The new SiC MOSFET module is part of ON Semiconductor’s electric vehicle charging ecosystem and is designed to be used with driver solutions such as NCD5700x devices. The recently introduced NCD57252 dual-channel isolated IGBT/MOSFET gate driver provides 5 kV electrical isolation and can be configured to work as dual lower bridges, dual upper bridges or half bridges.

NCD57252 is available in a small SOIC-16 wide-body package and accepts logic level inputs (3.3 V, 5 V and 15 V). This high-current device (at Miller platform voltage, source current 4.0 A/sink current 6.0 A) is suitable for high-speed operation with a propagation delay of 60 ns.

ON Semiconductor’s SiC MOSFET complements new modules and gate drivers. Compared with similar silicon devices, it has switching performance and enhanced heat dissipation, resulting in higher energy efficiency and power density, improved electromagnetic interference (EMI), and reduced system Dimensions and weight.

(Photo: Zhang Jingkai from Wenwang News Agency)

Production drops slightly A lack of material slows down industry

As of: June 8th, 2021 12:32 p.m.

It sounds paradoxical: the order books are full, but production in German industry fell in April. The main reason is the supply bottlenecks for intermediate products such as semiconductors or lumber. In April, industrial production in the German economy fell by one percent compared to March, according to the Federal Ministry of Economics. That is significantly worse than experts had forecast, after a plus of 2.2 percent had been recorded in the previous month. The reason for the decline is the lack of intermediate products such as, which has been widely discussed for a long time Semiconductors or Lumber , which the companies from industry, construction and troubles the energy suppliers.

“A slight disappointment”

The sectors are affected differently by this development. Industrial emissions fell by 0.7 percent. The construction industry recorded a significant minus of 4.3 percent. Energy generation, on the other hand, increased by six percent compared to the previous month. Within the industry, the weighty area of ​​motor vehicles / motor vehicle parts recorded a significant decline of 5.6 percent in a two-month comparison, according to the press release. The comparably weighty mechanical engineering sector, on the other hand, was only slightly below the previous level at minus 0.3 percent. “In view of the high order backlog, that is a slight disappointment,” commented LBBW economist Jens-Oliver Niklasch on the current economic data. This is also how his colleague Alexander Krüger from Bankhaus Lampe sees it: “It is paradoxical: Despite the magnificent order situation, production is not getting underway. Once again it is clear that the industry is still affected by indirect pandemic pressure. Longer delivery times and material bottlenecks are actually signs a boom that is currently not at all. ”

“Material shortage has a full impact”

Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank, is of the opinion that the shortage of materials is now having an impact: “Such a constellation is unparalleled. The industry’s order books are well filled and production is giving way.” Nils Jannsen, Head of Business for Germany at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), also sees the delivery bottlenecks as a major problem, as the companies have not been able to fully process the high incoming orders for several months. “In April, the proportion of companies in the manufacturing sector that reported production disruptions due to a lack of preliminary work was at a record level of more than 40 percent,” said the expert. In addition to the shortage of manufactured intermediate goods, Jannsen also observes transport bottlenecks in shipping. For Andreas Scheuerle, an expert at Dekabank, another aspect is also effective: “Delivery bottlenecks certainly hampered production in April. But they alone do not explain the lower industrial production. Another part of the picture is that the infection situation in Germany is continuing tightened the easing of March again. ”

Production expectations are falling

How could it go on in the future? Apparently, there is a certain skepticism among companies: The production expectations of the industry deteriorated in May after a 30-year high had only been reached in the previous month. The corresponding ifo indicator fell by five to 27 points, as the Ifo Institute announced in its monthly survey of companies. “The picture of production expectations in the individual sectors is very different,” said Ifo expert Klaus Wohlrabe. “The auto industry and its suppliers are significantly lowering their expectations, but continue to expect production increases.” The clothing manufacturers, on the other hand, report for the first time after nine months that they want to expand their production. “Additional boost” The economist Scheuerle emphasizes that the order cushion increased again in April, because orders would develop more strongly than production: “This record high order backlog will secure the recovery in the second half of the year as soon as the bottlenecks ease again.” According to ifw specialist Jannsen, it is currently difficult to predict how long the production disruptions will continue. They would presumably only fade gradually and initially put a brake on the recovery in industry. “As soon as these impairments have been overcome, companies will work off the backlog of orders quickly and industrial production will receive an additional boost.”

Dell posted record revenue of $24.5 billion in the first quarter. Photo: Dell According to the latest report, the company achieved sales of $24.5 billion, up 12% year-on-year. This figure is higher than the forecast of financial analysts of 23.4 billion USD. Product revenue was $18 billion, up 12%, service revenue was $6.5 billion, up 10%. In that, non-GAAP earnings of $2.13 per share, higher than the prediction of $1.61. On that basis, Dell earned $1.13 per share, operating income of $1.4 billion, up 96%. Gross margin was unchanged from a year ago, at 31%. Dell said cash flow from operations over the past 12 months hit a record $14.4 billion. In revenue from its businesses, Dell recorded a 20% increase in the PC business of $13.3 billion, while orders for Alienware gaming laptops increased by 76%. Group operating income was $1.1 billion, up 84%, consumer revenue grew 42%, commercial customer revenue grew 14%. Infrastructure Solutions had $7.9 billion in revenue, up 5%. Server and network revenue was $4.1 billion, up 9%, while storage revenue was $3.8 billion. The VMware business brought in total revenue of $2.99 ​​billion, up 9% year over year. Dell and VMware will continue their strategic relationship as Dell transferred 81% of shares to Dell Technologies shareholders last month in the fourth quarter of 2021. Jeff Clarke, CEO of Dell, said there has been a significant acceleration in digital transformation globally, and it shows in Dell’s business numbers. Technology has become increasingly central to the global economy and society. Dell sees opportunities ahead and for the future using the data Dell is creating. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is a problem that affects the global supply chain of Dell and other technology companies, causing difficulties for the information technology industry today. Shortages of semiconductors, supply for displays, memory, and graphics chips are also the reasons why orders like PCs are affected this year and into the next.

