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Asia Technology Strategy China: Can it gain tech independence?
CIC Special Technology | Strategy
Figure 1: China tech net trade (imports minus exports) waterfall, 2018 (USD bn)
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates
■ Tech is the largest Chinese import; localization a national priority. Technology
sector forms the largest part of China's import basket (21%) and semiconductors account
for 70% of all its tech imports. This is despite the fact that China's own production of
semiconductors has grown at a 20% CAGR since 2011. This heavy dependence on
technology imports has led to several policy initiatives since 2000 from the Chinese
government to help grow the domestic technology industry for multiple reasons including
national security, assured supply availability, and an interest to continue economic and
human capital advancement growing capability in higher value add / IP areas. Rising
geopolitical issues have added urgency to these efforts.
■ A deep-dive report. In this in-depth report, leveraging our global technology analyst team,
we outline the current market structure of various key tech sub-sectors, highlight China's
game plan to localise production and then provide our conclusions about the likelihood of
China's success in these sectors.
■ China localization: Some success; but some areas remain a work in progress.
China has achieved a lot of success in telecom equipment, hardware manufacturing,
display, several key components and some success stories in IC design mainly in mobile
and consumer. It is devoting a lot of resources in localising semi production and design, but
so far with only modest success outside Huawei (and is likely to remain modest even in the
medium term). Its dependence on imported equipment and certain key materials is likely to
remain unchanged over the medium term as well. While this report is meant more as a
primer on the topic laying out the developments in key tech sectors and outlining our
conclusions, on pages 4 and 5 we summarise the global tech supply chain map, indicate
our estimate of China's chances of success in various areas and its likely leaders.
12 11
80
126
( 141 )
( 36 )
( 25 ) ( 3 )
8
(52) (20)
(50)
-
50
100
150
200
250
SPE Display
Equip
Semi-
Memory
Semi/IC ex
Memory
Mobile
Handset
Telecom
Equipment
Display Printed
Circuits
Passive
Component
Others Total Tech
Net Imports
4 November 2019
Equity Research
Asia Pacific
DISCLOSURE APPENDIX AT THE BACK OF THIS REPORT CONTAINS IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES, ANALYST CERTIFICATIONS,
LEGAL ENTITY DISCLOSURE AND THE STATUS OF NON-US ANALYSTS. US Disclosure: Credit Suisse does and seeks to do business
with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, investors should be aware that the Firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should consider this report as only a single factor in making their investment decision.
The Credit Suisse China Investment Conference
(CIC) is one of the most exclusive business
gatherings in the Greater China region, bringing
together business leaders and entrepreneurs from
around the region, as well as global institutional and
private investors. This year, the Credit Suisse China
Investment Conference will explore the theme of
‘Great Expectations’ – a topic that embraces the
continued progression of China and the
advancement of some of the country’s most
dynamic companies against the current geopolitical
and macroeconomic backdrop.
Research Analysts
Manish Nigam
852 2101 7067
Randy Abrams, CFA
886 2 2715 6366
Keon Han
82 2 3707 3740
Kyna Wong
852 2101 6950
Chaolien Tseng
852 2101 6795
Jerry Su
886 2 2715 6361
Clive Cheung
852 2101 7069
Please see sub-sectors for all contributing analysts
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 2
Focus charts
Figure 2: China total imports breakdown, 2018 (%) Figure 3: China semi industry revs and YoY growth
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates Source: CEIC
Figure 4: Technology supply chain – a map of Chinese suppliers
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse Research
Other
Manufactuered Goods, 10%
Machinery &
Transport Equipment, 18%
Tech, 21%
Textile, Rubber,
Minerals, 7%
Chemicals, 10%
Animal & Vegetable
Oils, 0%
Mineral Fuels &
Lubricants, 16%
Non Food Raw
Materials, 13%
Beverages &
Tobacco, 0%
Food & Live
Animals, 3%
305 321255
142
382466
600
707
843
996
1,221
1,487
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
China Semi Sales (Rmb bn) YoY(%)
Networking:Huawei, ZTE
CM / ODMs
PC Brands
Smartphone Brands
Networking OEMs
Back-end package & test
IC Distributors
Components
Fabless IC Design
Foundries
Semi Cap Equipment
EDA Tools
Tech Downstream Distributors
Hyperform
Exposure: SMEEDeposition: Naura, PiotechInspection: Grand, RaintreeEtch: AMEC, NauraPhotoresist processing: KingsemiClean: ACM
SMIC, Hua Hong, Shanghai Huali, ASMC, CSMC, SiEN, Silan, CanSemi, CR Micro, Yantai Raytron
JCET, Tianshui Huatian, Tongfu, China Wafer Level CSP, SJ Semi, Kaifa, Biwin
HQ Mart, Will Semi, FortuneTech, Wuhan P&S, INtron, Apex Ace, Smart-core, Techtronics, Wisewheel, Sunray
Huaqin, Wingtech, TINNO, BYD, Longcheer, USI
Panel: BOE, Tianma, CEC Panda, CSOTCasing: BYDE, Ju Teng, Tongda, FIITouch/Fingerprint: O-Film, Truly, Q-TechLens: Sunny Optical, AACAcoustic: Goertek, AACConnector: Luxshare, Everwin, FITSurveillance: Hikvision, DahuaAntenna: Luxshare, SunwayLEDs: Sanan Handsets: Huawei,
Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, ZTE, Coolpad, Lenovo, TCL
PC / Server:Lenovo, Inspur, Dawning, Razer, Huawei
Synnex (Taiwan listed), Digital
China, VST
Mobile Processor: HiSilicon, Spreadtrum, ASR, Pinecone, ZTE (Sanechip)Servers/AI: HiSilicon, Cambricon, Montage, Alibaba, Eeasy Tech, Huaxinton, Big Fish, ThinkForce, Illuvatar, Cambricon, Bitmain, Zhaoxin, Loongsan, eBangGPU: Jingjia, ZhoaxinMCU: Gigadevice, Ingenic, Unigroup Guoxin, SinoWealth, Silan, Goodix, Datang, Huada, Giantec, Yixin, MindMotion, Winner MicroRF IC: RDA, Vanchip, Huawei, Maxscend, SanechipsConsumer: Rockchip, Allwinner, Amlogic, ActionsTouch/Fingerprint IC: Goodix, Silead, Fortsense, Betterlife, Chipone, BYDCMOS image sensor: Will Semi (OVT), GalaxyCore, Superpix, ArtivisionAnalog: Awinic, SG Micro, BYD , OnBright, Silergy, Nexperia, Huada, ChiponeDriver IC: SinoWealth, Solomon Systech, ChiponeSmartcard: Tongfong Guoxin, Datang, Huada, Nationz, Fudan, Hua Hong ICMemory: GigaDevice, YMTC, Changxin, Fujian Jinhua, Reliance Memory (Rambus/Giga JV), ISSI, GiantecSurveillance/Video: Huawei, Fullhan, Vimicro, Ingenic, Artosyn, Goke, Eeasy, Dahua, Yitu, Horizon RoboticsFPGA: Gowin, Fudan Micro, Unigroup Guoxin, Huada
End Consumer
Retail: Gome,Suning
Online: Alibaba, JD.com
Semi Materials
Substrate: Access, Fastprint, SCCWafer: AST, Ferrotech JV, ESWIN, Simgui, Zing Semi, Zhonghuan Lithography related: Kempur, RuihongSputtering: KFMICMP Slurry: AnjiChemicals: Runma, Jingrui, Huayi, Sinyang
TV Brands
TV: Skyworth,Changhong, Haier,
Hisense, Konka,TCL
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 3
China: Can it gain tech independence?
A net tech exporter; but a heavy semi importer
Import of technology products constitutes the largest proportion of total imports by China for any
given sector. This proportion has grown from high-teens a few years ago to 20-23% in recent
years. Within technology, import of semiconductors by far constituted the largest proportion
(US$311 bn; ~70% of total tech imports). Import of semis and display equipment was another
important part of total imports (5%). While China is a large importer of technology products, it is
also a large exporter, actually exporting US$20 bn more of tech products than it imported in
2018—it is a large net importer of semiconductors and equipment but is a large net exporter of
downstream products such as handsets and consumer electronics, and also telecom equipment.
Localising semi production a national priority
While the Chinese local semis production has been growing at a 20% CAGR in recent years,
China remains a large importer of semis, and hence, the need to continue to focus on
developing the local industry. Geopolitical developments in recent years, particularly the inclusion
of several Chinese entities (notably Huawei, Hikvision amongst others) by the US on its
restricted Entity List, further adds urgency to this localisation drive. The government has had
several policy initiatives over the years culminating in its 'Made in China 2025' initiative in 2015.
Substantial funding is behind the National IC Development Guideline initiative, including
establishing the National IC Fund which raised US$20 bn in 2014 and is now a second round
for US$29bn, along with US$120-140 bn from public/private funds. The fund has invested in
creating national champions that can compete globally across memory, foundry, back-end,
suppliers, and design companies. To supplement the National IC Fund, the Chinese government
believes a strong policy support, growing ecosystem, and national fund backing in the
semiconductor industry will attract an even greater amount of investment from the private sector,
financial institutions, and overseas investors. Local private VCs are also working in conjunction
with the government and the National IC Fund. Tsinghua Unigroup is the largest fund and is
focused on establishing memory companies in China.
China localisation: A mixed success story
China has already shown success with the emergence of companies across the tech supply
chain, with some notable ones in hardware and components. The presence of a large and growing hardware sector is pushing the national interest to also develop its semiconductor
sector for economic benefits moving into higher value areas and lessening requirement on imports. A locally strong semiconductor sector also helps China's national security interest in
controlling its information technology infrastructure. While we discuss in greater detail the
dynamics at play in each of the tech subsectors later in the report, our conclusions for each of
these sectors are as follows: (1) Memory semiconductors: China still has some distance to
go before tasting any success, (2) Logic semiconductors: China has pockets of strength in
IC design, backend and mature foundry nodes, but still lags in several areas, (3) Semi
equipment and wafers: China is lagging in wafers and far behind in equipment and is likely to
remain so, (4) Enterprise and servers: Chinese vendors strong in networking; server
expansion internationally may face challenge, (5) Display: China to dominate TFT panels; may
succeed in OLED but still lag key tools and raw materials; Korea will largely leave TFT space,
(6) Components: China is largely self-reliant. Within specific components, our conclusions are:
(a) Acoustics: Most parts likely to be localised, (b) Antenna: Self-reliant, work in progress to move to more advanced designs, (c) Casing: Lagging in metal casing but a leader elsewhere;
still dependent on casing equipment imports, (d) Camera Module: Largely self-reliant; will increase global share, (e) CMOS Image Sensor (CIS): A credible Chinese player now, and
hence, can be self-reliant, (f) Lens: Largely self-reliant, (g) MLCC: Chinese are lagging and
likely to do so in the medium term too.
On pages 4 and 5, we summarise the global tech supply chain map, indicate our estimate of
China's chances of success in various areas and highlight Chinese companies (in bold) that are either the current or the likely future leaders within their respective sectors.
