A new round of "fierce battle" for semiconductor wafer manufacturers: Lion Micro M & A Shanghai Silicon Industry 3.5 billion plus R & D

Since 2022, the semiconductor wafer industry has been suffering from tight production capacity and rising prices. It is reported that some semiconductor wafer manufacturers in Taiwan have notified downstream customers of price increases, and the international giant Shenggao said bluntly in recent performance materials that production capacity had been booked before the fiscal year 2026. In terms of A-share companies, companies such as Shanghai Silicon Industry, Lion Micro, Central shares and Youyan Silicon have recently increased their production capacity by means of capital increase, acquisition or IPO.

"in the past, the prosperity of the semiconductor wafer industry lasted for half a year to three quarters. The latest wave of silicon boom has a very strong cycle, and there are no signs of peaking for a foreseeable period of time. " Industry insiders told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the prosperity of the industry far exceeded market expectations, demand was far greater than supply, and there was a large gap in the current 12-inch semiconductor wafer market.

It is reported that the 12-inch semiconductor silicon wafer is mainly light-doped, and the advanced process has higher requirements and standards for the silicon wafer. At present, the Shanghai silicon industry has a clear lead in the field of light mixing, while Lion Micro plans to make up for the deficiency by acquiring part of the stake in Guojing Semiconductor.

Semiconductor wafer manufacturers are expanding their production.

Recently, semiconductor wafer manufacturers are competing for a "race" in capacity construction, setting off a new round of production expansion.

On the evening of February 7, Lionwei announced that Jin Ruihong, a holding subsidiary, had signed the Framework Agreement on the restructuring of Guojing (Jiaxing) Semiconductor Co., Ltd. The company plans to acquire a 58.69% stake in Guojing Semiconductor, further expand the production capacity of 12-inch silicon wafers, and strengthen the business of lightly doped polished silicon wafers.

It is worth noting that in November 2021, Liang Weiding added capital to Quzhou Jin Ruihong shortly after the end of the issue. It not only increases the company's direct shareholding, but also increases the production capacity of 12-inch silicon wafers.

Li Zhipeng told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily: "after the completion of the capital increase, Quzhou Jin Ruihong has been upgraded from a second-class subsidiary to a first-class subsidiary and is the main body of the 12-inch silicon wafer business. 12-inch large silicon wafer is the mainstream direction of domestic manufacturers, the future market demand space is relatively large, the company's future focus. "

Recently, the semiconductor wafer leader Shanghai silicon industry has not only signed long-term order agreements with major customers such as Changjiang Storage and Wuhan Xinxin, but also is speeding up the landing of fixed-growth projects. A reporter from the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" learned that the Shanghai silicon industry has started to increase the issuance work, and has won the support of important shareholders and the industry.

It is reported that the Shanghai silicon industry plans to build 300mm high-end silicon wafer research and development and advanced manufacturing project for integrated circuit manufacturing, 300mm high-end silicon-based material research and development pilot project and supplementary liquidity funds, with a total investment of 8.25 billion yuan, with a planned increase of 5 billion yuan. After the completion of the fund-raising project, the Shanghai silicon industry will add 300000 wafers / month 12-inch semiconductor wafer production capacity.

"in the past, the prosperity of the semiconductor wafer industry lasted for half a year to three quarters. The latest wave of silicon boom has a very strong cycle, and there are no signs of peaking for a foreseeable period of time. " Shanghai silicon industry insiders told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the current prosperity of the industry is far beyond the company's expectations, from the current market data, demand is still far greater than supply.

Central shares, a leading manufacturer of photovoltaic wafers, recently announced a capital increase and share increase for Central leading subsidiary, which is the leading management team, key employees and employee shareholding platform in Central, and the funds are mainly used for project construction. Central leading is the main body of the semiconductor wafer business of Central Co., Ltd., and the company directly holds a 30% stake before the capital increase.

"the capital increase is mainly for follow-up staff incentives to facilitate future capacity expansion, and the company's semiconductor business is still in the stage of continuous production expansion." People related to Central shares told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the company is optimistic about the future industry and prospects, and will continue to expand production on superior production capacity, which will mainly be 12 inches in the future.

Unlike mainstream manufacturers, Youyan Silicon continues to invest in 8-inch silicon wafers and announced plans to raise funds to expand production through IPO at the end of 2021. After the completion of the fund-raising project, Youyan Silicon will add 1.2 million pieces of 8-inch silicon wafer production capacity.

The price of the product has an upward trend.

On the semiconductor silicon wafer price increase question, the relevant manufacturers did not answer directly, but all said that according to the market supply and demand situation, there has been a trend of price increase. "Silicon wafer pricing is based on the market price, if the market rises, we will also have a certain rise, follow the market trend."

"there was no public price increase last year, but there have been structural price increases for some products, and the prices of foreign test films are even higher than those of domestic customers." A person familiar with the matter told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the capacity bottleneck has been highlighted since the first half of 2021, and the existing capacity is difficult to meet customer demand, especially 12-inch silicon wafers.

It is reported that at present, the shipping area of 12-inch wafers accounts for 70% of the total shipping area of semiconductor wafers. Five overseas manufacturers, including Japan Shinyue, Shenggao, and Global Wafer, account for 87% of the global semiconductor wafer market. Only a few domestic companies, such as Shanghai Silicon Industry, Lion Micro and Central Co., can provide 12-inch semiconductor wafers.

By the end of 2021, the 12-inch wafer production capacity of Shanghai Silicon Industry, Central and Lion Micro has reached 300000, 170000 and 150000 wafers per month, respectively. Among them, Central shares and Lion Micro are mainly heavily mixed, and Shanghai silicon industry has a clear lead in the field of light mixing. Light-doped silicon wafers account for the vast majority of the total demand for semiconductor silicon wafers, and Lion has recently tried to make up for the shortcomings of the light-doped business by acquiring a stake in Guojing Semiconductor.

"heavy doping is mainly doping, which is somewhat similar to customized products, the manufacturing process is mainly in the high process, and the downstream applications are mainly power devices. While light mixing can be applied to advanced processes, downstream applications are mainly power management chips and power devices. " The above industry veteran told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the difficulty of light blending is to meet the requirements of advanced processes for silicon wafers. The more advanced the manufacturing process, the more stringent the requirements and standards for silicon wafers.

Before 2017, domestic 12-inch semiconductor wafers almost relied on imports. Niki Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanghai Silicon Industry, breaks its dependence on imports and is a leader in 12-inch semiconductor wafers. On the evening of January 28th, the Shanghai silicon industry announced that Nippon Semiconductor intends to invest 3.46 billion yuan in the construction of the "Integrated Circuit Silicon material Engineering Research and Development" project, and plans to build a silicon material engineering technology research and development experimental base.

"We are applying for a national innovation center. The R & D base is not only to make silicon materials, but also may involve process research and development and other materials. And through relatively independent institutions to do testing and research and development, it is more convenient to introduce products into the production line to achieve localization. " The above-mentioned Shanghai silicon industry personage told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the overall construction of the third-party testing function + R & D function is one of the steps for the company to promote localization.