5G smartphones expected to grow by 130% this year năm The pandemic has changed everything, and the needs of users in the smartphone market have also changed. The strong growth of 5G in countries around the globe also leads to a slowdown in demand for 4G devices, and 5G devices will record strong growth and gain a lot of user interest. The smartphone market has returned to growth from last year and continued to grow in the first half of this year, said Ryan Reith, IDC’s vice president of global mobile device tracking. In addition, the price of 5G devices continues to decrease as 5G Android devices will drop 12% year-on-year in 2021, which is a great pressure for Apple devices as its prices are still higher than other devices. others. IDC also expects growth through 2025, with a 5-year compound growth rate of 3.7%. The smartphone market will not be affected by the lack of semiconductors such as automobiles, computers and consumer technology categories. In addition to 5G Smartphones, IDC also reports on the PC market this year. Desktop, laptop and workstation shipments are expected to increase this year despite ongoing semiconductor shortages. IDC’s new forecast in the Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker says PC shipments are expected to grow 18.1% to 357 million units this year.

Huawei is starting to move into the car business after being hit by a US ban that made it lose access to chip design software for smartphones. The company recently launched the Seres SF5 crossover between Huawei and energy firm Cyrus. This model features smartphone connectivity and automatically transfers music and navigation information between the two sides, and is equipped with voice control technology and an audio system with 11 speakers. Visitors at Auto Shanghai exhibition in Shanghai (China). Photo: Reuters. Sources familiar with the matter said that, in addition to working with Changan to develop joint venture-branded smart cars, Huawei also plans to launch its own branded electric vehicles. and is in talks to buy a controlling stake in the electric vehicle division of a small domestic automaker. Huawei’s partnership with Chongqing Changan comes amid a global shortage of semiconductors and particularly affects carmakers. According to observers, switching to the automotive chip business is a more appropriate new direction, especially when the company is unable to produce chips for smartphones due to the bans from the US. Changan is currently unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, Huawei said it will let automakers make announcements about their cooperation relationships. Battery maker CATL, also part of the partnership, was also unavailable for comment.

See through smoke and fog, map a person’s blood vessels while monitoring heart rate – without skin contact; look through the silicon wafers to check the quality and composition of the electronic board. Those are some of the many functions of infrared camera new, developed by a team of researchers led by electrical engineers at the University of California San Diego. The camera detects a part of the infrared spectrum known as shortwave infrared light (wavelengths between 1000 and 1400 nanometers), which lies just outside the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nanometers). Shortwave infrared imaging, unlike thermal imaging, detects much longer infrared wavelengths emitted by the body. The camera works by shining short-wave infrared light at an object or area of ​​interest, then converting the reflected low-energy infrared light back to the device into shorter, high-energy wavelengths. than the human eye can see. “It makes invisible light visible,” said Tina Ng, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. When technology Infrared imaging has been around for decades, where most systems are expensive, cumbersome, and complex, often requiring a separate camera and monitor. They are also often made with inorganic semiconductors, which are expensive, hard, and contain toxic elements such as arsenic and lead. The infrared camera that Ng’s team has developed overcomes these problems. It combines sensors and display into a slim, compact and simple device. It is made of organic semiconductors, so it is low cost, flexible and safe for use in biomedical applications. It also offers better image resolution than some of its inorganic versions. The camera is made up of multiple layers of semiconductors, each hundreds of nanometers thin, stacked on top of each other. Three of these layers, each made of a different organic polymer, are the key elements of the image: the photodetector layer, the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display layer, and the blocking layer. electrons in the middle. The photodetector layer absorbs shortwave infrared light (low energy photons) and then generates an electric current. This current flows to the OLED display layer, where it is converted into a visible image (high-energy photons). An intermediate layer, called an electron block, keeps the OLED display layer from losing any current. This is what allows the device to produce clearer images. Another special feature is camera effective in providing optical and electronic indicators. “This makes it multifunctional,” says Li. For example, when the researchers shined infrared light on the back of the subject’s hand, the camera provided an image of the subject’s blood vessels while recording the subject’s heart rate. The researchers also used their infrared camera to see through the fog and a silicon wafer. In one test, they placed an “EXIT” patterned photosphere in a small room filled with smog. In another setting, they placed a photorealist patterned “UCSD” behind a silicon wafer. Infrared light penetrates both smog and silicon, making it possible for the imagineer to see the letters in these illustrations. This would be useful for applications such as helping self-driving cars see in bad weather and checking for silicon faults. The researchers are currently working to improve the performance of this type of camera.