Tech imports are ~21% of total Chinese
imports…
… Semis are ~70% of all tech imports
Several policy initiatives since 2000 supporting
the development of a local tech industry
Support from multiple sources: National IC
Fund, policy initiatives, R&D and capex
subsidies, local government, and investments
from private VC
China is still far off from closing the gap on
semi manufacturing at leading edge (both
memory and logic) and would likely still be
importing most of its semi equipment in the
foreseeable future
China will increase its dominance in display
(TFT-LCD) and networking and make some
progress in servers and OLED panels
China will continue to localise a higher
proportion of components, though would still
be dependent on some imported parts over the
medium term
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Global tech supply chain
Figure 5: Tech Supply Chain – China vs World
Note: * = Names in bold are either already or likely to be leader in supply chain in 5 years’ time
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse Research
Chances of China's
success in 5 yearsChina Supply Chain* US - Key Suppliers Non-US Key Suppliers
Semiconductor
Lithography SMEEEUR: ASML
JP: Nikon, Canon
Deposition Naura, Piotech Lam Research, Applied MaterialsKR: Wonik IPS, TES, Eugene Tech, PSK
JP: Tokyo Electron
Inspection Grand, Raintree KLA-Tencor, Applied MaterialsKR: Unitest, Techwing
JP: Hitachi Hightechnologies
Etch AMEC, Naura Lam Research, Applied MaterialsKR: Wonik IPS, TES
JP: Tokyo Electron, Hitachi Hightechnologies
Photoresist Processing Kingsemi JP: Tokyo Electron, SCREEN
Clean ACM Lam Research, Applied Materials JP: SCREEN, Tokyo Electron, Shibaura Mechatronics
Substrate Access, Fastprint, SCC KR: SEMCO, LGI
Wafer NSIG (?), AST, Ferrotech JV, ESWIN, Simgui, Zhonghuan
KR: SK Siltron
TW: GlobalWafers, Formosa SUMCO, Wafer Works
JP: Shin-Etsu Chemical, SUMCO, Ferrotec, RS Technologies
Lithography Kempur, RuihongKR: Dongjin Semi
JP: JSR, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo
Sputtering KFMI
CMP Slurry AnjiKR: Soulbrain, KC Tech
JP: Fujimi Incorporated
Chemicals Runma, Jinrui, Huayi, Sinyang Photronics KR: SK Materials, Soulbrain, Wonik Materials, DNF
EDA Tools Minimal Hyperform Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems
Mobile Processor HighHiSilicon, UniSOC, Pinecone (Xiaomi), ZTE (Sanechip), Allwinner, Rockchip, Leadcore,
ASR MicroQualcomm
KR: Samsung
TW: Mediatek
Servers/AILow (servers);
Medium (AI)
HiSilicon, Cambricon, Montage, Alibaba, Eeasy Tech, Huaxinton, Big Fish, ThinkForce,
Illuvatar, Bitmain, Zhaoxin, Loongsan, eBangIntel, AMD, ARM (certain technologies) EUR: ARM
GPU Limited Jingjia, Zhoaxin NVIDIA, AMD
MCU MediumGigadevice, Ingenic, Unigroup Guoxin, SinoWealth, Silan, Goodix, Datang, Huada,
Giantec, Yixin, MindMotion, Winner Micro (Fragmented market)Microchip, TI
EUR: NXP, Infineon,STMicroelectronics
JP: Renesas
RF IC, RF Front End Medium Vanchip, HiSilicon, Maxcend, Sanechip (ZTE), UniSOC, Will Semi, Espressif Systems Qorvo, Skyworks, Qualcomm, BroadcomTW: Win Semi, VPEC, AWSC, Richwave, Mediatek (Airoha), ACX
JP: Murata, Taiyo Yuden
Consumer High Rockchip, Allwinner, Amlogic, Actions, UniSOC, HiSilicon (Fragmented market) AMBA (Ambarella), Microchip, Cypress Semi TW: Mediatek, Realtek
Touch/FP IC High Goodix, Silead, Fortsense, Betterlife, Chipone, BYD Microelectronics Synaptics TW: Egis, Elan
CMOS Image Sensor High Will Semi (OVT), Galaxy Core, Superpix, Artivision, BYD Microelectronics, SmartSens ON Semi, ST Micro
KR: Samsung, SK Hynix, PixelPlus
EUR: Melexis
JP: Sony, Panasonic, Canon
Analog / Discrete Medium HiSilicon, Awinic, SG Micro, BYD, OnBright, Silergy, Nexperia, Huada, ChiponeTI, Analog Devices, Maxim Integrated, ON Semi, Cirrus Logic,
Vishay
EUR: STMicroelectronics, Infineon
JP: Mitsubishai, Rohm, Toshiba
TW: Mediatek (Richtek)
Smartcard High Tongfong Guoxin, Datang, Huada, Nationz, Fudan, Hua Hong IC (Fragmented market)
Surveillance HighHiSilicon, Fullhan, Vimicro, Ingenic, Artosyn, Goke, Eeasy, Dahua, Yitu, Horizon
RoboticsON Semi
FPGA MediumGowin, Fudan Micro, Unigroup Guoxin, Huada, Anlogic, Hercules Micro (leadership
undecided)Xilinx, Altera, Intel, Lattice Semiconductor, Microchip
FoundriesLow (leading edge);
High (mature nodes)
SMIC, Hua Hong, Shanghai Huali, ASMC, CSMC, SiEN, Silan, CanSemi, CR Micro,
Yantai RaytronGlobalFoundries, IBM TW: TSMC, UMC, Vanguard
Back-end
package & testHigh JCET, Tongfu, Tianshui Huatian, China Wafer Level CSP, SJ Semi, Kaifa, Biwin Amkor, R&D Altanova
TW: ASE, King Yuan, SPIL, Powertech, ChipMOS, Chipbond, KYEC,
Kingpak, CHPT (probe)
KR: Unitest, Techwing, Lbsemicon
Memory LimitedYMTC, CXMT, Changxin / Gigadevice, Fujian Jinhua, Reliance Memory (Rambus/Giga
JV), ISSI, GinatecMicron, Intel, Western Digital
KR: Samsung, SK Hynix
TW: Nanya Tech, Macronix, Winbond
JP: Kioxia (ex-Toshiba Memory)
Limited
LimitedSemi Materials
Fabless
IC Design
Semi Cap
Equipment
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Figure 6: Tech Supply Chain – China vs World (Con’t)
Note: * = Names in bold are either already or likely to be leader in supply chain in 5 years’ time
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse Research
Chances of China's
success in 5 yearsChina Supply Chain* US - Key Suppliers Non-US Key Suppliers
Others
Panel High BOE, Tianma, CEC Panda, CSOT, Truly, Visionox, EDO, Royole, Olightek
KR: Samsung, LGD
TW: AUO, Innolux, HannStar
JP: Sharp, Japan Display, JOLED
Casing High Lens, Biel Crystal, BYDE, AAC, Everwin, Tongda, CN InnovationsTW: Foxconn/FII/FIH, Casetek, Catcher, Everwin, Ju Teng
KR: Khvatec
Touch / Fingerprint High O-Film, Truly, Q-tech, Speed, Holitech KR: Partron, Mcnex, Dreamtech, Crucialtec
CCM High Sunny Optical, O-Film, Q Tech, Truly, Luxvision, Holitech, Shine, SZSeasonsON Semi, Omnivision, Lumentum, Finisar, Vertilite, Viavi, Jabil,
IIVI
KR: SEMCO,LG Innotek, JAHWA, Patron, Mcnex, Powerlogics, Cammsys
TW: Largan, Genius, PTOT
JP: Kantatsu, Mitsumi, TDK, Alps, Shicoh, Sharp
Lens High Sunny Optical, AAC (?), O-film, Star JuYu, LceOptic, Huaxin
TW: Largan, Genius
KR: SEMCO, Sekonix, Elcomtec, Kolen
JP: Kantatsu
Acoustic High Goertek, AAC, Luxshare, NeoMEMS, MEMSensing, Speed Knowles, InvenSense
EUR: STMicroelectronics, Bosch
KR: EM-Tech, Bluecom
TW: Merry, Inventec
JP: Hosiden
Connector High Luxshare, Sunway, Everwin TE Connectivity, Amphehol, MolexJP: Hirose, JAE, Kyocera, Panasonic, Daiichi Seiko, Iriso
TW: FIT
Surveillance High Hikvision, Dahua, Uniview TW: Geovision
Antenna High Sunway, Speed, AAC, Luxshare, JESONcom, Deman Amphenol, Skycross, Sky-Wave
EUR: Ethertronics
KR: Partron, Wisol, SEMCO
TW: Auden
JP: Sumitomo, Murata
MLCCLow (high-end);
High (commodity end)
Fenghua (?), Chaozhou Three Circle (?), Torch, Hongyuan, Sinocera, Sunlord,
Hongda, TianliAVX, Kemet, Vishay
KR: SEMCO / Samwha
TW: Yageo, Walsin Tech
JP: Murata, TDK, Taiyo Yuden, Kyocera
PCB High Shengyi, Shennan Circuit, MFLEX, Victory Du Pont, TTM
KR: SEMCO, BH, Korea Circuit, Daeduck, Interflex
TW: Taimide, Wus, Mortech, Taiflex, Thinflex, AEM, Avary, Flexium,
Career
JP: UBE, Mitsubishi Gas, NOK, Fujikura, SEI, Ibiden, Kyocera
Equipment Low Naura, Han's Laser, Dalian Zhiyun, Liande
KR: APS, SFA Engineering, Wonik IPS, Viatron
JP: Canon, Hirata Corporationi, Tokyo Electron, SCREEN, ULVAC, V-
technology, Shibaura-Mechatronics
Materials / Components Low to mediumJilin Optical, RuiYuan, Puyang Huicheng, Valiant, Selen, Eternal Material, Kangdexin,
Dongxu Opto, CaiHong OptoCorning, Universal Display, Dow Chemical, Merck
KR: Duksan Neolux, LG Chem, Samsung, SDI, KH Vatec, SKC Kolon PI
TW: TPK, Cheng Mei, BenQ Material, GIS
JP: New Nippon Steel, Idemitsu Kosan, Nitto Denko, Sumitomo Chem
Driver IC Low to medium SinoWealth, Solomon Systech, ChiponeTW: Novatek, FocalTech, Himax, Ilitek, Fitipower, Raydium
KR: Siliconworks, Magnachip, Samsung LSI
LEDs High Sanan, HC Semitek, Canyang Opto, Changelight Cree
EU: Osram
KR: Seoul SemIConductor, Samsung, LG Innotek
TW: Epistar, Lextar
JP: Nichia, Osram, Toyoda Gosei
ODMs / EMS High Huaqin, Wingtech, TINNO, BYDE, Longcheer, USI Flextronics, Jabil Circuit TW: Compal, Hon Hai, Inventec, Pegatron, Quanta, Wistron
Smartphone High Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, ZTE, Coolpad, Lenovo, TCL, Transsion AppleKR: Samsung, LGE
JP: Sony, Sharp
PC High Lenovo, Haier, Hasee, Huawei (?), Tongfang, Xiaomi (?) HP, Dell, Apple, Microsoft
TW: Acer, Asus, MSI
KR: Samsung, LG
JP: Sharp
Enterprise /
ServerMedium
Huawei, Great Wall, H3C, Hikvision, Inspur, Lenovo, Powerleader, Tongfang, Sugon,
ZTE HPE, Dell, Supermicro, Cisco
TW: Inventec, Quanta/QCT, Wistron/Wiwynn
JP: Fujitsu
Networking OEMs High Huawei, H3C, ZTE, TP-Link Cisco, Arista, HPE, Juniper, Extreme KR: Samsung
Display
Components
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 6
Table of Contents
Focus charts 2
China: Can it gain tech independence? 3
A net tech exporter; but a heavy semi importer ................................................................. 3
Localising semi production a national priority .................................................................... 3
China localisation: A mixed success story ........................................................................ 3
A net tech exporter; but a heavy semi importer 8
China is by now a net tech exporter ............................................................................... 10
Localising semi production a national priority 12
Chinese IC industry policy timeline ................................................................................. 13
Made in China 2025: Semis and IT sectors the focus ..................................................... 14
Funding of semis localisation initiative ............................................................................ 15
China localisation: A mixed success story 18
Memory semiconductors – still some distance to go ........................................................ 18
Logic semiconductors: pockets of strength in IC Design, backend and mature foundry
nodes.......................................................................................................................... 19
Semi equipment and wafers: lagging in wafers and far behind in equipment ..................... 21
Enterprise and servers: Chinese vendors strong in networking; server expansion
internationally may face challenges ................................................................................ 21
Display: China to dominate TFT panels; may succeed in OLED but still lags in key tools and
raw materials ............................................................................................................... 22
Components: largely self-reliant .................................................................................... 24
Memory semiconductors 27
Current market structure .............................................................................................. 27
China's game plan ....................................................................................................... 29
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 34
Logic Semiconductors 37
IC design: China’s presence rising in consumer and mobile, still lags in higher value areas 37
Foundry: China lags on advanced capacity, more competitive on the mature nodes ........... 42
Back-end: China has used M&A to gain a stronger presence .......................................... 48
Funding of semi ambitions ............................................................................................ 50
Conclusion: China’s presence lagging in foundry, rising in OSAT, varying in IC design ...... 54
Semi equipment and wafers 59
China's game plan ....................................................................................................... 61
Conclusion: Lagging in wafers and far behind in equipment............................................. 61
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 7
Enterprise and servers 63
Current market structure .............................................................................................. 63
China's game plan ....................................................................................................... 67
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 69
Display 71
Current market structure .............................................................................................. 71
China game plan .......................................................................................................... 74
Conclusion: Chinese display makers becoming more meaningful but still lag key tools and
raw material ................................................................................................................. 79
Components 84
Acoustic ...................................................................................................................... 85
Antenna ...................................................................................................................... 89
Casing ........................................................................................................................ 91
Camera module ........................................................................................................... 95
CMOS Image sensor (CIS) ......................................................................................... 101
Lens ......................................................................................................................... 103
MLCC ....................................................................................................................... 106
PCB/substrate .......................................................................................................... 108
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 8
A net tech exporter; but a heavy semi
importer
Import of technology products constitutes the largest proportion of total imports by China for any
given sector. This proportion has grown from high-teens a few years ago to 20-23% in recent
years.
Figure 7: China tech imports as percentage of total imports
Source: CEIC
Technology import totaled up to US$449 bn in 2018, growing 19% YoY. Tech remains the
largest part of the total China imports pie. Machinery & transport equipment, Oil and other fuels,
and non-food raw materials constituted the other major sectors of imports.
Within technology, import of semiconductors by far constituted the largest proportion (~70%) of
imports, with memory semi totaling up to US$122 bn (~27% of total tech imports) and other
semis totaling up to US$189 bn (~42% of total tech imports) in 2018. Import of equipment—
to produce semis and display parts—was another important part of total imports (US$23 bn; 5%
of total). China also imports a large part of its telecom equipment (US$41 bn in 2018; 9% of
total tech imports), while at the same time is a large telecom exporter to the world, highlighting
the interdependencies of the global technology sector.
Figure 8: China total imports breakdown, 2018 (%) Figure 9: Total China tech imports breakdown, 2018 (%)
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates
22%
19%
20%
19%
17%
18%
19%
18%
22%23%
20%
21%
15.0%
16.0%
17.0%
18.0%
19.0%
20.0%
21.0%
22.0%
23.0%
24.0%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Other
Manufactuered Goods, 10%
Machinery &
Transport Equipment, 18%
Tech, 21%
Textile, Rubber,
Minerals, 7%
Chemicals, 10%
Animal & Vegetable
Oils, 0%
Mineral Fuels &
Lubricants, 16%
Non Food Raw
Materials, 13%
Beverages &
Tobacco, 0%
Food & Live
Animals, 3%SPE, 3%
Display Equip, 2%
Semi-memory, 27%
Semi/IC ex memory,
42%
Mobile Handset, 0%
Telecom
Equipment, 9%
Display, 0%
Printed Circuits, 3%
Passive
Component, 3%
Others, 10%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 9
A rise in memory ASPs over the past two years, and strong growth in the market share for
Chinese smartphone brands such as Huawei (which in turn consumes a lot of memory), led to a
strong growth in import of memory semiconductors over the past two years—from US$64 bn in
2016 to US$122 bn in 2018. A combination of subdued growth in computing markets and a
higher localisation of non-memory semis (see more details later in the report under the logic
semiconductor section), non-memory semi import has been flattish in recent years—ranging
from US$172 bn to US$192 bn in the past five years.
Importantly, China's push to create a domestic semi and display production industry has meant
that equipment imports have continued to grow rapidly from just US$8 bn in 2014 to US$23 bn
in 2018.
Figure 10: Equipment, Memory and Other Semis – China import growth (YoY %)
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates
While China is a large importer of technology products, it is also a large exporter of technology
products, actually exporting US$20 bn more of tech products than it imported in 2018 (more on
that later). Technology exports (US$469 bn) constituted 19% of total Chinese exports in 2018,
growing 11% YoY. Exports of machinery and transport equipment form ~30% of total Chinese
exports with other manufactured goods accounting for another 23% of total exports.
