Recently, according to US media reports, the United States will introduce a series of new regulations to further restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology, as well as semiconductor equipment, software and other tools used in the production of logic and memory chips.
The new rules would impose sweeping controls on semiconductor exports, including denying China access to certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world using U.S. tools.
At the same time, people familiar with the matter said that the announced measures will also include formal restrictions on the production of 14-nanometer or more advanced chip technologies, and will also bring more Chinese entities into the scope of the so-called foreign direct product rules.
Judging from the content, this is undoubtedly the most stringent semiconductor control measure promulgated by the United States so far. Once fully implemented, it may cause a huge blow to my country’s semiconductor industry and many high-end manufacturing industries, and Robots will not be spared.
Semiconductor localization rate is still low
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) output will be 359.4 billion pieces in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 33.3%; It is caused by the poor economy in the general environment and the sharp decrease in consumer electronics shipments.
As a strategic material in the new era, the importance of semiconductors is beyond doubt. For example, the current shortage of high-end chips in the market continues, restricting the development of advanced manufacturing industries such as automobiles. With the development of new energy vehicles, robots, VR/AR, and The promotion of new products such as networking will bring the demand for semiconductors to a new level.
However, the semiconductor industry is a typical high-tech barrier industry, and it is also an area where domestic technology accumulation is relatively weak. The global semiconductor market is mainly dominated by foreign manufacturers, and companies from the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands are absolutely dominant in the market.
From the perspective of the industry chain, the self-sufficiency rate of my country’s semiconductor industry is still relatively low, and my country’s market share in the EDA field is less than 1%; the market share of core IP, wafers, equipment, IDM and other links is only about 9%; packaging and testing Although there are certain advantages in the link, the localization rate is about 21%, but most of them are focused on the low-end field.
Nowadays, my country’s advanced manufacturing industry is booming, and the demand for semiconductors continues to grow. Once the semiconductor industry is completely stuck, it will undoubtedly slow down the pace of Industrial upgrading, and it will also be a huge blow to the automation equipment industry represented by robots. .
The robot industry crisis under the accident
As a high-end intelligent device, robots are closely related to the semiconductor industry. With the continuous advancement of intelligent manufacturing, robots are entering the semiconductor industry directly or indirectly, promoting the accelerated development of the industry. At the same time, as products integrating many technologies, robots themselves have a huge impact on semiconductor chips. Under various factors, it is impossible to ignore the changes in the semiconductor industry.
For example, the “core shortage tide” that started last year and continues to this day has caused turbulence in the Robot Industry, not only causing price increases in the entire industry, but also leading to a continuous extension of the supply cycle. In the first half of the year, the “four major families” of Industrial robots All said that the backlog of orders was serious.
At the same time, the shortage of chips will also have a huge impact on the downstream application industries of robots. For example, the automotive industry, which uses the most industrial robots, just a few days ago, the Japanese automaker Honda announced that due to the impact of the epidemic and the shortage of chips, it will cut production The measures were extended to the end of October, and the scale of production reduction was up to 40%. Toyota Motor also announced that due to the impact of chip shortages, some factories/production lines in Japan will be additionally shut down.
In addition, the semiconductor industry itself is also a big player in the use of robots. Only silicon wafer manufacturing can be used in various process segments such as silicon material processing, silicon crystal growth, silicon rod/silicon square handling, silicon wafer cutting, cell layout, welding, packaging, etc. Robots, robots used in semiconductors in the first half of this year increased by more than 35% year-on-year, and together with lithium batteries, they became the fastest growing industry in downstream Industrial Robot shipments.
In general, the new regulations issued by the United States to restrict the development of China’s semiconductor industry will also have a considerable impact on the robotics industry. For related robotics companies, they need to prepare in advance and plan ahead to be prepared, and even a blessing in disguise. unknown.
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