The global chip shortage could last until 2023. (Source: Nikkei) Came in by surprise The Covid-19 pandemic was the first to cause the global economy to fall into recession last year, disrupting supply chains and changing consumer shopping patterns. So, to cope with the pandemic, automakers are forced to cut chip orders in 2020, while chip manufacturing companies also reduce production activities. But the rapid recovery and mis-predictions of car buyer demand have caused automakers to rush to place orders in large quantities. Meanwhile, the supply of semiconductor chips is not enough. In addition, the US government’s sanctions on Chinese technology corporations, plus consumers who bought many laptops, game consoles and other electronic products during the pandemic led to Inventory is getting smaller and smaller. Although computer chips are not very complicated or expensive, they are an integral part of making electronic devices and household items. Shortages are getting worse, spreading from the car industry to the consumer electronics market. Estimates by the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association say about 75% of global manufacturing capacity is in East Asia, led by TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung (Korea). U.S. semiconductor companies account for 47 percent of global chip sales, but only 12 percent of global output is produced here. The shortfall is due to Asian companies investing too little in 8-inch chip factories. These companies have struggled to ramp up production as demand for 5G phones and laptops grew faster than expected. Qualcomm Inc, Samsung’s smartphone chip maker, is one of the major chipmakers struggling to keep up with consumer demand. Apple’s main supplier Foxconn also warned about the lack of chips affecting the supply chain for customers. Widespread impact The chip crisis hit the car industry first, especially on the productivity and sales of big companies like General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen. According to market research firm IHS Markit, the shortage of electronic chips affected the production process of 1.3 million cars and trucks worldwide in the first quarter of 2021. The company’s report also shows that the Renesas chip plant fire in Japan in March, as well as disruption to chip factories due to severe winter weather in Texas, will cause shortages. becomes serious. Last month, the British mini-car maker said it had suspended production lines for three days because of chip shortages. Recently, Ford also warned that the number of products is at risk of falling to 1.1 million vehicles this year. At the end of last year, the impact of the chip shortage crisis spread to consumer electronics. Last month, Apple’s financials indicated that the company would suffer losses of between three and four billion dollars in the first two quarters of the year, with the biggest impact on Mac and iPad products. Recently, Chinese technology giant Xiaomi increased the prices of some TV models, citing the fact that the price of key components increased higher than before. Meanwhile, two electronics groups Samsung of Korea and Sony of Japan also simultaneously increased product prices. In addition, the crisis has begun to affect China’s home appliance manufacturing sector. The world’s largest maker of home appliances, Midea Group, said the price of chips used to make home appliances would soar if the global chip shortage persists. The biggest impact from the chip crisis is still consumers. While demand for consumer electronics and automotive items tends to be quite price-sensitive, a reduced supply can increase the price of affected items by 1-3%. This could temporarily boost inflation later this year. Chip pressure has pushed up car prices in the US. New prices averaged $37,200 in the first quarter, up 8.4% year-over-year. Meanwhile, production disruptions due to chip shortages will continue. CEO of chip maker Infineon (Germany) Reinhard Ploss estimated that it will take about two years for chip supply and demand to be balanced. THIUY VUY (according to SCMP/Reuters)

Sony will continue to struggle with PlayStation 5 supply in the coming years. Sony’s financial results report for fiscal year 2020 shows that Sony has sold 7.8 million PlayStation 5 units by the end of March 31, and Sony’s target is 14.8 million units in fiscal year 2021. If this goal is achieved, Sony hopes to catch up with PlayStation 4 sales with 115.9 million units to date. Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said demand will drop this year, and even if Sony secures more devices and makes more PlayStation 5s next year, supply won’t be able to keep pace with demand of customer. In addition, since its release in November 2020, PlayStation 5 has also been difficult to find in stock due to shortages of components such as semiconductors and Sony has not yet released an official estimate of the expected time. supply will return to normal. However, Sony still believes that demand for consoles is not only driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, when people are forced to stay at home and want devices for entertainment that consumers still need. high demand for Sony products. As for the limited PlayStation 5 console, the PlayStation 4 remains the best consumer alternative. In addition to Sony, according to Bloomberg, rival Nintendo Co. also warned last week that component shortages could affect production. The company has set a sales target of 25.5 million consoles for the year ending March 2022. However, Nintendo’s management is said to be trying to produce and market between 28 million and 29 million consoles this year.

Today, chips are in everything from PlayStation 5s and toothbrushes to washing machines and alarm clocks, and chip shortages have led some to call the current crisis “chipageddon” — chip shortages computers globally. Glenn O’Donnell, vice president of research at consulting firm Forrester, believes chip shortages could last until 2023. “As demand will remain high and supply will remain constrained, we anticipate this shortfall to last through 2022 and into 2023,” he wrote on a blog. O’Donnell expects PC demand to “slightly drop” next year, but “not much.” “Combine that with the desire to digitize everything with the continued growth in cloud computing and crypto mining, and we see nothing but a short burst of chip demand,” O. ‘ said Donnell. Meanwhile, Patrick Armstrong, CEO of Plurimi Investment Managers, said last week that the chip shortage will last 18 months. “It’s not just cars. That’s the phone. It is the internet of things (IoT). There are more chip-based gadgets now than ever before. All of them are internet enabled.” The car industry has been affected by the global chip shortage more than any other sector. The world’s largest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) said earlier this month that it thinks its production will be able to catch up with auto demand by June. , Armstrong believed it was an ambitious plan. “Ford, BMW, Volkswagen all emphasized that there were capacity bottlenecks and they couldn’t get the chips needed to make the new cars,” O’Donell said. In a separate development, global research and consulting firm Gartner said last week that chip shortages will persist through 2021 and that the shortage affects all chip types and chip prices. growing. Gartner analyst Alan Priestley said the situation could improve for some sectors over the next six months, but there could be a “side effect” in 2022. In March, Intel announced plans to spend $20 billion on two new chip factories in Arizona. Intel also said it could build a factory in Europe if funding is arranged. “Those plans will take two or three years before we start to see that. But that’s really looking forward to meeting future demand,” said analyst Priestley. Wenzhe Zhao, director of global economics and strategy at Credit Suisse said in a note last week that recent chip shortages have encouraged inventory hoarding along the chip production chain, widening the gap. between expanding demand and stagnant supply. Mr. Zhao said that new semiconductor production capacity will not take place until 2022 or later, and the problem of solving the current shortage besides adjusting the order book, production schedule and price is very difficult.

