We would like our readers to have a better understanding of the semiconductor industry in China with this post so that they're able to make insightful and informed decisions for their investments.
The world semiconductor market size is around US$800B (2025) and china market size is about US$350B (44%). Thus, this makes china the largest single market in the world and it can use its market size to support the domestic semiconductor industry.
The semiconductor production has 4 processes:
1. Depositing
2. Lithography (DUV and EUV machines)
3. Etching (China had mass produced 3nm etching machines already)
4. Doping
China is the only country in the world that can do the whole semiconductor production (4 processes) by itself because it has its own domestic DUV (28nm) and etching (3nm) machines.
Although the US and Netherlands (ASML) have banned EUV exports to China, China is able to produce 3nm node class chips now with its domestic DUV (multi-patterning process) and Tau logicfolding (newly invented by Huawei) technique. An example would be the upcoming Huawei Mate90 (3nm node class chip).
As the new Tau logicfolding technique is a double-layer architecture design, the existing EDA (single-layer design software) can't be used and Peking University has built a new EDA that can do multi-layer design for the Taw logicfolding technique.
How good is a chip that is produced by using the Tau logicfolding technique?
Oriental compute core in Shanghai had created a 14nm chip (DF1000) using Tau logicfolding technique and its performance beat 7nm and could achieve 52.6% of a 4nm chip.
Can you imagine what's gonna happen when China creates a 7nm chip using Tau logicfolding technique?
It is projected that the new upcoiming DF3000 will match Nvidia GB300 when it is produced in 2027.
Therefore, China is going to revolutionalize its technological industry with its domestic DUV and Tau logicfolding technique by demanding the chinese enterprises to use the new domestic chips in PCs, network servers, AI data centres, EVs and robots in the future.
With such great potentials in sight, we've shortlisted china semiconductor manufacturers as one of our investment choices (stated in Part 3) and we've also differentiated china semiconductor industry from the west.
