▲ [SMIC]Liang Mengsong’s resignation letter hides the password: Exposes the weakness and progress of Chinese chips
At the critical moment of the Sino-US technology war, SMIC （00981）
Co-CEO Liang Mengsong resigned due to personnel issues. In his letter of resignation, he disclosed for the first time several new information about the development level of China’s chip (also known as chip) industry, including the completion of the development of the 7-nanometer process, and the fact that the 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes have not yet started due to some reasons. The progress of domestic chips and the weaknesses still to be resolved.
Former chief operating officer of TSMC, former independent director of SMIC, and former CEO of Wuhan Hongxin Jiang Shangyi decided to return to the nest and serve as vice chairman of SMIC; Liang Mengsong decided to resign and leave the nest because he felt disrespectful because he had not been notified beforehand.
Liang Mengsong revealed in his resignation letter that SMIC’s advanced manufacturing process is fast, and 7-nanometer technology has been developed and it will enter risk mass production in April next year; as for the more advanced 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes, only the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machine will be in place. , You can enter the full development stage.
Liang Mengsong: I spent three years to complete the original ten years of research and development
He even more bluntly said that he “only used three years to complete the technological deduction that other manufacturers took ten years to achieve.” SMIC should give a full and fair evaluation of his contributions over the past three years.
SMIC is currently the chip company with the highest level of technology in China. The timetable for SMIC’s process improvement disclosed in the resignation letter by Liang Mengsong can be regarded as China’s blueprint for promoting the progress of domestic chips; the highlights include:
One: When will 7-nanometer chips be produced?
What SMIC said in the past is that 7-nanometer chips that do not require EUV lithography machines are expected to be trial-produced at the end of 2020 this year. And Liang Mengsong made it clear here that the 7-nanometer process has been developed and can be put into risky mass production next year. This means that SMIC will step into the advanced process level, and currently have 7-nanometer process technology, including TSMC, Samsung and Fujitsu.
Second: Timetable for the development of domestic 5nm and 3nm chips
The statement in Liang Mengsong’s letter reflects that the research and development of more advanced processes such as 5 nanometers and 3 nanometers has not yet started. At present, TSMC has mass-produced the highest-end 5-nanometer chip-TSMC’s 5-nanometer process A14 chip, and it has been adopted by Apple. Samsung is catching up with TSMC.
Third: The domestic 5nm and 3nm process encounters key difficulties
Liang Mengsong’s letter revealed that these two updated process chips must wait until the EUV lithography machine can be deployed, which means that they must rely on foreign equipment. Currently, only the Dutch ASML and Japan’s Canon and Nikon are capable of producing EUV lithography machines. Among them, the ASML technology is recognized as the highest.
However, since the United States has included SMIC in the export control list, and ASML has never made it clear that it will supply the most high-end EUV lithography machines to China, it seems that it is still quite difficult for China to obtain EUV lithography machines from the commercial market. It remains to be seen how China will break through.
Among the three major messages, SMIC’s lack of the most advanced equipment is the key
On the other hand, Liang Mengsong said in the letter that during this period, he tried his best to complete five generations of technology development from 28 nanometers to 7 nanometers. This is a task that ordinary companies can take more than ten years to achieve. These results were achieved by more than 2,000 engineers led by him, working hard day and night.
Liang Mengsong is one of SMIC’s soul figures who led the performance soaring
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According to industry analysis, Liang Mengsong was already a successful warrior in his previous tenure at TSMC. He was heavily used by TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou. From him, he “only spent less than one-third of the time of others to achieve the same level of technological development.” From a point of view, the importance of SMIC’s development of its own advanced manufacturing process is self-evident.
The Beijing Business Daily also analyzed that for SMIC, which is being suppressed by the United States, whether it is the departure of the mainstay or internal disputes, it will have a negative impact on its current development. After all, in the chip field, SMIC It has not yet entered a market position that can sit back and relax.
The newspaper quoted communications expert Liu Qicheng as pointing out that from the perspective of overall chip development and production, SMIC is behind TSMC by about two and a half generations. “SMIC’s biggest problem is being suppressed by external forces, unable to get the latest and greatest equipment, and facing American suppression.”
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Editor in charge: Deng Guoqiang
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