chips

It is manufacturing AI chips for Huawei despite the sanctions, according to the United States

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TSMC’s headaches have not finished. The US government definitely included Huawei in its blacklist in 2020, and one of the immediate consequences of this decision was that this Taiwan chips manufacturer stopped producing semiconductors For this Chinese company. Two years later, in October 2022, the US administration decided to include All the Chinese semiconductor industry In his blacklist, which further cut the TSMC client portfolio. Anyway, for Huawei, it has all the meaning of the world to try to make TSMC manufacture some of the integrated circuits you design. This Chinese company is supported In this area by SMICwhich is the main producer of semiconductors in China, but its most advanced integration technologies are not up to TSMC avant -garde lithographs. And not having access to the most advanced lithographic nodes diminishes Huawei’s competitiveness. At the end of October 2024 the US Department of Commerce decided to investigate TSMC because he suspected that this gigantic Taiwanese company could have secretly reached agreements with Huawei to take care of the manufacture of its semiconductors for smartphones and applications of artificial intelligence (AI). At the current situation of tension between the US and China this accusation is very serious. Fortunately for TSMC everything was clarified a few months later. Another disturbing chapter in the relationship held TSMC and Huawei In December 2024 TSMC broke its commercial relationship With Powerair, a Singapore company that, apparently, was responsible for delivering the chip manufactured by TSMC that appeared on the card for the Ascend 910b. Interestingly, this was the second company presumably responsible for reaching Huawei integrated circuits produced by TSMC. In 2023 this last company stopped offering its manufacturing service to the Chinese Chips Design Company Sophgo to illegally mediate with Huawei. The CSIS accuses TSMC of having manufactured for Huawei no less than two million chips from AInd 910 Now is the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), an American organization that is dedicated to developing strategies that seek to guarantee the security of the US, which accuses TSMC in A freshly published report having made indirectly for Huawei for 2024 no less than Two million Ascend 910 chips. With these integrated circuits this Chinese company can produce a huge number of units of its ascend 910c solution, which is currently its hardware for the most advanced. The most interesting thing is that The CSIS holds that Huawei has once again resorted to “ghost” companies that act as intermediaries between her and TSMC. However, the author of the report does not exculpate the Taiwanese company: “TSMC manufactured large amounts of Ascend 910b of Huawei in the name of ghost companies and sent them to China, thus violating US export controls.” We will see how all this ends, but it does not paint well for a TSMC that has just embarked into an ambitious strategy of expansion of its production infrastructure within the country currently led by Donald Trump. Image | TSMC More information | Center for Strategic and International Studies In Xataka | TSMC does not contemplate the possibility of buying Intel factories. And their motives have a crushing logic

