In recent years, with the intensification of global technology competition, the chip industry has become the focus of attention of various countries. In China, Huawei's Kirin chips and SMIC, as representatives of the semiconductor industry, have attracted much attention. However, foreign media recently reported that Huawei burned up 170 billion R&D expenses, and its profits plummeted by 78%, while pointing out that Kirin chips are not manufactured by SMIC. This news has sparked a wide discussion in the industry and the public.
First of all, we need to understand the background of the Kirin chip. Kirin chips are a series of mobile processors independently developed by HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei, which are widely used in Huawei's smartphones and other smart devices. The development of Kirin chips marks Huawei's technological breakthrough in the field of high-end chips, and is of great significance for enhancing China's position in the global semiconductor industry chain.
However, despite Huawei's remarkable achievements in the field of chip design, it still relies on external suppliers when it comes to chip manufacturing. As the largest semiconductor foundry in China, SMIC has made some progress in technology, but there is still a big gap compared with the international advanced level. Therefore, the production of Kirin chips mainly relies on leading international semiconductor manufacturing companies such as TSMC.
The news that Huawei has burned 170 billion R&D expenses reflects Huawei's huge investment in chip research and development. This investment may lead to a significant decline in the company's profits in the short term, but in the long run, it is the price that Huawei must pay to maintain its technological leadership and market competitiveness. However, due to the US sanctions on Huawei, Huawei has suffered a heavy blow in the chip supply chain, which has directly affected the production of Kirin chips and Huawei's profit performance.
Foreign media pointed out that Kirin chips are not manufactured by SMIC, which reveals the current situation of China's semiconductor industry to a certain extent. Although the Chinese government and enterprises are actively promoting the development of the semiconductor industry, there are still many challenges to achieve the autonomy of the entire industry chain from design to manufacturing. These challenges include technology bottlenecks, talent shortages, and fierce market competition.
For SMIC, although it has not yet reached the ability to manufacture Kirin chips, its position in the domestic semiconductor industry cannot be ignored. SMIC is striving to improve its manufacturing capabilities through continuous technological innovation and capacity expansion to meet the needs of domestic and foreign customers.
In short, the news that Huawei has burned out 170 billion R&D expenses and profits plummeting by 78%, as well as the fact that Kirin chips are not manufactured by SMIC, reflect that China's semiconductor industry is still facing huge challenges while developing rapidly. In the future, China's semiconductor industry needs to continue to make efforts in policy support, capital investment, technological innovation and talent training to achieve independent controllability of the industrial chain and the improvement of international competitiveness. For companies such as Huawei and SMIC, how to maintain and improve their core competitiveness in international competition will be a major issue for them.