Product of the 4th generation V-NAND memory chip of Samsung Electronics. Photo: Yonhap/VNA Specifically, Samsung – the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer and Hyundai – South Korea’s leading automobile manufacturing group have signed a cooperation agreement with the Institute of Automotive Technology and the Institute of Electronic Technology under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Korea Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) to strengthen cooperation in the automotive chip manufacturing industry. Details of the contract between Samsung and Hyundai were not disclosed. However, an unnamed government official said: “We do not rule out the possibility that Hyundai will receive automotive chips from Samsung.” South Korea boasts a world leader in memory chip production, but is relatively weak in the logic chip business. According to data from the Korea International Trade Association, the country accounts for only 2.3% of the automotive chip manufacturing market. Leading in this field are the US (31.4%), Japan (22.4%), and Germany (17.7%) respectively. Major Korean chipmakers such as Samsung and SK hynix Inc. focuses on manufacturing high-performance memory semiconductors because automotive chips are seen as less profitable, while requiring complex testing processes and strict quality requirements. Korean automakers are being hit hard by a global shortage of automotive chips, especially electronic control chips in cars, leading to production halts. output many times. The move comes as the Korean government aims to establish an automotive chip supply chain to solve the global shortage of semiconductors. The government plans to roll out tax incentives and subsidies worth a total of 510 trillion won ($453 billion) to semiconductor companies between now and 2030. The Korean government hopes that the agreement between Samsung and Hyundai can strengthen the country’s autonomy in the field of automotive chip production and enhance Korea’s competitiveness in the production of world cars. next generation in the future. While chipmakers will be at the forefront of research and development of core semiconductor technology, auto manufacturers will focus on providing platforms for testing new automotive chips and components. related department.

Industry “commanders” in the US have voiced the warning of serious consequences caused by the global shortage of chips. Photo: AFP Semiconductor chip supplies have been in short supply for months and the situation shows no sign of abating, prompting insiders to visualize it into the chipageddon crisis. It is a combination of ‘microchip’ (semiconductor chip) and ‘armageddon’ (which excessively means war of destruction). Mr. Glenn O’Donnell, deputy research director at consulting firm Forrester believes that the thirst for semiconductor chips could last until 2023. “As demand will continue to increase while supply will remain limited, We expect this shortfall to continue into 2022 and into 2023, “commented Glenn O’Donnell on his blog. According to the expert’s argument, demand for computers – products using the most advanced chips – will slightly decrease next year but not by much, but data centers, where the machines are located. will be the chip-eaters next year. Mr. Glenn O’Donnell explained: “The deviceization of things is an irresistible trend, coupled with the continued growth of cloud computing and cryptocurrency mining, we see nothing but a boom. short-term explosion on chip demand “. Meanwhile, Mr. Patrick Armstrong, Information Technology Director of Plurimi Investment Managers Fund commented on CNBC that the global shortage of chips will last 18 months. “Not just the auto industry. It’s the phone. It’s also the IoE [một khái niệm kết nối rộng hơn Internet vạn vật (IoT), xoay quanh 4 yếu tố chính: Con người (People), sự vật (Things), dữ liệu (Data) và quá trình (Process)]. There are a lot more products that use chips now than before. “” All of them are connected to the internet, “said Patrick Armstrong. The auto industry has been most adversely affected by the global thirst for chips. Earlier this month, the world’s largest chip maker TSMC (Taiwan) said it could meet the chip demand of the auto industry next June. However, Mr. Armstrong said that this statement by TSMC is too ambitious. “If you listen to Ford, BMW, and Volkswagen, they all claim that there are bottlenecks in capacity and they can’t get the chips needed to build new cars,” Armstrong argued. Meanwhile, Gartner Consulting and Information Technology Research is more optimistic that chip shortages will last throughout 2021, affecting all chip lines and pushing chip prices higher. Gartner analyst Alan Priestley said that chip shortages could improve in some sectors / areas over the next six months, but could continue into 2022. “It (chip shortage – Editor)) will not last any longer, “said Alan Priestley. “The semiconductor industry is increasing capacity, but it still takes time,” he said. In fact, in March Intel announced plans to spend $ 20 billion on two new chip factories in the state of Arizona. The group also said it could build a factory in Europe if it could raise funds for public investment. “Those things will take two or three years before we start realizing their effect,” said Alan Priestley, who said that the investment plans could actually meet demand for semiconductors in future. Mr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of chip maker Infineon (Germany) last week said that the semiconductor industry is in the region without privileges; at the same time warned to rebalance the demand and supply of semiconductors “obviously will take time”. “I think two years is too long, but we are sure that the current situation will extend into 2022,” said Ploss. “I think the additional capacity will be realized… Hopefully the situation will be more balanced in the next calendar year,” added the German CEO. Wenzhe Zhao, director of the global strategy and economics division at Credit Suisse, said that the shortage in chip supply led to speculation on chip-making hoarding and widening the gap. amid increasing chip demand and supply remains stagnant. According to Wenzhe Zhao, the new semiconductor manufacturing capacity will not be effective until 2022 or later. Wenzhe Zhao noted that there is little action he can do to address the shortage of semiconductors, aside from adjusting orders, production schedules and prices.

