Currently there are eight Chinese 300mm-diameter silicon IC fabs in operation as 2016 comes to a close. Chinese IC fab capacity now accounts for approximately 7% of worldwide 300mm capacity, as reported by VLSIresearch in a recent edition of its Critical Subsystems report (https://www.vlsiresearch.com/public/csubs/). This will expand rapidly, as ten are now under construction and two more have been announced. China’s 300mm fabs are located in ten cities.

“Total Chinese capacity is expected to be around 13 million by end 2018,” said John West of VLSI Research. Worldwide 300mm wafer fabrication capacity will exceed 85 million wafers per year in 2018, putting China in control of 15% of worldwide 300mm capacity in 2018. While new Chinese fabs have yet to prove they can produce leading edge silicon ICs with high yields, it should be only a matter of time before they prove they stand among the world’s great semiconductor production regions.

West recently presented a China market outlook for semiconductors, original equipment manufacturers (OEM), and critical subsystems at the recent Critical Materials Council (CMC) Seminar (http:cmcfabs.org/seminars) held in Shanghai. At the same event, representatives from Intel and TI discussed supply-chain dynamics in China, and Secretary General Ingrid Shi of the Integrated Circuit Materials Industry Technology Innovative Alliance (ICMITIA) presented on “The China Materials Supply Consortium and China’s 5 Year Technology Plan.”

The 2016 CMC Seminar also saw a presentation of China’s first semiconductor-grade 300mm silicon wafer supplier:  the recently unveiled Zing Semiconductor (www.zingsemi.com). Founder and CEO Richard Chang, co-founder of SMIC, has assembled a team and funding to start creating wafers in the Pudong region of Shanghai. He showed a photo of his company’s first 300mm silicon boule at the event.

[DISCLOSURE:  Ed Korczynski is also Marketing Director for TECHCET CA, an advisor firm that administers the Critical Materials Council and CMC events.]

—E.K.