China’s largest semiconductor manufacturer prepares a $ 2.35 billion factory to boost local production

SMIC, which is currently China’s largest chipmaker, says it has signed an agreement with the Chinese government to build a new factory. A very large one, with an investment of 2.350 million dollars, they hope will be key for the Chinese semiconductor boost.

In the south of the country, in Shenzhen city, they will build this manufacturing plant to cushion the global shortage of chips. Due to different factors such as an erroneous forecast, there is currently a significant shortage of chips that is causing havoc in other industries such as the automobile. In any case, we will only see the effects of the new factory in the medium term, when it finishes being built and starts shipping wafers.

According to the forecasts of SMIC, Shenzhen factory will focus on mature technologies in the market such as the manufacture of 28 nanometer chips (currently we are already at 5 nanometers). The goal is to produce 40,000 12-inch wafers per month. Production at the new factory is expected to start in 2022.

The 28-nanometer architectureAlthough it has been with us for almost a decade, it has become perfect for larger devices such as televisions or vehicles. Why? Because it is cheaper to manufacture than smaller architectures. In addition, in devices such as a television or in cars, size and power are not as important as it can be in a mobile phone or a computer.

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The independence of China

Factory will have a 23% stake by the Shenzhen government, which puts a significant sum of money into the construction of the factory. This investment by the State is not accidental, it comes precisely at a time when China is betting heavily on developing its own semiconductor industry. Among other things, since it is part of a bigger plan to make China a technology leader. A plan that ByteDance also wants to take advantage of.

China seeks invest heavily in a local processor industry so as not to depend so much on foreign companies. We have seen the reason recently with Huawei. As you are blacklisted in the United States, you cannot use technologies from American companies either, due has run out of chips by not being able to collaborate with Qualcomm, Intel or the manufacturer TSMC among others.

Via | CNBC

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China’s largest semiconductor manufacturer prepares a $ 2.35 billion factory to boost local production

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