1.8g of SiC requires about 177 kW / h of energy. Researchers have proposed a new way of turning plants into a valuable industrial material called silicon carbide (SiC). In a new study, scientists at the Salk Institute (USA) have converted tobacco and corn husks into SiC. These findings are critical to help researchers evaluate and quantify carbon uptake strategies. “The study gives a very careful calculation of how this valuable substance is made and how many carbon atoms are removed from the atmosphere,” said study co-author Professor Joseph Noel of the Salk Institute. SiC is also known as carborundum. This is a super hard material used in ceramics, sandpaper, semiconductors, and LEDs. Salk’s team used a previously reported method to convert plant materials into SiC in three stages. First, the researchers planted tobacco plants from seeds, which were selected for the short growing season. They then pulverized the harvested plants and treated it with a number of chemicals, including silicon-containing compounds. In the final stage, the starch plants are turned into rocks to give SiC. This process involves heating the material to 1,600 degrees Celsius. “We have demonstrated that carbon can be isolated from agricultural residues such as corn husks,” said study author Suzanne Thomas. Thereby, a green material is created ”. Through elemental analysis of plant meal, the authors measured a 50,000-fold increase in carbon sequestration from seed to laboratory plants. This is a demonstration of the effectiveness of plants in reducing atmospheric carbon. When heated to high temperatures to freeze, the plant material loses some of its carbon as a variety of decomposition products. The researchers calculated that the generation of 1.8 g of SiC requires about 177 kW / h of energy. Most of the energy (70%) is used at the freezing step. The current SiC manufacturing process has comparable energy costs, the authors note. Therefore, the team thinks that new technologies produced by renewable energy companies could reduce energy costs. In the future, the team expressed hope to explore this process in a variety of plants, especially species such as horsetail or bamboo. These are species that contain large amounts of natural silicon.

The shortage of semiconductor chips globally has a heavy impact on many industries. Artwork: Reuters Some of the world’s top semiconductor buyers, including Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc (Google’s parent company), are working with leading chip makers in the world, such as Intel Corp. , to set up a new lobbying group to promote the US Government to support semiconductor chip manufacturing. The Semiconductors in America Alliance, which includes Amazon Web Services’s Amazon Web Services division, said on May 11 that it urged US lawmakers to provide support for the CHIPS Act for the country. The United States (CHIPS for America Act), which President Joe Biden asked Congress to provide finances worth $ 50 billion. In a letter to congressional bicameral Democrats and Republicans, the coalition said funding for the CHIPS Act would help the United States build the necessary capacity for a more flexible supply chain. to ensure important technologies will be available in the US when needed. Global semiconductor chip shortages hit the auto industry heavily, with Ford Motor Co saying it may have to halve its car production in the second quarter. Automotive industry groups are pressing the Biden administration to secure chip supplies for car factories. However, government officials have been reluctant to use national security laws to divert the supply of computer chips to automakers because they fear it could harm other industries. The new alliance involves companies from other industries using semiconductors, including AT&T, Cisco Systems, General Electric, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Verizon Communications Inc. However, they warn that the government only supports one industry like the automobile industry. Tech giants, like Apple, are also hit hard by a shortage of semiconductors, but are less severe than automakers. Last month, the iPhone maker said it would lose about $ 3-4 billion in revenue in the second quarter (ending June 2021) due to a shortage of chips. According to Refinitiv estimates, Apple’s second quarter revenue is forecast to reach $ 72.9 billion./.

Huawei’s pivot to software comes as its smartphone business has seen sales decline because of the aforementioned restrictions. On the other hand, behind Huawei’s push into software is also an attempt to isolate potential geopolitics and any other regulation from the US. Huawei hopes to expand the software sector in its future revenue structure Accordingly, Arcfox, a brand under the automaker BAIC Group, has launched a car with Huawei’s car technology. It is known that this new model owns a cockpit equipped with the HarmonyOS operating system launched by Huawei in 2019. Huawei has also advertised its HarmonyOS can work on various devices from smartphones to TV and car. As such, Huawei will not manufacture cars, but instead will focus on technology to power the cooperating car manufacturers. At the same time, on April 25, Huawei launched a number of new cloud computing products to challenge rival Alibaba in this segment. In a press release the same day, Huawei said it expects its focus on cloud computing to increase its share of its software and services business in the group’s total revenue. In pursuing sectors such as vehicles and cloud computing, Huawei will face challenges from some of China’s biggest tech companies. Such as Alibaba, Tencent are the leading companies in the cloud computing market in China. Baidu or Xiaomi are also “expanding” in the vehicle market. Therefore, Huawei’s decision to redirect takes a lot of time and resources. According to Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint Research, “Huawei is doubling down on its transition to a software, cloud and services company. development just like Google “.

The semiconductor shortage is due to the growing demand for technology products as consumers globally continue to work from home. This makes the need to own a computer essential for home work applications as well as the need for the latest game consoles (such as Sony’s PlayStation 5) and hardware. The semiconductor shortage not only disrupted production but even affected vehicle design and production, Peugeot announced it would stop installing the digital instrument cluster on the 308 instead. use analog clock. The decommissioning will affect both Land Rover and Jaguar models as the XE, XF and F-Type are all produced at the Castle Bromwich plant. Along with that, both the Land Rover Discovery Sport and the Range Rover Evoque currently produced at the Halewood factory will be discontinued. Land Rover’s Solihull plant will continue to produce normally, while its other factories in Slovakia, Brazil and China will continue unaffected. “Like the other manufacturers, we are currently experiencing some supply chain disruption of Covid-19. This includes the globally available supply, which is currently in effect,” said JLR spokesperson. our production schedule and our ability to meet global demand for some models We are working closely with the affected suppliers to solve problems and minimize effects on customer orders if possible “./.

