across the board from June 1
On May 17, ST Issued a Price Increase Notice, and all product lines began to increase prices from June 1. This is ST's second increase after the price increase on January 1, 2021. ST Mentioned in the price increase letter that the current semiconductor shortage crisis is seriously affecting the entire industry as well as the economy and society. Among them, the increase in the cost of raw material supply is the main reason for the price increase. In light of this, ST will raise prices across all of its product lines from June 1.
5. TSMC increases MCU production by 60% to ease the automotive supply chain
TSMC said in an emailed statement that it will increase the production of microcontroller units (MCUs) by 60% in 2021 to help ease supply constraints for automakers. TSMC says it will reallocate capacity and produce MCUs in 2021 will be 60 percent higher than in 2020 and 30 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The company will work with the automotive supply chain to increase demand visibility and modernize timely supply management. According to IHS Markit's research, TSMC produces about 70% of the world's MCUs.
6, The price of Renajet semiconductor products will increase by 5%-20% again.
On May 31, Renajie Semiconductor issued a price adjustment explanatory letter, and its product price will increase by 5%-20% again, subject to the actual product model, the price adjustment date is from May 31, and the original price of the previously signed order and contract is still implemented. The price increase implies that wafer and packaging resources are in short supply, and the cost has risen sharply again, the production cycle has been extended, and the cost has risen sharply again. In early April, the company announced a 5%-20% increase in product prices.
7. Zhipu Xinlian announced that the price of a full range of products increased by 15%-30%
On May 31, Zhipu Xinlian issued a price adjustment notice letter saying that after half a year of tight supply and price increases, due to the recent further rise in upstream wafer and packaging costs, product costs continued to rise. The company decided that from May 31, 2017, the full range of products of the core union will increase by 15%-30% on the basis of the original sales price, and all undelivered orders will be executed at the new price (including prepaid customers) The specific quotation is subject to the quotation of the company's sales staff.
06
1. Silan Micro announced the price adjustment of LED lighting driver products, which will be implemented from June 1
Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd. sent a price increase notice letter saying that from June 1, the price of LED lighting drive products will be adjusted, and the specific price adjustment range will be communicated by the company's sales staff. Regarding the reasons for the price increase, Silan Wei said that due to the impact of the rising prices of raw and auxiliary materials and packaging, the cost of the company's related products is rising, in order to ensure the supply of products and maintain a good business relationship, the company has carefully studied and decided to adjust the price of some products.
2. Nexperia has raised prices since June 7
Nexperia issued a notice of increase to customers saying that due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia, semiconductor wafers, foundries and packaging are facing the problem of raw material shortages and increasing costs, and Nexperia's product costs are also increasing, so it has decided to increase the price of products on June 7, 2021. According to supply chain sources, Nexperia's shortage in the market is not serious, but the spot inventory price has been rising slightly.
3. Huawei Hubble invests in chip lithography machine company
According to the data of Tianyancha, Beijing KeyiHongyuan Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd. changed its industrial and commercial records in June, and the capital injection was changed from 120 million yuan to 201.6 million yuan, and the new shareholders Hubble Technology Investment Co., Ltd., Xuzhou Guangyuan Equity Investment Partnership and Jiang Rui were added. Shareholder information shows that Hubble Investment subscribed to the capital of 9.6 million yuan, the subscription date is September 1, 2016, the shareholding ratio is 4.7619%, the seventh largest shareholder. Keyi Hongyuan is a core component company of lithography machine, the main products are DUV (deep ultraviolet) lithography light source product series.
4. Universal Wafer signed a $800 million long contract with GF
On June 8, Global Crystal announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with semiconductor manufacturer GF, signing a $800 million long-term supply contract. Global Crystal said that the long-term cooperation agreement signed with GF will cost nearly $210 million in the next few years to expand the production capacity of Universal Wafer's Missouri fab. The production test line for 12-inch insulated silicone (SOI) wafers is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
5. BYD Semiconductor raises the price of some products by no less than 5%
BYD Semiconductor issued a price increase notice letter to customers, saying that the company will adjust the price of IPM and IGBT single tube products from July 1, 2021, with an increase of not less than 5%, and from now on, the in-transit and undelivered orders will be executed according to the new price. BYD Semiconductor said that due to market changes, tight upstream production capacity and increased supplier prices, the company's product costs have been rising, and the original prices are difficult to meet supply demand.
