“Bloomberg” reported that software giant Microsoft is developing its own processors based on Arm for its servers and future Surface terminal equipment. And its self-developed server processors will be used in Microsoft Azure cloud computing services, and some Surface device designs will use another self-developed processor, and now foreign media reports indicate that Microsoft processors will still rely on wafer generation in the future. The industry leader TSMC’s advanced manufacturing process will make the world’s technology industry more and more dependent on TSMC.
The report pointed out that Apple announced in mid-2020 that it would develop its own notebook processor, and its news has been optimistic. There is no other reason, just because the A-series processors developed by Apple and mounted on iPhone smartphones are popular in the market for their powerful computing performance. Judging from the A14 processor of the iPhone 12, compared with other mobile mobile processors on the market in the same period, its performance and energy consumption are outstanding, and it has become the main reason why the iPhone user experience is generally higher than that of Android users. Relatively speaking, the reason why Apple’s evaluation of laptops and desktop computers is not so prominent is that Apple believes that it is dragged down by the performance of the processor, and it has entered the independent research and development of computer processors due to its success in the field of mobile processors. , has become an imperative trend.
Apple’s self-developed notebook processor, the first product to be equipped with is on the new generation of MacBook Air. Compared with Intel’s latest generation products, its performance has doubled under the condition of 10W power consumption. As for the same performance, the power consumption is only 1/3 of the Intel product. The performance advantages of Apple’s self-developed notebook processors have been revealed, and it has also brought confidence to Microsoft’s self-developed computer and server processor products.
In fact, Intel’s decline is mainly due to the fact that foundries such as TSMC and Samsung are lagging behind in the advanced process development competition. And because Intel is an integrated supplier that combines IC design and manufacturing, whether it is based on design or manufacturing reasons, the products are becoming less and less competitive, in addition to giving competitors a chance to take advantage , that is, its customers themselves further use their own industrial advantages to conduct vertical integration across IC design, and gradually get rid of their dependence on Intel in the future. And such a situation not only occurs in Intel, but also traditional IC design manufacturers have recognized this trend.
In 2020, NVIDIA, a major graphics chip maker, also spent a huge sum of US$40 billion, agreeing to acquire ARM, a silicon intellectual property manufacturer, from SoftBank, making it a division under it. Its purpose is not only to enter the data center market, but also to maintain its influence in the market through the authorization of ARM in the future when customers may develop GPU products by themselves. AMD, which has recently been actively competing with Intel in the fields of x86 architecture processors and server processors, has also actively acquired semiconductor peers. At the end of October 2020, Supermicro announced the acquisition of FPGA leader Xilinx for US$35 billion. The purpose is also to supplement this product line with advantages in communications and autonomous driving, in order to increase its own costs to further compete with Intel.
The report also emphasized that, in addition to laptops, desktop computers, and server processors, in the field of mobile phones, the trend of self-research of processors has occurred for some time, whether it is the A-series processors used in Apple’s iPhone, or even the It is the Kirin processor designed by Huawei through its subsidiary HiSilicon, and even mobile phone brands such as Xiaomi and OPPO have tried to build a team of self-developed processors by poaching talents from MediaTek, a major IC design company. From this point of view, the competitive pressure of IC design companies mainly focusing on mobile phone products is also coming from both upstream and downstream. Even the currently popular Apple Car rumors, including Tesla or Apple and other developing electric vehicle manufacturers, will design their own self-driving cars and entrust TSMC to manufacture them. For the leader NVIDIA, it will undoubtedly be a big pressure.
Under such a trend of self-developed processing gas, the market’s reliance on professional foundries, especially the industry leader TSMC, is bound to increase unabated. According to the latest research data, among the world’s top 15 semiconductor factories in 2020, TSMC’s annual revenue is expected to reach 45.42 billion US dollars, ranking third in the world after South Korea’s Samsung and processor leader Intel. factory. However, compared with Samsung’s memory and wafer manufacturing, Intel’s business model mainly sells processors and other Chips, and TSMC is the only pure-play foundry. In addition, according to the previous research results of TrendForce’s Top Industry Research Institute, TSMC’s market share in the global foundry market was as high as 53.9% in the third quarter of 2020, which is among the top 10 foundry companies. , the sum of the other 9 is not more than that of TSMC.
TSMC previously pointed out that as of 2019, it provides the most extensive range of 272 process technologies including advanced processes, special processes and advanced packaging, and produces 10,761 different products for 499 customers. With the trend of self-developed processors by customers in the future, the market expects that TSMC will provide services for more products, and customers will be more diversified. In order to cope with such development, TSMC is currently not only actively hunting grounds in Nanke, where the advanced manufacturing process is located, to meet the needs of expanding production and developing advanced manufacturing processes, but also issued the largest corporate bond of NT$120 billion in Taiwan in 2020. , to raise cash for large-scale purchases of extreme ultraviolet exposure machines (EUVs) required for advanced manufacturing processes. Therefore, in the face of the fact that the technology industry will increasingly rely on TSMC’s wafer manufacturing services in the future, it is expected that its overall performance will be more stable and will continue to develop steadily.