The US-China technology war The US and China are currently engaged in a full-blown technology war. The war began under the Trump administration and is continuing under President Joe Biden. In fact, Mr. Biden viewed US competition with China as an important front since he took office. The tech war began as a trade dispute, but quickly turned into a war for leadership in core technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and semiconductors. With a long history of development, the US remains the global technology leader for decades, but that position is currently being challenged by China. After Washington began blocking Chinese access to core US-controlled technologies such as semiconductors, Beijing doubled down on its efforts to “de-America” ​​in its supply chain. The global pandemic contributed to tensions between the two countries, prompting President Biden to issue an executive order to review the US supply chain for core products such as chips, batteries, rare earths and supplies. medical. Proposed bills to significantly increase US investment and R&D spending in core technology have also received bipartisan support in Washington. The US-China technology war – a conflict that does not seem to have ended so far. What caused the tech war? On May 19, 2015, the Chinese government announced the “Made in China 2025” plan to promote the country’s manufacturing industry within the next 10 years. Analysts point to the “Made in China 2025” strategy, Beijing’s 10-year plan to transform the country from a “manufacturing giant to a world manufacturing power” that sparked the technological war. . After taking power in the White House, Donald Trump focused his efforts to prevent China from becoming the global technology leader. A series of events from sanctions imposed on Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE for disguising its role in selling US technology to Iran, accusing China of stealing American intellectual property and Concerns about Huawei’s dominance in 5G have turned into an extensive tech war that has won bipartisan support in the US. What is the difference between trade war and technology war? The US-China trade war began on July 6, 2018, when US President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on $ 34 billion of Chinese imports, citing the need to “rebalance. equals “America’s growing trade deficit with China. Other taxes have been applied in 2018 and 2019. However, the trade war was soon overshadowed by the tech war that the U.S. fears that China is using unfair means, including state power and stealing intellectual property, to gain is targeted to become a global leader in core technologies such as AI, semiconductors and 5G. Did the US really separate factories from China? In the decades after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the US and Chinese economies became intertwined. China is a factory that manufactures low-cost American goods, from computers to stuffed toys. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy and the US-China trade war have sparked calls for the US to reduce its dependence on China-based supply chains. Initially, withdrawing from China was rejected as impractical because of the cheap labor force and the large Chinese market that American companies could not ignore. However, a form of seclusion has received the support of the US administration, even from technology leaders such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt saying that “splitting” will benefit the United States. . The concept of “split” existed in the internet space when Facebook and Google were not allowed to operate social networks and search engines in China, while the US also banned or restricted the presence of media. Chinese social media like TikTok and WeChat in the US. The global pandemic highlights the world’s reliance on China for important medical supplies such as masks and also spurs calls to bring supply chains back to the United States. In February, President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for a review of product supply chains critical to chips, batteries, pharmaceutical ingredients and rare earth minerals. What is China doing to improve the influence of US actions? China attaches special importance to its own technology development, especially the chip. Although China initially imposed tariffs in retaliation, the top leaders’ call to action was technology self-sufficiency. In 2018, President Xi Jinping said “China must persist in the path of self-reliance in the context of increasing unilateralism and protectionism in the current world”. After Huawei was blocked from buying US chips and China’s largest semiconductor maker SMIC was restricted from buying U.S. technology for alleged association with the Chinese military, Beijing has intensified its focus on achieves semiconductor self-sufficiency. The Chinese government has supported the domestic chip industry with favorable policies, from tax breaks to state subsidies to promote the rapid development of the semiconductor industry. Technology is also a major focus for China in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) announced in March, calling for the promotion of new digital industries, including AI, data. large, blockchain and cloud computing, along with expanding the use of 5G to many other industries such as smart transportation and logistics. Why is the US specifically targeting Huawei with trade sanctions? Washington’s interest in Huawei dates back to the early 2000s on suspicions that the Chinese company has close ties with the Beijing government. Years later, Huawei’s rise as the global leader in 5G technology rang alarm bells in Washington. One of the first public moves against the Chinese company came in January 2018 when US lawmakers pressured US telecom giant AT&T to withdraw from the phone distribution agreement. smart Huawei for US consumers. Seven months after AT&T’s decision, Washington barred government agencies from buying equipment and services from the Chinese company. When Huawei was placed on the US Commerce Department’s Blacklist in 2019, Google suspended some of its business with Huawei that involved transferring hardware or software products, except for protected products. by open source license. This is another “slap” on the Chinese technology corporation. For the Chinese government, Huawei is pride and a testament to the strength and potential of the Chinese people. Within three decades, since being founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, Huawei has made some “miraculous” developments. From a company focusing on manufacturing phone switches, Huawei has become one of the largest private companies in the world, a leader in areas such as telecommunications equipment, smartphones, and electricity. cloud computing. What impact do the sanctions have on Huawei? Initially, the sanctions didn’t seem to affect Huawei much, which reported record sales of 858.8 billion yuan in 2019, up 19.1 percent year-on-year. Huawei also quickly revealed a self-developed operating system called HarmonyOS to replace Google Android. However, after Washington expanded the scope of sanctions in May 2020, requiring foreign chipmakers to use US technology, including TSMC and Taiwan’s MediaTek, to apply for a license to sell chips. for Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant appears to be in a slump again. The biggest impact is on Huawei’s smartphone operations. Due to a lack of high-end semiconductors, Huawei had to sell its Honor smartphone business to a newly formed conglomerate comprising more than 30 dealers and carriers. In the first quarter of 2021, Huawei was “kicked” out of the top 5 largest smartphone companies in the world in terms of sales. As stockpiles of smartphone components are declining and Honor’s business is over, Huawei will face even more pressure in the smartphone business. Many Chinese tech companies have caught up with the US Popular Chinese applications run the risk of being banned in the US. Image: The Economic Times. In October 2019, the US Commerce Department added 28 other Chinese companies to the trade blacklist about Beijing’s alleged human rights violations of the Uighurs. In May 2020, more than 20 Chinese government organizations and companies, including software technology giant Qihoo 360, were sanctioned for “assisting with procurement of items for military purposes in China. China”. The most recent US sanctions involve seven Chinese supercomputing entities blacklisted for national security concerns. Francis Lau, professor of computer science at the University of Hong Kong, said China’s supercomputers mainly use Intel, AMD and IBM CPUs. “The sanctions will certainly have a significant effect on China’s ability to stay at the top of supercomputers, since most of the components in its supercomputers today are US-made. Although it will be.” There are alternatives from other countries like Japan and South Korea, but the American component is still the best, ”said Professor Lau. Will the tech war be any different under the Biden administration? US President Joe Biden holds a semiconductor chip when he speaks before signing the executive order to address the global shortage of semiconductor chips in the White House. Photo: REUTERS In short, no. After Donald Trump’s tenure, President Biden continued to put pressure on Chinese technology and especially on Huawei’s case. In March, the US Commerce Department further restricted the products US companies can sell to Huawei, with clearer bans on the export of components such as semiconductors, antennas, and batteries. can be used in Huawei 5G equipment. A day later, the US Federal Communications Commission designated five Chinese technology companies, including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hikvision and Dahua, as “unacceptable risks” to security. America. As for Huawei, analysts believe that President Biden can offer a more effective policy than his predecessor in curbing Huawei’s global 5G ambitions by taking a more friendly approach to international partners in Europe and elsewhere. That could be more effective in isolating the Chinese company. In addition to sanctions on individual Chinese tech companies, President Biden has also pledged to more than double his investment in science and technology, focusing on areas like AI. and quantum computing. President Biden’s ambitious $ 2 trillion plan to improve US infrastructure includes an estimated $ 50 billion investment to help the country less reliant on chips manufactured abroad.

