It is rumored on the Internet that BYD will replace Foxconn. Can BYD manufacture 7nm chips and can it buy 7nm lithography machines? In the OEM field, although BYD is also powerful, it is indeed unable to compare with or replace Foxconn. But in the field of chip design and manufacturing, neither of these two companies is currently particularly strong, and there is no question of who will replace whom. In comparison, BYD may be stronger than Foxconn in chip design and manufacturing capabilities.
BYD and Foxconn are involved in a wide range of businesses, and both are involved in chip design and manufacturing. In comparison, BYD is more involved in chips and earlier. Foxconn has only laid out chips in the past year or two. It mentioned in a speech at Peking University in 2018 that Foxconn will manufacture its own chips and established a semiconductor business division after the failure of the acquisition of Toshiba Semiconductor. It now has more than 100 engineers. In addition to this, it also controls related chip companies, such as LCD driver IC manufacturer Tianjue Technology, system-level packaging company Xunxin Technology, semiconductor manufacturing Peixin Energy, IC design service Hongjing Technology, etc.
BYD not only has strong capabilities in the fields of automobiles and batteries, but also has its own place in the foundry field and has its own achievements in the chip field. He worked quietly and developed the domestically produced IGBT insulated gate bipolar transistor chip IGBT, breaking the monopoly of foreign companies such as Germany's Infineon and Japan's Toyota on this chip. IGBT is very important for electric vehicles. It directly controls the conversion of DC and AC power in the drive system and is as important as battery cells. And it is widely used in everything from cars to subways and high-speed rails.
BYD not only has the ability to design IGBT chips, but also has the ability to manufacture the chips. BYD's current semiconductor manufacturing plant in Ningbo can produce 50,000 pieces and will reach a production capacity of 100,000 pieces by 2020, making it self-sufficient. However, compared with the manufacturing process and equipment of mobile phone chips, IGBT chips do not have such high requirements. The current 7nm process cannot be achieved by BYD, nor can Foxconn. In the field of mobile phone chip manufacturing, TSMC and Samsung are the absolute giants. They not only have advanced manufacturing equipment, but also accumulated a large number of manufacturing process patents, which are difficult for other chip manufacturers (parameters | pictures) to match.