Just! U.S. shots off Huawei's chip supply chain

In the evening of May 15th, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the US Department of Commerce announced an item on Friday, local time."Plan to protect US national security ", which is "Restrict Huawei’s use of American technology and software to design and manufacture semiconductors overseas Ability" to prevent Huawei from bypassing US export controls.

This move is a huge hit for Huawei, Apple, chip foundry giant TSMC and Qualcomm. Among them, TSMC is the main manufacturer of chips for Huawei’s HiSilicon division.

2019,BIS adds Huawei and its 114 branches to the list of entities, prohibiting U.S. companies from providing parts and technology to Huawei. Entities on this list are subject to certain scrutiny for the purchase of U.S. products .

However, BIS believes that in the past year, Huawei is still using US software and technology to design semiconductors and using US equipment for production, which is essentially contrary to the entity The purpose of the list.

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said: "We must modify the rules used by Huawei and Hisilicon. "

specifically, the new revision The rules will include the following products manufactured abroad into export control regulations:

1,Semiconductor design products produced by Huawei and related companies on the physical list (such as HiSilicon),As long as it is included in the US Business Control List (CCL) Direct products of software and technology are regulated.

2.Products such as chipsets, as long as they are designed by Huawei and related companies on the physical list (such as HiSilicon) and are produced by equipment that is included in the US Commercial Control List (CCL), even if they are Production abroad is regulated.This restriction also emphasizes that whether it is shipped to Huawei or related companies on the entity list by re-export, foreign export, or only domestic transportation A license is required.

In addition, BIS emphasized that in order to cause a direct adverse economic impact on factories that use U.S. semiconductor manufacturing equipment, these factories have been producing Huawei products that have been produced since the effective date of the rules, and are not subject to new licenses. The constraints of the rules.This rule will allow wafers that have been produced to be delivered to Huawei within 120 days from Friday.These chipsets need Put into production before Friday, otherwise they will be prohibited from exporting according to the latest regulations.

It can be said that this rule expands the scope of the entity list. Whether it is a US company or not, as long as it uses US technology and equipment, it needs a license to ship to Huawei. span>

Previously, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued three consecutive 90-day temporary general licenses on May 20, August 19, and November 18, 2019. February this year On the 13th, it was announced that the temporary general license will be extended for 45 days; on March 10, the US government stated that it will extend the Huawei temporary license to May 15.On May 15, the US Department of Commerce announced that it will extend Huawei’s temporary license for another 90 days, Postponed until August 13, 2020.Warning that this will be the final extension decision.

Huawei is a Fabless manufacturer, even if the chip it designs does not use any American software and technology, it is still It needs to be produced by TSMC, SMIC and other chip foundries. If these chip foundries use American semiconductor equipment to produce Huawei chips, Then it will also be restricted by the United States. In other words, if these chip foundries do not want to find trouble, they cannot use American semiconductor equipment to produce chips for Huawei.

According to the statistics of VLSIResearch, global semiconductor equipment system and service sales in 2018 were US$81.1 billion. Among the top five equipment manufacturers,the United States accounts for two, of which United StatesApplied Materials The company takes 17.27% market share rankingFirst, Panlin Semiconductor13.4% market share rankingFourth. The two together accounted for 31.12% market share.

It can be seen that Both TSMC and SMIC have used a lot of equipment from these two American semiconductor equipment manufacturers. In addition, the second lithography giant ASML, which produces light The core part of the engraving machine-the light source is also from the United States.

It can be said that Huawei chips cannot avoid American equipment at the manufacturing end. This time the United States really wants to completely cut off Huawei’s global chip supply chain.

A fab insider said, “Unless SMIC does not use American equipment for HuaweiThe production of chips can avoid the new US regulations. Although there are already some domestic substitutions for etching machines, PVD, CVD, cleaning machines, oxidation/annealing equipment, etc., it is unrealistic to completely avoid American semiconductor equipment. "

This also means SMIC If international companies continue to use US equipment for Huawei OEM chips, they may also be subject to US sanctions.

An industry analyst said that a possible way to avoid it is that Huawei directly chooses chips from other domestic or non-US foreign manufacturers to replace self-developed chips. At least from the United States new From the perspective of the regulation, this seems to be feasible. And before this, in addition to using self-developed chips, Huawei did use a large number of domestic and Japanese and South Korean and other non-US chips to replace US chips. However, from Fundamentally speaking, the chips of other domestic or non-US manufacturers are still inseparable from EDA software and semiconductor equipment in the United States. Whether it is feasible to bypass the new U.S. regulations is still in the US Department of Commerce. 

For Huawei, I am afraid this time is really about the moment of "life and death." The promulgation of the new US regulations, we should clearly realize that "domestic substitution" is not just a sentence The slogan of chicken blood should be the goal that Chinese semiconductor people strive for.