SK hynix seeks new ways to manufacture chips in China and use EUV lithography machines!
As we all know, due to the ban in the United States, EUV lithography technology cannot enter Chinese mainland, and TSMC, Samsung and SK hynix cannot buy it.
The United States did not want Chinese mainland to monopolize advanced lithography equipment, and eventually adopted"Curves save the country"The way to China's most advanced chips.
As a result, Samsung, SK hynix, and TSMC will not produce EUV lithography machines in China, because without EUV lithography machines, their production lines cannot be operational.
However, as technology advances, some problems are unavoidable. For example, SK hynix currently has nearly 40% of its DRAM production capacity in China.
With the development of DRAM technology, SK Hynix's factory in Chinese mainland is also transitioning to ***10nm process and facing the challenge of using EUV lithography technology in *** process.
But if Chinese mainland can't import EUV lithography machines, what can SK hynix do? There's nothing we can do: if we don't upgrade our technology, the performance will get worse and worse, and we won't be able to compete with our competitors.
TSMC says the cost of building a chip factory in China is the cheapest in the world.
In addition, 40% of SK hynix's production capacity is located in Chinese mainland, which cannot be relocated due to a shortage of EUV lithography machines.
Some time ago, it was reported that SK hynix came up with a"Curves save the country"to subdivide and segment the process.
First of all, after completing the part of the process that does not require ultra-ultraviolet lithography in Wuxi, Chinese mainland, it will be transferred to South Korea, and after passing the ultra-ultraviolet lithography process, it will return to China to complete the final process, thus completing the upgrade to *** 10 nanometer process.
Although there are some shipping costs on the round trip from China to South Korea, considering the small size of DRAM, the shipping costs are not high, as long as it goes according to plan, it is still acceptable.
What do you think? If SK Hynix does the same, will other chip companies follow suit?
If it is produced in this way, the cost will be lower than in other countries, and I think many companies will do this, what do you think?