Sooner or later China will be the world chips leader

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At the moment nothing indicates that Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House will relax the tension held by the US and China. The strategy of the new US government on many fronts is very different from the one defended by the administration of Joe Biden (The Ukraine War is one of them), but in what It refers to China a priori nothing changes. And does not do so because the nation led by Xi Jinping is the only one that has the ability to play world supremacy to the USA. In fact, the government led by Joe Biden openly recognized the document that collects its National Security Strategy October 2022 that China has the necessary capacity and resources to dispute the US Its world leadership position. A good part of the sanctions deployed by the US government and its allies seeks to slow down the development of the Chinese semiconductor industry due to the deep impact that it has on its scientific, economic and military capacity. But China bids increasingly. China leads chips research with overwhelming roundness Currently the biggest challenge facing the China semiconductor industry is the set -up equipment of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE) similar to those produced by the Dutch company ASML. The US and Netherlands sanctions prevent this company from selling them to their Chinese customers, and these equipment are necessary to produce on a large scale and with a competitive cost integrated avant -garde circuits. In 2023 the Chinese government approved a 41,000 million dollar game for lithography equipment manufacturers In this situation, the only way China can follow is to dedicate a lot of resources to research with the purpose of matching, or even exceeding the level of development they have achieved in the field of Taiwan semiconductors, USA, South Korea or Japan. And is doing it. At the beginning of September 2023 the Chinese government approved a departure of no less than 41,000 million dollars Destined precisely to the companies that produce the equipment involved in the manufacture of integrated circuits. The achievements are already arriving, and are notable. SMIC and HUAWEI have opted, at least for now, for refining their lithographic processes and optimizing UVP lithography machines (deep ultraviolet) manufactured by ASML that they already have in their possession. Other companies, however, have chosen to develop their integration technologies relying on the new teams that Naura Technology, Amec (Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China) or Piotech Inc. have taken to point. This is the path that You are following Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), the largest memory chips manufacturer in China. However, China’s authentic strength is its ability to develop avant -garde research. He Emerging Technological Observatory (ETO), which is an international organization specialized in the analysis of the adoption of emerging technologies globally, points out that Between 2018 and 2023 475,000 articles were published dedicated to the design and manufacture of chips throughout the planet. 34% was produced by Chinese institutions, while Europe is formed with 18% of those articles and the US with an even more modest 15%. In addition, again according to Eto, Chinese articles are among the most mentioned, which supports their quality. This trend draws a future on the horizon in which China’s weight in the semiconductor industry will be increasing. Image | ASML More information | Eto In Xataka | China needs to develop a new type of immune chips to US sanctions. And their scientists have just achieved it

Problems between US and Taiwan governments begin. And the chips industry is at the center of everything

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The government led by Donald Trump is determined to do everything necessary for the US to recover leadership in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. At the moment In Asia they are manufactured 90% of memory chips, 75% of microprocessors and 80% of silicon wafers. However, the most outstanding country in this continent in this sector is Taiwan, with a production of 90% of high integration chips and 41% of microprocessors. The US administration is already taking the necessary measures to promote US companies to buy integrated circuits manufactured in the US. The tariffs you are approving They largely pursue this objective, and, despite the alignment in the geopolitical field that support the US and Taiwan, the manufacturers of Taiwanese chips are not at all safe from the tariffs. In fact, Donald Trump made a statement at the end of January which he exposes his intentions with total: “In the very close future we will impose tariffs on foreign production of computer chips, semiconductors and pharmaceutical products to return the manufacture of these essential goods to the US (…) went to Taiwan; now we want them to return. We do not want to give them billions of dollars in the ridiculous driver program. They already have billions of dollars. incentive will be that they do not want to pay a tax of 25, 50, or even 100%”, The current US president declared. The Taiwan government is putting limits to TSMC The express mention to Taiwan that the US president has made is a very clear allusion to TSMC. On this Asian island there are other semiconductor manufacturers, such as UMC, but its relevance in the chip market is much lower than that of the company currently leading CC Wei. TSMC dominates the integrated circuit market with A quota of approximately 60%so your leadership in the chip manufacturing industry is indisputable. Anyway, the step forward that the US administration is not going to take TSMC by surprise. This company has been outlining its strategy for more than four years to extend its semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure Beyond Taiwan’s borders. And he is doing it for two reasons. On the one hand it is an effective way to protect your business if at any time it is triggered A war conflict between China and Taiwanand their plants on the island were useless. TSMC is preparing an offer to control the integrated circuit manufacturing plants of Intel But, in addition, TSMC is significantly developing its infrastructure in the US. His plan is that their new Arizona factories not only serve to protect their business from a possible conflict between China and Taiwan; They also protect it from US tariffs. This is not all. Although there has not yet an official confirmation of this information, according to The Wall Street Journal TSMC is preparing an offer to Control manufacturing plants Intel integrated circuits. It prosper or not, at the current situation this strategic decision makes sense. And it has it because it would allow TSMC to definitely consolidate its semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure in the US, as well as be present in countries where it now does not have production plants. However, The Taiwan government does not see this possibility with good eyes. Its economy depends deeply on its chip industry in general, and TSMC in particular, so the US ambition to recover its leadership in this sector directly enters into conflict directly with Taiwan’s survival as it is currently. Kuo Jyh-Huei, Taiwan Economy Minister, has warned TSMC in a resounding way: “No one can shake the foundations of the Taiwan semiconductor industry. We must have confidence in TSMC, and the government will fully support the ‘sacred mountain’ that protects the country (…) so that TSMC expands its global presence and establishes a joint company in any location, definitely needs the government’s permission.” It is evident that the possibility that TSMC acquires such a solid production infrastructure outside Taiwan is detrimental to weight That has this island in the sector that feeds it. Right now we cannot assume that TSMC will control Intel plants, but we can be safe: 2025 will be a very exciting year in regard to the development of the integrated circuit industry. More information | Reuters In Xataka | What’s behind the chips megafabrica that TSMC and Samsung plan to build in Arab Emirates

