Red Chip
Overview
Red Chip (Red Chip) is a term collectively referring to chips produced through China's own semiconductor design and manufacturing capabilities, which began to attract attention as US export controls on semiconductors to China intensified. It is a core achievement of the Chinese government's semiconductor self-sufficiency policy, 'Made in China 2025', with representative related companies including Huawei, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), and YMTC (Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd.). Red Chip goes beyond a mere product to symbolize the US-China technology hegemony competition and China's determination to secure technological sovereignty.
Main Content
Background and Definition
The term Red Chip began to be used in the late 2010s and became more prominent after 2020 when US sanctions on Huawei and export controls on SMIC fully took effect. The Chinese government set a goal of raising the semiconductor self-sufficiency rate to 70% by 2025, and accordingly, 'Red Chip' has established itself as a strategic product supplied to the Chinese domestic market and some allied nations. Red Chips are broadly divided into three types: ▲ China's own design (e.g., Huawei's Kirin series) ▲ China's own manufacturing (e.g., SMIC's N+1, N+2 processes) ▲ Production utilizing China's own equipment and materials.
Major Companies and Products
- Huawei (Hisilicon): The Kirin 9000S chip, installed in the Mate 60 series in 2023, caused a major stir by achieving 7nm-level performance despite US sanctions. This chip is estimated to have been manufactured using SMIC's N+2 process.
- SMIC: China's largest foundry, which succeeded in mass production of 7nm (nanometer)-class processes as of 2024 and is developing 5nm processes. However, due to the lack of EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography equipment, it has limitations in yield and performance compared to TSMC.
- YMTC: In the field of 3D NAND flash memory, it independently developed 232-layer stacking technology, securing competitiveness in the global market. Although the introduction of some equipment was restricted due to US export controls, it continues production by replacing them with Chinese-made equipment.
- Loongson (Loongson): Developed CPUs transitioning from the MIPS architecture to its own LoongArch instruction set, supplying them to government and defense sectors.
Technical Characteristics and Limitations
Red Chips have a gap with global leaders such as TSMC and Samsung Electronics in advanced processes. For example, SMIC's 7nm process falls short of TSMC's 5nm in transistor density and power efficiency. Additionally, China's high dependence on the US for semiconductor design automation (EDA) tools and advanced equipment can lead to production disruptions when regulations are tightened. However, China is actively seeking breakthroughs by investing in alternative technologies such as adopting the RISC-V architecture, chiplet technology, and silicon photonics.
Market and Impact
Red Chips are primarily supplied to the Chinese domestic market and 'non-Western' countries such as Russia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. As of 2024, China's semiconductor self-sufficiency rate is about 25%, falling short of the target, but the improvement in Red Chip quality is accelerating the reorganization of the global semiconductor supply chain. In particular, whenever additional US regulations take effect, a 'regulatory paradox' phenomenon occurs where Chinese companies accelerate their own chip development.
Latest Trends
Key trends related to Red Chips from late 2024 to early 2025 are as follows. First, Huawei aims for 5nm-level performance in the Kirin 9100 chip scheduled for release in Q1 2025, likely utilizing SMIC's N+3 process. Second, the Biden administration announced additional export controls in January 2025, further restricting China's access to AI semiconductors and HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), prompting China to accelerate its own HBM development. Third, starting in 2025, the Chinese government approved additional investment plans worth 1 trillion yuan (approximately 190 trillion KRW) as part of the 'Semiconductor Rise' policy, which is expected to provide significant momentum for expanding the Red Chip ecosystem. Fourth, RISC-V-based Red Chips are rapidly spreading in the IoT and edge computing fields, with Alibaba's 'Xuantie' series being a representative example. Fifth, China's semiconductor equipment localization rate exceeded 30% as of 2024, and Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE)'s 28nm lithography equipment is set for mass production in 2025.
Related Topics
- [[Semiconductor Supply Chain]]
- [[US-China Technology Hegemony Competition]]
- [[SMIC]]
- [[Huawei]]
- [[Made in China 2025]]
- [[RISC-V]]
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