Within technology export, export of mobile handsets (US$141 bn) constitutes the largest part of
the pie, followed by exports of other consumer electronics products (US$99 bn) and telecom
equipment (US$77 bn). Growth in Huawei's (and also other Chinese brands) global market
share has driven growth in export of handsets over the past two years, though share gains are
starting to slow, given the already high share for Chinese brands, and incrementally, as the full
impact of the Huawei's inclusion in the US Entity List starts to show.
20
37
17
10
38
60
21 18
13
4
36 40
20
(9)
3
(3)(8)
9
(20)
(10)
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Equipment Semi-memory Semi/IC ex memory
YoY%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 10
Figure 11: China total exports breakdown (as of 2018) Figure 12: Mobile Handset, Telecom Equipment and Others –
China import growth (YoY %)
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates
China is by now a net tech exporter
Over the years, China has become a net exporter of technology products, though that balance
has been reducing since 2015.
Figure 13: China tech net imports (USD bn)
Source: CEIC
Looking at the US$20 bn net trade surplus in technology for China, it becomes obvious that
China is a large net importer of semiconductors and equipment but is a large net exporter of
downstream products such as handsets and consumer electronics and also telecom equipment.
Given the above, it becomes obvious why China has been focusing on growing its local
semiconductor industry.
Other
Manufactuered Goods, 23%
Machinery &
Transport Equipment, 30%
Tech, 19%
Textile, Rubber,
Minerals, 16%
Chemicals, 7%
Mineral Fuels &
Lubricants, 2%
Non Food Raw
Materials, 1%
Food & Live
Animals, 3%
17
21
8
(7)
10 11
13
(2)
14
(4)
9
4
(4)
(2) (1)
(3)
3
7
(10)
(5)
-
5
10
15
20
25
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Mobile Handset Telecom Equipment Others
YoY%
10.5
2.3
(2.4) (2.6)
(11.5)
(29.0)
(37.9)
(49.3)
(66.4)
(47.6) (46.0)
(20.1)
(70.0)
(60.0)
(50.0)
(40.0)
(30.0)
(20.0)
(10.0)
0.0
10.0
20.0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 11
Figure 14: China tech net trade (imports minus exports) waterfall, 2018 (USD bn)
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates
Telecom equipment is one high technology area where China has made significant progress
over the past decade and has closed its technology gap with other global leaders, largely
courtesy of Huawei and ZTE. This also provides some context to the friction that we are seeing
between the US and China regarding Chinese equipment companies on the world stage. It is
also worth noting, that despite China's significant success in telecom equipment, it still imported
about US$41 bn of telecom equipment in 2018, underlining the point that it still depends on
imported technology even in areas where it has made significant progress, to be able to even
export US$77 bn worth of product.
In semis, China has made some progress in developing its domestic fabless industry, though is
still dependent on importing the final manufactured product in several cases. It has also reduced
its import dependence in some areas by encouraging global producers to set up manufacturing
within China to serve both its local demand as well as use China as an export base. Most
noticeably in recent years has been the setting up of memory plants by Samsung, Hynix, and
Intel in China that has resulted in a strong CAGR of memory exports from China. However,
given the continued growth of domestic tech demand as well as Chinese brand's rising share of
end tech products in the global market has meant that China's demand for semiconductors has
outpaced the growth of its domestic semis production and has increased demand for semi parts
that it does not locally produce, resulting in larger net import of semis.
It also noteworthy that the strongest CAGR in import is in the area of semi and display
equipment, albeit the value of imports still remain small in the context of overall tech imports—
necessary import to create a domestic manufacturing base.
Figure 15: China imports CAGR, 2010-15 and 2015-18 (%) Figure 16: China exports CAGR, 2010-15 and 2015-18 (%)
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates
12 11
80
126
( 141 )
( 36 )
( 25 ) ( 3 )
8
(52) (20)
(50)
-
50
100
150
200
250
SPE Display
Equip
Semi-
Memory
Semi/IC ex
Memory
Mobile
Handset
Telecom
Equipment
Display Printed
Circuits
Passive
Component
Others Total Tech
Net Imports
0%
12% 12%
7%
19%
1%
7%
34% 35%
26%
-1%2% 1%
6%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
SPE DisplayEquip
Semi-memory
Semi exmemory
TelcoEquip
Others Total
2010-15 2015-18
20%
9%
22%
10%
4%
11%
25%
-7%
4%3% 2% 2%
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Semi-memory
Semi exmemory
MobileHandset
TelcoEquip
Others Total
2010-15 2015-18
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 12
Localising semi production a national priority
As highlighted in the previous section (and also reproduced in the chart below), 70% of all tech-
related imports by China are of semiconductor products, thus, making it highly dependent on
foreign-sourced parts. Several of these imported semiconductors are also meant for powering
its technology related exports (handsets, telco equipment, and consumer electronics). China
also imports most of its equipment required for semi and display manufacturing and currently
has limited capability to manufacture any of these equipment locally. Thus, not surprisingly, the
focus of Chinese authorities, in the past decade or more, has been to develop a local
semiconductor industry.
Figure 17: Total China tech imports breakdown, 2018 (%)
Source: CEIC, Credit Suisse estimates
While the focus on developing a domestic Semi industry has borne some fruit – local semis
production has been growing at a 20% CAGR in recent years (including semi production by
global players out of their China-based facilities) – China, as discussed in the previous section,
remains a large importer of semiconductors, and hence, the need to continue to focus on
developing the local industry. Geopolitical developments in recent years, particularly the inclusion
of several Chinese entities (notably Huawei, Hikvision amongst others) by the US on its
restricted Entity List, further adds urgency to China's initiatives to localise the tech industry and
reduce its import dependence.
Figure 18: China semi industry revs and YoY growth
Source: CEIC
SPE, 3%Display Equip, 2%
Semi-memory, 27%
Semi/IC ex memory,
42%
Mobile Handset, 0%
Telecom
Equipment, 9%
Display, 0%
Printed Circuits, 3%
Passive
Component, 3%
Others, 10%
305 321255
142
382466
600
707
843
996
1,221
1,487
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
China Semi Sales (Rmb bn) YoY(%)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 13
Chinese IC industry policy timeline
The government has had several policies before, starting notably with State Council Document
18 to develop its IC industry in 2000. This policy offered favourable tax treatment for domestic
IC chips and government investment in infrastructure, education, and basic research. In 2005,
the US petitioned the WTO to drop the VAT rebates for China IC producers, however, some of
the favourable industry policies stayed in effect, with the full document in effect through the end
of 2010. The policy did lay the ground work for the domestic industry, building it up to close to
10% of industry production by the financial crisis and US$23 bn of sales, according to CCID.
Figure 19: China IC industry policies progress since 2000
Source: SEMI
China's State Council supplemented the policy with its guidelines on Scientific Technology
development in 2006 for the next 15 years. It set a target for R&D at 2.5% of China's GDP,
with interim targets by 2020 to increase science and technology to 60% of the country's
development and lowered reliance on foreign technology to less than 30%. The policy
supported a Science and Technology development programme with projects to develop core
devices, high-end chips, equipment and materials, China prioritised technology development
and set targets to reach Top 5 in patents.
The China government passed the National IC Development Guideline in 2014 and ‘Made in
China 2025’ initiatives in 2015, jumpstarting the latest wave of industry development to build
the local semiconductor industry, this time directing more public and private resources for the
initiative. Key outcome from the guidelines is to achieve 20% of semiconductor industry revenue
growth to US$143 bn by 2020 (Rmb870 bn), raising China's internal supply of silicon from
one-third to half to reduce import dependence and stimulate the economy to move up the value
chain from manual labour intensive to high-skilled technology intensive industries.
The national policy laid out aggressive plans behind its 20% growth rate to achieve global
competitiveness across chip manufacturing, fabless IC design, back-end package and test,
materials and equipment. By 2020, the target is to move up from one third to half of its chips
from domestic production, reach competitiveness in a number of advanced silicon capabilities
(IoT, networking, cloud computing, big data), enter FinFet mass production and have back-end,
equipment and materials solutions to be competitive enough to serve the global supply chain.
Ultimately by 2030, China's target is to have a world class IC value chain with a set of top-tier
global chip players.
China's policy target in 2006 was to ramp R&D
and technology investments
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 14
Figure 20: China's 2014 National IC Guideline set aggressive targets for its chip industry
Source: SEMI, China's National Guideline 2014, Credit Suisse research
Made in China 2025: Semis and IT sectors the focus
The Chinese government in May 2015 also laid out the first of three 10-year plans to transform
China into a leading high-quality manufacturing powerhouse by 2049, transitioning the country
from a volume-based labour intensive chain into a high-tech integrated manufacturing base with
leading global innovation. The country is looking to follow Germany's Industry 4.0 push to move
towards more automated, efficient, networked, and connected manufacturing that also
integrates production, supply chain, and customers.
The first ten-year initiative in the Made-in-China 2025 campaign targets strengthening China's
industrial base to enhance the quality of the manufacturing, foster Chinese brands and improve
manufacturing innovation. The government prioritised ten sectors although semiconductors and
information technology are key focus areas in the programme. To promote the Made-in-China
2025 campaign, the MIIT will facilitate the industry consolidation to allocate the resource more
efficiently and encourage the financial support from local government and private funds on the
local semiconductor ecosystem development.
The plan will combine some state planning for the framework but also market forces including
IP protection and industry standard creation and broader push to participate in international
standards. Localisation is another goal of the programme, with a plan to raise the domestic
content of core components and materials to 40% by 2020 and 70% by 2025.
Figure 21: Improvement targets for Made in China 2025 Figure 22: Made in China 2025 domestic champions
Source: Refinitiv, Credit Suisse Global Strategy Research Source: Refinitiv, Credit Suisse Global Strategy Research
2015 2020 2030
Semiconductor Revenue >350bn RMB (US$55bn) >870bn RMB (20% Growth CAGR) World class IC industry value chain
IC Manufacturing 32/28nm mass production 16/14nm mass production A set of leading tier 1 global semi players
IC Design
Approach international standards in some
technologies (smartphones, networking)
Reach international leading edge in key
technologies (mobile, networking, cloud
computing, IoT, big data)
IC Package and Test >30% of sales from advanced packaging Competitive with the global leaders
IC Materials 12" silicon wafers in the production line Competitive in the global supply chain
Semi. Equipment 65-45nm tools in the production line Competitive in the global supply chain
Target Indicator 2015 2020 2025
R&D intensity as (% of sales) 0.95 1.26 1.68
Patents per 100m of core
business revenues0.44 0.7 1.1
Manufacturing quality
competitiveness index83.5 84.5 85.5
Manufacturing value added
growth rateNA 2% > 2015 4% > 2016
Manufacturing labour productivity
growth rateNA
+/-7.5 (13th
5YP CAGR)
+/-6.5 (13th
5YP CAGR)
Broadband penetration (%) 50 70 82
R&D digital design tool
penetration58 72 84
Utilisation rate for numerical
controls in critical processes (%)33 50 64
Energy consumption per unit of
industrial value addedNA 18%<2015 34%<2015
C02 emissioins per unit of
industrial value addedNA 22%<2015 40%<2015
Water consumption per unit of
industrial value addedNA 23%<2015 41%<2015
Utilisation rate of solid industrial
waste (%)85 73 79
Innovation
Quality
efficiency
Integration of
Industrialisation
and IT
Environmental
Improvements
Sector Target and focus areas Existing capability
Information
Technology
Technological Innovation, particularly
semiconductors
Limited but key focus sector for creating
leadership in technology
Numerical control tools
and robotics
Low and medium level automation
capability. Focus on NC tool capability
to improve manufacturing quality and
productivity
Already a leader in low and medium level NC
tools
Aerospace equipment
Focus on satellite capabilities and
passenger jet transportation including
aircraft engines
One passenger jet C919-2,400 planes possible
by 2045
Marine engineeringOffshore infrastructure and high-tech
ships
Existing investment and capabilities in South
China Seas infrastructure
Railway equipment
Existing high speed train production.
"One Belt, One Road" projects to
improve competitiveness
High speed rail equipment sales to Russia and
Malaysia. In discussions with over 20 countries
for potential high speed railway equipment sales
including US
Energy efficiency and
electric vehicles
Domestic environmental clean-up
priorities and long established domestic
car manufacturing aspirations
Existing environment clean-up and emission
reduction targets should support this segment.
Visibility of innovation new fuel vehicles limited
Power equipmentCore priorities of smart grid and smart
city technologiesCurrently exporter of power equipment to India
New materialsKey government focus on "invention"
and "innovation" in materialsResearch into new materials in its infancy
Biopharma and medical
devices
Existing success in low tech medical
devices. Likelihood of success in
biopharma and medicines less certain
Rapid growth in medical equipment market of
20% pa since 2009 from small base. Medical
device capability currently small, low technology
equipment and supplies
Agricultural machinery
Focus on improving quality in current
manufacturing and potential export
sector. Potential for international
demand less clear
Domestic industry concentrated on low power
tractors and small to medium machinery.
Exports predominantly from JVs
Made in China 2025 targets
transforming industry to a
high-end integrated value
chain
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 15
The Made in China programme ultimately targets making Chinese companies more competitive,
production and components more localised and China firms higher up on the value chain moving
towards International brand recognition and status.
Funding of semis localisation initiative
China National IC Fund established in August 2014
Substantial funding is behind the National IC Development Guideline initiative, including
establishing the National IC Fund which raised US$20 bn in 2014 and now a second round for
US$29 bn, along with US$120-140 bn from public/private funds. The fund has invested in
creating national champions that can compete globally across the foundry, back-end, suppliers
and design companies, with 60% of the funding to designated IC manufacturing due to the
foundries central role in the ecosystem, and 40% for packaging & test, IC design, equipment,
material, and local IC funds.
Local Private Equity funds supplement the National IC fund
To supplement the National IC Fund, the Chinese government believes a strong policy support,
growing ecosystem and national fund backing in the semiconductor industry will attract an even
greater amount of investment from private sectors, financial institutions, and overseas investors.