6. Baidu chip business established an independent chip company
In June, Baidu's Kunlun chip business was established in Kunlun Core (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., and Ouyang Jian, chief architect of Baidu Chip, was appointed CEO of Kunlun Chip Company. The company completed independent financing in March, leading the investor CPE Yuanfeng, investors including IDG, Legend, Yuanhe Puhua, etc., with a valuation of about 13 billion yuan. Kunlun chip is a cloud AI universal chip independently developed by Baidu, designed for deep learning, machine learning algorithm cloud and edge computing, and can be widely used in computer vision, natural language processing, large-scale speech recognition, large-scale recommendation and other scenarios.
7. Samsung successfully tapeted 3nm GAA chip
On June 29, Samsung announced that the 3nm process technology using GAA architecture in cooperation with Synopsys has officially been tape-out. At the 3nm node, Samsung directly selected the GAA surround gate transistor and fabricated the MBCFET (Multi-Bridge-Channel FET, multi-bridge channel fetone) by using a nanosheet device, which can significantly enhance the transistor performance, mainly replacing the FinFET transistor technology. According to Samsung, compared with the 5nm manufacturing process, the logic area efficiency of the 3nm GAA technology is increased by more than 35%, the power consumption is reduced by 50%, and the performance is improved by about 30%.
07
1, Japan Shingotsu confirmed that the price of wafer boxes increased by 20%
On July 5, Shingoe Group Japan Headquarters confirmed that it has revised the price of semiconductor wafer conveyor boxes, and has begun negotiations with major customers to increase the price, and the price increase will take effect from July 1, 2021. Wafer boxes primarily play a role in placing and transporting wafers in semiconductor production, and in order to simplify transportation and minimize the risk of contamination, chip manufacturers use wafer boxes to handle and store wafers. In its response, Shingoe Polymers Co., Ltd. headquarters pointed out that the price of the wafer conveyor box product line of the target semiconductor increased by 20%.
2. Luxshare Precision has established a chip manufacturing company with a registered capital of 300 million
According to the Tianyancha App, on July 2, Lixin Precision Intelligent Manufacturing (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. was established with a registered capital of 300 million yuan and the legal representative was Hao Jie. The business scope includes display device manufacturing; Industrial robot manufacturing; Research and development of intelligent robots; Integrated circuit chip and product manufacturing, etc. Shareholder information shows that the company is wholly owned by Lixun Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
3. China Mobile set up a chip company to enter the Internet of Things chip manufacturing industry
According to the official micro disclosure of China Mobile Chip, China Mobile's wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile Internet of Things, Xinsheng Technology Co., Ltd. officially operated independently in July. According to the information of Tianyancha, the business scope of Xinsheng Technology Co., Ltd. includes integrated circuit chip and product sales; integrated circuit chip design and service; integrated circuit chip and product manufacturing; intelligent home consumer equipment manufacturing; smart home consumer equipment sales; security equipment sales; security equipment manufacturing; intelligent vehicle equipment manufacturing; intelligent vehicle equipment sales.
4. OPPO's business scope has newly designed and developed semiconductors
According to Tianyan, DONGGUAN OPPO Communication Technology Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of OPPO, has changed its business scope by adding new designs, development and sales of semiconductor machine components. It is reported that OPPO is developing its own ISP chip (image signal processor) to strengthen the technology in image processing. ISP is mainly used in the image signal output of the sensor, is the core component of image processing, and has an important position in the image performance of mobile phones.
5. Wangyi Malaysia plant will be shut down for two weeks, which will affect 30% of the resistance production capacity in July
On July 8, passive component manufacturer Kemei issued an announcement that due to the receipt of the Malaysian government's implementation of the "action control order", all enterprises in the Senai Industrial Zone must stop operating, the shutdown time from the early morning of July 9 to 23:59 on the evening of July 22, Kaimei subsidiary Wangyi affected by the shutdown, is expected to start work for two weeks on the evening of July 8, and it is expected that the output of resistors will be reduced by 30% throughout July. Kemei's Wangyi Malaysia plant accounts for approximately 60% to 70% of the Group's resistance capacity.