China pushes up chip production for technology autonomy In addition to “Made in China 2025”, China also has a “dual circulation” strategy, with the ambition to introduce new technology standards different from the West. Fast but unstable With this new strategy, China moves towards a self-sufficiency policy, reducing dependence on foreign countries. Specifically, with semiconductor technology, China will mobilize its own human resources to develop a new-generation chip research, design and production network to disrupt the isolation created by the US. The trade war with Western countries is seen as a reminder to the Chinese leadership that the country cannot depend on imports but must develop domestic core technology and pursue leaps and bounds. technology, especially in essential industries like semiconductors. China has set out many goals to realize its ambition such as: fostering a contingent of domestic technology talent, building high-tech companies with global influence to expand the model of “sovereignty network “in order to strictly control the Internet. In addition, there is securing secure information infrastructure, enhancing state censorship and surveillance in the digital space, and building a managed and enhanced digital economy. network security capabilities. Beijing has also stepped up building a “digital China” towards fulfilling its future technological ambitions of the world in the fields of quantum computing, 5G, semiconductors, and blockchain technology. (blockchain), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and robotics. With the aim of accelerating the technology autonomy plan, China Development Bank prepared more than $ 60 billion in loans for more than 1,000 key businesses in its strategic innovation plan, and raised $ 30 billion for a new government-backed microchip fund. From March this year, news that Eastern Communications, a subsidiary of China Putian Information Industry Group (Potevio), will restructure and merge with China Electronic Technology Corporation (CETC) to make surplus. attention comment. The reason is that Potevio and CETC are both state-owned enterprises, run by the China State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). Potevio is an enterprise specializing in manufacturing telecommunications equipment, such as components for 5G infrastructure, server systems, memory, automatic teller machines. Potevio’s strengths relate to wireless communication and security. Meanwhile, CETC is the main supplier for the Beihou satellite system and is known to be a software and service provider for the Chinese military. The company also participates in the development of a Chinese version of the Windows operating system and develops many other areas such as the manufacture of semiconductors and antennas for 5G networks, and equipment for technology. self-propelled vehicle. The merger is intended to enhance the CETC’s resilience from US sanctions against the group’s companies, including Hikvision, the world’s top security camera maker. However, although China is actively promoting domestic technology development, it is difficult for observers to reach its goal of technological autonomy. In the past, Beijing had planned to spend 2.5% of its GDP on research and development, but actual spending has yet to reach that target. One area that has struggled with China is microchips, where most electronic products depend on it. In the past, Chinese companies were confused by the extremely complicated chip manufacturing process, so they decided instead of researching, they imported most of the necessary semiconductors. Over the years, although the government has supported the Chinese manufacturers to develop some chip manufacturing capabilities, the results have not been as expected. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, Chinese chipmakers have received government subsidies of up to $ 50 billion over the past 20 years. Domestic companies also benefit from tax exemptions, free land, concessional loans, and priority purchases. Despite progress in chip design, China’s problem lies in its ability to produce high-end chips. China is currently only able to make mid-range chips because making semiconductor chips requires high precision. Many doubts The gradual technological autonomy has led China to a bolder plan: to export technology abroad. The dominant Chinese products in the world market are drones, laser equipment, equipment used in space technology, 3D printing, telecommunications equipment … China has taken advantage of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to implement this plan. Through the BRI, in Africa, China provides loans, exports technology and builds infrastructure to countries such as Guinea and Kenya, while exploiting the natural resources of the leading country. private. China has organized a number of technology fairs, digital economy with many countries participating in BRI such as: Digital technology fair with 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe belonging to Group 17 + 1; Digital technology forum with 5 countries in Central Asia including: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan. These fairs aim to launch 1,334 digital and information technology projects along the “Digital Silk Road” corridor with 3 continents of Asia – Europe – Africa, of which, the focus is on regions. : Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and East Africa. At the same time, to deploy new types of technology such as Internet connecting things, big data, digital infrastructure and project “Smart Africa” ​​with 26 countries in Africa. Major Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and ZTE expand their “Digital Silk Road” plan through Chinese-built fiber-optic networks, as well as equip local authorities with monitoring tools. Internet monitoring and censorship. There are no official technology export statistics for 2020, but the most recent report said that in 2019, China’s technology exports reached a trade value of 32.1 billion USD, equivalent to import value. This is a miraculous development, because 6 years ago, the proportion of export – import was 1 – 2. However, the technology “made in China” still caused many doubts. Observers say that Chinese companies are exporting “next generation surveillance systems” in several regions of the world, including Latin America. Venezuela alone, with the help of Chinese telecommunications conglomerate ZTE, has built up a database that can track citizens’ behavior through citizenship. The use of big data for security purposes is acceptable to the general public in South America, but after being widely used, those systems can be misused for espionage purposes. Moreover, according to observers, the Chinese technology industry, although developing rapidly, is not stable. This country has not mastered the technology of new generation chip production that the US, Japan, and South Korea are very proficient in. China’s domestic chip production will only meet 15.9% of the country’s demand in 2020, said IC Insights, a semiconductor research company in the US, compared with 15.1%. in 2014.