The Chinese government expects 5x more investments beyond the National IC Fund. The
Shanghai government has been aggressive on semiconductor industry development as it already
has a relatively sound ecosystem of international manufacturers, local and overseas foundries,
back-end and IC design. The IC fund that it established last year made its first acquisition target
of ISSI in March to bring more memory IP into China. The first phase of the fund has been
largely been deployed. SMIC and UMC Xiamen fab expansions next year will use the second
phase of the fund.
Figure 23: China semiconductor industry is supported by National IC Fund and increasing capital from private sectors
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
The Beijing IC Fund also has Rmb30 bn to acquire Omnivision and is developing a 28nm 12"
JV fab with SMIC now at 17k WPM with an eventual target for 35K in the first of the three
phases. The Shanghai government has also announced a JV fab with SMIC, and Ningbo is
developing an R&D centre that could convert to a fab capacity focused on specialty
manufacturing technology. The Nanjing government has also supported TSMC's 20k fab
investment, Xiamen government formed a JV with UMC for a 50k WPM fab in that province,
and Chonqing government has invested in the Globalfoundries fab in China.
National IC Fund Regional Funds Tsinghua Unigroup PDSTIChina Fortune-
Tech Capital
Beijing E-Town
CapitalSummitView Capital BJ Semi Fund Hua Capital
Start Date 2014 2014-2015 1988 1999 2014 2009 2011 2014 2014
Mandates
- Supports China's
IC industry
development
- Encourages
private sectors to
invest in
semiconductors
- Shanghai $8.0bn,
Beijing $4.7bn,
Wuhan $4.7bn,
Sichuan $1.7bn,
Shenzhen $3.1bn,
Wuxi $1.7bn,
Nanjing $150mn
- Build up the China
semiconductor IDM
ecosystem
- Supports
China's IC
development with
acquisitions
- Focuses on
emerging fabless
investments to
expand SMIC's
markets
- Supports China
technology
companies'
development
- Invests in semi and
internet start-ups
- The fund is co-set up
with the Shanghai
givernment mainly for
semiconductor M&A
- Focus on Ics, IT,
manufacturing,
energy and medical
- Supports China's
semiconductor
development
through
acquisitions
Fund SizeRMB139bn
(US$21bn)
RMB150bn
(US$24bn)
RMB300bn
(US$46bn) planned
in 5 years
RMB10bn
(US$1.5bn) for
semiconductors
RMB500mn
(US$76mn)
RMB1.2bn
(US$180mn) for
semiconductors
RMB10bn (US$1.5bn)
for semiconductorsRMB4bn
RMB2bn
(US$310mn) for
semiconductors
Investments
- Stake
investments:
SMIC, ZTE Micro,
JCET
- Business deals:
Tsinghua Unigroup
Stake investments:
- Shanghai with
ISSI,
Beijing/Shenzhen
with SMIC, Wuhan
with XMC, Nanjing
with TSMC
- Acquisition:
Spreadtrum, RDA,
H3C
- Stake
investments:
Western Digital, 3
Taiwan OSATs
- Acquisition:
Montage
- Stake
investments:
SMIC,
Spreadtrum
- Stake
investments:
EtraSemi, CISTA,
Senodia
- Acquisition:
Mattson- Acquisition: ISSI
- Investments:
SMIC, Actions,
Montage, SPRD,
Chipsbank,
TechFaith, CSMC,
Waveguider, Fortune
Techgroup, Sinosun
- Acquisition:
Omnivision
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 16
Figure 24: China IC Focused Funds
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Private VCs also an important form of capital
Local private VCs are also working in conjunction with the government and National IC Fund.
Tsinghua Unigroup is the largest fund and is focused on establishing memory companies in
China. The fund had earlier invested in RDA/Spreadtrum, attracted Intel's investment in 2014
and expanded its acquisition targets into memory with a JV with ChipMOS in packaging,
acquisition of XMC for NAND flash and development of a DRAM fab backed by local funds.
Tshinghua has continued to invest in the Yangtze Memory Technology. Beijing ETown was
involved in acquiring Mattson, a US-based smaller equipment company.
Figure 25: Top 10 Chinese semiconductor private placements: 2016-18
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence
Funds Amount (Rmb,bn) Amount (US$,bn) Source
China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (CICIIF) 138.7 20.8 Central Government
Tsinghua Unigroup 300.0 45.0 Private sectors/Central Government
Beijing Semiconductor Industry Development Fund 30.0 4.5 Beijing Government
Shanghai IC Fund 50.0 7.5 Shanghai Government
Shanghai IC Investment Fund 28.5 4.3 Shanghai
Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Investment 10.0 1.5 Shanghai
China Fortune-Tech Capital 0.5 0.1 SMIC
Beijing E-Town Capital 20.0 3.0 Beijing Government/Private sectors
BJ Semi Fund 4.0 0.6 Beijing Government/Private sectors
Hua Capital 2.0 0.3 SMIC/Tsinghua Holdings
Shenzhen IC Industry Fund 20.0 3.0 Shenzhen Government
Beijing IC Overseas Fund 2.0 0.3 Beijing
Xiamen Tsinghua IC development Fund 16.0 2.4 Xiamen, Tsinghua Unigroup
Fujian Province Anxin Industry Fund 50.0 7.5 Fujian
Guangdong Province IC Fund 15.0 2.3 Guangdong
Wuhan Industry Development Fund 30.0 4.5 Wuhan
Sichuan Industry Investment Fund 10.0 1.5 Sichuan
Nanjing Pukou IC Industry Fund 1.0 0.2 Nanjing
Nanjing IC Industry Fund 50.0 7.5 Nanjing
Hubei Investment Fund 30.0 4.5 Hubei
Wuxi IC Industry Fund 20.0 3.0 Wuxi
Tianjin IC Industry Fund 200mn a year 30mn a year Tianjin
Shijiazhuang IC Industry Fund 10.0 1.5 Shijiazhuang
Shanxi IC Industry Fund 30.0 4.5 Shangxi
Liaoning IC Industry Fund 10.0 1.5 Liaoning
Summitview Capital 10.0 1.5 Private
Other local government and PE 30-80bn 5-12bn Gov, Private, SOE etc.
Total estimates: RMB850-950bn US$120-140bn
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 17
Other sources of funding and support
Other than broad level and significant funds available from the National IC Fund, local private
equity funds and private VCs, these semiconductor players in China also stand to gain funding
and help from the following sources, and we discuss these in more detail later in the report
under the logic semiconductors section:
o Setting up joint ventures between fab/foundry operators and local governments
o Providing R&D and equipment subsidies
o Incentivising talent to move to China and improving local talent output; increasing local
R&D spend
o Easing access to capital markets
Setting up localised standards to support industry
development
The Chinese government also believes that large domestic demand from the local market
provides it an opportunity to support the local semiconductor industry by setting up localised
industry standards. The government successfully promoted TD-LTE in the communications
segment to build its domestic equipment industry early in the 3G era to pave the way for its
more competitive position on 4G and now 5G. It now believes that it is in a leading position to
drive standards in 5G development and has issued licenses and is targeting an aggressive
domestic roll-out to build its local equipment and smartphone brands. It also set up a new
standard in the financial cards market to support the local smartcard fabless in 2014.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 18
China localisation: A mixed success story
China already has companies emerge across the tech supply chain, with more success in
hardware and components. In tech hardware, China's smartphone brands have taken 55-60%
of the global smartphone market, has leading PC brand Lenovo, networking suppliers Huawei
and ZTE and leading regional TV brands in TCL, Changhong, Skyworth, Konka, Haier and
Hisense. The component sector has also been seeing competition rise across acoustics, casing,
lens/camera module, optical components and connectors. The country is also leading in EMS,
with most of the industry's TV and notebook production in China. The presence of a large and
growing hardware sector is pushing the national interest to also develop its semiconductor
sector for economic benefits, moving into higher value areas and lessening requirement on
import, and also national security controlling its processing, communication and storage links.
Figure 26: Technology supply chain – a map of Chinese suppliers
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse Research
While we discuss in greater detail the dynamics at play in each of tech subsectors later in the
report, we summarise our conclusions for each of these sectors in the following paragraphs.
Memory semiconductors – still some distance to go
While there are many Chinese entities that have indicated interest to engage in production of
memory semiconductors, we conclude that currently there are only two likely players that will
pioneer the memory semi development in China: Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) for
DRAM and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) for NAND. Overall, for both DRAM and
NAND, we see very little supply impact from China by 2020.
Networking:Huawei, ZTE
CM / ODMs
PC Brands
Smartphone Brands
Networking OEMs
Back-end package & test
IC Distributors
Components
Fabless IC Design
Foundries
Semi Cap Equipment
EDA Tools
Tech Downstream Distributors
Hyperform
Exposure: SMEEDeposition: Naura, PiotechInspection: Grand, RaintreeEtch: AMEC, NauraPhotoresist processing: KingsemiClean: ACM
SMIC, Hua Hong, Shanghai Huali, ASMC, CSMC, SiEN, Silan, CanSemi, CR Micro, Yantai Raytron
JCET, Tianshui Huatian, Tongfu, China Wafer Level CSP, SJ Semi, Kaifa, Biwin
HQ Mart, Will Semi, FortuneTech, Wuhan P&S, INtron, Apex Ace, Smart-core, Techtronics, Wisewheel, Sunray
Huaqin, Wingtech, TINNO, BYD, Longcheer, USI
Panel: BOE, Tianma, CEC Panda, CSOTCasing: BYDE, Ju Teng, Tongda, FIITouch/Fingerprint: O-Film, Truly, Q-TechLens: Sunny Optical, AACAcoustic: Goertek, AACConnector: Luxshare, Everwin, FITSurveillance: Hikvision, DahuaAntenna: Luxshare, SunwayLEDs: Sanan Handsets: Huawei,
Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, ZTE, Coolpad, Lenovo, TCL
PC / Server:Lenovo, Inspur, Dawning, Razer, Huawei
Synnex (Taiwan listed), Digital
China, VST
Mobile Processor: HiSilicon, Spreadtrum, ASR, Pinecone, ZTE (Sanechip)Servers/AI: HiSilicon, Cambricon, Montage, Alibaba, Eeasy Tech, Huaxinton, Big Fish, ThinkForce, Illuvatar, Cambricon, Bitmain, Zhaoxin, Loongsan, eBangGPU: Jingjia, ZhoaxinMCU: Gigadevice, Ingenic, Unigroup Guoxin, SinoWealth, Silan, Goodix, Datang, Huada, Giantec, Yixin, MindMotion, Winner MicroRF IC: RDA, Vanchip, Huawei, Maxscend, SanechipsConsumer: Rockchip, Allwinner, Amlogic, ActionsTouch/Fingerprint IC: Goodix, Silead, Fortsense, Betterlife, Chipone, BYDCMOS image sensor: Will Semi (OVT), GalaxyCore, Superpix, ArtivisionAnalog: Awinic, SG Micro, BYD , OnBright, Silergy, Nexperia, Huada, ChiponeDriver IC: SinoWealth, Solomon Systech, ChiponeSmartcard: Tongfong Guoxin, Datang, Huada, Nationz, Fudan, Hua Hong ICMemory: GigaDevice, YMTC, Changxin, Fujian Jinhua, Reliance Memory (Rambus/Giga JV), ISSI, GiantecSurveillance/Video: Huawei, Fullhan, Vimicro, Ingenic, Artosyn, Goke, Eeasy, Dahua, Yitu, Horizon RoboticsFPGA: Gowin, Fudan Micro, Unigroup Guoxin, Huada
End Consumer
Retail: Gome,Suning
Online: Alibaba, JD.com
Semi Materials
Substrate: Access, Fastprint, SCCWafer: AST, Ferrotech JV, ESWIN, Simgui, Zing Semi, Zhonghuan Lithography related: Kempur, RuihongSputtering: KFMICMP Slurry: AnjiChemicals: Runma, Jingrui, Huayi, Sinyang
TV Brands
TV: Skyworth,Changhong, Haier,
Hisense, Konka,TCL
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 19
In DRAM, while CXMT's first fab is designed up to 120K wafers based on announced 19nm
technology plan, the initial ramp of 20K to 30K wpm has already been delayed by over a year.
CXMT is going to provide output only on 19 nm (we cannot yet confirm if this is an industry
accepted 19nm) by next year, but by mid-2020, 19 nm would not be competitive to industry
leaders producing mostly on 1y nm and with Samsung potentially moving on to 1z nm. Also,
within such a small production scale and lack of engineers, it is unlikely that CXMT can
simultaneously work on various DRAM architectures such as mobile, PC, Server, etc. Most
likely, CXMT, even if it is successful in commercially producing 18nm DRAM, will find itself
competing in the consumer specialty DRAM segment which would require less advanced nodes
and speed. Therefore, the Taiwanese consumer DRAM makers would be the first in line in
terms of competitive threat, however, as we said, only if CXMT is successful. From a capacity
planning perspective, 20K to 30K wpm on higher nodes does not represent overall DRAM
industry supply threat. However, if CXMT were to be successful and ramp to its maximum
120K by end of 2022, then it could represent as high as ~8% of global DRAM wafer capacity,
although likely significantly less in terms of bit shipment market share. While we believe CXMT
remains the designated DRAM champion in China, in recent weeks, we have seen some signs,
given the relatively slow progress in DRAM at CXMT that China may be looking to back another
group (partly funded by Gigadevice – 603986.SS) as well for DRAM development.
YMTC's 3D NAND mass production roadmap is less clear. Having 64L TLC design at this
juncture of NAND industry development puts its technology far behind industry leaders who are
already producing on 92L/96L and investing in 128L. The industry leaders are already
dismantling 6xL capacity as any hope of return to profitability fades, given the sharp fall in ASPs
over the past two years. This technology (6x layers) would have no cost advantage and has
limited use in the end-market applications. Although YMTC has begun R&D of 128L NAND
and targets risk production from 4Q20, given its history, we expect more time is needed. It may
be working on the successful of 64L development for a while. While the long-term goal of
ramping to 300K wpm has been indicated by the company, it would first need sizeable
customer wins in order to produce NAND in that magnitude. YMTC has announced that it
began sampling its NAND products with various client SSD makers but success of any
qualification is unknown currently. Capacity ramp schedule would be difficult to project without
confirmation of a commercially viable product.