6. Maxim issued a price increase letter
On July 25, the analog chip manufacturer Meixin sent a letter saying that due to factors such as tight production capacity and increased upstream raw material costs, Maxim will officially increase prices on August 22, with a price increase of 6% across the board. The price increase letter indicates that the undelivered orders are executed according to the new price book, and the orders after this are also increased by 6%. The price of previously scheduled products began to increase from December 1 this year.
7. Intel announced that it will work for Qualcomm and strive to catch up with TSMC and Samsung in 2025
On July 26, Intel announced that its factory would begin producing Qualcomm chips and announced a roadmap to expand the new foundry business to catch up with rivals TSMC and Samsung Electronics in 2025. Intel said it will use the 20A process process to produce Qualcomm chips in the future. Intel expects to regain its chip manufacturing lead in 2025 and announced five stages of process development to be launched over the next four years, including 10nm, 7nm, 4nm, 3nm, and 20A.
08
1. Mature process wafer production capacity is in short supply, and the foundry is the first long order
On August 3, The World Advanced Chairman Fang Strategy said that the market demand for wafer foundry mature process is hot, and customers have successively signed long-term supply contracts with the world and submitted advance payment "package production capacity". This is the first case of a mature process foundry signing a long contract with a customer, highlighting the hot market for mature wafer foundry and the grand situation of customers competing for production capacity.
2. Hon Hai smashed NT$2.52 billion to win the Wanghong Six-inch Fab
On August 5, Wanghong and Hon Hai Technology Group jointly held a signing ceremony, and Wang Hong sold the 6-inch fab plant and equipment in Hsinchu Science Park to Hon Hai for 2.52 billion yuan, and the transfer of property rights is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Liu Yangwei, chairman of Hon Hai Technology Group, pointed out that Hon Hai will use the six-inch factory to develop and produce the third generation of semiconductors, especially the SiC power components used in electric vehicles, which will be an important milestone for Hon Hai to integrate EV and semiconductor development in its 3+3 strategy.
3. Japanese companies surveyed that more than 30% of semiconductors on the market are counterfeit
In the context of the global semiconductor shortage, the name of the manufacturer marked on the product has been rewritten or the "counterfeit" semiconductors taken out of the waste home appliances have been circulated in large quantities. When a company purchased semiconductors other than those previously supplied, a subsidiary of OKI Industries was commissioned to conduct an investigation and found that more than 30% of them were "counterfeit." According to the company, the most counterfeit products are imitations that rewrite the name of the manufacturer marked on the product into the name of a large enterprise. In addition, there are semiconductors that are removed from waste home appliances produced 10 years ago and sold as "new products", as well as non-conforming products that should have been discarded.
4. Tencent invested in the establishment of a chip company
According to Tianyan, on August 20, Flintyuan Intelligent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. was established, the legal representative is Zhao Lidong, and the registered capital is 5 million yuan. The business scope of FlintYuan Intelligent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. includes: integrated circuit design; integrated circuit chip design and service; integrated circuit sales; integrated circuit chip and product sales; artificial intelligence basic software development. Tianyancha's equity penetration shows that the company is 100% controlled by Shanghai Fuyuan Technology Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Tencent.
5. The Japanese MLCC factory Murata Fukui Factory was shut down for one week
On August 25, Murata, the world's leading MLCC factory, announced that its Fukui Murata Manufacturing Takeso Office would stop working for a week from August 25 to August 31. Murata said the reason was the outbreak of cluster infection at the plant this month, with nearly 100 confirmed employees. Murata stressed that during the shutdown, the factory will also take necessary measures to eliminate the work area to cut off the possibility of further expansion of the infection.
