Explainer | What semiconductors are and why China needs to make them itself
- While TSMC is moving to 5nm production, SMIC’s most advanced process node is 14nm – which contains half as many transistors as the 7nm node
- HiSilicon was important to Huawei because it enabled the company to design custom processors that were not off the shelf products available to its competitors
Semiconductors, also known as microchips, are silicon-based devices made up of hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, of transistors, which act as tiny “switches” to control the movement of electrons.
Today’s most advanced chips are produced using what is called the 7-nanometre manufacturing process, where one nanometre equals about one billionth of a metre. Only two companies in the world - Samsung and TSMC - are able to produce 7nm chips in volume. Smaller nanometre process nodes are important because they boost circuit performance and reduce power consumption.
Although China imports US$300 billion worth of semiconductors annually – more than half of which are re-exported in finished electronics products – it is far behind the tech curve when it comes to making them.
The imposition of US sanctions that cut off Huawei’s access to advanced chips has accelerated Beijing’s desire to become self-sufficient in semiconductors, but the goal will not be easy and could take decades, according to experts.
Here is all you need to know about semiconductors and their critical role in the balance of power in the US-China tech war.
What is a semiconductor and how are they made?
A semiconductor is a substance that conducts electricity under some conditions but not others, making it a good medium to control electrical current. Most of the world’s semiconductors, also known as integrated circuits (ICs) or microchips, are made from pure elements such as silicon. The raw material for silicon is sand, which is purified and melted into solid cylindrical ingots, which are then cut into thin disks or wafers ready for processing into finished chips.