Logic semiconductors: pockets of strength in IC
Design, backend and mature foundry nodes
The Chinese semiconductor sector is seeing varying degrees of success establishing self-sufficiency in its domestic ecosystem due to high barriers in the advanced manufacturing and
chip design. In foundry, market share has been stable around 9% the past decade, despite National IC fund investments and heavy attention on this sector as the centre of China’s
industrial development. TSMC’s wide lead on process technology, and increasingly high-end advanced packaging, allows it to address the high-end compute, mobile and networking
demand. The Chinese foundries have kept up with market growth, but largely by leveraging their
more legacy 8” and mature 12” process nodes to address high-volume consumer and wireless/wired connectivity, and specialty high-volume applications (CMOS image sensors,
power management, bank cards, specialty memory).
In the back-end space, China has increased share following the M&A of overseas companies,
and through a combination of aggressive pricing, targeting of SiP with high sales contribution
but low margin, and addressing the growing base of local fabless and international companies with supply chains in China. The companies, following acquisition, can address the mainstream
high-volume packaging—including flip chip and wafer level packaging—though lag foundry leader TSMC integrating high-end applications on its silicon interposers and high density fan-out
process. Market share has been rising, and now approaching 20%, although profitability is still a concern with China players operating at low- to mid-single-digit operating margins.
In IC design, traction has been steady, to lift share from 4% in 2010 to 16% in 2018,
although it has been concentrated in select areas of the semiconductor space. Market share is the highest in mobile segment (processor, modem, wireless power management, connectivity,
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 20
CMOS sensors), wired connectivity (led by Huawei) and some new high-volume applications
seeing strong support in China (crypto-currency and AI). Market share is still below 5% in
approx 70% of the overall industry – most notably processors, memory, GPU, FPGA, analog,
MCU and RF.
Figure 27: China semiconductor industry continues to outgrow global peers
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Likely growth areas over the next three years:
1. Continued growth in its core wireless-related semis. We expect China to have
the most growth from its existing strong hold in wireless, through higher content in
mobile processors, connectivity, image sensor and gradual traction in RF. The move to
5G networks should drive both content and volume growth.
2. AI could be a new high-volume category for fabless. Replicating their success in
the crypto-currency ASIC market, we expect these companies to target AI inference
and some cloud-acceleration applications, which could drive another revenue cycle
addressing the evolution toward smarter products capable of voice recognition and
image/object detection.
3. Growth from a low-base in analog, RF, and MCUs. China has an opportunity to
target more mature mainstream analog and discretes, and MCUs, including at
domestic companies looking for a local-source alternative to the global IDM. The
presence of local foundry capacity with Hua Hong’s 8” and new 12” mature fab and
back-end capacity should help. The Asian RF foundries like Win Semi and AWSC
along with Sanan’s development should also help the emerging RF suppliers to target
some of the discrete RF components and mature 2G-4G cellular layers and Wi-Fi RF.
4. Local foundries to grow on specialty applications/mature nodes. We expect
China’s foundries to expand their position with the growing local IC design companies
using their mature lines (power management, flash memory, CMOS sensor, digital
consumer). Hua Hong’s expansion of its Wuxi fab would double its revenue base in
the next five years on still-mature technology nodes, while SMIC should keep its
mature lines relatively full with the growth of the domestic market. The advanced
technology may, however, take more time.
5. China back-end takes a larger share of local customers. China’s back-end
sector is seeing increasing opportunities as it leverages the more advanced technology
capabilities picked up from its acquisitions to target domestic companies adding local
sources. Profitability though, may still lag a bit due to on-going competition.
6. A few longer term (three-to-five years) possibilities:
a. SMIC’s aggressive push on technology at the expense of near-term
profitability, heavy government support, and drop-off of advanced technology
competition from UMC and GF gives it a chance to emerge as a capacity
source for more advanced applications. SMIC will need to endure high capex
and difficult profitability but may emerge in three to five years as a more
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2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
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China foundry share China back-end Share China fabless share
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4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 21
competitive foundry capable of supplying some of the more advanced
mobile and networking applications.
b. China’s design houses are working on alternatives to Intel/AMD CPUs using
ARM and RISC-V processors and NVIDIA accelerators with a host of AI
inference and training chips. Within three to five years, the push for a local
source—for national security and economic reasons—could allow local
suppliers to gain some traction.
c. We would view the build-up of more local teams and domestic diversification
as allowing local suppliers to gain further market share in broad markets in
MCUs and analog.
Semi equipment and wafers: lagging in wafers and far
behind in equipment
There are two relevant Chinese equipment companies, but both with negligible shares currently:
AMEC (Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment) which develops and manufactures dielectric and
TSV etch tools for semiconductor manufacturers, and MOCVD tools for LED makers; and Naura
(Naura Technology Group) which has been set up with a mission to establish China’s capabilities
in various equipment fields and is developing a wide range of semiconductor equipment (including
etch, PVD (physical vapour deposition, CVD (chemical vapour deposition), diffusion, cleaning tool,
UV curve, indexer, gas measuring control, ALD (atomic layer deposition) etc.).
For equipment, we estimate China players are at least 5-10 years behind global suppliers, or
even longer for areas where there is no volume production by China companies so far. We
expect the 5-10 years gap to continue in the foreseeable future, given the long development
and complex qualification process required by chipmakers. That said, given China’s strong
momentum in domestic replacement, we expect some China players to shorten their technology
gaps vs global players (i.e., AMEC), while some may require an even longer time. Importantly,
price of equipment is not a critical issue to change suppliers in the equipment market as
production yield is quite an important parameter for semiconductor makers.
Similarly, we think local Chinese wafer makers may not be able to close the technology gap with
the wafer majors and significantly boost their market share over the next one to three years.
Given also the size of the market shares commanded by Japanese, European, Taiwanese and
Korean makers, we do not envisage any noteworthy change in market share distribution. Our
view is based on the scale of the technological barriers. At this point, we have ascertained the
following major developments, although in all three cases we understand there are unresolved
technological issues. (1) Zingsemi is shipping 300mm test wafers to customers, but these are
not ready for use in commercial mass production. (2) Having hired engineers from outside of
Japan, RS Technologies has improved its 200mm wafers technology, but not enough to catch
up to the five market leaders. (3) Ferrotec has increased the competitiveness of its product by
licensing in technology from GlobalWafers, but appears to mainly ship test and prime wafers
and to a few China chipmakers that are not particularly fussy about product quality.
As China chipmakers get up and running, demand growth in the mature segment of the
semiconductor market that does not require high-end wafers should provide business
opportunities for China wafer-makers.
Enterprise and servers: Chinese vendors strong in
networking; server expansion internationally may face
challenges
For the networking market, we expect to see Chinese vendors take more share over time, and
in the higher networking speeds of 100GB+ from the low level today (currently Chinese vendors
has 10% market share at this speed), and we expect to see more pressure on the market share
of US-based vendors as political tensions persist. Where we see additional opportunities for
Chinese vendors are European developed markets, where Germany recently announced that
China vendors will gain more shares long-term
in Ethernet switch from the US vendors, with
also increasing pressure to the higher ports
speed segment
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 22
they will not ban Huawei from their 5G build-outs, giving Chinese vendors more global
opportunities for the networking stack. For overall US switching, we expect to see Cisco,
Juniper Networks, and HPE to continue dominating US share, with limited opportunity in China
given the political tensions. Finally, given the degree of R&D investments and supply chain ramp
taking place in China, we expect Chinese vendors to continue dominating in China driven by
domestic government policy.
China is already nearing self-sufficiency in servers from a hardware vendor perspective, with
Chinese vendors accounting for >80% of the domestic x86 market, per IDC. Given the
government’s China First strategy and its intention to break away from the US supply chain, we
expect China server vendors will continue to expand their dominant position domestically. On the
international front, Chinese vendors’ share remains relatively small at ~6%—70% of which is by
Lenovo, who purchased IBM’s x86 business in 2015. Inspur has been making good progress
internationally, supported by its JDM business model and alignment to OCP standards; however,
we believe rising security concerns—especially after a Bloomberg report in mid-2018
speculated on a hacking incident allegedly involving China-produced motherboards used in
Supermicro’s servers—will slow the progress of Inspur’s expansion at US-based customers in
both cloud/enterprise segments. By the same token, Huawei should also see more obstacles
expanding internationally, especially for the roll-out of its 5G infrastructure, and we believe it
could take longer for Lenovo’s DCG business to break even. We also see limited room for other
Asian vendors to meaningfully displace more tradition market leaders; Fujitsu, which is the
largest, only has 2% global x86 revenue share. On the other hand, ODM Direct vendors
supplying cloud operators, specifically Quanta and Wiwynn, will continue to take share from
traditional server brands, leveraging their enhanced customisation and hardware-design
capabilities, on top of lower total cost of ownership.
For supply chain localisation, we expect Chinese server vendors will increase their sourcing
from local component-makers in the next few years; nevertheless, we expect a majority of the
BOM should still be dominated by the US suppliers. Specifically, we see 40-50% of the total
server BOM associated with the chipset (Intel/AMD); 20-30% in memory (Micron, Samsung,
SK Hynix, etc.); and a majority of the remaining from storage (WD and Seagate). While we
believe China vendors are gradually catching up in their design capabilities and production
know-how—as their learning curve scales along with international market share expansion—we
do not expect China to have a complete back-up solution, especially on the chipset; however,
we do expect sourcing of memory to shift to Japanese/Korean players, as they move away
from Micron. Domestic sourcing will be encouraged, if CXMT/YMTC are able to deliver a
successful product, but our analysts believe that it is unlikely over the next five years (outside of
some consumer-level parts). Beyond the CPU, the other major obstacle to true Chinese self-
sufficiency in servers is operating systems where Windows and Linux continue to dominate.
Display: China to dominate TFT panels; may succeed
in OLED but still lags in key tools and raw materials
China to dominate TFT-LCD
Chinese display panel makers have obviously caught up on producing TFT-LCD panels,
especially for the commodity and lower-entry-barrier products. We expect their market share to
further increase as they ramp up new fabs, especially amid Korean panel makers’ strategy
change.
China’s central government started pushing the construction of new panel fabs in 2009. Since
then, leading players for large-size display applications like BOE and CSOT have built new
facilities with support from the central/local government. Moreover, smaller players like CEC-
Panda, HKC, CHOT, etc., were also supported by different provincial governments and
constructed several new fabs in the past few years. As of 1H19, Chinese panel makers
accounted for 41% of area shipment for LCD TV, 36% for NB/tablet, and 30% for monitor.
We expect China vendors to gain more shares
in servers especially domestically with policy
support; however, they may see more
obstacles internationally from recent security
and trade tension
Dell focusing on expanding leading shares;
HPE focusing more on protecting profitability
China will take long time to achieve supply
chain localization with key components
supplies still dominated by US suppliers
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 23
Although the industry has been in oversupply, Chinese panel makers are still building new large
size panel fabs (mostly Gen 10.5) and will begin mass production in the next one to two years.
Koreans to exit TFT-LCD; focus on OLED
We fully expect Korean LCD makers to exit the TFT-LCD panel manufacturing over time. Most
LCD products are no longer profitable and Korea's strategy is to shift up on the technology
curve to pure OLED production base while phasing out the existing LCD facilities. Both Chinese
and Taiwan TV LCD panels are at sufficient quality, where major TV brands such as Samsung
and LG Electronics (LGE) have been expanding panel procurement for TVs at lower price points.
High-end TV panels will move to OLED TVs for both brands, with LGE enjoying a head start.
For small TFT-LCD and LTPS LCD display, Samsung began phasing out production from 2014.
Today, Samsung produces no smartphone LCD displays internally. Instead, its early shift toward
the future of OLED displays enabled the company to enjoy near-monopoly status for more than
a decade. OLED offers less competitors and is a more difficult technology to master. The near-
monopoly status also enables the company to keep tight control over its equipment and material
suppliers. OLED has grown into a W25 bn revenue per annum, with much more stable 10% to
12% sustainable OPM for the company.
Similarly, LG Display has closed its P2, P3 and P4 lines in Paju and Kumi with most of the AP2
line used to make LTPS-LCD now being converted for the usage of OLED production. While
the company still runs a profitable business in the oxide based LCDs for AAPL's PC monitors
and laptops, the mobile LTPS display has also been phasing out as Apple began to adopt more
OLED displays into its iPhone models, and LGE’s smartphone volume has shrunk considerably.
As a LG Group strategy, developing OLED TVs was emphasised first, followed by flexible
mobile OLED transition following Apple's iPhone shift.
Chinese good with rigid OLED; but lagging in flexible OLED
Chinese panel makers started to spend significant capex from 2017 to expand OLED capacities,
triggered by Apple's adoption of OLED panel along with a massive subsidy from the
government. Several panel makers have announced accelerating their OLED capacity build-up
plans including BOE, Tianma, EverDisplay (privately held), Truly, Visionox, Royole (privately
held) and CSOT. We estimate over Rmb400 bn of investment in OLED panel manufacturing.
We see a majority of projects are setup with government bodies, with listed companies holding
approx. ~10% stake; this could help lessen the financial burden for listed companies. Chinese
OLED panel makers rely on overseas suppliers for raw material and equipment.
Among Chinese OLED panel makers, Everdisplay and Tianma were successful in delivering rigid
smartphone OLED panels in 2016. Everdisplay has started with non-smartphone applications
such as smart watches, industrial and other handheld devices, and taken 2 years for a ramp up.
Tianma only shipped a small volume in 720p resolution to begin with, but now their Wuhan
OLED fab can deliver rigid smartphone OLED panels at a reasonable yield rate. BOE started
mass production of flexible OLED smartphone panels from 4Q17 but ramping took long time
without a flagship model. We see Chinese OLED panel makers are struggling for yield
improvement and cost reduction. Longer-term, we expect more Chinese OLED panel makers
could deliver rigid OLED panels, while BOE remains the leader in flexible OLED panels in the
China market.