09
1. Hon Hai strengthened its layout in Vietnam and increased its capital by NT$2.2 billion
Hon Hai announced on September 13 that its subsidiary Foxconn Singapore Pte Ltd. acquired an equity stake in FuKang Technology Company Limited and increased its capital by US$80 million (about NT$2.23 billion) in debt-to-debt swaps, primarily for long-term investment. According to supply chain sources, Hon Hai's capital increase in Vietnam is mainly for the B business group, which is responsible for wearable devices, tablet computers, laptop computers, smart speakers and other businesses. In the future, it is not excluded to produce Apple Watch-related wearable products.
2. Apple officially released the new iPhone 13 series mobile phone
On September 15, Apple officially released the new iPhone 13 series of mobile phones, while announcing the price, compared with last year's iPhone 12 series, a maximum drop of 800 yuan, in the context of the soaring price of chips, the price reduction of the iPhone 13 series was unexpected. The iPhone 13 series is equipped with A15 bionic chips as standard, using a 5nm process and integrating 15 billion transistors; in terms of performance, it uses a 6-core CPU, which increases performance by 50%; 4-core GPU, which increases performance by 30%; and 16-core neural network engine, with 15.8 trillion operations per second.
3. Japan's JSR acquires American semiconductor materials manufacturer Inpria
On September 17, Japanese materials company JSR announced that at the end of October, Inpria Corporation in Oregon will be acquired as a wholly-owned subsidiary, with an investment of about 45 billion yen. Inpria is involved in the development and manufacture of photosensitive materials (photoresists) that support the "EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet)" technology used in cutting-edge semiconductor microfabrication, and is currently developing materials for next-generation semiconductors. JSR has taken a 21% stake in Inpria and the remaining 79% has been acquired in cash and becomes a wholly owned subsidiary.
4. SK Group will invest KRW 700 billion to expand its silicon carbide wafer business
On September 23, SK Group announced that it will invest 5.1 trillion won in the field of cutting-edge materials by 2025, of which 700 billion won will be used for silicon carbide wafers. The company expects sales of the business to reach 30 billion won in 2021 and plans to expand its size to 500 billion won by 2025. It predicts that by 2025, the utilization rate of silicon carbide semiconductors for electric vehicles will rise from the current 30% to more than 60%, and the market size of silicon carbide wafers will expand from $218 million in 2021 to $811 million.
5. Huawei released the openEuler Euler operating system
On September 25, Huawei released a new operating system, openEuler, at the All-Connected Conference. It is reported that Huawei Euler server operating system software, is a B-end, server-oriented operating system, first used in Huawei Taishan server, called EulerOS, until January 2020 Huawei officially open source, and renamed openEuler.
6. The price of Zhanrui smart wearable product line has been raised by 25% across the board.
Zhan Rui issued a notice saying that due to the rising price of raw materials and the continuous tight supply capacity, the cost of its related products has been increasing. In order to strive for reasonable production capacity, stabilize product supply, and better serve customers for a long time, the company carefully considered and decided that the price of smart wearable product lines was increased by 25%. The price adjustment will take effect from October 1, and the adjustment range will be subject to the quotation of the specific product model.
10
1. Some equipment at Renesas' Japanese automotive chip factory was shut down due to the earthquake
On October 7, a strong earthquake of magnitude 5 or greater occurred in Japan. Renesas Electronics issued a statement on October 8 that the company's headquarters (Tokyo), Musashi Business Office (Tokyo), Nake Plant (Ibaraki Prefecture), and Takasaki Plant (Gunma Prefecture) are located near the epicenter, and none of the plants and production facilities at the above-mentioned locations have been damaged due to the earthquake. Some of the microscopy equipment that was stopped due to the earthquake and automatically stopped running due to the sense of shaking has been confirmed by quality inspection.
2. Samsung Electronics announced the mass production of 2-nanometer chips in 2025
On October 7, Samsung Electronics said at its wafer foundry forum that mass production of 2-nanometer chips will begin in 2025, 3-nanometer chip manufacturing technology will be postponed to 2022, and the second-generation 3-nanometer chip is expected to be produced in 2023. Samsung said that the company's ADVANCED process technology of GAA transistor structure has been developed, and it can mass-produce 3-nanometer chips for customers in 2022 and 2-nanometer chips in 2025. The 3nm chip produced by GAA Process has a 30% increase in performance and a 50% reduction in power consumption compared to 5nm.
