Jun 04, 2020 06:00:00

How did the new coronavirus infection affect the semiconductor industry?

The new coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19), which has been raging around the world since the end of 2019, has not only killed many people's lives, but also severely damaged the economy. In particular, the blockade of borders due to the declaration of an emergency and the refraining from going out have hampered the logistics of the entire world, causing a great delay in the roadmap of each industry. The impact of COVID-19 on the semiconductor industry is explained by the

South China Morning Post (SCMP), a daily newspaper in Hong Kong.

How Covid-19 changes the geopolitics of semiconductor supply chains | South China Morning Post
https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3086998/how-covid-19-changes-geopolitics-semiconductor-supply-chains

TSMC , a Taiwanese semiconductor foundry, manufactures processors such as Apple, Huawei and AMD. In May 2020, it was reported that an agreement was signed with the US government to build a 5nm process semiconductor manufacturing plant in Arizona, USA.

Will the world's largest semiconductor manufacturing foundry ``TSMC'' in charge of Apple's chip manufacturing build a factory in the United States-GIGAZINE

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented on the agreement, saying, 'China is trying to control cutting-edge technology and control important industries, while the United States is strengthening national security.' It is also reported that TSMC has stopped accepting new orders from Chinese company Huawei.

According to SCMP, “China's semiconductor industry devoted to efficiency and devoted to the principle of comparative advantage is abandoning resilience. As a result, not only global risks like COVID-19 but also Huawei's export regulations It has become even more vulnerable,' he said, saying that the semiconductor industry needs to change towards redundancy.

In addition, SCMP points out the 'risk of concentrating manufacturing and supply bases in one country.' For example, Japan manufactures about 70% of the high-purity hydrofluoric acid and about 90% of photoresists needed to manufacture chips. When the diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea deteriorate in 2019, South Korea, which has electronic device manufacturers such as Samsung and LG, has been restricted from exporting hydrofluoric acid from Japan, so it is necessary to promote domestic production of hydrofluoric acid. I no longer get.

Hydrogen Fluoride talked about in Japan-Korea conflict Why do companies in Osaka have a monopoly? : Asahi Shimbun Digital
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASMCH3DYSMCHPLFA001.html

Since the semiconductor industry requires the technology of a company, it tends to depend on one company in particular. Therefore, attracting more important companies to your country than to other countries will increase the stability of your supply chain. 'We need a stable supply chain to keep the world in the technology and high-performance computing world,' said Lisa Sue, AMD CEO.

The Semiconductor Association of America (SIA), to which CEO Sue belongs, told the federal government that $5 billion (about 540 billion yen) will be spent on joint-sector semiconductor factories, $15 billion (about 1.6 trillion yen) at manufacturing facilities, Apply for subsidies of $17 billion (1.8 trillion yen) for national research costs, $10 billion (about 1.8 trillion yen) for basic and applied research, and $5 billion for new technology centers. I am. It is believed that the United States attracted TSMC to the United States not only for the benefit of its own country but also for securing the supply of the American semiconductor industry, which accounts for half of the world's market share, and securing human resources for the next generation I am.

Major electronic device manufacturers such as Apple and Huiwei rely on TSMC, which holds almost half of the semiconductor manufacturing market share in 2019, to manufacture chips for the latest devices, but TSMC will build a 5 nm process production plant in the United States Therefore, China, which confronts the United States, needs to reduce its dependence on TSMC. China's semiconductor products is a foundry in the rival companies of TSMC

SMIC is expected to increase orders from China, initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to raise funds of 20 billion yuan (about 300 billion yen) ( It was reported in June 2020 that he applied for an IPO).

China chipmaker SMIC to raise $2.8 billion in Shanghai listing amid trade war
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/02/china-chipmaker-smic-to-raise-2point8-billion-in-shanghai-listing-amid-trade-war.html

Also, in the semiconductor industry, companies tend to over-specialize and specialize according to parts and processes. For example, 97% of the global DRAM market is Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea, and Micron Technology in the United States. If different companies specialize in each component and hold the majority of the market share, the mutual dependence of the companies will increase, and if one company has a problem, there is a risk that the entire industry will be affected.

In addition, the semiconductor industry is at risk of business continuity. For example, the Dutch company ASML is the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment with a market share of over 80%. Both Samsung and TSMC depend on ASML1 company, so if the shipment of ASML is delayed due to COVID-19 or trade friction, the roadmap of Samsung and TSMC will also be delayed and it will affect the semiconductor manufacturing process around the world. It will have a big impact.

The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 forced a major reorganization of the Japanese automobile supply chain. Fukushima Prefecture, which suffered a great deal of damage from the earthquake, produced 60% of the important automobile parts in the world market, so each company had to fundamentally revise the procurement and manufacturing of automobile parts. COVID-19 also had a major impact on the semiconductor supply chain around the world.

'Both China and the United States are beginning to question the overreliance of both governments and private companies on a small number of companies,' said SCMP. As the SIA advised the Trump administration that 'the semiconductor industry is an important infrastructure,' the COVID-19 pandemic has already begun to rethink the semiconductor industry based on geopolitical strategies, SCMP said. It was.