The severe shortage of chips globally has forced many car, smartphone, laptop and home appliance manufacturers to cut production (Image: Source Today)

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip maker, has just said the status chip supply shortage globally This could be extended until 2022. TSMC also said it is planning to invest an additional $ 100 billion over the next three years to increase the output of its existing 5mm chip and the 3mm is expected to be final test production this year to meet the increasing demand for chips around the world.

This TSMC plan is currently attracting the special attention of partners and customers such as Apple and Qualcomm. Mr. CC Wei, CEO of TSMC, said “We are hiring thousands of people and expanding our capabilities in multiple locations”.

Demand for chips, especially the next generation of chips, is booming as the trend of working from home becomes more common in the world under the effects of the pandemic, driving demand for electronics as smartphones and laptops soar.

The global shortage of chips has forced some automakers, smartphone makers, computer assemblers, and home appliance makers to cut production. . Auto maker General Motors and Ford announced plans last week to shut down plants in North America due to a shortage of chip supplies.

Meanwhile, TSMC’s profit in Q1 / 2021 reached $ 4.93 billion, up 19.4% year-on-year, much higher than observers’ forecast. TSMC forecasts 2/2021 revenue will range from $ 12.9 billion to $ 13.2 billion, compared with $ 10.38 billion in the same period last year. It also raised its 2021 revenue growth forecast to 20% from its previous forecast.

TSMC CEO CC Wei said that customers are increasingly looking to hoard more chips to ensure production stability due to geopolitical uncertainties and pandemics. Therefore, TSMC’s production activity is continuously in state “stress” during the past period. It is now increasing spending on research, development and manufacturing of new generation chips to about $ 30 billion this year, compared with $ 25 billion expected earlier this year.

Analysts now expect TSMC’s production expansion to soon meet demand for next-generation chips as 5G technology and artificial intelligence applications become more widely adopted.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger also shared concerns, saying that the shortage of chips in the world could last until after 2022 when demand is still outstripping production capacity. Semiconductor companies can implement some short-term solutions to ease the problem, but a full solution to the shortage problem will take longer, said Pat Gelsinger.

“I think it will take a few years until the problem is completely resolved. It takes a few years to build supply capacity.”, according to Mr. Pat Gelsinger.

US President Joe Biden holds an electronic chip during a discussion session on solving chip shortages of US businesses on February 24, 2021 (Image: Reuters)

Intel has been in discussions with auto parts manufacturers and suppliers about steps it can take to increase production of car chips in the coming months. The company also aims to start increasing the supply of additional chips within the next six to nine months. Last month, Intel announced that it would spend $ 20 billion to build two factories in the state of Arizona (USA).

Professor Willy Shih from Harvard Business School, which specializes in technology and manufacturing, says chip shortages are becoming more turbulent as manufacturers are ordering chips from multiple factories at the same time because of them. Not sure which order will be executed. Chaotic orders are leaving chipmakers uncertain where they will need to allocate supplies to meet actual demand in the short term.

In the United States, to secure more domestic chip supplies in the long term, President Joe Biden’s administration is proposing a $ 50 billion financing package to subsidize semiconductor manufacturing facilities. This proposal is currently receiving wide support from both Republicans and Democrats.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Mr. Tom Caulfield, CEO of semiconductor company GlobalFoundries said that they are calling for the US Government to support expansion of chip production in the country. About 12% of the world’s semiconductors are currently made in the United States, and Mr. Caulfield says he is campaigning to raise that number above 30%.

The US semiconductor industry argues that the federal government needs to provide more support to compete with other manufacturers in Asia. American semiconductor manufacturers often accuse Asian countries of financial support for regional manufacturers to expand production capacity.