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A number of major mobile phone manufacturers have invested in the semiconductor industry chain
On August 10, Shenzhen Hubble Technology Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "Shenzhen Hubble") became a shareholder of Xuzhou Bokang Information Chemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xuzhou Bokang"). This is the first time Huawei has deployed photoresist. Field. Coincidentally, recently, many mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo have made arrangements for related industries. It is reported that these mobile phone manufacturers currently choose to use ISP chips as "a breakthrough in research and development". From a technical perspective, starting with small chips and gradually accumulating chip design capabilities is a more practical choice. However, whether domestic mobile phone manufacturers can achieve a breakthrough in the "core" problem remains to be proven.
Huawei's first layout in the photoresist field
The Tianyan Check App shows that on August 10, Xuzhou Bokang's industrial and commercial information changed, Shenzhen Hubble was added as a shareholder, with a shareholding ratio of 10%, and the registered capital was changed from about 76.01 million yuan to about 84.46 million yuan, an increase of about 11. %.
The official website information shows that Xuzhou Bokang is located in Pizhou Economic Development Zone, Jiangsu Province. It is an enterprise integrating R&D, production and operation of mid-to-high-end photoresists, photoresist monomers and photoresist resins.
Shenzhen Hubble, as an investment company of Huawei, has invested in Qiangyi Semiconductor, Yunyinggu, Tianyu Semiconductor and other companies before that. Up to now, Huawei's investment company has invested in dozens of semiconductor industry chain companies including semiconductor equipment and third-generation semiconductor materials/chips. This investment in Xuzhou Bokang is Huawei's first layout in the photoresist field.
Practitioners: rushing to buy shares is to differentiate core technologies
In addition to Huawei, which has a first-mover advantage in the semiconductor field, many mobile phone manufacturers have recently made arrangements for semiconductor industry chain companies.
Tianyancha App shows that a few days ago, Xiaomi Yangtze River Industry Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "Xiaomi Yangtze River Industry Fund") and Shenzhen Hubble simultaneously invested in Wuhan Juxin Microelectronics Co., Ltd., which is a company that focuses on An innovative high-tech company that designs high-performance analog and mixed-signal chips; in addition, OPPO Guangdong Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. has invested in Maxtro Microelectronics. Its business scope includes integrated circuit chip design and service, and sales of special equipment for semiconductor devices.
In terms of industry news, since Xiaomi launched the ISP (Image Signal Processing) chip product Surging C1 at the beginning of the year, many sources indicate that OPPO and vivo chips will also be available soon.
It is reported that OPPO’s self-developed ISP chip will first be carried on the Find X4 series of mobile phones that will be launched early next year, and vivo’s self-developed ISP chip will also be launched on the X70 series of mobile phones that will be launched in the second half of this year. Regarding these product news and the layout of the related industry chain, the Guangzhou Daily reporter asked the relevant enterprise parties for verification, and the other party said that there is no relevant official news. Among them, the vivo party said, "Stay tuned."
Regarding the layout of the semiconductor "race track" by mobile phone manufacturers, Liu Wei, a practitioner in the semiconductor industry, told reporters that the development goals of major manufacturers are actually hoping to achieve differentiation by owning core technologies. Electronic manufacturers can invest in related industry chain companies. On the one hand, they can improve the application capabilities of their own mobile phones through cooperative development. On the other hand, since the semiconductor market is very hot now, corporate equity participation can be regarded as an investment.
Choose ISP as the starting point for self-developed chips
At present, in addition to Samsung, Apple, and Huawei, three mobile phone manufacturers are capable of launching self-developed SoCs (system-on-chips), other mobile phone manufacturers mostly choose to first use ISP chips as "a breakthrough in research and development."
Why choose ISP chips? It is understood that, on the one hand, these chips do not involve “sensitive” technologies such as 5G, and do not require very advanced manufacturing processes, making implementation less difficult and lower investment risk. On the other hand, it is also out of considerations of commercial value. Because many mobile phone brands currently choose to use imaging functions as their brand's breakthrough point in competition. As one of the core components of the mobile phone's imaging function, ISP is directly related to the pixels supported by the sensor, and will affect the focus and imaging speed of the mobile phone.
Previously, Sheng Linghai, vice president of research at Gartner, said that considering that the chip department of mobile phone manufacturers is currently in the process of team building and technical solutions are being run-in, starting from IoT and other small chips, gradually accumulating chip design capabilities will be a more practical choice. .
In the long run, major mobile phone manufacturers will not be satisfied with the introduction of ISP chips. A few days ago, CCTV’s "The Cornerstone of a Powerful Country" introduced that the leader of the research and development of Xiaomi's ISP chip Surging C1 was Zuo Kunlong, the ISP architect of Xiaomi's mobile phone department. According to him, the ISP chip is just the starting point, and Xiaomi still has to return to the research and development of the SoC chip, the heart device of the mobile phone.
According to the major recruitment platforms, including the chip company Zheku Technology established by OPPO, and the chip job information released by Xiaomi and vivo, there are many positions in ISP chip design, baseband platform research and development, SoC architecture and so on.
At present, the industry is generally cautiously optimistic about the "core" made by mobile phone manufacturers. Not only are we happy to see self-developed chips improve the competitiveness of domestic brands, but also worry about whether mobile phone manufacturers can overcome the problem of making "cores" with firm belief and solid strength.
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