3. Lenovo Group's IPO review of the Science and Technology Innovation Board was terminated
On the evening of October 8, the information on the website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange showed that the review status of lenovo Group's sci-tech innovation board was changed to "terminated". According to the SSE, Lenovo Group and the sponsoring institution submitted an application to withdraw the application documents for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and decided to terminate the review of Lenovo Group's public offering of depositary receipts and listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in accordance with the relevant provisions of Article 67 of the Rules for the Review of the Issuance and Listing of Shares on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Lenovo Group announced its listing on the Star Market in January 2021 and submitted a draft listing declaration for the Star Market on September 30.
4. TSMC and Sony will build new semiconductor plants in Japan
TSMC and Sony Group announced that they have identified the general framework for jointly building a new semiconductor plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, with a total investment of 800 billion yen, and the Japanese government is expected to provide up to half of the subsidies. The semiconductor plant will take advantage of TSMC's cutting-edge technology to start production of computational semiconductors (logic semiconductors), which are indispensable for automotive and industrial robots, by 2024. Semiconductors are affected by the sino-US confrontation, the supply chain is chaotic, and the importance of economic security has been strengthened. Japan will build new plants to ensure cutting-edge technology and stable production capacity.
5. SK Telecom will divest non-telecom businesses and actively invest in new technologies and semiconductors
On October 12, SK Telecom shareholders said that in order to actively invest in new technologies and semiconductor businesses, they approved the spin-off plan for the non-telecom sector. It was the company's first corporate restructuring since its founding in 1984, with the new company spun off as SK Square. Under the spin-off plan, which goes into effect Nov. 1, SK Square will be responsible for SK Telecom's existing non-telecom and technology divisions, including chip manufacturing subsidiary SK Hynix, application marketplace operator ONE Store, e-commerce platform 11Street and T Map Mobility.
11
1. GF said that its production capacity in 2023 has been sold out
GF CEO Tom Caulfield said the company has been undercapacitated since August 2020, with a capacity utilization rate of more than 100%, and the capacity by the end of 2023 is now fully sold out. Tom Caulfield said, "I think for most of the next 5 to 10 years, we're going to be looking for supply, not demand." According to Caulfield, GF made a strategic decision in 2018 to stop developing cutting-edge chip manufacturing technologies that foundry companies such as TSMC and Samsung are investing in, and instead focus on developing less advanced but still critical semiconductors for customers.
2. TSMC and other large manufacturers have submitted chip supply chain information to the United States
According to Taiwan media reports, after several changes in the mouth, TSMC finally completed the US questionnaire and returned it before the deadline for "voluntary provision of data" given by the US side (November 8), and it is also the 23 companies that have the clearest answers in the submitted data. TSMC filed three dossiers, including a public form and two non-public dossiers involving trade secrets. In September, the U.S. Department of Commerce required a number of semiconductor companies around the world to submit supply chain data by November 8, citing a global chip shortage.
3. Biden announced an extension of China's ban on "military-related enterprises."
On October 9, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that China's military companies continue to pose an extraordinary and significant threat, and that the U.S. government will continue the Trump-era ban on investment by Chinese military-affiliated companies. Therefore, the government notified Congress before the expiration of the investment ban, and published a notice in the federal bulletin announcing an extension of the investment ban on military-related Chinese companies for one year. In addition to the original Huawei, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, Hikvision and other enterprises, this blacklist also includes more Chinese enterprises such as AVIC Measurement Instrument Co., Ltd. and Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry Group.
4. Biden signed new regulations to strengthen restrictions on Huawei and ZTE purchasing chips
On November 11, local time, US President Biden signed the Secure Equipment Act of 2021, which will further prevent Huawei, ZTE and other "companies deemed to be security threats" from obtaining new device licenses from US regulators. The Safety Equipment Act, seen as the latest move by the U.S. government to crack down on Chinese telecommunications and technology companies, was unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate on Oct. 28 after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 420 to 4.
