Semiconductors originated in the United States. Why haven't they been able to monopolize the ma

The semiconductor industry is mainly used in various high-tech products, including computers, hard disks, optical drives, mobile phones and other products. The semiconductor industry can make the size of products smaller and smaller, the power consumption lower and lower, while the service life is longer and longer. The emergence of smart phones represents the high integration of materials technology, semiconductor technology and electronic technology. Let's take the latest Huawei mate20 pro as an example. It features the most advanced semiconductor technology at present, with only a 7-nanometer processing chip, which is equipped with a 40-megapixel camera, a triple camera setup, and a 4200 mah battery.



The entire mobile phone is only 8.6 millimeters thick, with a continuous talk time of 30 hours and a standby time of up to 15 days. Huawei's Kirin 980 chip is the top in the semiconductor industry that can currently be achieved. It uses a 7-nanometer manufacturing process and integrates 6.9 billion transistors in a tiny chip. Not only that, in order to make more products mechanized and increase their intelligence, semiconductors are becoming increasingly important. Take automobiles for example. In components such as batteries and controllers of engines, semiconductor technology can be used to make their size smaller and smaller. AI chips are also gradually becoming important for automobiles. From this, it can be seen that the chip industry is the top priority for all intelligent products.



If you compare the semiconductor industries of China and the United States, you will find that China is not much worse than the United States. Although the semiconductor industry originated in the United States, the advantages of the United States in all aspects are not that significant. Let's take a look together.​


Let's talk about the equipment again. The manufacturing of equipment mainly consists of three links: silicon wafer manufacturing, crystal tube manufacturing, and packaging and testing. Crystal tube manufacturing is the most crucial. It takes over 70% of the funds to invest in building a crystal tube factory, including the purchase and production of equipment, which accounts for about 80%. Among the equipment, high-end lithography machines are monopolized by the Netherlands, and deposition equipment ranks first in sales in the United States. China is at the leading level in etching machines. Among the three types of equipment, the United States only holds one. Among them, the etching machine in China can achieve an accuracy of one in 20,000, and in the future, it will be used in Huawei's 5-nanometer chip manufacturing.



A wafer fabrication plant is a factory that produces chips. Among all of China, Taiwan's TSMC leads in technological strength and has successfully produced chips with a 7-nanometer process. Huawei's Kirin 980 is a remarkable achievement. Meanwhile, South Korea's Samsung and the United States' Intel also have considerable capabilities. Therefore, the United States has not monopolized wafer fabrication plants. The last chip design. In terms of chip design for computers, Intel and AMD from the United States undoubtedly hold a dominant position. The most crucial factor lies in users' usage habits and the integration of software and hardware. It is rather difficult to break this monopoly.



However, domestic manufacturers are catching up in the fields of servers, supercomputers, and smart phones. China's supercomputers have fully achieved the ability to independently develop core new products. Huawei has also released the Taishan series of server chips. The three major domestic giants, Alibaba, Gree and Foxconn, have also entered the semiconductor industry one after another. Alibaba mainly develops AI chips, Gree is also planning to invest in the chip sector, and Foxconn intends to invest in a wafer fabrication plant in Zhuhai to transform into high-end chip manufacturing. The participation of these big players precisely indicates the vigorous development of the domestic chip industry.