The integrated circuit design field is facing a severe reality. Only about 20% of ASIC chips succeed on their first tape-out. A significant reason for the high failure rate is that the challenges brought by new process nodes have not been fully understood. While some long-standing issues have been integrated into design tools and processes, … Read more
Last night, U.S. stocks plummeted, leading to a triple whammy for stocks, currencies, and bonds.The crisis involving the U.S. dollar and bonds is actually unrelated to the A-shares.However, it is necessary to mention that:If there are any insiders on the other side, they should be aware that the pitfalls of U.S. bonds are currently significant, … Read more
In the complex landscape of chip manufacturing, tape-out occupies a core position. As the final step in integrated circuit design, it is a crucial process that transforms abstract circuit blueprints into actual chips. 1. The Connotation and Essence of Tape-Out Tape-out, expressed in English as “tape-out”, is a process that relies on a series of … Read more
Yesterday the China Semiconductor Industry Association issued a notice regarding the “Rules for the Recognition of the ‘Place of Origin’ of Semiconductor Products,” which suggests: “For ‘integrated circuits,’ whether packaged or unpackaged, the place of origin declared during import customs clearance should be based on the location of the ‘wafer fabrication factory.’” This news has … Read more
The China Semiconductor Industry Association issued a document to its member units on April 11, emphasizing the customs declaration principles regarding the origin of imported chips.According to the relevant regulations of the General Administration of Customs, the origin of “integrated circuits” is determined based on the four-digit tariff number change principle, meaning the wafer fabrication … Read more
On April 11, Friday, the China Semiconductor Industry Association released the “Notice on the Rules for Determining the “Country of Origin” of Semiconductor Products,” which is as follows: Official Account: Notice from the China Semiconductor Industry Association on the Rules for Determining the “Country of Origin” of Semiconductor Products This article interprets the certification of … Read more
(This article is translated from Semiconductor Engineering) As the complexity of chips continues to increase, chip manufacturers are shifting from single-chip designs to multi-chip components, requiring more iterations, and the increasing level of customization makes design and verification work more time-consuming. Consequently, the first silicon tape-out success rate is sharply declining. Details from a new … Read more
When you feel challenged, think of Intel! On April 14, 2025, at TSMC’s headquarters in Hsinchu, AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su and TSMC Chairman Dr. C.C. Wei held a wafer the size of a fingernail, announcing a groundbreaking news in the industry—the world’s first 2nm high-performance computing chip, Zen6 EPYC Venice, has completed its tape-out. … Read more
Rule Rewrite: The Battle for a Chip’s ‘Birth Certificate’ The new origin rules released by the China Semiconductor Industry Association on April 11 are like a deep-water bomb dropped into a calm lake—integrated circuit origin certification is shifting from ‘label tracing’ to ‘wafer origin certification’. This seemingly technical adjustment is triggering an ‘ID revolution’ in … Read more
The calculation of import tariffs on chips is based on wafer fabrication, and the reasoning is simple: it is to avoid increasing our costs due to countermeasures against the United States. As for the impact of wafer fabrication regulations on the chip capabilities of the U.S., it does not have much effect from the production … Read more