Any country or region that wants to obtain advanced chip technology is inseparable from the support of globalization. However, the United States has made a big fuss about the globalization of chips, changing the business strategy of suppliers.
Now it wants to pull Japan into the camp and use Japan's advanced semiconductor industry chain to reshape the chip industry pattern. What is Japan's attitude? How to put chip globalization in the right direction?
Japan's attitude towards the globalization of semiconductors
The United States wants to achieve chip self-sufficiency, invited TSMC to build factories in the United States, and took out $52 billion in subsidies to support major chip factory projects. If the United States only engages in chip planning at home, it is enough, but the United States' approach is to achieve its own development by hindering the progress of others.
The general approach includes not allowing Dutch ASML to ship EUV lithography machines, and not allowing TSMC to OEM the second largest customer. Now the United States wants to win over Japan and let Japan join its camp to formulate chip export control measures.
The United States' move is clearly to cut off other people's financial paths, and it does not want to do business and does not let others do it, so what is Japan's attitude? There is news that Japan or follow the United States card domestic chips. The Japanese side said it was necessary to "strengthen" cooperation with the United States.
Of course, Japan has not yet taken the last step, and it remains to be seen whether further rules and measures will be made with the United States, but it can be seen that Japan's attitude towards semiconductor globalization will change.
Perhaps it will be determined by its own interests to follow up the plan, or it may join the camp under the frequent supervision of the United States, in any case, it should be vigilant, because Japan's semiconductor industry chain has a lot of influence in the world.
Status of Japan's semiconductor industry chain
The most brilliant moment of Japanese semiconductors is in the nineties of the last century, when Japan's Toshiba, Japan Electric and Hitachi three companies occupy most of the global market share, the production of chips not only good quality, but also low price, Texas Instruments, Intel and GF and other chip manufacturing giants are not opponents.
From small tool parts, to large household appliances and various production tools, almost all of them have Japanese chips. Chip products are only part of Japan's semiconductor export to the outside world, as well as Japanese Nikon in the field of lithography machines, and Canon is also an industry giant.
Before the rise of ASML in the Netherlands, Nikon and Canon had long become famous, and the lithography machine equipment produced by them was a hit in the industry and was the object of snapping up by all parties. At present, only Japan has two front-end lithography machine manufacturers, and other countries and regions are either one or not.
In addition, Japanese semiconductor materials are also key. Japanese companies monopolize more than 90% of the world's photoresists, and Japanese companies represented by Tokyo Applied Chemical, Fuji Chemical, JSR, etc. occupy the core discourse power in the field of DUV and EUV photoresist.
As a necessary material for chip manufacturing, photoresist is the target of research in various countries, but because Japanese companies started early, they have already formed a relatively complete knowledge patent system. There are also Japanese companies participating in EUV masks, mask plates, wafer cutting equipment, etc., and are in a leading position in the industry.
On the whole, although Japanese semiconductors are no longer brilliant, their heritage is still there. What is even more surprising is that the United States interfered arbitrarily because of the strength of Japanese semiconductors, resulting in glory becoming a thing of the past. Now the United States has taken the initiative to draw Japan into its own camp, but it may not really be for win-win cooperation.
How to put chip globalization in the right direction?
Perhaps Japan also knows that the United States' mind is not simple, and did not immediately give a final answer, but although Japan's semiconductors still exist, they also rely on external manufacturers to make chips, and they also need to get advanced chip product support from the United States.
In other words, Japan plays the role of a low-level supplier in the global semiconductor industry, and upper-layer application products also require external support.
It is with this that the United States discusses strategies with it, intending to use Japanese semiconductors to reshape the pattern of the chip industry and change the globalization of chips.
The People's Daily called for abandoning all illusions and stressing the importance of self-research. Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, also said that core technologies cannot be bought or exchanged.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop the core technology by itself, no matter how good other people's technology is, it must be obtained in globalization, if globalization changes, then independent research and development may be the best solution to the problem. Maybe there's a long way to go, and as long as you can get a path to success, it's worth it.
This may also be the direction of chip globalization. As the so-called all roads lead to Rome, the previous globalization is based on other people's technology to develop, but if there is another set of technology as an option, then reshaping the globalization of chips may not be impossible.
A theory circulating in the industry is that chips are inseparable from globalization, and it is impossible for a country or region to independently complete all the chip industry chain layout. Now we see that many countries are doing their own industrial chain layout, although Japan is attracted by the United States, but in its own way to invite TSMC to build factories in Japan.
South Korea is vigorously training chip engineers, and plans to increase chip self-sufficiency from 30% to 50% by 2030. There is also a European Union that has dedicated 43 billion euros to support the chip industry chain, and it is said that TSMC is considering building an automotive chip factory in Europe.
These all show that the chip industry pattern is indeed reshaping, but it is dominated by self-developed technology.
Write at the end
Japan may follow in the footsteps of the United States to make corresponding rule changes, this is still in the early stage of discussion, Japan also understands the importance of maintaining cooperative development, and it is in its own interests that it will not make easy decisions. But you should also be prepared, let go of all illusions, and do what you have to do.
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