Turbulent Japanese and Korean semiconductors

Since Japan imposed export control on three kinds of high-tech materials for nearly three years, South Korea has not yet established a domestic supply chain completely independent of Japanese manufacturers.

Moon Jae in, former South Korean President, mentioned trade friction in his farewell speech of about 10 minutes on May 9.

"I will never forget how the whole country united to overcome the crisis caused by Japanese unfair export control," Moon Jae in said.

These changes mean that Japanese enterprises must apply for export licenses for hydrogen fluoride, photoresist for extreme ultraviolet lithography and fluorinated polyimide respectively.

METI said it was only following the usual export procedures. However, the South Korean government strongly condemns these measures. South Korea interprets it as economic retaliation for the Supreme Court's ruling in June 20 18 ordering the current Nippon Steel to pay compensation to former Korean wartime workers.

Koreans boycotted Japanese products in response to export controls. It is said that the relationship between Tokyo and Seoul has fallen to the lowest point after the war.

Moon Jae in visited Korean manufacturers of chip-making materials to win support for the country's self-sufficiency. His government allocates about 2 trillion won (US$ 65.438+55 billion at the current exchange rate) every year to fund research and development, in order to "turn the crisis into an opportunity".

However, the figures of the Korea International Trade Association contradict Moon Jae in's remarks.

With regard to hydrogen fluoride, after June 2009, the value of imports from Japan dropped sharply. Compared with 20 18, it decreased by 86% in 2020 and rebounded by 34% in 202 1. From June to April 2022, the import volume increased by 30% year-on-year.

In 2020, the import of photoresist will achieve double-digit year-on-year growth, while the import of fluorine-containing polyimide will only decrease slightly.

"Apart from hydrogen fluoride, there is no special effect," said a source from a Japanese material manufacturer.

In 20021year, South Korea imported the most semiconductor manufacturing equipment from Japan, with a year-on-year increase of 44%, reaching US$ 6.3 billion. The trade deficit between Korea and Japan has expanded in an all-round way.

Lee Geon-jae, an analyst specializing in materials industry at IBK Securities, said: "The existing semiconductor production lines need to stop using alternative materials, so chip manufacturers are reluctant to adopt additional local products."

The lack of progress in achieving self-sufficiency is reflected in the Korean stock market. Soulbrain Holdings established a brand for producing domestic hydrogen fluoride, and its share price soared from June 2065438 to June 2009, reaching 70,000 won at one time. Recently, it fell below 20,000 won, the lowest point in six years.

At the same time, the actions of the Japanese authorities have obviously aroused the distrust of Korean enterprises.

Chip manufacturing giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are painfully aware of the risk of closing factories. This has led to the provision of financial support and technology transfer to suppliers who can replace Japanese-made materials.

The annual revenue of Samsung semiconductor and display is close to $654.38+000 billion, which is eight times that of Kaisha Holdings, Japan's largest chip manufacturer. Samsung is a major customer of Japanese suppliers. South Korea's local material supply chain will hit Japanese industry.

Now the focus shifts to the next step of the government of the new South Korean President Yin Xilie. Japan's free supply chain or localization was not mentioned in the economic agenda released on June 16.

Yin Xilie may want to avoid angering Japan when trying to thaw bilateral relations. But there is no reason for Seoul to stop turning to domestic production.

"From the perspective of economic security, it is necessary to supply local materials," said Yin Xilie, a government insider.

Kim Kwang-gyo, a "veteran" who laid the foundation for the Korean semiconductor industry and former director of Samsung Electronics and Semiconductor Research Institute, is full of sadness. In an interview with Korea Economic News, Kim Kwang-gyo said: "Now is the era of' open book' competition. It is clear at a glance how competing countries invest and how their technical level is. The Korean government seems to despise the semiconductor industry too much." Kim Kwang-gyo believes that the Korean government's investment and support for the semiconductor industry is far from enough.

Kim Kwang-gyo established the first semiconductor research institute in Samsung Electronics on 1979, and served as the first director of the institute for four years. By the beginning of 2 1 century, Kim Kwang-gyo had been the director of Samsung Electronics Princeton Institute and the first president of Korea Semiconductor Display Technology Society.

According to the Korea Semiconductor Display Society, the US government announced that it will invest 654.38+005 billion US dollars to train semiconductor talents from this year to 2026. Taiwan Province Province of China has formulated a strategy to ensure that 654.38 million semiconductor talents are added every year.

Jin Guangyao said categorically, "The Korean government should first change its hesitant attitude towards the semiconductor industry. If the problem of manpower shortage or industrial control cannot be solved, South Korea's semiconductor industry may close down in a few years. The government and academic circles should actively support and promote enterprises to develop the semiconductor industry. "

Kim Kwang-gyo also said that losing the position of semiconductor number one means losing all future growth momentum. Because the number of semiconductor products in smart phones, automobiles, robots and other fields is increasing. It is estimated that the world semiconductor sales will increase from 702 trillion won (1 RMB 193 won) last year to 1.268 trillion won in 2030.