China prepares to lead the manufacture of chips for advanced weapons

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China monopolizes gallium production. In fact, Up to 2022 monopolized 98% of the world gross Gallic, and this figure presumably has barely varied since then. For the country led by Xi Jinping This metal has a strategic value comparable to the one for the US due to its potential in military applications. And, in addition, Gallium export control allows China to respond to the sanctions to which the US and their allies are subjecting this Asian country in the scope of the semiconductor industry. Gallium is a very special metal. Its physicochemical properties make it suitable to be combined with other metals with the purpose of manufacturing a special type of integrated circuits called broadband semiconductors. These chips have three properties that make them very valuable to intervene in the manufacture of Advanced military teams: They support voltages, temperatures and frequencies higher than integrated conventional silicon circuits. During the 70s the US Advanced Defense Research Projects (Darpa) He dedicated many resources to the development of semiconductors in which Gallium was involved due to the potential he had in military technology projects. He Gallium Arseniuro (GAAS) played a fundamental role in the development of the global positioning system (GPS), and also in Radark tuning and precision weapons. China has taken a very important step forward Currently, Gallium Nitruro (GAN), which also has Darpa’s backing, is being used to make state -of -the -art radars that are capable of accurately identifying smaller, fast and numerous objects at more distance. Each of these radars incorporates several thousand chips in which the gallium intervenes. Everything we have just seen invites us to reach an obvious conclusion: Gallium is an essential metal for the US. But this country is not the only military superpower on the planet. The Chinese army and research institutions have been working with Gaul for many years and developing technologies that allow you to use it Third generation advanced semiconductors. As we have seen, China has Gallium in abundance, but producing integrated circuits with this metal is not easy. Neither for the country led by Xi Jinping nor for which Donald Trump is currently governing. Modifying electrons energy levels, it is possible to accurately control climbing and reduce defects To manufacture gallium nitruro, silicon and sapphire substrates are often used, but the effectiveness of the processes used so far was moderate because the hexagonal atomic structure of the GAN causes the appearance of a defect known as climbing. In broad strokes this curious phenomenon triggers the displacement of groups of atoms in a certain region of the crystal, which affects its structure and reduces its properties. In fact, GAN manufacturing defects cause electric leaks, reduce their thermal stability and reduce the performance of semiconductors. Until now the researchers who work with GAN had difficulty understanding why these defects appear in the crystalline structure of this material. And also to deal with them. But the team of scientists led by Professor Huang Bing at the University of Beijing (China) has identified the cause which triggers the production of defects during the growth of the Gan Crystals. What these scientists have discovered is that modifying the energy levels of electrons it is possible to accurately control the climbing and reduce defects. “Traditional strategies to avoid defects include the use of different substrates and the adjustment of crystallization temperatures, but these approaches only address symptoms, not the cause,” Professor Huang Bing explained. If China manages to get this research from the laboratory and bring to production chains this technology will have the ability to manufacture cheapest GAN -GAN semiconductors, of more quality and a much larger scale. And at this juncture it will not be unreasonable to anticipate that it will be done with the leadership of the application of 3rd generation semiconductors in the military field and 5G technologies. Image | TSMC More information | SCMP In Xataka | This semiconductor is spectacular. So much so that for the MIT is its nº 1 candidate to replace the silicon

