China IC design company 2004-2005 survey of large changes

China local IC company's image is reversed. Although a survey in four years, every year we see in the "change" two words, but this time we feel is a leap of change, in 2004 to become the first year of local IC products to the end of the transfer, the change from the following five aspects: over the years and can not be expected to be the mobile phone chip market to start ice breaking trip; the first to enter the field of IC design of a group of veterans from the smart card and the low-end consumer electronics market towards reconfigurable processor, RFID RF chip and MPU and other high-end products; multimedia IC companies such as bamboo shoots after a spring rain like stand out from competitors, crowds and in some emerging IC; the market such as fingerprint sensor and MEMS China local market, it is the birth of the company can compete with international stars; in addition, the local IC company through IC video control into the popular LCD TV, PC TV and STB Boxes, such as the prospect of a broad family of multimedia entertainment market. Behind these leaping change is the overall design ability. The survey showed that the 0.18um process design company has reached 47.8%, while 4.9% companies have started using 0.13um technology to design, such as ZTE and Kaiming Institute of microelectronics etc.. On the other hand, these changes in design company is also reflected in the trend of product diversification, survey shows that currently has the above 10 products company has reached 28.7%, this indicates that they have been from a single product in the initial period, so as to provide a package of users as much as possible to provide users with a series of products.

Analysis of design capacity and product diversification development trend, we think it is the upstream and downstream industry chain gradually mature relationship, as Fudan Microelectronics Technical Director Li Yu said: "2004 is the rapid development of IC industry chain Chinese year."

We see in the local China SMIC generation industry as a bellwether in 2004 has entered a mature stage, most of the IC design company reflects the local foundry process regardless of level or type IP library can meet their needs, which provides a convenient environment for the OEM IC design company China local, and reduce the cost, shorten the chain. Moreover, these local foundries for China's IC companies to take a strong support strategy. For example, SMIC on the local IC design company is very supportive, there is no limit on the amount of their strategy is to vigorously support the local IC company, to provide us with a lot of IP." Zhang Longhua, general manager of Shenzhen state microelectronics microelectronics said. As a result, more and more local IC companies have chosen to. The survey shows that the choice of IC in the local foundry has reached more than 6, "last year, the interaction between the wafer foundry and IC design company has made significant progress." Vice President Zhang Hui pointed out that vimicro.

However, some respondents pointed out that, with the design process has entered the 0.18um, in addition to the requirements of the foundry service in addition to the chip packaging, testing requirements are also significantly improved. In 2004, the domestic high-end process line has become increasingly mature and stable, the corresponding IP service quality has been significantly improved, in contrast, the domestic high-end chip packaging and testing services need to be further improved." Li Yu said.

It is also pointed out that the testing and packaging plants are concentrated in Beijing, while the wafer foundries are concentrated in the East China region, which brings a lot of inconvenience to them. For example, Beijing Zhongdian Huada Electronic Design Co. Ltd. managing director Liu Weiping said: "we like the chip, in Beijing after the completion of the design, through wafer processing plant in Shanghai, then to Beijing Huadataisaite factory test, then shipped to Shanghai and then to Beijing thinning, dicing, package, which will have a problem in security, transportation and time."

In addition, the protection of intellectual property rights IP Chinese problem is still very prominent, because of these concerns, some IP suppliers for their products to enter the domestic design enterprises still have doubts, which restricts the development of high-end design. But I believe that with the growing emphasis on domestic intellectual property rights, the success of the growing IC companies, these problems should be significantly improved in the new year.

Although there are still some shortcomings, but in general, the new year's IC design company's upstream industry conditions have been greatly improved. So how do you work with downstream customers? From the beginning we talked about the five changes that they have been recognized by more and more downstream customers. In an interview found that their cooperation with downstream customers is the biggest change in them and to provide customers with more comprehensive programs, and in order to enhance the competitiveness in the program, they will at the systems engineer in R & D investment over chip engineers. Many companies said that the number of their system engineers and test engineers is almost two times the size of the chip R & D personnel.

This has become a selling point for domestic IC manufacturers, not any do platform, Spreadtrum, Haier and Anyka actions, or peripheral devices, micro Ming pine, beautiful core, they all spend more energy in the development of the whole project, and at very low cost or even free the way to provide users with solutions. In the program on the other, in order to make money on the chip." This is their thought. And this is also an advantage compared with their international IC companies. "The international company's chip development is not in China, so that their partners in the development of the program's understanding of the chip is certainly not as good as the chip designers through