The supporting industry is the cornerstone of the integrated circuit and even the electronics industry
The semiconductor equipment and materials industry is collectively referred to as the supporting industry of integrated circuits. The integrated circuit industry is established on the foundation of this supporting industry, and electronic terminal systems are in turn built on top of the integrated circuit industry. Therefore, as a supporting industry, the semiconductor equipment and materials industry is the foundation of the electronics industry.
In a certain sense, integrated circuit manufacturing technology is mainly controlled by equipment suppliers and material suppliers, and they play a very critical role in the development of integrated circuit manufacturing technology. Without advanced equipment and materials, it is impossible to manufacture advanced integrated circuits.
From the perspective of integrated circuit design, EDA (electronic design automation) tools are also the technical support of the design industry. Without EDA design tools, circuits cannot be simulated, and integrated circuits cannot be designed. Therefore, EDA is the core of integrated circuit design, while semiconductor equipment and materials are the core of integrated circuit production technology and processes.
In addition, some countries in the international community impose export controls on key semiconductor equipment to China, which also clearly demonstrates the importance of the supporting industry in the integrated circuit industry.
The rapid development of the photovoltaic industry has brought new opportunities to China's semiconductor supporting industry
After years of technical research and accumulation, China's semiconductor supporting industry has developed well. For example, ion implanters, etchers, diffusion furnaces, rapid thermal processing equipment, cleaning machines, and coating and developing equipment used in semiconductor front-end processes, as well as dicing saws and molding machines used in back-end processes, and single crystal furnaces, grinding machines, and polishing machines in material preparation equipment, have all developed rapidly. Some domestic equipment has already become increasingly mature, and some equipment has already been used on domestic 200mm and 300mm production lines. However, there is still very little domestic equipment entering 300mm and 90nm processes, let alone 45nm processes, and “l(fā)ack of mass production experience” has become a weak point in the development of China's semiconductor supporting industry.
The rapid development of China's photovoltaic industry in recent years has brought new opportunities for the development of the supporting industry. Since solar-grade equipment and materials have relatively lower precision requirements than electronic-grade equipment and materials used in integrated circuit processes, this has provided China's semiconductor supporting industry with abundant opportunities to produce solar-grade equipment and materials, while also bringing very good growth points and profit opportunities to local equipment and materials companies. With this opportunity, China's semiconductor supporting industry can rapidly expand and form scale. The gradual development of solar energy, LED (light-emitting diode), and the packaging and testing industry in China has provided a technological gradient for China's semiconductor supporting industry, enabling these enterprises to find market development points at different technical levels and accumulate valuable mass production experience. This mass production experience, together with the accumulation of mass production technology, management experience, and capital, is highly beneficial to the development of the integrated circuit industry.
At present, the development of the global semiconductor industry shows two major trends. The first trend is the slowdown in global semiconductor industry growth and declining profit margins; the second trend is the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry and the LED (light-emitting diode) industry. The latest solar market forecast report by LuxResearch (market research institution) shows that global solar sales will grow from US$21.2 billion in 2007 to US$70.9 billion in 2012 at an average annual growth rate of 27%.
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