Chinese semiconductor industry

Microneedle Semiconductor 2D CIS MEMS probe card achieves mass production​

Recently, Zhejiang Microneedle Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Microneedle Semiconductor") announced that the 2D CIS MEMS probe card product has entered the mass production stage, and the project R&D and design team has completed the complete process of the product from design, verification to manufacturing delivery .
Microneedle Semiconductor, formerly known as Wuhan Mescade Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. established in 2017, landed in Jiashan County, Jiaxing, Zhejiang in 2021, focusing on providing contact solutions for wafer testing (CP testing) of various semiconductor devices; It has various types of probe card products such as cantilever type, vertical type, and MEMS; it mainly develops wafer test probe cards based on micro-electromechanical microsystem (MEMS) technology. The MEMS vertical probe cards it produces have narrow pitch, High Pin Count and other advantages.
Microneedle Semiconductor has independent research and development capabilities for high-end MEMS probes, and its products are widely used in wafer testing of high-performance logic computing chips and storage chips, commonly found in CPU, GPU, AI, SoC, Flash, DRAM, CIS and other devices ; Combined with structural design and electronic hardware capabilities, it provides micro-nano contact solutions for optoelectronics, medical, automotive, communication and other industries.

To a large degree US software companies have first mover advantage. The thing with software is that it is hard to develop and cheap to copy. So companies which come first have massive leverage. It is as simple as that.

Then there is the whole deal with proprietary file formats which makes transitioning away from existing software more difficult.

gelgoog said:

To a large degree US software companies have first mover advantage. The thing with software is that it is hard to develop and cheap to copy. So companies which come first have massive leverage. It is as simple as that.

Then there is the whole deal with proprietary file formats which makes transitioning away from existing software more difficult.

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In your opinion whether English speaker is an advantage in coding?

I thought that doesn't really matter what language is written, it should be easy enough to translate it to any language (i.e English)

It is. A lot of existing code and frameworks are in English, as are most language's keywords, or tools, or documentation.

antiterror13 said:

Thanks. so you agree that the US is still better than China in software ? in the future, who knows? but I'd bet China will dominate

I have been wondering whether coding in China is written in Chinese or english? or can it be translated vv? any thought ?

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Programming is done in English because the programming keywords are in English.
Code commentary might be in Chinese, maybe variable, function, classes names can be in Chinese but it's not something I have tried.
Maybe there are some chinese toy languages that will allow chinese people to program in Chinese.

I think the first real chinese domestic programming language that might make a impact would be Huawei cangjie which as far as I know hasn't been released yet for the public to try.

For now the US software is in front of Chinese software. That will most likely stay this way for long long time think 15 plus years. Don't forgot the world best talent works and contributes to US based open source software.

Huawei invested in the construction of the world's largest cloud data center by the Qixing Lake in Gui'an. Huawei Gui'an Cloud Data Center, carrying services such as Huawei Cloud, Huawei Process IT, and Consumer Cloud, has a planned total investment of 8 billion yuan, a total land area of 1,521 acres, and can accommodate 1 million servers

King ZhaoXiang said:

Very good to see that american companies are getting wiped out in China !!

Lol, Huawei PC up 34% while all others especially american ones way down !!

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That's in the mainland how about overseas, I bought 2 Huawei Matebook so the increase will be 20%.

King ZhaoXiang said:

Very good to see that american companies are getting wiped out in China !!

Lol, Huawei PC up 34% while all others especially american ones way down !!

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Dell said they are going to stop manufacturing in China. So their sales just get removed.

bettydice said:

You're missing a huge difference. China (along with Russia) has the capability to destroy the U.S. with a surprise attack, Japan didn't have the capability to destroy the U.S. other than Pearl Harbor. Therefore "they can justify their aggression with the whole American public in support" and "they want a repeat of WW2" is irrelevant.

"time is on their side" This is a so frequent phrase on this forum and it always leads to the typical "no need", "do nothing", "just wait" attitude. People here think action is the sign of desperation and inaction is the sign of confidence or maturity. People here are all about feeling good about China's advancement. I can't even imagine how much these people will be stubbornly Avoid-any-risk-at-all-cost and in obsession with status quo and stability as China advances when they already are when China is lagging behind. This kind of extreme play safe mode or risk-aversion mode based on optimism could be used against safe China. The U.S. has the choice not to wait for time for China.

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Russia does not have the kind of conventional first-strike capability that China does; it's not even close. In any case this isn't relevant to semiconductors.

There's been some talk here recently that SMEE wasn't getting the funding it needs from the government. I've been thinking about why that is and I think I've come to a good theory.

In my view, the best industrial policy funds the most upstream and most downstream players in a supply chain. You fund the most downstream so they can stay in business and provide the ultimate source of demand for the technology you want to dominate. If they have to use foreign inputs today, so be it; price of entry. You fund the most upstream because they're the ultimate source of supply for that demand. If they can't produce the technology at requisite scale, no amount of funding downstream will help you because there's nothing for that money to buy.

Here we come to SMEE's dilemma: it's stuck in the middle. The upstream suppliers like RSLaser and Guowang don't have the scale to produce the components SMEE integrates and the downstream customers like SMIC and other fabs aren't satisfied with the performance of its machines. Pouring a lot of money into SMEE doesn't make sense until two conditions are met:
1) Its suppliers are ready.
2) Its customers can live with its product.
Some money is surely needed to keep SMEE alive and up its game, but it may seem paltry in comparison to what other players are getting.

In contrast to SMEE, RSLaser and Guowang don't seem short of money. The former is building a new factory and the latter is moving into its new facility this year. I would be much more concerned if players like them were short of money, but that doesn't seem to be the case.