“Bloomberg” reported that software giant Microsoft is developing its own processors based on Arm for its servers and future Surface terminal equipment. And its self-developed server processors will be used in Microsoft Azure cloud computing services, and some Surface device designs will use another self-developed processor, and now foreign media reports indicate that Microsoft processors will still rely on wafer generation in the future. The industry leader TSMC’s advanced manufacturing process will make the world’s technology industry more and more dependent on TSMC.
The report pointed out that Apple announced in mid-2020 that it would develop its own notebook processor, and its news has been optimistic. There is no other reason, just because the A-series processors developed by Apple and mounted on iPhone smartphones are popular in the market for their powerful computing performance. Judging from the A14 processor of the iPhone 12, compared with other mobile mobile processors on the market in the same period, its performance and energy consumption are outstanding, and it has become the main reason why the iPhone user experience is generally higher than that of Android users. Relatively speaking, the reason why Apple’s evaluation of laptops and desktop computers is not so prominent is that Apple believes that it is dragged down by the performance of the processor, and it has entered the independent research and development of computer processors due to its success in the field of mobile processors. , has become an imperative trend.
Apple’s self-developed notebook processor, the first product to be equipped with is on the new generation of MacBook Air. Compared with Intel’s latest generation products, its performance has doubled under the condition of 10W power consumption. As for the same performance, the power consumption is only 1/3 of the Intel product. The performance advantages of Apple’s self-developed notebook processors have been revealed, and it has also brought confidence to Microsoft’s self-developed computer and server processor products.
In fact, Intel’s decline is mainly due to the fact that foundries such as TSMC and Samsung are lagging behind in the advanced process development competition. And because Intel is an integrated supplier that combines IC design and manufacturing, whether it is based on design or manufacturing reasons, the products are becoming less and less competitive, in addition to giving competitors a chance to take advantage , that is, its customers themselves further use their own industrial advantages to conduct vertical integration across IC design, and gradually get rid of their dependence on Intel in the future. And such a situation not only occurs in Intel, but also traditional IC design manufacturers have recognized this trend.
In 2020, NVIDIA, a major graphics chip maker, also spent a huge sum of US$40 billion, agreeing to acquire ARM, a silicon intellectual property manufacturer, from SoftBank, making it a division under it. Its purpose is not only to enter the data center market, but also to maintain its influence in the market through the authorization of ARM in the future when customers may develop GPU products by themselves. AMD, which has recently been actively competing with Intel in the fields of x86 architecture processors and server processors, has also actively acquired semiconductor peers. At the end of October 2020, Supermicro announced the acquisition of FPGA leader Xilinx for US$35 billion. The purpose is also to supplement this product line with advantages in communications and autonomous driving, in order to increase its own costs to further compete with Intel.
The report also emphasized that, in addition to laptops, desktop computers, and server processors, in the field of mobile phones, the trend of self-research of processors has occurred for some time, whether it is the A-series processors used in Apple’s iPhone, or even the It is the Kirin processor designed by Huawei through its subsidiary HiSilicon, and even mobile phone brands such as Xiaomi and OPPO have tried to build a team of self-developed processors by poaching talents from MediaTek, a major IC design company. From this point of view, the competitive pressure of IC design companies mainly focusing on mobile phone products is also coming from both upstream and downstream. Even the currently popular Apple Car rumors, including Tesla or Apple and other developing electric vehicle manufacturers, will design their own self-driving cars and entrust TSMC to manufacture them. For the leader NVIDIA, it will undoubtedly be a big pressure.
Under such a trend of self-developed processing gas, the market’s reliance on professional foundries, especially the industry leader TSMC, is bound to increase unabated. According to the latest research data, among the world’s top 15 semiconductor factories in 2020, TSMC’s annual revenue is expected to reach 45.42 billion US dollars, ranking third in the world after South Korea’s Samsung and processor leader Intel. factory. However, compared with Samsung’s memory and wafer manufacturing, Intel’s business model mainly sells processors and other chips, and TSMC is the only pure-play foundry. In addition, according to the previous research results of TrendForce’s Top Industry Research Institute, TSMC’s market share in the global foundry market was as high as 53.9% in the third quarter of 2020, which is among the top 10 foundry companies. , the sum of the other 9 is not more than that of TSMC.
TSMC previously pointed out that as of 2019, it provides the most extensive range of 272 process technologies including advanced processes, special processes and advanced packaging, and produces 10,761 different products for 499 customers. With the trend of self-developed processors by customers in the future, the market expects that TSMC will provide services for more products, and customers will be more diversified. In order to cope with such development, TSMC is currently not only actively hunting grounds in Nanke, where the advanced manufacturing process is located, to meet the needs of expanding production and developing advanced manufacturing processes, but also issued the largest corporate bond of NT$120 billion in Taiwan in 2020. , to raise cash for large-scale purchases of extreme ultraviolet exposure machines (EUVs) required for advanced manufacturing processes. Therefore, in the face of the fact that the technology industry will increasingly rely on TSMC’s wafer manufacturing services in the future, it is expected that its overall performance will be more stable and will continue to develop steadily.
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