China has in his hands the world production of chips and batteries thanks to the gallium

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On December 2, one of the most aggressive Chinese sanctions packages of those who have deployed USA so far entered into force. And is that the government led by Joe Biden included 140 more companies on your blacklist. These prohibitions are aimed as Chinese companies that design and produce The lithography equipment involved in the manufacture of advanced semiconductors, hence the impact they are presumably having on the Chinese chips industry is deep. As expected, China soon react. Just one day later the government led by Xi Jinping announced the prohibition of export of critical minerals to the US. Among them are three essential chemical elements for the semiconductor industry, as well as some materials that are characterized by their extreme hardness, and that, therefore, can be used for military applications, such as gallium, Germanio and antimony. According to Japan, restrictions will affect the supply chains of chips and batteries China currently produces 59.2% of Germanio, 48% of the antimony and nothing less than 98.8% of the gallium. “This measure entails a considerable escalation of the tension to which supply chains are already subjected. It is difficult to access some raw materials,” Jack Bedder holdsco -founder of the Project Blue consultant. “It is logical that China responds to the growing restrictions of current and imminent US authorities with their own restrictions on these strategic minerals,” Peter Arkell points outPresident of the Global Chinese Mining Association. “It is a commercial war without winners.” Japanese Gallium imports since China have fallen no less than 85% between August 2023 and the same month of 2024 Several Japanese officials and executives linked to the semiconductor industry are aligned with Jack Bedder’s thesis. According to Financial Timesthese experts are warning of the US governments, Japan and their allies that the restrictions imposed by China on Galio’s export and other strategic raw materials will affect deeply to the supply chains of semiconductors and batteries. However, this is not all. Japanese officials suspect that the Chinese government could force them to inform them about all the products that contain Gallic exported by Japan to the US. Otherwise the administration of Xi Jinping could even more harden the measures that have caused that Japanese Gauling imports from China have fallen no less than 85% between August 2023 and the same month of 2024. Japanese companies are the ones that most Gallic, Germanio and Grafito consume. More than US, European, Taiwanese or South Korean companies. If the Beijing Government hardens its control over the Gallium the electric motors of Tesla cars from Japan, the lasers of Gallium Arseniuro used by Broadcom or some of the chips integrated in Apple’s iPhone could be affected by China’s export licenses. This situation reminds us of something important: no industrialized country can remain outside the economic and commercial war that the US and China hold. More information | Financial Times In Xataka | The era of supermaterials is about to begin. And we can thank the AI

