SMIC, the largest company, secures process technology
Gap with Samsung narrows from 5 to 2 years
Suspicion of “Similar to TSMC” theft
Beijing’s ‘semiconductor boom’ is accelerating despite strong US pressure to exclude China from the high-tech supply chain. China’s largest semiconductor foundry (consignment production) company Zhongxin Guoji (SMIC) succeeded in developing the 7-nanometer (nm) process, which was considered the ‘evil realm’, closing the technological gap with TSMC and Samsung Electronics, the leaders in foundry, within two years. narrowed down
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 27th, Canadian technology analysis company TechInsights recently analyzed the SMIC semiconductor installed in the mining machine of Minerbar, a Chinese virtual asset (cryptocurrency)-related equipment company, and as a result, “This company has a 7nm process. I have acquired the ability,” he concluded. Minerbar has been using the semiconductor since July last year.
In order to mass-produce semiconductors under 7 nm, it is necessary to have EUV exposure equipment from ASML, a Dutch company. Even though the US banned Chinese companies from introducing EUV equipment, SMIC completed the 7nm process. Currently, the company focuses on the 28nm process, which is a legacy (mature) semiconductor, and goes straight to 7nm, narrowing the technology gap with TSMC and Samsung Electronics from 5 to 6 years to within 2 years.
WCCF Tech, an American information technology (IT) media, said, “The claim that China has secured EUV equipment while avoiding the eyes of the United States is gaining strength.” Taiwanese media Asia Times also raised suspicions of theft, saying, “SMIC’s 7nm chip is similar in design to TSMC’s.”
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal, citing the International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Association (SEMI) count on the 24th, explained that “there are 31 semiconductor factories that China intends to build in 2021-2024.” During the same period, Taiwan (19) and the United States (12) overwhelm the number of construction projects planned. “Despite various pressures from the United States, China has made a breakthrough in semiconductor technology independence,” the SCMP said. Washington can bring in more regulations to tame China.”
Meanwhile, ABC News reported on the 26th (local time) that Republican lawmakers reported that “China has planted 13 intelligence agents in the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States since 2013, to steal sensitive information.” In response, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the Chinese embassy in the United States refuted the Republican claims, saying “the evidence is not clear.”
Beijing Correspondent Liu Ji-young