China to rely on Japan, Korea, and the US for key raw
materials, especially OLED
We believe Chinese panel makers might use more local material and components for
manufacturing in the next few years, although they will still rely on overseas vendors for certain
high-end components that require more fundamental research in material science. We believe
material/components such as ultrathin cover glass (Corning’s Gorilla glass or Asahi’s
Dragontrail glass), large size glass substrate (Gen 10.5), OLED polariser (film-type circular or
liquid crystal pattern), high-end optical film (quantum dot film), OLED materials, etc., will still be
Chinese LCD makers’ share could further
increase as Korean players exit the market
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 24
dominated by overseas suppliers, given their know-how in raw material, formulation, and end-
customers’ preference. From a long term perspective, China would evolve its domestic supply
chain to get a meaningful contribution from local panel makers and reduce its reliance on
overseas suppliers, especially US vendors.
For OLED materials/components, we believe it will take longer for Chinese panel makers to
establish their own supply chain, primarily due to Samsung’s black box strategy to protect its
core technology. OLED itself is a much more difficult technology to master in general, requiring
a lot of trial and error due to the nature of its analogue manufacturing processes. Furthermore,
the pioneer and the leader, Samsung Display has wanted to strictly control the supply chain,
including building up its IP portfolio on production methods, equipment advancement and
upgrading organic materials science. In particular, for OLED materials, some key suppliers such
as Universal Display, Dow Chemical, Idemitsu Kosan, Duksan Neolux, etc., are already
dominant players in sub-segments where Samsung Display is unlikely to supply advanced
materials to Chinese panel makers.
Components: largely self-reliant
Acoustics: Most parts likely to be localised
We see China has low reliance on imported acoustic components but it still relies on overseas
codec chips and MEMS chips in mid- to high-end smartphones. We expect Chinese players to
continue gaining share in key areas, after having successfully gained dominant share in Apple’s
acoustics supply chain for speakers and receivers. AirPods production is also expected to be
largely divided between Luxshare and Goertek. For MEMS microphone market, Chinese players
are quickly catching up with Knowles. Goertek and AAC are producing MEMS IC, and looking
to increase the self-supply ratio of MEMS IC. We expect it will take longer for Chinese players
to realise domestic substitution for MEMS IC, and it is likely to be a medium term effort (3-6
years). For the smart speakers market, we already see the market share increase from both the
end-product perspective (with Baidu, Alibaba and Xiaomi entering the top 5 global brands), as
well as the supply chain (with increasing share being taken by Chinese players such as AAC
and Goertek).
Antenna: work in progress to move to more advanced designs
We believe China will strengthen its domestic value chain and ecosystem by moving upstream
of the FPC antenna industry, somewhat overlapping with the PCB industry. We think the
industry/enterprise investment will move from FPCB and antenna module assembly to CCL
midstream in the next 1-3 years. Besides, local governments/ research institutes are likely to
continue investing in R&D for 5G antenna design and materials/resin development, etc. In the
long term, China might close the gap with Japan/US chemical companies on resin and film
manufacturing.
Casing: lagging in metal casing but a leader elsewhere; still
dependent on casing equipment imports
Chinese players are already the market leaders, in terms of market share and technology,
across different casing materials for Android smartphones and tablets. For the Android supply
chain, BYDE leads metal, plastic, and glass casings, and BYDE is aggressively pursuing an
aggressive pricing and capacity expansion strategy. In terms of quality and segment, FIH and
AAC are targeting high-end metal mid-frame casing, BYDE focuses on the mass market, and
Tongda focuses on the mid-to-low-range segment. Lens Tech is expanding its share in Android
glass casing with new products delivering rising precision, strength and more colour options;
Tongda leads in ‘glastic’ casing and innovating with ICM and 3D glastic casing materials. For
Apple glass cover/casing also, Chinese companies (Lens Tech and Biel Crystal) are the market
leaders, with advanced new products on rising precision from unibody design and higher
strength/more colour options. However, Chinese players are trying to get into Apple metal
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 25
casing but still lag behind their peers in Taiwan, and it’s unlikely Chinese players could get into
the Apple metal casing supply chain in the short-term due to lagging in technology advancement
and precision manufacturing.
In the Android supply chain, we see low reliance on overseas suppliers. Domestic vendors
dominate in plastic, metal, glass and ceramic casing. However, reliance on overseas equipment
makers is still high, as the casing manufacturing process involves multiple steps, and requires
proprietary machines with specific/high-entry-barrier technology. Some of these can only be
sourced from foreign suppliers so far, such as for certain coating, photolithography and silk
printing machines. However, BYDE has developed and adopted some in-house equipment
including CNC machines, and is also adopting more general equipment that can be used for
multiple materials/product lines.
Camera Module: Largely self-reliant; will increase global
share
Chinese players already have well-established capability in CCM (multi-cam) and handset lens,
and we think in the near-term (within 3 years), Chinese players will likely establish their
leadership in 3D sensing and advanced optical solutions, such as WLO and periscope-style
products. However, in the CCM value chain, key components such as CIS and VCM are still
largely dominated by Japanese and Korean players, despite some Chinese players making
progress in these products; e.g., Win Semiconductor for CIS and ZET, JSS Optical Technology
and Shanghai B.L. Electronics for VCM. For handset lens, Sunny Optical is an important
supplier to Chinese branded smartphones. In the long-term, we believe will see Chinse players
establish their ecosystem and build a domestic supply chain for optical components, including
CIS, high-end lens and VCM, and gradually increase their share and technology leadership.
Hence, Chinese local camera modules makers such as Sunny Optical, Q Tech etc. are already
taking a major share at local Chinese handset makers (i.e., Huawei/Oppo/vivo/Xiaomi) not just
for mid/low-range phones but for high-end flagship phones as well. Meanwhile, a growing
Chinese camera modules industry, as well as its improving technology curve, is offering better
growth opportunities out of China, by penetrating into the Samsung handset supply chain, for
instance. Considering rapidly rising multi-cam penetration at SEC—even for mid/low-range
phones (i.e. Galaxy A series), relevant camera module makers (both Korea or China camera
modules suppliers) are all enjoying the total addressable market growth through shipment
volume as well as blended-ASP hikes.
However, in the mid to long term, we believe the existing Korea handset supply chain will likely
face more headwinds amid intensifying competition at the major client (SEC), either through
market-share loss or ASP-cut pressures. Recently, Samsung is even testing the ODM
outsourcing strategy to Chinese makers. While we believe total smartphone volumes outsourced
will remain controlled (~20 mn in 2019, and up to 40 mn in 2020) and only applicable to the
very low-end A series (which has little chance of ever becoming profitable). However, it still
seems a downside risk to the existing Korea camera-module supply chain (mainly for mid/low-
range) such as Partron, Mcnex, Powerlogics, etc. In contrast, the strategy will likely give better
growth opportunities for local Chinese camera modules makers, in our view. For high-end
flagship phones at Samsung, SEMCO may remain as key supplier for longer, considering the
need for key optics technology protection. However, more ASP-cut pressure seems inevitable,
given emerging alternative options from Chinese module makers with a better technology
readiness.
CMOS Image Sensor (CIS): a credible Chinese player now
CIS is one of the very few semiconductor areas where China has a top-tier player. We think
OmniVision’s (now owned by a Chinese company, Will Semiconductor) CIS technology could be
1-2 years behind Sony, but at a similar level to Samsung. In the automotive segment,
OmniVision is ahead of Sony and Samsung, and only behind On Semi. Driven by the
geopolitical tension, OmniVision has been taking over the mid/high-range spec smartphone
segment from Samsung since mid-2019, and also growing its share in the China automotive
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 26
market. OmniVision’s gap vs Sony should continue for 1-2 years as most OEMs customise CIS
chips for flagship models, so it will take time for OmniVision to regain position in the premium
segment. In five years, we expect OmniVision’s technology to be slightly behind, but close to
Sony, and its market share to grow from 12% in 2018 (per Gartner data) to high-teens or
twenties percentage in 2023.
However, in the near term, we expect existing CIS suppliers to continue expanding production
capacity to cater to the growing demand. Sony plans to increase monthly capacity to 130,000
by March 2021 (up from 105,000 in Apr–Jun 2019, based on 300mm wafer). Over the
medium and longer term, we see Sony focusing on the functional fusion of sensors for
automotive applications (to integrate data taken from cameras, LIDAR and millimetre-wave
radar). Through its alliance with Microsoft, the company is also targeting a business model that
generates recurring income by channelling development resources into CMOS image sensors
with embedded edge AI processing capabilities.
Lens: Largely self-reliant
The overall reliance on government is small, and leaders such as Sunny have become No. 2 in
terms of market share in the smartphone lens market, with continuous R&D investment of their
own. The biggest competitors include Largan and Genius, which have entered the Apple supply
chain (Sunny not yet). We believe Chinese players are gradually improving their capabilities in
lens, and investing in R&D for high-end models, and should be able to penetrate the high-end
market over the next 1-3 years.
MLCC: The Chinese are lagging and likely to do so in the
medium term too
Despite the fact that China is one of the largest MLCC-consuming markets, the self-sufficiency
rate is relatively low. Currently, MLCC supply is mainly dominated by Japan (Murata/TDK/Taiyo
Yuden/Kyocera), Korea (SEMCO / Samwha Capacitor) or Taiwan manufacturers (Yageo /
Walsin Tech). A growing number of Chinese players are trying to break into the market—
Fenghua Advanced Technology (000636.SZ), Tianli Holdings Group Limited (0117.HK),
Chaozhou Three-circle (300408.SZ), Fujian Torch Electron Technology (603678.CN)—but
their combined global market share is only still around ~5%. These Chinese companies are
largely addressing MLCC demand from consumer electronics, mainly for the mid/low-range
segment, (i.e., larger size / low capacitance) where leading JP or KR MLCC makers are
withdrawing for production optimization (i.e., A/V, PC, appliances or low-end handsets).
In the MLCC arena, while Japanese-owned MLCC makers and SEMCO are working to lock in
technology by manufacturing materials and equipment in-house, Taiwanese- and Chinese-
owned makers are dependent on Japanese materials and equipment suppliers for the majority
of their raw materials and production equipment. This makes it highly unlikely that Chinese
MLCC makers will close the technology gap to the Japanese and Korean frontrunners anytime
soon. Our focus in the near term is on how they can shrink the gap between themselves and
Taiwanese makers.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 27
Memory semiconductors
Current market structure
Manufacturing DRAM locally is historically symbolic
Historically, not only did the DRAM industry follow a distinctive pattern of capex, but it also
produced the country's industrial policy cycle. Having the ability to adopt, develop and
manufacture DRAM semiconductors on-shore usually symbolised a country's "arrival" into the
upper echelons of high-tech manufacturing. This was the case where the US, the originator of
DRAM, once dominated the industry but was displaced by Japan over time. Korea has now
displaced Japan, and dominates DRAM production. Taiwan also once had a thriving DRAM
industry, which eventually collapsed under the weight of a perpetual need for capital and an
unforgiving need to succeed in developing the next generation of technology through constant
R&D. The result was similar for the Japanese DRAM industry. Micron, in the end, became the
consolidator for the Taiwanese and Japanese DRAM assets by acquiring the deeply-discounted
residual assets.
The DRAM has industry consolidated further since the financial crisis. Samsung, Hynix and
Micron now combine to control 96% of the industry capacity – creating an oligopolistic structure.
This followed the bankruptcies that forced Elpida, Qimonda and Promos out of the industry. The
remaining, smaller, Taiwan producers such as Nanya, Winbond and Powerchip shifted to a
more concentrated strategy away from advanced DRAM production of DRAM for specialty
applications.
Figure 28: The DRAM industry now has the fewest producers in its long history
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
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Keon Han
82 2 3707 3740
Chaolien Tseng
852 2101 6795
Hideyuki Maekawa
81 3 4550 9723
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 28
Figure 29: Global DRAM revenue M/S in 2019E – Korea dominates
Source: DRAM eXchange, Credit Suisse
Figure 30: Global DRAM production- Consumer segment likely
China's focus area
Figure 31: Specialty (Consumer) DRAM market share in 2019E
– Threat to Taiwan first
Source: DRAM eXchange, Credit Suisse Source: DRAM eXchange, Credit Suisse
Different history for NAND
The initial battle among various types of flash memories finally settled on NAND flash design due
to its economical scalability required in anticipation of data storage demand explosion. NAND's
role is to alter the way data is stored—from hard disk drives, which will eventually be displaced by
flash-memory-based data storage. NAND storage device penetration—such as USB, UFS and
SSD—continues to rise as the dollar-per-bit storage continues to fall over time. Other
advantages—such as weight, smaller form factor, faster read/write speed, less heat generation,
higher storage density per area—all make NAND preferable vs HDDs as a storage medium as the
price gap narrows. While the concept of NAND flash memory was developed by Toshiba and
Sandisk (now Western Digital), Samsung was quick to seize and replicate Japan's success under
IP licensing from both companies. Micron joined hands with Intel (but are now going their
separate ways) in order to compete in the industry, while Hynix continues to try and remain a
relevant player. All NAND makers pay some IP royalties to Toshiba and Sandisk, but the amounts
vary depending on the strength of the individual company's patent portfolio filing that payment
could be netted out. Today, global NAND production is dominated by Samsung and
Toshiba/Sandisk with combined M/S of 67%. Micron and SK Hynix are smaller producers, with
Samsung44%
SK Hynix29%
Micron23%
Nanya2%
Others2%
Mobile41%
Server33%
PC13%
Consumer8%
Graphic5%
Nanya Technology
39%
Winbond18%
Micron14%
Samsung13%
SK Hynix10%
China IDM vendors
3%
Other Taiwan fabless vendors
3%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 29
Intel carving out a niche in the enterprise SSD segment. The majority of NAND is consumed by
either the smartphone or SSD segments in both PCs (client) and Servers (enterprise).
