Integrated circuits are a strategic, foundational, and leading industry that supports social development. As one of the birthplaces of China's chip design industry, how can Zhuhai accelerate the creation of a 100 billion-grade integrated circuit industry cluster to contribute more "Zhuhai strength" to building a third pole for the development of the integrated circuit industry in Guangdong?
On May 5, at the 85th High-level Talent Communication Meeting and "Friday Red Tea Party" of Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone (hereinafter referred to as "Cooperation Zone"), Albert Li CEO of LYG, discussed how to use "core" power to promote "core" development around the theme of "Challenges and Future Development Opportunities of Integrated Circuit Design Industry", focusing on the challenges and future development opportunities of integrated circuit design industry. The event was sponsored by the Economic Development Bureau of the Cooperation Zone and hosted by Zhuhai Hengqin circus Development Co., Ltd. It invited representatives of integrated circuit enterprises in the Cooperation Zone and Zhuhai City, representatives of relevant upstream and downstream enterprises, representatives of industry associations, as well as scholars and students from universities in Guangdong and Macao to participate. About 40 people exchanged views on the spot.
During the theme sharing, CEO Albert Li used the metaphor of "Wuxia Jianghu" to describe the integrated circuit industry and analyzed the trends of the industry from market demand, resource investment, technology development, and other aspects. Albert Li pointed out that in terms of the division of labor between upstream and downstream of the integrated circuit (semiconductor) industry, EDA design software and equipment are the world's first in the United States, while raw materials are the world's first in Japan. In terms of the semiconductor and electronic component supply chain, Taiwan ranked first in global wafer foundry and packaging testing in 2020, and second in IC design. As for advanced processes, it is an intense competition between TSMC and Samsung, with only TSMC and Samsung remaining in the 5nm process, leading to changes in the pattern of the semiconductor industry.
Albert Li analyzed that new trends bring new challenges. The market is downturned and demand is declining due to incorrect targeting. There is a duplication of investments and uneven distribution of resources, resulting in a shortage of funds and talents. In terms of technology, key talents, design processes, tools and equipment, and basic materials are also constrained. Policy-wise, it is also affected by international situations.
Albert Li expressed that no matter how severe the industrial development situation is and how huge the challenges are, there are both challenges and opportunities. China has a vast consumer market, and the combination of Metaverse and digital life is the key direction for future development.
Albert Li CEO of LYG, introduced that LYG was established in Hengqin in June 2020 of Foxconn's semiconductor business unit. It provides integrated circuit enterprises with complete chip design services, IP development, wafer manufacturing outsourcing management, and a complete solution from system module design to channel sales. LYG focuses on the development and design of high-performance computing chips, automotive chips, and biomedical chips, and has launched an intelligent vision solution that integrates 3D-ToF (light wave ranging 3D imaging) with image sensors, providing deep empowerment for product customers in smart life, smart city, smart medical care, and Metaverse concepts.
On November 15, 2022, the headquarters research and development center of LYG was established in Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone. The R&D center is equipped with advanced chip development and design platform and experienced industry talent team. It will be based in Hengqin and jointly carry out industry-university-research cooperation with key universities and research institutions in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area , including advanced and special process chip research and development, chip mass production, and customized system development.
"As an enabler of the chip industry, the Hengqin headquarters R&D center will accommodate more R&D personnel after it is put into use and better provide all-round services for integrated circuit enterprises in the cooperation zone," Albert Li said. The center will empower the cooperation zone's chip technology, digital health, and smart city industries and continuously contribute to the integrated circuit industry in the cooperation zone.
To further focus on the fields of smart healthcare and big health, LYG has joined forces with the State Key Laboratory team of the University of Macau to carry out compound innovation cooperation in the fields of biomedical engineering, digital health, smart city applications, etc. Albert Li expressed the hope that through this cooperation, an industrial-academic-research channel will be opened to lead the development of cutting-edge.
What is the future development trend of the integrated circuit industry? In Albert Li's view, in addition to developing efficient computation, low power consumption, and high-end packaging technology for Chiplet, reducing the design cost of super-large chips can also solve the yield problem of high-end process chips, while achieving the advantages of heterogeneous integration.
In addition, the development of a reference design platform for automotive microprocessors focuses on the development of special customized analog IP and high-reliability component libraries. "We should also continue to pay attention to technologies in the fields of high-performance computation, artificial intelligence, optics, and image processing (GPU/NPU, ISP, 3D-ToF + RGB)," Albert Li said. From chip design services, it extends to module development, combined with self-developed algorithms, expands to system application levels, deepens cooperation with customers in consumer, industrial, and Metaverse related application fields, and expands revenue.
