Recently, the report on the 2nm chip manufacturing process has made many people feel anxious and worried, believing that we are far from the international level in chip manufacturing technology. However, in reality, the gap between us and the top level is not as big as people think, only 2 generations apart, only 5 years behind. This article will delve into the actual situation of China's chip manufacturing technology from multiple perspectives, and show the progress of our catch-up and future development potential.
At present, the world's top chip manufacturing technology has reached 3nm, of which TSMC and Samsung are the leading manufacturers. The two companies began mass production of 3nm chips last year, and launched the first 3nm mobile phone chip this year, Apple's A17Pro is a typical example. In contrast, China's chip manufacturing level has not yet reached 3nm some time ago, but there is a Huawei Kirin 9000S chip that has caught our attention. Through the scanning and analysis of electron microscopy by scientific and technological institutions, its transistor density has reached TSMC's N7 process, and its performance is excellent and not inferior to the 5nm Snapdragon 888 chip. Based on this, it is speculated that the chip may be between 5nm and 7nm. According to the time clues, we can see that it has only taken 5 years from the mass production of 7nm chips by TSMC to the most advanced 3nm chips at present. Therefore, strictly speaking, we are not too far from the world's top chip manufacturing process, only 2 generations, just 5 years.
Although 3nm chip technology has been introduced, in fact, 7nm chips are enough to meet more than 95% of the world's chip manufacturing needs. At present, only a few types of flagship chips such as mobile phone chips and AI chips use 5nm and 3nm processes, and this type of chip only accounts for less than 5% of the total chip market. On the contrary, the remaining 95% of the chips, still using the 7nm process is enough. From the perspective of market demand, our chip manufacturing technology has caught up, so there is no need to worry too much. The development of our domestic chips has huge potential and prospects, and we don't have to be too nervous, but we must have confidence in ourselves.
The catch-up progress of China's chip manufacturing technology is worthy of attention and affirmation. Although our chip manufacturing technology lags behind giants such as TSMC and Samsung, it has a certain influence in the domestic market. Huawei's Kirin series chips have always been the representative of domestic mobile phone chips, and their quality and performance have been recognized in the market. Moreover, through independent research and development and partnerships, China's chip manufacturing technology is also constantly breaking through and developing. For example, Huawei has demonstrated its self-developed Kunpeng 920 and Kunpeng 990 mass production chips, becoming one of the world's leading server chip manufacturers. At the same time, some emerging technology companies are also developing chips with independent intellectual property rights, such as UNISOC mobile phone chip UNISOC and Junzheng Group's Internet of Things chip.
In the future, China's chip manufacturing technology is expected to continue to move to a higher level. At present, China has formulated a number of support policies to encourage the innovation and upgrading of the chip industry. In addition to increasing independent research and development, the introduction of high-end chip production lines has also become a common strategy. For example, Samsung announced this year that it would build a 6nm chip factory in Zhejiang, while TSMC also plans to invest in an advanced chip manufacturing base in Guangdong. The trend of domestic and foreign cooperation and competition will promote the rapid development of China's chip manufacturing technology.
To sum up, although our chip manufacturing technology is far from the top of the line in some aspects, in fact, we are only 2 generations behind the state-of-the-art 3nm process, only 5 years behind. At this stage, the 7nm process has occupied the vast majority of the market share, and only a few high-end chips with 5nm and 3nm are applied. Therefore, our chip manufacturing technology has caught up and has great potential and prospects. With the promotion of first-class support policies and the deepening of domestic and foreign cooperation, China's chip manufacturing technology is expected to continue to improve and move towards a higher level. We should have confidence in ourselves, meet the development challenges of chip manufacturing technology with an open mind, achieve technological breakthroughs in continuous innovation and cooperation, and make greater contributions to the country's scientific and technological progress and independent and controllable chip industry.