South Korea unveiled ambitious plans to spend roughly $450 billion to build the world’s biggest chipmaking base over the next decade, joining China and the US in a global race to dominate the key technology.
Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. will lead more than 510 trillion won of investment in semiconductor research and production in the years to 2030 under a national blueprint devised by President Moon Jae-in’s administration. They’ll be among 153 companies fueling the decade-long push, intended to safeguard the nation’s most economically crucial industry. Moon got a briefing from chip executives on the initiative Thursday during a visit to the country’s most advanced chip factory, a Samsung plant south of Seoul.
US suppliers to China s SMIC face licensing woes
With SMIC placed by the Trump administration placed on the US Department of Commerce’s entity list due to concerns of aiding China’s military, US suppliers need to get a license before shipping goods to semiconductor giant. Thursday, March 4, 2021 11:21 PM UTC
The US has been slow to approve licenses for American companies to sell chipmaking equipment to China s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), with an estimated $5 billion worth of parts and components remain unapproved.
Among the US companies affected were Fremont, California-based Lam Research, and Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials.
Other companies that ship to SMIC include Axcelis Technologies in Massachusetts and KLA Corp in California.