Third Generation Semiconductors: Local Competition For Layout, Strong And Powerful Cooperation, Accelerating The Cultivation Of Industrial Chain

Under the game of global science and technology, the public has a deeper understanding of semiconductors. The popular field this year is the third generation semiconductor of materials science. As a new opportunity in the semiconductor industry chain, the third generation semiconductor is popular, and domestic provinces and cities have also accelerated the layout to promote industrial development. The Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta are still two strong regions.

Behind the scramble for planning is the emphasis on semiconductor industry and the preparation of new breakthrough points. On the one hand, the third generation semiconductor industry market is accelerating. The third generation semiconductor industry development report (2020) released by CASA points out that the next five years will be a critical period for the development of the third generation semiconductor industry. Global capital will accelerate to enter the field of third-generation semiconductor materials and devices, and the production capacity will be greatly increased, The frequent merger and acquisition of enterprises is in the stage of "rush to run" before the industrial outbreak.

On the other hand, the demand for the third generation semiconductor continues to explode. The application scenarios include power amplifier in 5g base station and 5g communication power supply; Inverter of new energy vehicle and power module of charging pile; Server power supply in data center and industrial Internet; Power supply for UHV and rail transit; Cell phone fast charging and so on.

According to yole and omdia data, by the end of 2020, the global market for silicon carbide (SIC) and gallium nitride (GAN) power semiconductors will grow to $854 million, SiC Power electronics market will be about $703 million, and Gan power electronics market will be about $151 million. By 2025, the size of SiC Power electronics market will exceed 3 billion US dollars, and Gan power electronic devices market will exceed 680 million US dollars.

Therefore, local governments and enterprises are also speeding up the pace of the new track. However, it should be pointed out that at present, 90% of the semiconductor market is still the first generation semiconductor represented by silicon materials, and the market share of the third generation semiconductor is less than 10%. It is complementary to the first generation and second generation, and needs to continue to tackle difficulties and cultivate.

Local competition for layout

First of all, from the policy level, the national policy level began to be implemented last year. On July 27, 2020, the State Council issued the notice on several policies to promote the high-quality development of the integrated circuit industry and software industry in the new period. Since then, such policies have been issued, including the guiding opinions on expanding investment in strategic emerging industries, cultivating and strengthening the growth poles of new growth points, and the announcement on the enterprise income tax policy for promoting the high-quality development of the integrated circuit industry and software industry, Provide policy support for the third generation semiconductor and other related enterprises.

At the same time, domestic regions have also put forward the relevant development direction. According to the data released in the third generation semiconductor industry development report (2020), in 2020, 16 policies related to the third generation semiconductor issued by various localities in China cover 12 provinces (including municipalities directly under the central government). Although no special policy on the third generation semiconductor industry has been promulgated this year, the third generation semiconductor as the key direction of the semiconductor industry has been systematically arranged and valued by various provinces and cities.

Guangdong Province proposes to vigorously develop the third generation semiconductor materials, such as gallium nitride, silicon carbide, zinc oxide, gallium oxide, aluminum nitride and diamond, and support the R & D and manufacturing of gallium nitride, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide and other compound semiconductor devices and modules; Anhui Province, Tianjin city, Fujian Province, Yunnan Province, Qinghai Province and Xi'an city put forward to build gallium nitride RF industry with 5g as the core; Hebei Province, Shandong Province, Hunan Province, Shanxi Province and Fujian Province focus on the third generation semiconductor industry chain layout.

From the perspective of enterprise distribution areas, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta have relatively high enterprise density. Among them, the industrial chain of Jiangsu Province and Guangdong Province is more comprehensive. For example, Jiangsu Province has cultivated many enterprises, such as tiankeheda, innosecco and Zhongke Hanyun; Guangdong Province has BYD semiconductor, Dongguan Tianyu and other enterprises.

In terms of the number of patents, Guangdong Province and Jiangsu Province are also among the top. According to the data provided by smart bud to the 21st century economic reporter, Jiangsu Province has the largest number of applications, reaching 3915; The second is Guangdong with 3900 pieces, which is the same as that of Jiangsu Province; Beijing ranked third, with 2863.

