China has stepped up the development of its homegrown silicon wafer sector as part of the country's ambitions to achieve self-sufficiency in chips. The National Silicon Industry Group (NSIG), a semiconductor materials firm supported by China's government, recently started trading its shares on the science and technology innovation board (STAR) of China's Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE).
NSIG will be striving for capital support through its STAR market trading debut. Founded in December 2015, NSIG is already backed by the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (known as China's Big Fund) and Shanghai Guosheng Group.
NSIG has made investments or holds controlling stakes in silicon wafer manufacturers including 300mm wafer startup Shanghai Zing Semiconductor, and Okmetic, a Chinese-owned company in Finland that supplies 200mm and below silicon wafers. NSIG is also a shareholder of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate specialists Simgui Technology, and France-based Soitec.
NSIG is eyeing a bigger share in the global silicon wafer market, which already topped US$10 billion in 2018. Major silicon wafer companies include Japan's Shin-Etsu and Sumco, German company Siltronic, Taiwan-based GlobalWafers, and SK Siltron of South Korea.
According to a report by China Fortune Land Development (CFLD), annual demand for 150mm, 200mm and 300mm silicon wafers in China came to 20 million, 12 million and 7.5 million units, respectively, in 2018. Estimates made by CFLD show that annual demand for 12-inch silicon wafers will jump to 60 million units, or five million units monthly, by 2023.
Less than 1% of the overall 300mm silicon wafers demanded by China's domestic market were homegrown, compared to over 50% in the 150mm wafer segment, industry sources quoted statistics for June 2019 as saying. As a result, China is eager to raise its self-sufficiency in supply of 300mm wafers that remain the mainstream, the sources believe.
NSIG's subsidiary Zing, Zhonghuan Semiconductor and others are also making related deployments.
Zing has started shipping 300mm silicon wafers to foundries such as SMIC, with monthly capacity estimated at 50,000-60,000 wafers. Zing's 300mm wafers are also being validated for the manufacture of 3D NAND wafers.
Zhonghuan at its Tianjin factory site has kicked off production of 300mm silicon wafers and is delivering samples to potential customers for validation. Zhonghuan is also constructing a new plant in Wuxi, which will be ready for volume production later in 2020.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
