From obscurity to outstanding, SMIC's development path has been full of ups and downs. Standing tall in the cold winter of the industry, moving forward bravely in the blockade, and now finally out of a big road of their own. The revenue figure has once again pressed the hint button for the global chip industry to upgrade, and the revival of China's chip industry has taken a solid big step.
A piece of data reflects the light of China's chip industry
$1.75 billion!
In the first quarter of 2024, SMIC's latest revenue figures have left GF and UMC far behind. If you don't count Samsung, SMIC has officially become one of the world's second-largest chip foundries, second only to TSMC. This achievement is definitely very eye-catching for China's chip industry, and it is a signal of the strong rise of the entire industry.
In order to fully understand the weight of this number, it is worth looking back at SMIC's development history: from its establishment in 2000, to the United States accounting for 40% of its revenue on the eve of 2018, and then to 81.6% of today's revenue in the Chinese market, it can be said that it has gone through a bumpy and tortuous development road.
Once monopolized by the West, China now dominates
In fact, as early as 20 years ago, SMIC relied on independent innovation to establish its own brand influence at home and abroad. However, due to the technological blockade of advanced manufacturing processes by the West, SMIC's development has also come to a standstill.
Until recent years, as the trade war continues to heat up, especially the chip embargo, SMIC has suffered a heavy blow from the United States, and even has a bankruptcy crisis. However, in this test of life and death, SMIC has also re-examined the direction of its own development, and began to vigorously return to the Chinese market and devote itself to the independent development of China's chip industry.
Looking back, this was both a helpless move and a new beginning. With the strong support of the Chinese government and the market, SMIC has made breakthroughs in almost every generation of process technology, from 14nm to 7nm, and SMIC's independent controllable chip technology is catching up at an accelerated pace. It is reported that the 6nm process will be mass-produced in the next 3 years, and 5nm will also be commercialized in 2025.
The rising proportion of revenue in the Chinese market also confirms the broad prospects of SMIC's development in the Chinese market. Currently, more than 80% of revenue comes from the domestic market, up from 74.4% a few years ago. It can be said that China's chip market is now becoming SMIC's main growth engine.
Looking at the world, SMIC's rise is a foregone conclusion
In fact, judging from SMIC's latest first-quarter revenue data, its development prospects can be optimistically expected. This is not only due to the embrace of China's local market, but also because the iterative upgrading of the global chip market is also pressing China's fast-forward button.
According to authoritative forecasts, by 2025, the total demand of China's chip industry will reach 140 billion US dollars per year. According to SMIC's existing production capacity, the domestic supply-demand gap will be equivalent to the production capacity of eight SMIC by then. This will drive SMIC's continued expansion of production capacity in the next few years, and the revenue is expected.
More importantly, SMIC has set its sights on the more advanced tracks of the industry. With the support of leading companies such as Huawei, SMIC has not only continued to make breakthroughs in process technology, but also demonstrated strong competitiveness in many fields such as wafer foundry and advanced packaging.
Therefore, it is expected that in the next few years, not only will the revenue figure continue to rise, but also in terms of overall strength, SMIC is fully expected to move towards the position of the world's second largest chip foundry. Throughout the world, the tide of SMIC's rise has been surging, and almost no one can stop it.
Looking back on the road we have traveled, we are proud and destined to be hard. However, SMIC is currently striding towards the pinnacle of the industry and writing its own legend with an unstoppable development trend. As reflected in this quarter's revenue figures, the future will only get brighter and brighter.