Chinese chip production rises steeply
Indigenous and inward investments over recent years are getting closer to but are not quite yet at the leading edge of production technology. But nonetheless as a result of that investment mainland China produced 86 billion ICs, in 2012, which accounted for 31.1 percent. By 2015 Chinese production will be equivalent to one-third of domestic consumption, The Information Network predicts. By way of contrast, back in 2007 mainland China produced 24.3 percent of domestic demand, the researcher said.
Many of the fabs built recently were for LED production to accompany the global move away from incandescent light bulbs and investment has been lumpy. According to Robert Castellano, President of The Information Network, China’s IC capacity only increased by 2 percent in 2012.
However, investment is likely to increase again as foreign investors that have set up fabs in China and achieved success are motivated to reinvest. Samsung is in the process of investing $7 billion in Xi’an in Shangxi Province for NAND flash memory production and SK Hynix is investing a similar amount in its wafer fab in Wuxi. Intel spent $2.5 billion on wafer fab in Dalian about two years ago, Castellano said.
"Memory, CPU, ASSPs, and analog ICs are the top four IC device types manufactured in China, making up more than 70 percent of ICs made. Automotive electronics, smart card and computer products are rapidly expanding applications for these ICs," added Castellano. "By 2015, a more than a third of China’s IC needs will be met internally."
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