As the world faces an ongoing shortfall of chips, more Chinese companies from different sectors including automakers, smartphone manufacturers and home appliance producers, have speeded up efforts to foray into semiconductors sector, the Global Times learned.
As the development of China’s terminal devices – including smartphones and cars – is experiencing a fast growth period, China is becoming the biggest chip consumer, and the growing market demand has lured many companies into making semiconductors, industry observers said.
“Chinese companies learned a lesson after Chinese telecom firms ZTE and Huawei were sanctioned by the US – that is they need to resolve the foreign stranglehold on chip-making technology. As they are rushing into this sector, China’s semiconductors industry is likely to see a strong boost in three years,” Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Beijing-based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Local media reported on Tuesday that the 7-nanometer chips developed by Chinese tech giant Baidu-backed automotive intelligence technology company ECARX will soon enter mass production.
TCL, a top Chinese television maker, has registered a new subsidiary that will focus on businesses including chip design and new material development, according to media reports.
“Now, with the huge market demand, many Chinese tech companies that have done well in manufacturing electronic terminal products and have accumulated rich reserves of talent and capital, have the motivation to enter businesses in the upper stream of the industry chain,” Xiang said.
Xiang believes that China’s semiconductors sector is on the cusp of robust growth as a number of companies and vast amounts of capital have been invested into chips design and manufacturing.
“I expect that within three years, Chinese companies’ ability in the semiconductor sector – from designing to manufacturing – will see a marked improvement,” Xiang said.
Xiang warned that, like the internet bubble, there could also be chipmaking bubble with many companies rushing into this sector. But this is the law of the market, and it’s inevitable that industries will go through the process.
A chip manufacture machine Photo: VCG
