Chapter 1227 Selected OEM Company

In response to Wang Xiaojing's call, Chen Changliu just said "I'm busy" and hung up. He was too lazy to communicate with them now.

Qualcomm was of course unhappy with Chen Changliu's attitude, but there was nothing they could do. They could only sneer and watch, waiting for the mobile phone business of Zhonghuajia Technology Co., Ltd. to start to decline.

Chen Changliu was really busy at this time, because he stayed in the wafer division or the electronic consumer terminal division all day, personally following up on the test of Bluebird 6 equipped with Kirin 1 wafer.

Kirin 1 wafer has indeed been successfully taped out, but the yield rate is indeed not high enough, and some design aspects need to be improved.

So the wafer division will test and improve it, and there will be a second and third tape-out, in short, try to finalize it in May.

Bluebird 6 is also scheduled to be launched in May. At that time, there may be insufficient wafer production capacity, but there is no way. In the face of performance and open supply, Chen Changliu chose to improve performance.

At worst, he can sell as many as he can at that time. Anyway, it's not like he hasn't done hunger marketing before.

This is because the price of 45nm mobile phone wafer tape-out is relatively low, just over 10 million is enough.

If it is the tape-out price of 7nm in the future, the flower-growing company can't afford it.

The tape-out price of a 7nm mobile phone wafer in the future can reach 30 million US dollars, which is more than 200 million RMB.

As for the remaining one month, can the flower-growing company Kirin 1 mobile phone wafer be tape-out for the second and third time?

Of course there is no problem.

There is no fixed standard for the number of tape-outs to mobile phone wafer foundries within a month, which depends on many factors.

1. Maturity and complexity of wafer design:

Highly mature and simple wafer design: If the wafer design is very mature, has been fully verified and simulated in the early stage, and the design is relatively simple, then the possibility of problems in the tape-out process is small.

In this case, it may be possible to try multiple tape-outs within a month, such as 2-3 times or even more, so as to verify as soon as possible whether the final performance and functions are fully in line with expectations.

New designs and complex wafers: For new designs or complex high-end wafers, due to more uncertainties and technical challenges, the first tape-out may expose more problems, which require a lot of time to analyze and solve.

In this way, only one tape-out may be performed in a month, or even due to serious problems, a complete tape-out process may not be completed in a month.

2. Production schedule and capacity of the foundry:

Loose production schedule and sufficient capacity: If the foundry has a relatively small business volume and a relatively loose production schedule, and can provide customers with sufficient production time and resources, then customers may be allowed to tape out multiple times in a month.

But even so, it will be limited by factors such as the preparation time required for tape-out and the scheduling of production equipment, so it may generally be around 2-3 times at most.

Tight production schedule and limited capacity: If the foundry has a busy business and tight production schedule, then customers need to make an appointment for tape-out time in advance, and may be limited by capacity. They may only get one tape-out opportunity in a month, or may even have to wait longer.

Therefore, there is no problem for Kirin 1 to tape out twice in the remaining month. After all, the company just wants to improve the performance of the wafer as much as possible, and the tape-out expenses are affordable.

This time, the company chose the company founded by Mr. Zhang to manufacture the foundry.

Yes, that's right. In the era when the mainstream process of mobile phone wafers is 45 nanometers, the company is capable of manufacturing. It is not far behind other foundry companies at all.

Only when entering the 14 nanometer era did the company fall behind.

But this backwardness is not only the problem of the company itself, but also many objective problems.

First, the technical difficulty has increased significantly.

From 45 nanometers to 28 nanometers and then to 14 nanometers, the structure and manufacturing process of transistors have undergone fundamental changes.

For example, the 14 nanometer process requires the use of FinFET (fin field effect transistor) technology, which has extremely high requirements for the design and manufacturing precision of the gate, channel and other structures of the transistor.

Compared with the planar transistor structure of the 45 nanometer process, the technical difficulty increases exponentially.

In a photolithography is one of the most critical links in wafer manufacturing.

Second, the problem of photolithography machines.

The 14-nanometer process requires higher-precision photolithography machines and photolithography technology.

Advanced photolithography machines are monopolized by foreign companies, and the center is subject to many restrictions in obtaining high-end photolithography machines.

For example, ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography machine is under pressure from the United States, and there is uncertainty about the supply of the center, which seriously affects the center's R\u0026D and production in 14 nanometers and more advanced processes.

Third, the complexity of process integration.

As the process is reduced, the mutual influence and synergy between the various process links in the wafer manufacturing process become more complex.

For example, the accuracy and stability requirements of processes such as etching, deposition, and doping have been greatly improved, and fine process optimization and integration are required to ensure the performance and yield of the wafer.

Central International is not capable enough in process integration, and needs to continue to accumulate experience and technology.

Fourth, the R\u0026D cost is high.

Developing 14 nanometer and more advanced process technologies requires a lot of R\u0026D investment.

From wafer design, process development to equipment procurement and debugging, each link requires huge financial support. International advanced wafer foundry manufacturers, such as TSMC and Samsung, invest more than one or two billion US dollars in advanced process R\u0026D every year.

Central International has a certain gap in financial strength compared with these international giants, and the lack of capital investment limits its development speed in advanced process technology.

Fifth, the equipment procurement cost is high.

The 14 nanometer process requires advanced production equipment, such as high-end lithography machines, etching machines, deposition equipment, etc.

The price of these equipment is extremely expensive, and the replacement speed is fast.

In order to purchase and update these equipment, Central International needs to bear huge financial pressure.

At the same time, the maintenance and upgrading of equipment also requires a lot of funds and technical support.

Sixth, the total number of high-end professional talents is insufficient.

The integrated circuit industry is a technology and talent-intensive industry. The domestic industry started late and experienced high-end talents are scarce.

When developing 14-nanometer process technology, Central International faced the problem of insufficient total high-end professional and technical talents, which limited the company's ability to improve in technology research and development, process optimization and production management.

Seventh, external technology blockade

The United States and other countries have imposed technology blockades and restrictions on the domestic semiconductor industry, prohibiting the export of key wafer manufacturing technology and equipment to domestic companies.

This has seriously hindered Central International in obtaining advanced technology and equipment, and delayed its development in 14-nanometer and higher-level process technology.

It is for these reasons that Central International was able to foundry mainstream mobile phone wafers in 10 years, but it has fallen far behind 10 years later.

PS: The typos will be updated first and then corrected.