Figure 32: Global NAND M/S in 2019E – more balanced competitors
Source: DRAM eXchange, Credit Suisse
Figure 33: NAND Flash demand—concentrated in handsets and SSDs
Source: DRAM eXchange, Credit Suisse
China's game plan
China's turn next in DRAM/NAND
Competition in the memory industries, both DRAM and NAND, is tough, requiring ever-
increasing capital. The next-generation technology development is not only more difficult, but
more time-consuming, to a point that Moore's Law has clearly slowed down in DRAM, although
re-acceleration is seen in NAND due to the advent of the 3D NAND architecture. Having the
capital is no longer a guarantee of success, given these barriers and technology difficulties. The
DRAM industry has consolidated to a point where the three remaining producers are
comfortable with the status quo in market share, with enough pricing control to give them
sustainable profits even through a cyclical downturn. With the end-market demand now enjoying
~15-20% CAGR, the industry seems mature enough that it can no longer accommodate
another major supplier who could again disrupt the balance of the market.
Samsung35%
Toshiba18%
WDC14%
Micron13%
SK Hynix10%
Intel9%
Others1%
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1Q19 2Q19 3Q19E 4Q19F 1Q20F 2Q20F 3Q20F 4Q20F
Others Solid State Drives Digital Still Cameras
USB Flash Drives Portable Media Players Tablet PCs
Handsets
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 30
For NAND, the major players are still jockeying for a leading position, with each supplier very
capable of producing quality NAND chips. The NAND industry is still not ripe for consolidation,
as the weaker NAND players partially fund their loss-making (and now cash-burning) NAND
businesses with highly profitable DRAM products (in the case of SK Hynix and Micron). NAND
memory is technically a side business for Intel, while Toshiba has restructured its semiconductor
division with fresh capital injection through a consortium of private equity investors. While
Samsung is operationally slightly loss-making, NAND is sufficiently cash-flow positive, given the
company’s earlier commitment to shift to 3D NAND production, its technology lead, and
broader customer base.
The rationale for China's move into memory semiconductors
So, facing these industry dynamics, what is the motivation for China to join the DRAM/NAND
race; and can China succeed as a late entrant? If so, when can China influence the
DRAM/NAND industries and what are the implications for the incumbents? It is already clear
that China is at the onset of developing its own DRAM and NAND industry. It has already
selected its DRAM champion in CXMT, and YMTC for NAND. Initial fabs have been built, with
some WFE installation in order to test-produce both DRAM and NAND products. The key
motivation for China to develop its own memory semiconductor industry could revolve around
the various reasons below.
1. Memory is part of the IC industry development. In 2014, the China government
issued a National IC Development Guideline. It is segmented into four broad areas of
IC industry development: (1) design; (2) manufacturing; (3) packaging/test and
equipment; and (4) materials. In short, advancement of the semiconductor industry
value chain is a formally stated industrial policy. While China has been somewhat
successful in developing its own logic/foundry semiconductor industries through SMIC,
Grace Semiconductor (in the past), etc., memory semiconductor development has not
been explicitly stated. However, capital allocation toward the memory industry seems
to be the natural outcome given the: (1) attractive size of the addressable end-market;
(2) break-away from 100% reliance on imports; (3) commoditised nature of
DRAM/NAND chips, which helps capital allocation to be more focused; and
(4) perceived relative ease of memory design/manufacturing compared to logic (the
memory industry has other, complicated, industry dynamics). Also (ironically), the
memory industry is attractive given it has fewer competitors (at least in the case of
DRAM).
Figure 34: 2014 China government national IC development guideline
Source: Government of China, Credit Suisse
Key words Development strategy
Design(1) Supply chain collaboration
(2) M&A
Near term: Mobil smart terminal and network communication: mobile
terminal, digital TV, network communication, smart wearable and OS
Mid-term: Cloud computing, IOT, and big data
Break-through: Smart card/electricity/transportation, satellite
navigation, industrial control, financial electronics, automotive, medical
and embedded software
Mfg(1) CAPEX
(2) Advanced node
Speed up the 45/40nm foundry capacity ramp up and 32/38nm line
set up, 3D process R&D, capability set up of 22/20nm and 16/14nm
foundry production capability
Excel the specialized production line such as Analog and mix circuit,
MEMS, high voltage and RF
Pkg/Test(1) M&A
(2) EvolutionCSP, WLP, TSV and 3D stack
Equipment/Material(1) Key equipment/material break-through
(2) Mfg synergy
R&D in key equipment such as lithography, etching and implant R&D of
key material such as photoresist and large wafer
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 31
Figure 35: Memory semi value as % of global total semi value
Source: SIA, Credit Suisse
2. Lacking domestic source. As the world's largest tech manufacturing base, China is
either importing or relying on supply from the domestically-based foreign producers—
such as NAND chips from Samsung's Xian fab or DRAM chips from Hynix's Wuxi fab.
Overall semiconductor imports in China, including memory semiconductors, reached
US$260 bn in 2017 and exceeded the value of oil imports that year. Domestically
produced chips made up less than 20% of that value, which partly drives the
motivation to rely less on foreign imports going forward. Over time, China has
internalised the manufacturing of tech components from lower value chains such as
PCBs, HDIs, LEDs, TFT-LCD panels, etc. Its logic and foundry industry development
is ongoing. Memory semiconductor is the next area of focus.
3. Diversify supply risk. Without domestic memory chip supply, China companies often
cite their businesses being negatively impacted by volatile memory prices and supply
shortages. For example, during the 2016 – 2018 up cycle, DRAM and NAND prices
surged on a global shortage, which damaged many of the Chinese smartphone OEMs’
cost structure. Also, some Chinese smartphone makers perceive that Samsung
controls the supply and price of DRAM and NAND as a competitive tool to keep
Chinese smartphone makers in check. These are some of the reasons for Chinese
companies to support the development of a domestic memory chip supplier.
Past failed attempts to acquire/invest in global companies force internal development
The 2015 attempt by China's Tsinghua Unigroup (a controlling shareholder of YMTC) to acquire
Micron for US$23 bn, is well documented. The acquisition attempt was not realistic, because
the US authorities—such as Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CIFIUS)—would have
blocked the deal on concerns of national security, given that Micron was the last-remaining US
memory semiconductor maker. Therefore, the potential deal never reached a formal offer stage.
Later in 2015, Tsinghua Unigroup offered to buy 20% of SK Hynix for ~US$5.3 bn. One of the
conditions required SK Hynix to also set up a NAND fab in China, where Tsinghua was to
become one of the manufacturers of Hynix's NAND products. This offer was also rejected by
Hynix. No incumbent producer so far has shown any willingness to either set up JVs or engage
in technology/engineering agreements with Chinese entities. These rejections are logical, given
the pains the remaining DRAM makers have gone through to survive to the end, in order to
finally enjoy a more profitable industry. Furthermore, the last thing the NAND industry would
need is another large supplier, in what already looks like a crowded field that is already facing
potential industry consolidation. While acquiring or investing in global companies, setting up JVs,
or acquiring IPs by entering into engineering agreements would have been an easier path of
entry; most global competitors are keen to keep China out of the industry as long as possible,
due to the potential supply disruption risk.
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4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 32
CXMT and YMTC the selected memory champions
While there are many Chinese entities that have indicated interest to engage in production of
memory semiconductors, we conclude that currently, there are only two likely players that will
pioneer the memory semi development: Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) for DRAM,
and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) for NAND. The memory market is highly cyclical
and requires endless capital investment. Returns are not guaranteed, and could be very low for
a very long period of time, with laggards seldom reaching a level of technology sufficient to
become profitable). From the China central government’s perspective, it may not be desirable to
redundantly invest heavily in the same technology areas; such was the case in the TFT-LCD
and LED industries that rapidly created overcapacity conditions, even among Chinese start-ups.
Most of these companies have yet to reach profitability, after 10 years of operation, and are
now consolidating. Furthermore, while some provincial governments expressed support and
have a desire to co-invest in new memory start-up companies, they may lack a sufficient capital
base to support projects sustainably. Additionally, the engineering talent pool remains thin,
which has been one of key issues in China for its general semiconductor industry advancement.
Memory is no exception. There are simply not enough NAND and DRAM engineers in China to
rapidly expand production, because the industry is at an infant stage.
For China, instead of targeting a certain global market share within the next five years, we think
the priority will be to establish its own supply chain and fulfil the domestic consumption needs.
YMTC has been engaged in developing NAND since 2015. It is most likely that YMTC’s
technology will still be behind Samsung and Toshiba for the foreseeable future. Therefore, while
the technology may not be cost-competitive compared to the global leaders, the initial goal of
supplying the domestic demand could be satisfied, if the final product has the quality to be
consumed in the local end-markets. CXMT’s initial goal as a DRAM maker is similar to YMTC’s.
It wants to capture some of the domestic DRAM supply, likely in the area of specialty DRAM. If
this stage is successful, it can plan to broaden the range of products to compete in broader
global markets. So far, NAND development appears more advanced than DRAM. From a global
competition perspective, we do not see Chinese memory producers disrupting the current
market structure, either in DRAM or NAND given its current ramp-up schedule, lack of product
commercialisation, and having no clear next-generation technology roadmaps.
CXMT 19nm DRAM close to mass production
Founded in May 2016, CXMT’s DRAM development started with Qimonda, according to the
company. Qimonda is the previous global leading DRAM tech provider, the inventor of Buried
Word Line, and pioneered the advanced DRAM technology. CXMT said it has transferred 10
mn technical files (2.8TB of data) from Qimonda. Besides Qimonda, CXMT indicated close
partnerships with industrial leaders such as AMAT, ASML, KLA, LAM, Tech Insights, and TEL.
It also jointly released technical papers with ASML at the SPIE conference. The company claims
it has spent over US$2.5 bn so far on R&D expenses and capex.
CXMT’s first-generation technology is 19nm DRAM. Initially, the company had aimed to begin
production in 2018 but the schedule was delayed for a year. It has been sampling products with
some potential domestic customers. If successful, mass production could begin in early 2020.
Its next process node will be 17nm DRAM, although there is no clear timeline.
CXMT’s target customers include large and small domestic OEMs. It plans to produce LPDDR4
for mobile devices as well as DDR4 for PC and Server use eventually. Large OEMs likely will
require more time for qualification. Given CXMT's plan to only produce on a small scale initially,
any order wins from smaller OEMS could be sufficient to fill their initial capacity.
CXMT’s current DRAM fab is built for maximum 120k wpm. In early 2019, it aimed to build 20-
30k/month capacity by mid-2019, but the schedule has been delayed to early 2020. Its longer-
term plan includes building another fab capable of 120k wpm production capacity, but currently
there is no timeline when the second fab will begin construction.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 33
YMTC prioritises on 64L qualification and 128L R&D
YMTC developed 32L MLC NAND in 2015 and it collaborated with Spansion for its first
generation 32L NAND. It then built a fab in early 2017, began tool move-in from mid-2018 and
started risk production from 1Q19. That said, as the technology didn’t have any cost advantage,
only a small volume was produced. Currently it has only around 10k/month capacity for 32L
NAND production and its yield is likely 70%+.
YMTC is now in trial production of 64L TLC NAND and sampling with domestic SSD
companies. While its 32L NAND is mainly consumer grade, its 64L NAND is trying to qualify
with Huawei for enterprise grade now. Currently its fab capacity is about 30k/month capacity,
including the 10k capacity for 32L NAND. If YMTC should pass 64L NAND qualification with
Huawei or another top domestic customer, and improve its fab yields to 85%+, it could begin
another round of financing to support more capacity build.
That said, we note that it is unclear if it will enter volume production on 64L, even if qualified,
given the cost constraints. 64L TLC NAND would not have any cost advantage at the current
market price, compared to global memory makers already moving on to 92L/96L and 128L
production. While the company believes that the cost structure of its 64L TLC NAND will be
sufficient enough from a positive cash flow point of view, we understand that it could decide to
develop 128L before entering volume production.
YMTC’s 64L NAND is based on its Xtacking technology. YMTC proclaims that Xtacking’s
independent processing eliminates thermal and stress impacts and enables higher NAND I/O
speed. Xtacking 64L TLC NAND enables more efficient use of die area and smaller die size (by
20-30%) than conventional 3D NAND. Xtacking could achieve higher bit density, the best bit
density of all TLC 64L products in the market, according to the company's presentation material.
Xtacking adopts a modular approach to accelerate process development. Periphery and array
wafers are produced independently, and then stacked. Development time is reduced by at least
three months, according to the company. It also estimates manufacturing cycle time is reduced
by 20-25%, as CMOS and array wafers are manufactured at the same time. While each NAND
producer will proclaim advantages of its own design, ultimately performance, cost advantage
and reliability will be determined by the customer choosing the product. While we do not have
details of its royalty payment, it is believed that YMTC pays royalty to some international
memory companies to use their IP. YMTC’s next generation technology could be 128L, but
there is no clear timeline.
YMTC has begun R&D for 128L NAND, and risk production is scheduled for 4Q20. Additionally,
the company has also kicked off another project to build an initial DRAM R&D team with 300
engineers, while using XMC’s existing facility as its DRAM pilot line. The drive for its DRAM
project is the same as its NAND development; YMTC is expected to help the country to achieve
the mission of memory self-sufficiency. Their long-term plan is to build nine fabs in 10 years,
targeting 15% market share in 8-10 years. The company has about 4,000 employees, with
1/3 being R&D engineers, while XMC has 1,200 employees.
Figure 36: YMTC’s 3D NAND R&D journey
Year Highlights
2014 3D NAND kicked off in XMC
2015 9L test chip validation
2016 32L test chip tape-out. YMTC founded
2017 32L product tape-out. 1st Si validation. YMTC 32L 64Gb MLC 3D NAND flash ES
2018 64L product tape-out. 32L production. 64L First silicon
2019 64L TLC NAND sampling and trial production
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 34
Conclusion
How big can China be in DRAM and NAND, in 1 to 3 years?
