American sanctions have hit hard since Donald Trump Huawei in the smartphone business but also on the chip side, especially in the transition of Huawei’s HiSilicon towards a qualitative upgrade.
The supply chain for China is fundamental, but there is no country in the world capable of doing it on its own. Not yet, at least. American sanctions have laid bare the limits of Beijing, which is now going to counterattack.
A trillion dollars has been injected into new ventures, but a semiconductor industry takes time and skill to set up. The government had made it clear that it would not finance unrealistic initiatives.
A whopping $ 62 million was channeled just to study third-generation chips. Several subsidiaries of China Electronics Technology Group Corp. and China Railway Construction Corp. – organizations already sanctioned by the United States – are, however, among the companies supported by the state.
Another government-linked giant, China Electronics Corp., is among the leaders in third-generation chip development, thanks to its investments in smaller companies including CEC Semiconductor Co. Using its own in-house technology, CEC Semiconductor manufactures products based on of silicon carbide, power devices that can operate at 200 degrees Celsius (360 degrees Fahrenheit) for a number of key industries, from telecommunications to electric cars, reducing China’s dependence on overseas suppliers such as Infineon Technologies AG, Rohm Co. and Cree Inc.