Guangzhou CanSemi Technology Inc., the first 12-inch wafer fabrication enterprise to achieve mass production in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, is doubling down on mature process technologies as its core strategy.
In January this year, the company officially launched construction of its Phase IV project, with a total investment of approximately 25.2 billion RMB (about 3.5 billion USD), signaling its commitment to scaling up production capacity for specialized, high-reliability chips that power automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics applications worldwide.
Wu Hao, Assistant President of Guangzhou CanSemi Technology, shared insights with journalists during an ongoing media tour, and introduced that chips can be categorized into digital chips and analog chips. Digital chips are designed to generate massive amounts of data in an extremely short time, which directly imposes requirements on chip area and lithography equipment. Analog chips, on the other hand, rely more on mature process technologies to ensure stability and reliability.
"Mature does not mean outdated. Mature technology can also be advanced," said Wu, citing Texas Instruments, a U.S.-based company that generates annual revenue of approximately 150 billion RMB, with more than 95 percent of its products built on mature process nodes.
Wu added that the blueprint for the integrated circuit industry pictured in China's 15th Five-Year Plan is to "refine and perfect mature process technologies". "For a country as large as China and for an industry of such enormous scale, we need both advanced digital chips and advanced analog chips," he said.
From digital to analog, and from cutting-edge nodes to mature processes, the visiting journalists got a firsthand look at the pragmatic dual-track strategy driving China's integrated circuit industry, pushing ahead with advanced technologies while reinforcing the foundation of mature ones. It's an approach that reflects both strategic determination and steady innovation.
Reporter| Wang Luyao
Editor| Yin Juewen
Video| Zhang Qida
Proofreader| Liang Jieping