Japan’s only hope to dominate the chips industry is an unknown: Rapidus

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The Taiwanese company TSMC and South Korean Samsung are the two semiconductor manufacturers that have the most advanced integration technologies in production. In fact, both manufacture Integrated 3 Nm circuits Since 2022. However, for many months The performance by wafer They obtained was very improvable, which transformed their nodes of 3 Nm into a bottleneck that perceptibly increased the cost of these chips. Three years later the 3 Nm nodes of these two companies are much finer. His performance by wafer has increased perceptibly and presumably is already exceeding 70% established by the semiconductor industry as a reference. Currently these two companies are in a relatively comfortable position, but there is a company that seems to be prepared to disturb them. To them already intel. His name is Rapidus corporation, he is Japanese and plans to manufacture 2 Nm semiconductors with an unpublished technology and unbeatable mate performance. Rapidus is the spearhead of Japan In 1988 NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Matsushita and other Japanese companies hoarded nothing less than 50% of the chips industry. However, today none of these companies is positioned among the leaders of a sector dominated with iron fist by Taiwanese, American, Dutch, South Korean and German companies. Whatever the government of Japan is determined to recover its ancient glory. The administration led by Shigeru ishiba claims the preeminent position he had in the semiconductor industry three decades ago. Its economy is at stake. But it has a plan. And it is already underway. In fact, he began to display his strategy to reinforce his integrated circuit industry more than two years ago, so the first results begin to see the light. Japan is currently investing more money in its integrated circuits sector than the US, Germany, France or the United Kingdom Japan is currently investing more money in its sector of integrated circuits than the US, Germany, France or the United Kingdom. Not in terms of net value, but its effort is greater if we weigh the investment of these countries on their gross domestic product (GDP). The US dedicates 0.21% of its GDP to its semiconductor industry, and Germany 0.41%. France, according to Nikkei Asia0.2%, and, finally, the United Kingdom 0.04%. The difference is very significant and puts on the table the effort that Japan is making with 0.71% of its GDP. As expected, Japanese companies have a leading role in the reconstruction plan of the Japanese chips industry. Tokyo Electron, Canon and Nikon are the main designers and manufacturers of integrated circuit production equipment. AND JSR Corporation leads the production of photorestoning materials. Curiously, it is necessary to pour these fluids on silicon wafers with the purpose of preparing them for the transfer of the geometric pattern that delimits the distribution of transistors, connections and other elements that make up an integrated circuit. The surprising thing is that, in reality, none of the companies I just mentioned is the best trick of Japan to catapult the competitiveness of its semiconductor industry. Not even JSR, which, as we have just seen, leads the manufacture of photorers. The company that is intended for compete from you to you With TSMC, Intel or Samsung in the chip production market is Rapidus corporation. In fact, it has been expressly created to replace Japan at the forefront of integrated circuits. This company’s website explains the background that has triggered its constitution and its purposes in The following six “commandments”: The importance of semiconductors has increased, and, at the same time, the growing concern for the decline of the chips industry in Japan has done so. The role of semiconductors in economic security has become an urgent matter. Many integrated circuit factories are located in Taiwan and Continental China. Given the increase in the use of semiconductors in cars and artificial intelligence, as well as the added value of the chips in the devices that will arrive during the next decade, it is necessary to guarantee manufacturing in Japan. After the summit between Japan and the US, both countries are developing next -generation semiconductors. It is necessary to establish 3D LSI technology (Large Scale Integration o large -scale integration) next -generation and Nanosheet Gaa (Gate-alall-around) in collaboration with the US and Europe, as well as build a cooperation framework with the manufacturers of materials and equipment in Japan and abroad. Our purpose is to establish an integrated circuit factory of 2 Nm avant -garde in Japan. The first four precepts recognize to what extent Japan has lost the relevance that had decades ago in the chips industry and support the need for rebuild a sector which currently has a strategic role. And the last two slogans outline the objective of Rapidus in the short and medium term, which goes through competing in The incipient market of 2 nm semiconductors in which this year TSMC, Intel and Samsung will enter. Rapidus is making a circuit manufacturing plant integrated in northern Japan in which it plans to produce 2 Nm chips Rapidus is a very young company. It was founded on August 10, 2022 by the Japanese government with an initial capital of 7,346 million yen (just under 46 million euros) contributed by, and here comes the interesting, Sony, Toyota, Nec, Softbank, Kioxia, dense , Nippon Telegraph and MUFG Bank. The initial capital invested in the constitution of this company is not very bulky, but there is no doubt that the companies that participate in it have an indisputable relevance in the sectors of technology, automotive and telecommunications. Rapidus is currently putting a circuit manufacturing plant integrated in northern Japan, in the city of Chitose (Hokkaido), in which it plans to produce semiconductors of 2 Nm. According to Nikkei Asia The first prototypes of these chips They will be ready in April 2025but large -scale manufacturing will not arrive at best until 2027. So far there is nothing really surprising because presumably at that time TSMC, Samsung and Intel will already be manufacturing integrated circuits with comparable lithographs. Rapidus’s competitiveness … Read more