Specifically, from the perspective of cities, there are several third generation semiconductor industry projects in the major project plan of Shenzhen in 2021. This year's work report of Shenzhen municipal government also mentioned accelerating the construction of major innovation platforms including the national third generation semiconductor technology innovation center; At the same time, Dongguan has a number of scientific research centers such as China's third generation semiconductor south base and Songshan Lake materials laboratory; Guangzhou has set up the third generation semiconductor innovation center in Nansha District; At the Nanjing innovation week on June 21, the national third generation semiconductor technology innovation center (Nanjing) was officially unveiled and landed in Jiangning Development Zone.

In the field of the third generation semiconductor, the two sides have also opened a strong alliance mode. In March this year, the Ministry of science and technology has officially approved to support Guangdong Province and Jiangsu Province to build the national third generation semiconductor technology innovation center. The center is jointly supported by Shenzhen municipal government and Jiangsu provincial government. Shenzhen platform and Jiangsu platform are set up. The two platforms will implement co management and Governance, target coordination, and mutual opening, so as to create an effective management and operation mode of multi location co construction. Jiangsu Province has been deeply engaged in semiconductor material field and industrial manufacturing for a long time. Guangdong Province's manufacturing advantages are needless to say, and it has a huge demand market. Now both sides are tackling the semiconductor upstream industry and establishing more core technical barriers.

Seeking a breakthrough

Driven by policy and demand, the third generation semiconductor industry chain in China is booming. According to incomplete statistics of Casa research, by the end of 2020, there are more than 170 domestic enterprises engaged in third-generation semiconductor power electronics and microwave radio frequency, while there are less than 100 enterprises in 2018, covering the preparation of upstream materials (substrate, epitaxy), midstream device design, manufacturing, sealing and testing to downstream applications, basically forming a complete industrial chain structure.

Some semiconductor practitioners told the 21st century economic reporter that the third generation of semiconductors is mainly the innovation of Materials Science in the semiconductor industry. Based on the physical properties of silicon carbide (SIC) and gallium nitride (GAN), it can further expand some emerging markets, and is more suitable for manufacturing high temperature, high frequency, radiation resistant and high-power devices. It has advantages in communication, automobile, high-speed rail, satellite communication and other application scenarios.

At the same time, he also pointed out that from a technical point of view, the third-generation semiconductor can not replace the second-generation semiconductor with advanced process. However, after the application scenarios such as new energy vehicles and 5g new application market have changed, the third-generation semiconductor market has great growth potential. Moreover, the third generation semiconductor has relatively small pressure on materials and less challenges in ecological management, which is an area easy to catch up with and break through in China.

Xinmou research points out that thanks to the active layout of domestic mainstream enterprises, the market capacity has been expanded and the level of industrial chain cooperation has been continuously improved. After a period of high-speed development, China's third-generation semiconductor industry began to enter a period of rapid growth, the number of enterprises continued to increase, the production line was also expanding construction, the supply chain began to take shape gradually, and the independent and controllable ability of the industrial chain was enhanced.

But in terms of technology and enterprise scale, there is a big gap between Chinese enterprises and international large factories. In terms of technology, there are still no leading enterprises with absolute advantages in China. Although some enterprises have completed the initial accumulation of technology, products and market after several years of exploration and precipitation, with the support of capital, they have achieved a breakthrough in the production capacity of a certain scale, but the market share is small. At the same time, the scale of domestic enterprises is also small and does not have obvious enterprise advantages. In contrast, the international third-generation semiconductor giant enterprises have very obvious technical advantages and have established certain industry barriers. The gap between domestic enterprises is large and the market opportunities are squeezed.

According to public information, Japan is in a leading position in the development of equipment and modules in the global third generation semiconductor industry; The United States occupies the largest market share in SiC field and owns the complete Gan industrial chain; Europe has a complete industrial chain of SiC substrate, epitaxy, design and manufacturing, as well as Infineon and Italian French semiconductor manufacturers. The SiC industry presents a tripartite situation of the United States, Japan and South Korea. The United States is the largest, with the top five manufacturers accounting for 90% of the market share, and the three companies of Kerui, Infineon and Roma occupy 70% - 80% of the global market share; In the Gan industry, Sumitomo electrician and Kerui are the world's leading enterprises in the field of Gan RF devices, with market share of more than 30%.

In the face of the industry's weaknesses, insiders also said that local governments should make scientific and reasonable planning according to the market while helping to break through the technological crisis, avoid repeated construction and blind investment, and at the same time, increase personnel training and collaboration between upstream and downstream to better cultivate the third generation semiconductor.