8-inch wafer foundry capacity will remain tight in the next six months

According to statistics, there are 26 production lines under construction or planned in mainland China, of which 7 are 8-inch lines. This not only releases the global production capacity share from 16% in 2019 to 20% in 2020, but also the equipment market demand of more than 50 billion yuan per year. The question is, facing the torrent of 8-inch line expansion or new construction, can the domestic equipment industry seize this round of "dividends" to make a comeback?

Jiwei comment: The 8-inch wafer foundry capacity will remain tight in the next six months.

[Chip Map] Domestic chip companies have entered the market one after another. How is the progress of RISC-V ecosystem construction now?

When it comes to RISC-V, it can be summarized in three key words: universal, open, and free. As an open source instruction set architecture based on the Reduced Instruction Set Architecture (RISC) principle, the global microprocessor instruction set architecture is currently monopolized by Arm and Intel x86. However, since the birth of the RISC-V instruction set at the University of Berkeley in 2010, there have been voices in the industry saying that the RISC-V instruction set is expected to break this pattern and bring an opportunity for the development of "independent and controllable" processor IP in China.

Jiwei comment: RISC-V is an opportunity for Chinese industry, and it will be easier to make a breakthrough if it starts from the industry market.

STMicroelectronics' revenue from Huawei will be zero in the fourth quarter

According to a recent report by Bloomberg, STMicroelectronics increased its fourth-quarter revenue to $2.99 ​​billion, higher than expected, thanks to the launch of Apple's new phone. Demand for new consumer electronics is helping semiconductors resume growth, but STMicroelectronics' revenue from Huawei will be zero in the fourth quarter.

Jiwei comment: Most of Huawei's suppliers have already supplied sufficient goods in the first three quarters, so it is normal for revenue to return to zero in the fourth quarter.

Weekly News: The second phase of the second phase of the Samsung Xi'an project will be completed and put into production in the middle of next year, and Onrui Microelectronics received investment from Huawei Hubble

This week, the second phase of the second phase of the Samsung high-end storage chip project in Xi'an will be completed and put into production in the middle of next year. The 11.5 billion yuan Laibao Hi-Tech 8.5-generation new semiconductor display device project settled in Wuhan Optics Valley. Huawei Hubble and Malaysia's JF Technology established a joint venture. Domestic RF chip company Onrui Microelectronics received investment from Huawei Hubble...

Jiwei comment: Hubble probably has a lot of investments that have not been announced.

Flexible OLED smartphones are expected to reach 315 million units next year, with Apple accounting for more than half

According to THE ELEC, data from market research firm Stone Partners shows that Apple will account for half of the smartphone brands equipped with flexible OLED screens launched in 2021. Stone Partners said that 315 million smartphones will use flexible OLED panels next year. This figure is 52% higher than the expected shipments of 207 million units this year.

Jiwei Comment: Many times, the reason why Apple does not introduce cutting-edge technology is not because it does not have the technology, but because of insufficient supply chain capacity or immature engineering of new technology.

【Core Vision】Making a big thing small: the unexpected and reasonable aspects of the UMC case

On October 29, the U.S. District Court for Northern California ruled to confirm the settlement agreement between UMC and the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. government's lawsuit against UMC and Jinhua, which had been deadlocked for a while, finally took a big step towards closing the case due to this unexpected but reasonable favorable development.

Jiwei Comment: After UMC reached a settlement with the United States, the next step will depend on whether Jinhua can extricate itself. Compared with UMC, it is much more difficult for Jinhua to reach a settlement with the United States, but there may be a chance.