Donald Trump prepares to apply tariffs of more than 25% for chips and that means one thing: much more expensive laptops

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Donald Trump does not hesitate. At a press conference on Tuesday, the president of the United States Indian than your administration It could apply tariffs of about 25% to the car industry. But this is not the worst: the worst thing is that the pharmaceutical industry and The semiconductor They could be even more affected. In both cases, tariffs could be even greater than 25%. What are tariffs. Tariffs are taxes that apply to foreign products. They are paid by the importer of the product, which in this case are the US companies and consumers, but not for the exporter, which may be anywhere in the world. An example. Let’s give an example: Acer, Taiwanese company, wants to sell its laptops in the United States. Acer the factory in Taiwan, and sends them to the US. When those laptops reach the US Customs, a US -based company (the importer, which may be the Acer division in the US, or a wholesaler, for example) takes possession of them. The US customs applies tariffs. Let’s say it is 10%. The importer (which is not Acer Taiwan) pays those tariffs to the US government. If the order is one million, the importer would have to pay $ 100,000. It is then that the importer decides how to manage that extra cost. It can absorb the cost and reduce your profit margin, you can pass it to stores, which could increase the price for consumers, or you can negotiate with Acer Taiwan to make the original order come out something cheaper. More details on April 2. In the case of cars tariffs, the pharmacological industry and Trump chips Indian that “I will probably tell you on April 2, but there will be around 25%” when asked about tariffs on the car industry. For Farma and Chips, Trump said “it will be 25% or more, and will grow substantially in the course of a year.” The US president claimed to want to give companies “time to come (to the US)” before announcing new import tariffs. Manufacture here, or pay tariffs. All these measures are aimed at the same thing: avoid dependence on other countries to the maximum possible, boost companies to manufacture their products in the US (and make large investments in the country) and impose huge tariffs for those who do not. The impact will be colossal. The measures raised by Trump will have huge consequences. Among other things, will aggravate the historical crisis that the European car is experiencing. Last year about eight million cars and light trucks in the US were imported, half of all sales in that country. Manufacturers like Volkswagen They would be especially affectedbut also great Asian manufacturers (not only China) like Hyundai. We will pay more for (almost) everything. Experts are clear that these tariffs will have very important collateral effects, including the price increase for consumers and costs for these industries. Portable 10% more expensive. In the case of chips, among the many affected are laptops prices. Jason Chen, CEO of Acer, Indian that these tariffs will cause that “we have to adjust the final price to reflect these tariffs. We believe that 10% will probably be the default increase for the price for import rates. It is very simple.” Acer already considers manufacturing outside China. About 80% of the laptops that are imported in the US come from China. Trump imposed 10% tariffs in China this month, although they do not apply to products that abandoned China before February. Chen declared that they had already migrated part of the assembly of their computers outside China during Trump’s first mandate, when he imposed 25%tariffs. They are now looking for “different distribution chains beyond China”, and stressed that manufacturing in the US was “one of the options.” Much ado about nothing? The truth is that Trump has already announced important tariffs For Canada and Mexico. They had to go into force on February 1but They have not done soand also the tax and aluminum taxes have been modified –No exceptions– And that theoretically will be applied as of March 12. A series of “were also announcedreciprocal tariffs“Last week, but they will not take effect until April. There is a lot of ads of tariffs, but for the moment little start -up (or none) of such measures. Image | The White House | Laura Ockel In Xataka | All Big Tech wrapped Trump in his investiture. In return, 192,000 million dollars will be saved in taxes

So far Arm only designed chips. Now you will manufacture one for data centers, and goal will be your first big client

