The United States once again took action to restrict Samsung, TSMC and others from expanding production in China, forcing them to make a choice
On September 22, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a final rule to implement the CHIPS and Science Act** protections, which have two main points.
1. Prohibit chip funding recipients from expanding their semiconductor material production capacity in other relevant countries within ten years.
2. Restricting the beneficiary of the wafer** from carrying out certain joint research or technology licensing activities with relevant foreign entities.
The so-called beneficiaries are the companies that receive subsidies for wafer production in the United States. From these two points, the purpose of the United States is obvious, which is to restrict the United States from accepting unauthorized wafer subsidiaries to expand production in Chinese mainland and force them"Pick the fat and pick the skinny"。
This expansion, specifically for advanced wafers below 28nm, will be limited to 5%, while 28nm or older and more mature technologies will be limited to 10%.
Regarding this policy, Commerce Secretary Ginaraimondo made it clear:"These barriers will protect our *** and help the United States remain cutting-edge for decades to come. "
It can be seen that the United States is forcing TSMC, Samsung, SK hynix, Intel and other companies to slowly move out of China and choose to expand production in the United States, so that the United States can continue to maintain its advantage.
At present, TSMC has a factory in Nanjing, and Samsung, SK hynix, etc. also have factories in China, especially Samsung, SK hynix, etc., and the production capacity of DRAM and NAND flash memory factories in China is still very large.
Samsung, TSMC, SK hynix, etc. have applied for wafer production subsidies in the United States, and since they have applied, they have to accept the restrictions of the United States, so they can't expand production and upgrade next, what should they do?
There are several possibilities, the first is that these TSMC and others do not want subsidies from the United States, so they are not subject to the restrictions of the United States;The second is that the existing plant will not be located and will not expand production. The third is that these factories resell or switch to other products.
Of these three outcomes, the first one is favorable to us, but TSMC and others will most likely not choose this one, while the other two are not good for China's chip industry.
Of course, it is also difficult for TSMC, Samsung, and SK hynix, because they are also facing the pressure of choosing sides between the two major powers of China and the United States, and it is a question of who to choose.
But to be honest, at this stage, I think TSMC, Samsung, and SK hynix prefer to choose to stand on the side of the United States, after all, as EDA, semiconductor equipment, materials, IP, etc., the United States is in a dominant position, once it offends the United States, the United States breaks off the ** of these things, Samsung, TSMC, and SK hynix have to pick it up, then.