Samsung Electronics 1974 acquired Korean Semiconductor for $500,000 and started semiconductor business. "Samsung didn't do a good job in semiconductor business at first." Kim Kwang-gyo recalled that in the early days, Samsung Electronics was also evaluated as lagging behind the United States and Japan 10 for many years. "At that time, some employees even said that if they were transferred to semiconductors, they would resign, and the development environment of semiconductor business was very bad."

Jin Guangyao also said that at that time, Samsung Electronics proposed technical cooperation or technology introduction to Japan, and the Japanese side said that "you have not reached the level of cooperation". "The feeling of being despised is still fresh in my memory." Kim Kwang-gyo recalled, "In this case, the late Li Bingzhe, former president of Samsung Electronics, said that one day there would be an opportunity, and we must be in the leading position in the industry. Since then, Samsung Electronics has concentrated on technology and human investment. "

Kim Kwang-gyo said that continuous investment has created a leading Samsung Electronics, which is also lucky. In 1980s, with the arrival of "three lows and one good" such as low interest rate, low oil price and low won value, the status of Samsung Electronics Semiconductor rose rapidly.

"Only by careful preparation can we seize the opportunity, whether it is in the 1970 s and 1980 s or now." Jin Guangyao said that we should look forward to 10 years and 20 years, and prepare step by step from now on.

On June 26th, the Financial Times talked about the semiconductor talents in Japan. Toshiba, Sony and other largest semiconductor manufacturers in Japan have warned that the government's efforts to revitalize the domestic chip industry are threatened by a shortage of engineers.

In anticipation of labor shortage, Japan is making efforts to increase investment in semiconductors to strengthen economic security and cope with supply chain interruption and chip shortage under the COVID-19 epidemic.

Last month, an electronics industry organization said in an appeal to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry that the next five years up to 2030 will be the "last and greatest opportunity" for the Japanese semiconductor industry to regain its foothold after losing its global market share for many years.

Japan Electronic Information Technology Industry Association believes that the success of this industry depends on whether enough talents can be obtained to innovate and operate its chip factory. It is estimated that in the next 10 year, eight large manufacturers will need to recruit about 35,000 engineers to keep up with the pace of investment.

Hideki Wakabayashi, head of the policy proposal working group of the Semiconductor Committee of the Japan Semiconductor Industry Association and a professor at Tokyo University of Science, said: "People often say that there is a lack of semiconductors, but what is most lacking is engineers."

In the late 1980s, Japanese semiconductor companies greatly expanded their production, surpassing the United States and accounting for more than half of the global market share. However, after the fierce trade conflict with the United States, Japan's dominant position was taken away by Korean and Chinese mainland companies.

This led to the massive layoffs of engineers after the global financial crisis in 2008. Hideki Wakabayashi said that's why there are not enough experienced engineers today.

Toyoki Mitsui, manager of flash memory manufacturer Kaisha (part of JEITA working group), said that students studying semiconductors in universities now tend to join financial institutions or technology companies because the chip industry has long lost its appeal.

In order to stimulate innovation and train future employees, Toshiba, Sony and other companies are cooperating with the best science universities in China and investing more in chip research and recruitment.

Last month, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister kishida fumio promised to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing capacity and strengthen cooperation in developing advanced chips.

TSMC is working with Sony to build an $8.6 billion factory on the southern island of Kyushu, and plans to recruit about 1700 workers for the factory. The government said it would provide subsidies of up to 476 billion yuan ($3.5 billion).

More and more factories will be put into production soon. Kaisha and its joint venture partner, Western Digital, are spending nearly 65,438+0 trillion yen to build a factory in central Japan, which will be put into production this autumn. In addition, another 65,438+0 trillion yen will be allocated to build a factory in northern Japan that is scheduled to be completed next year.

Renesas Electronics will invest 90 billion yen to restart the 20 14 closed factory and expand the production of power semiconductors for electric vehicles. Recruit's consultant and Masainoue pointed out: "Until the mid-1960s, Japan had been at odds with other countries in investment and recruitment, although the scale of the global chip industry has doubled."

However, Inoue and Ma said it was difficult to find workers. According to the data released by the Japanese Bureau of Statistics, the number of employees in electronic components, equipment and circuits aged 25 to 44 decreased from 380,000 in 20 10 to 240,000 in 20021year.

Takashi Miyamori, an executive in Toshiba's electronic components department, said: "Most Japanese science students are more interested in it, not necessarily semiconductors. All parts of the world are competing for the best engineers, and we need to find ways to improve our competitiveness. "