5. MediaTek released the world's first 4nm process 5G chip Tianji 9000
On November 19, MediaTek held a new product launch conference and launched the 5G flagship chip Tianji 9000. The company said that the Tianji 9000 is the world's first mobile phone chip using TSMC's 4nm process and ARM v9 architecture, equipped with MediaTek's fifth-generation Al processor APU, which is 4 times more energy efficient than the previous generation.
6. UMC and Micron announced a global settlement agreement
On November 26, UMC announced that the company has reached a global settlement agreement with Micron, and the two parties will withdraw their lawsuits against each other, and UMC will pay a one-time confidential settlement fee to Micron, and the two sides will jointly create cooperation opportunities in the future. Previously, since Micron reported in 2017 that UMC was suspected of stealing trade secrets in cooperation with Jinhua, the intellectual property dispute between the three companies has lasted for four years.
12
1. Qualcomm released the annual flagship chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
On December 1, Qualcomm held the 2021 Snapdragon Technology Summit and announced the release of a new generation of Snapdragon 8 mobile platform Snapdragon 8Gen 1. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is Qualcomm's first chip to use Arm's latest Armv9 architecture. In addition, the new chip is converted from the 5nm process used by the Snapdragon 888 to the 4nm process.
2. Zhilu Capital acquired four mainland sealing and testing factories in Riyueguang
On December 1, Sun MoonLight Group officially announced the sale of its four factories and businesses in mainland China to Zhilu Capital. Riyueguang Investment Holdings has signed an equity sale and purchase agreement with Beijing Zhilu Capital, stipulating that Riyueguang will sell the shares of GAP Holding Limited and directly or indirectly hold Global Advanced Packaging Test (Hong Kong), Riyueguang Weihai, Suzhou Riyuexin, Shanghai Rirong Semiconductor, with additional cash on the accounts of each target company and deducting the amount of liabilities, Sun Moon Semiconductor Kunshan and other equity interests are given to Zhilu Capital or its designated subsidiaries.
3. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Nvidia to prevent it from acquiring Ahmed
On December 2, local time, the US Federal Trade Commission sued Nvidia to block its plan to acquire British chip design company Anmou for $40 billion. The FTC said in a statement that Nvidia's acquisition plan would control the computer technology and design that rivals rely on to develop chips, and that a deal that, if concluded, would hurt competition in the semiconductor market. The FTC said NVIDIA's acquisition plan would weaken competitors, reduce innovation in the chip market and choice of chip products, and lead to higher prices.
4. U.S. Department of Commerce Puts 34 Chinese Entities on the "Blacklist"
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a statement adding 34 Chinese institutions to the "entity list" for "violating U.S. foreign policy or national security interests," adding 34 Chinese entities including the Chinese People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Medical Sciences and its 11 affiliated research institutes, and 22 Chinese enterprises. Among the 22 Chinese enterprises are Jingjiawei, Yachengwei, Torch Electronics, Shanghai Aisano Core, Hikvision subsidiary Hikvision Micro Shadow and other technology companies.
5. The reorganization plan (draft) of the substantive merger and reorganization of seven enterprises including Tsinghua Unigroup was approved
On December 29, the second creditors' meeting and investor group meeting of the substantive merger and reorganization of seven enterprises including Tsinghua Unigroup Co., Ltd. voted to approve the "Reorganization Plan for the Substantive Merger and Reorganization of Seven Enterprises including Tsinghua Unigroup Co., Ltd. (Draft)". On December 10, the manager of Tsinghua Unigroup disclosed the reorganization plan of Tsinghua Unigroup and determined that the consortium formed by Beijing Zhilu Asset Management Co., Ltd. and Beijing Jianguang Asset Management Co., Ltd. as the lead parties was the substantial merger and reorganization strategic investor of seven enterprises including Tsinghua Unigroup.
6. SenseTime was successfully listed in Hong Kong
On December 30, SenseTime, an artificial intelligence software company, was officially listed on the main board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and successfully listed in Hong Kong. On December 10, the United States put SenseTime on the investment blacklist. On December 13, SenseTime announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the Board of Directors announced that the global offering and listing would be delayed. As early as October 2019, SenseTime was also included in the "Entity List" by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
![Rose! Some semiconductor products officially increased in January 2022[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)