(Shanghai Comprehensive News) SMIC, China's largest chip manufacturer, announced that it will invest $ 7.5 billion (S $ 10.4 billion) to build its fourth 12 -inch wafer factories in China to expand its capacity.
Comprehensive Reuters, Bloomberg and Shanghai Securities reported that when SMIC released the financial report in the first half of 2022 in the evening of the 2022 in the evening of Friday (August 26), it was announced that the company and Tianjin Xiqing District Government and the state -owned enterprise Tianjin Xiqing Economic DevelopmentThe group signed a framework agreement to invest in the above projects, and plan to build a monthly production capacity of 100,000 pieces. It can provide wafer foundry and technical services with 28 nanometer to 180 nanometer technical nodes, but did not mention when the plant was put into production.
According to the agreement, in the new foundry plan to select the West Youth Development Zone Sida Emerging Industrial Park, the products produced are mainly used in the fields of communications, automotive electronics, consumer electronics, and industry.SMIC will work with the Tianjin Xiqing District Government to manage the factory, with a registered capital of 5 billion US dollars, a total project investment of US $ 7.5 billion, and the source of funds is its own or self -raised funds.Support.
Facing the increasingly tightened export restrictions in the United States, SMIC has announced in the past two years that it has invested in a 12 -inch wafer factories in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai.When putting in front and back, SMIC's capacity will double at that time.At present, SMIC also has three 8 -inch wafer fab in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Shenzhen.
According to Observer Network reports, the global semiconductor market has entered the adjustment period after two years of prosperity.Third -party agencies predict that the growth rate of global chip sales this year may be only half last year, and the growth rate next year may reach a new low since 2019.
Sheng Linghai, vice president of research institution Gartner, said that SMIC still has a huge sum of money when the industry starts to settle down. "The most critical factor may not be the industry cycle, but considering the current international environment.Caters to national policies, strengthen local manufacturing, and meet domestic needs. "
He said that although the advanced process of SMIC's development is blocked, the demand for mature processes in the market is still very large. The company's expansion is mainly to strengthen local manufacturing.
Bloomberg earlier quoted industry observation agencies Techinsights reported that SMIC's delivery of Bitcoin mining chips made of 7 nanometer technology is far more advanced than the company's mature 14nm technology.