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There is a lot of money invested in data centers. Maybe too much. And that is a juicy cake in which many companies want to enter. One of them is ARM, which throughout its history He had limited himself to designing chips that others then licensed and manufactured. Now they will go further, and AI is the main reason. THE FIRST CHIP ARM. As revealed In Financial TimesARM will reveal his first chip this summer. Until now, Arm had remained outside a career in which Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm or Apple have been the protagonists, but now they want to enter that fight. Data centers in the spotlight. SoftBank, which has a majority participation in ARM, has ambitious plans in the data centers segment. It has allied with Openai and other companies for the colossal Stargate projectwhich will make them theoretically invest 500,000 million dollars in data centers in the US. And the company wants ARM to be part of that project with own chips that govern the servers of those data centers. Goal as a great first client. This chip is expected to be a CPU for servers and that it is created so that it can then be customized by companies as a goal. In FT they indicate that in fact the company of Mark Zuckerberg is already the first big client of ARM in this initiative. TSMC could be in charge of the production of chips, according to sources close to the plans. Acquisition of ampere in sight. We speak these days of the alleged advanced negotiations that They could end SoftBank buying ampere. The firm specializes precisely in the use of ARM architecture in multinuk chips Oriented to data centers. Threat to Intel and AMD. These two companies (especially Intel) and architecture X86 have always dominated the segment of servers and data centers. However, chips with ARM architecture have begun to be an interesting option, and the alleged appearance of these Arm’s own chips could further boost their market share. And Varapalo for Qualcomm. Qualcomm socate are references in our mobiles, but the company also takes time Working in chips for servers. In the last months Qualcomm and Ar had maintained a litigation that finally closed a few days agoand it is about to see what is the impact of this ARM project on the Qualcomm roadmap, which apparently He was also in negotiations with goal to provide chips for their data centers. Image | ARM In Xataka | West tries to block China in technology while giving him his greatest opportunity in decades

The benefits of Chips chips manufacturer have fallen 45% in 2024. US sanctions have injured

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In the middle of last January we tell you that during 2024 the semiconductor industry of China has produced 12.5% more than in 2023. Not bad at all, especially if we are in mind that US sanctions And his allies prevent Chinese integrated circuit manufacturers access lithography equipment for extreme ultraviolet (UVE) produced by the Dutch company ASML. And since the beginning of 2024 they cannot buy more machines from deep ultraviolet lithography (UVP). At the current situation it is reasonable that we ask ourselves what kind are the integrated circuits that Chinese manufacturers are massively producing. And the answer is very revealing: these are chips derived from mature integration technologiesusually 28 nm or less advanced. After all, the semiconductors that we find mostly on electronic devices, appliances or cars, among other products, have been produced using them. The sanctions hinder the production of avant -garde chips to SMIC A good part of Chinese chip manufacturers, such as Hua Hong Semiconductor, China Resources Microelectronics or Guangzhou Zensemi, is manufacturing integrated circuits of 28 Nm or with even more mature technologies. And the company Beijing Yandong Microelectronics (YDME) will build A plant of 4.6 billion dollars expressly to produce 28 Nm semiconductors in 300 mm wafers. It is evident that these companies would not turn in this way in the manufacture of mature chips if it was not a profitable strategy, and, above all, necessary to support the Chinese industry of the integrated circuits at such a critical moment as the current one. SMIC has the ability to manufacture integrated 7 nm circuits. And probably also 5 nm However, the business of SMIC (Semiconductor manufacturing international corp), which is the largest Chinese manufacturer of semiconductors with a fee in the world market of about 5%it goes for other paths. This company currently has the ability to manufacture Integrated 7 Nm circuits. And probably also 5 nm. We know it with total certainty because this company manufactures, for example, the soc Kirin 9000s integrated into the smartphone Mate 60 Pro of Huawei, which has been scrupulously analyzed by several laboratories aligned with the US, such as the Canadian Techinsights. Unlike most of Chinese integrated circuit manufacturers, SMIC does not live from mature chips. Your business revolves around the avant -garde semiconductors. To manufacture the 7 NM circuits that is delivering to Huawei and other customers using the UVP lithography equipment that has in its possession has been forced to resort to a technique known as Multiple patterning. And this strategy has two problems: it has an upward impact on the cost of chips and the decrease in production capacity. In addition, it is important that we do not overlook that the sanctions deployed by the US and the Netherlands prevent SMIC from buying more UVP teams from ASML. And it also does not have access to some maintenance and support services. These circumstances have caused their performance and competitiveness for 2024 They have deterioratedand as a consequence Its benefits have fallen 45%: Of the 902.5 million dollars that reached in 2023 to 492.7 million in 2024. There is no doubt that it is a hard blow for a company with the size that SMIC has, so it will be interesting to verify how it reacts for 2025 To improve your competitiveness. More information | SCMP In Xataka | China prepares for the worst scenario: fears that the US prevents TSMC to give it chips for cars and smartphones

