Zhao Haijun of SMIC directly stated: Domestic chips are now fully capable of replacing imported ones.

Previously, 90% of IGBT chips used by car manufacturers had to be imported from Infineon and On Semiconductor, with the price of one chip equivalent to half a worker's salary.

Now, SMIC and BYD Semiconductor have jointly tackled the issue, not only cutting the price to one-third of the original but also extending the service life of automotive-grade chips from 10 years to 15 years.

By 2024, the domestic market share of power chips increased from 15% in 2019 to 45%, forcing even international giants to lower prices to compete for the market.

Beijing Huazhuang's etching machine has entered TSMC's supply chain, and the 5nm etching machine of Zhongwei Company has been ordered by TSMC. Even the core component of ASML's lithography machine, the Agilent interferometer, has been achieved by Tianjin Ruio Tech at 50nm precision, directly breaking the Dutch monopoly.

Currently, 30% of the equipment in domestic wafer factories has been replaced with domestic products, and SMIC has even started using advanced packaging lithography machines from Shanghai Micro Electronics.

This breakthrough is directly reflected in the market: In 2025, China's mature process chip production capacity will account for 39% of the global total, with prices only half of those of European and American products, forcing the US company Wolfspeed's stock price to drop 96% over three years.

Customers who make robot vacuums calculated that switching to domestic chips saves 30 yuan per unit, which can earn tens of millions more annually.

This cost-performance advantage is rewriting market rules: Although the average price of domestic AI chips in 2025 is 15% higher than NVIDIA's H20, the order volume has increased by 40%, as companies are more willing to pay for "safe and controllable" solutions.

Tesla China has also adopted Cambric's autonomous driving chips, with energy efficiency exceeding international specifications by 35%.

Zhao Haijun revealed that they are currently developing 5nm process technology, expected to be taped out in 2026. The third phase of the National Major Fund, with 344 billion yuan in funding, has already been allocated. This time, the focus is on equipment and materials, aiming to achieve 70% domestication of key equipment by 2027.

The more critical point is that Huawei's Ascend 910B, through dual-chip packaging technology, has a computing density 1.2 times higher than NVIDIA's H20, completely freeing itself from dependence on foreign technology.

The US's 100% tariff on chips has instead accelerated the "de-Americanization" process. Companies like STMicroelectronics and Infineon have launched "ChinaforChina" strategies, shifting part of their production capacity to China.

More interestingly, the global share of domestic chips in the mature process field has risen from 12% in 2019 to 37% in 2025, and is expected to reach 43% by 2027, directly replacing Taiwan as the world's largest manufacturing base for mature chips.

This scale effect has reduced the price of domestic 6-inch silicon carbide wafers from 1,500 USD to 500 USD, completely breaking the "easy profit" model of European and American enterprises.

Recalling the era of "two bombs and one satellite," where scientists ate porridge and worked on research, today's semiconductor professionals eat instant noodles and work overtime in clean rooms. This perseverance remains unchanged.

When Huawei's Ascend chips run stably for 180 days without any failure in data centers, and when Cambric chips enter Tesla's supply chain, we better understand: In the battlefield of science and technology, true security always lies in our own hands.

In this marathon of global semiconductors, the US has led for decades, but now we have moved from following to running side by side, and even started to sprint on certain tracks.

Those who once mocked "it's better to buy than to build" will eventually see: When the Chinese people set their minds on something, there is nothing they cannot accomplish!

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840508528140355/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.