We already know when and where will 1 nm chips manufacture

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The economic results that has reached TSMC for 2024 They have been extraordinary. In fact, their income has broken a record by increasing 34% compared to those obtained in 2023. Only during last December the 8,400 million dollarsa figure that represents an increase of 57.8% compared to the same month of the previous year. The engine of these figures are semiconductors for applications of artificial intelligence (AI) that TSMC manufactures for Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom and other customers. However, the arrival of Donald Trump to the US government pours some clouds over this Taiwanese company. During the electoral campaign he promised that he would make the decisions that were necessary to reinforce the business of US companies within the US. And he also assured that he would sanction tariffs all those countries that threaten the interests of the nation that leads since January 20. As soon as he has been in the government for three weeks, and he is already doing both. “In the very close future we will impose tariffs on foreign production of computer chips, semiconductors and pharmaceutical products to return the manufacture of these essential goods to the US (…) went to Taiwan; now we want them to return. We do not want to give them Millions of dollars in the ridiculous Biden program. 100%”, Donald Trump recently declared during a conference that was held in Florida (USA). Punta technology is the best TSMC asset The express mention to Taiwan that the US president has made is a very clear allusion to TSMC. On this Asian island there are other semiconductor manufacturers, such as UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation) or PSMC (Powerchip semiconductor manufacturing corporation), but its relevance in the chips market is much lower than that of the company currently leads CC Wei. TSMC dominates the integrated circuit market with A quota of approximately 60%so your leadership in the chip manufacturing industry is indisputable. TSMC is developing its infrastructure in the US to protect your business in the US market Anyway, the passing step that the US administration is going to give will not take TSMC by surprise. This company has been outlining its strategy for more than four years to extend its semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure Beyond Taiwan’s borders. And he is doing it for two reasons. On the one hand it is an effective way to protect your business if at any time it is triggered A war conflict between China and Taiwanand their plants on the island were useless. And, in addition, TSMC is significantly developing its infrastructure in the US to protect your business in the US market. However, this is not all. The newspaper Taiwan Economic Daily He has published a report in which he ensures that TSMC plans to tune up a cutting -edge semiconductor plant that will be expressly designed to produce 1 Nm chips. It will be housed in the Taiwanese town of Tainan, and will be called ‘Fab 25’. He will work with 12 -inch wafers, will have six production lines and start large -scale manufacturing in 2030. It may seem that there is still a long time left, but it is not so. Building a state -of -the -art chips factory usually requires at least three years. And then TSMC engineers will have to purify and Optimize your 1 Nm production nodes. We will see if this company finally fulfills its purpose, but there is no doubt about one thing: the most effective protection against the measures that the administration led by Donald Trump approves in the future is having the best technology in the semiconductor industry. This is precisely what TSMC pursues. Image | TSMC More information | Taiwan Economic Daily In Xataka | Intel was about to snatch Apple as a client from TSMC. Having achieved its story would be another

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