For DRAM and NAND, we see very little supply impact from China by 2020. In DRAM, while
CXMT's first fab is designed for up to 120K wafers based on announced 19nm technology plan,
the initial ramp of 20K to 30K wpm has already been delayed by over a year. Additionally, only
providing output on 19 nm (we cannot confirm if this is industry standard 19nm yet). By mid-
2020, 19nm would not be competitive to industry leaders who will be producing mostly on y nm
with Samsung potentially moving on to 1z nm. Also, with such a small production scale and
lack of engineers, it is unlikely CXMT can simultaneously work on various DRAM architectures
such as mobile, PC, Server, etc. Most likely, CXMT will likely find itself competing in the
consumer specialty DRAM segment which would require less advanced nodes and speed.
Therefore, the Taiwanese consumer DRAM makers would be the first in line, in terms of
competitive threat, only if CXMT is successful. From capacity planning, 20K to 30K wpm on
higher nodes does not represent overall DRAM industry supply competitive threat. However, if
CXMT were to be successful and ramp to its maximum 120K by the end of 2022, it could
represent as much as ~8% of global DRAM capacity, although likely significantly less in terms
of bit shipment M/S.
YMTC's 3D NAND mass production roadmap is less clear. Having 64L TLC design at this
juncture of NAND industry development puts its technology far behind industry leaders that are
already producing on 92L/96L, and investing in 128L. The industry leaders are already
dismantling 6xL capacity as any hope of return to profitability fades. This technology would have
no cost advantage and have limited use in the end-market applications. Although it has begun
R&D for 128L NAND and targets risk production from 4Q20, given its history, we expect more
time is needed as it may be working on the successful development of 64L for a while. While
the long-term goal of ramping to 300K wpm has been indicated by the company, it would first
need sizeable customer wins in order to produce NAND in that magnitude. YMTC has
announced that it began sampling its NAND products with various SSD-maker clients but
success of any qualification is unknown currently. Capacity ramp schedule would be difficult to
project without confirmation of a commercially viable product.
Key issues to consider
Government ready for long-term investment, and losses
Semiconductors require long-term, sustainable investment in both R&D and capex. We believe
that the Chinese government is aware of such industry dynamics and is prepared for (or
accepts) losses for years in order to build its own memory semiconductor ecosystem. The LCD
industry development and support for BOE is a good example. BOE, after purchasing its initial
TFT-LCD technology from SK Hynix (Hyundai Electronics back then) developed its LCD
business for over a decade but remains loss making operationally today (excluding government
subsidy). While not efficient on a return-on-capital metrics, China has succeeded in developing
its own formidable TFT-LCD industry with BOE as its champion. This ensures at least a steady
source of TFT-LCD supplies for its smartphone and TV market, the world's largest. Not having
to worry about trade frictions and other potential supply limitations are also important
considerations. The fallout from the perpetual over-investment in the industry is now having the
effect of driving historically-strong LCD makers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Display to
abandon their TFT-LCD production.
Sources of Capital
The capital support from the government includes bank loans and equity investments. The
capital from the private sector is often in the form of equity investment. The central government
can help top-priority companies secure bank loans at lower, subsidised interest rates than what
is available through normal commercial bank channels. In the past decade, many provincial
governments and companies have generated profits from selling government owned real estate
assets. Given the recent slowdown in the real-estate markets, provincial governments and larger
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 35
companies need to turn to other industries to re-invest the proceeds, with direct equity
investment being the preferred method. From 2017-19, many of these entities have chosen to
invest in the new semiconductor projects. Sources of capital include: China Development Bank,
Hubei Government, Wuhan Government, China IC Fund, Tsinghua Unigroup, etc.
Addressing the lack of engineering resources
The semiconductor engineer talent pool is shallow in China, and this is especially true in
memory semiconductors. Various DRAM project start up attempts were spearheaded by
pooling Taiwanese and Japanese engineers and managers, from companies that were
consolidated or finally exited the DRAM industry. DRAM and NAND chip design engineers from
Samsung or Hynix are highly coveted. While incentives such as huge pay increase, several free
trips home every year, and heavily subsidised apartments are offered to critical engineers, the
Taiwanese engineers are normally highly prized given the common language and cultural
background. Acceleration of the memory industry development could have a honing-out effect
of some Korean engineering talent, which has been stated as a key risk by both Korean
manufacturers and government policy makers. Nevertheless, the integration of various
engineers who have never worked together before, in a brand new fab setting, will pose some
challenges and high cost burden of maintaining mostly foreign labour in the beginning.
Potential IP disputes
With the lack of any known acquisition of major DRAM/NAND IPs, China is essentially starting
from scratch. This brings the burden of developing its own technology, while not infringing on
countless patents already filed in DRAM and NAND, in both design and manufacturing
processes. Generally in the technology IP battle, new producers are seldom blocked initially.
Rather, the lawsuits requesting for blocking sales come when products actually become
competitive. In China's case, the current sources of chip design in DRAM and NAND are
actually unknown. Bringing in chip designers from abroad nearly always risks patent
infringement. New Chinese start-ups have been busy announcing the success of their own chip
designs, but any IP infringements will not be known until the final products show up in the
market place. Nevertheless, any disputes maybe silent for several years given the initial
production plans are relatively small in scale, on lagging technological designs and largely
targeted to niche domestic buyers. Even if scale grows significantly enough to impact global
supply, if the consumption is largely based domestically, not much IP protection is expected.
Only when products find their way into final exportable items such as smartphones or servers
can competitors contest any type of patent infringements, if any, which could be years away.
Sustainable equipment support
Development of memory industry requires a high degree of support from global memory WFE
makers. Historically, China has been a big investor in any area it chooses to endeavour into,
such as in the TFT-LCD and LED industries. Therefore, development of the Chinese memory
industry could be a sustainable and lucrative event for global semi equipment makers. However,
as seen the in case of Fujian Jinhua's, the entire DRAM project was halted to a point of
extinction by the action of the US government banning any US semi equipment sales to the
company. While the reason is purely company-specific, involving IP theft from Micron, similar
perception of risk will linger for CXMT and YMTC, particularly if any IP infringements are to be
found. Therefore the Chinese companies are accelerating their own R&D and IP development
and increasing the number of patent filings/acquisitions.
Support from customers
From a pure business perspective, there is no clear reason why even a domestic buyer of
DRAM/NAND would bother supporting new memory start-ups. In the case of Korea, it really
did not have a large domestic demand to fulfil and the memory semi industry was developed
purely as an export item. While the long-term view of having a reliable domestic producer is in
the interest of both the Chinese government and system integrators, final products will not be
made using inferior memory components in the name of nationalistic sentiment. There will be
different levels of quality requirement depending on end-usage, but without an explicit national
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 36
campaign to incentivise support for domestic suppliers—such as import limitations, tariffs, or
subsidies to the buyers—we see no reason why customers would take that product
performance risk. Such is the case today with flexible OLEDs, where many Chinese
smartphone makers are abandoning BoE and purchasing Samsung products in order to make
more globally competitive smartphones.
What if China fails?
China failing in DRAM/NAND development would be industry neutral, while success could bring
about a global over-supply risk in the future. Currently, the consensus expectation is for China
to succeed in NAND on a limited basis, while DRAM development would likely to prove more
challenging. Ever since the final stage of industry consolidation, DRAM makers are generating
highest profits in the history of the industry. Any hope and chance of DRAM producer's stock
price multiple expansion in the future will likely be eliminated. Investors continue to debate if the
DRAM industry's profit margins and sustainable FCF have shifted upwardly on a sustainable
basis to justify a higher valuation multiples. Any entry by China in mass scale will likely erode
that confidence. China's success in NAND will likely trigger industry consolidation in the future,
particularly for the highest-cost producers such as Micron and SK Hynix. This would be true if
Chinese companies are willing to invest through 10 years of losses, driving capital depletion in
the weakest producers.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 37
Logic Semiconductors
To move up the value chain, China has also been developing its foundry, back-end and fabless
IC design sectors to a varying degree of success—barriers are the highest in foundry due to the
high capital intensity, established ecosystem of IP, design and customer base at the existing
foundries and manufacturing challenges ramping up an ever more advanced technology node
every two years where equipment companies also put their highest focus and earliest
investments enabling the leaders. The IC design sector also has varying barriers by application
due to requirements for the integration of multiple IPs, support for complex and evolving industry
standards, design complexity and know-how on advanced geometries and also established
customer relationships. Back-end assembly and test has traditionally been higher in advanced
packaging due to IP, customer service and technological capability, although M&A has
accelerated the Chinese back-end suppliers’ entry. We profile China's varying success catching
up across the logic foundry, back-end and IC design sectors.
IC design: China’s presence rising in consumer and
mobile, still lags in higher value areas
Current market structure
The China IC design market has had a steadier and gradual penetration as compared with the
flat market share in foundry and M&A-accelerated growth from the China OSATs. The local
fabless companies are benefiting from a combination of domestic R&D and wafer subsidy
support, recent desire for localised and non-US sources of technology, rise of China brands in
mobile and consumer and a gradually improving IP and engineering base of talent supplemented
by foreign hires and returning Chinese engineers from overseas corporates and academia. At
the policy level, China is targeting a number of the high growth areas, including mobile
communications, networking, cloud computing, Internet of Things and AI/machine learning.
China fabless has grown in importance in the global rankings, improving from only 1 company in
the top 50 fabless in 2009 (Hi-Silicon) to 11 in the top 50 in 2018 (HiSilicon, Unigroup, ZTE
Micro, ISSI, CIDC, Nari Smart Chip, Datang, GigaDevice, Montage, Rockchip and Allwinner).
According to iSuppli, China fabless also represented 5 of the top 10 growing companies in
2018, with ISSI #1 up 32% YoY to US$645 mn, Allwinner #3 up 29% YoY to US$207 mn,
Hi-Silicon #4 up 25% YoY to US$5,880 mn, and GigaDevice #9 up 18% YoY to US$360 mn.
The five other fastest growing fabless were NVIDIA, AMD, MegaChips, Nordic Semi and Elite
Semiconductor.
Figure 37: China has 11 of the top 50 fabless Figure 38: China represents 12% fabless share
Source: IC Insights Source: IC Insights
We estimate the top 20 fabless companies in China reached US$16.8 bn sales in 2018,
representing 16% global fabless share of our global fabless sample of US$104 bn sales.
China fabless has been outgrowing the global average, showing a 23% CAGR since 2010 vs
5% for the Top 10 global fabless and 6% for the broader fabless sector.
Randy Abrams, CFA
886 2 2715 6366
Chaolien Tseng
852 2101 6795
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 38
Figure 39: China's IC design growing at a 23% CAGR to take 16% market share in 2018
Source: Gartner, PwC, Credit Suisse estimates
IC design traction varies by application
China has outgrown the global industry, although at a 16% market share in fabless and with no
major established IDMs joining manufacturing and design, the success and market penetration
varies by application with a number of major semiconductor categories barely addressed by the
local supply chain.
Figure 40: China has grown its IC design share to 16% in 2018
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Areas with reasonable success for Chinese companies
■ Mobile communications. IC design in China is led by Huawei’s chip division HiSilicon,
which alone represents 35% of China’s fabless sales. HiSilicon currently supplies about
70% of Huawei’s smartphones including the mid-high-end and its newly launched Mate 30
China
IC Design Companies
2010
revenue
2011
revenue
2012
revenue
2013
revenue
2014
revenue
2015
revenue
2016
revenue
2017
revenue
2018
revenue
CAGR
2010-18 Major products
Shenzhen HiSilicon Technologies $652 $1,032 $1,178 $2,120 $2,950 $3,299 $3,881 $4,480 $6,035 25% Networking/Set-tops
Bitmain $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $137 $278 $2,518 $4,268 NM Cryptocurrency mining machine
Spreadtrum Communications $346 $674 $725 $1,050 $1,110 $1,640 $1,866 $1,587 $1,286 23% Mobile processors
RDA Microelectronics $191 $289 $391 $380 $339 In SPRD In SPRD In SPRD In SPRD NM Connectivity and RF
Goodix NA $13 $86 $102 $127 $167 $448 $545 $522 NM Fingerprint ICs
ZTE Microelectronics NA NA $25 $45 $470 $520 $600 $775 $520 NM Networking / Wireless
CEC Huada Electronic Design $74 $128 $123 $169 $183 $504 $507 $368 $463 27% Smart card ICs
Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics NA $238 $203 $263 $263 $300 $343 $402 $425 NM Communications ASICs
BYD Microelectronics NA $144 $125 $105 $275 $345 $424 $403 $383 NM Image Sensor / fingerprint
Galaxycore $124 $190 $201 $295 $367 $350 $385 $365 $380 15% Image Sensors
Beijing Nari Smartchip Microelectronics $180 $220 $280 $350 $400 $436 $480 $408 $347 13% Industrial ICs
Vimicro $91 $64 $76 $65 $100 $276 $302 $293 $346 16% Consumer ICs
Tongfang Guoxin NA $97 $90 $142 $180 $187 $198 $247 $330 NM Smart card / ASIC
GigaDevice Semiconductor NA $75 $97 $96 $93 $178 $215 $240 $283 NM NOR Flash Memory
Montage $0 $0 $0 $100 $150 $200 $220 $225 $270 NM Memory interface design
Leadcore Technology $117 $128 $103 $152 $115 $218 $228 $235 $242 9% Mobile processors
Allwinner Technology NA $50 $168 $246 $185 $181 $187 $179 $206 NM Tablet/audio processors
Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics $58 $82 $108 $216 $152 $152 $191 $179 $182 16% Tablet/audio processors
Datang Microelectronics Technology $74 $92 $116 $151 $131 $146 $132 $86 $89 8% Smart card ICs
Beijing Ingenic NA NA NA NA NA $11 $16 $26 $37 NM Acquired Omnivision
Top 20 China fabless $2,153 $3,768 $4,359 $6,357 $7,928 $9,601 $11,262 $13,731 $16,808 23%
YoY Growth 75% 16% 46% 25% 21% 17% 22% 22%
Top China fabless market share 3.8% 6.0% 6.4% 8.4% 9.3% 10.7% 12.7% 14.1% 16.2%
BRCM $6,818 $7,389 $8,006 $8,305 $8,388 $8,472 $13,292 $17,665 $20,029 9% Networking/Broadband
AVGO $2,093 $2,336 $2,364 $2,520 $4,269 $4,300 In BRCM In BRCM In BRCM NM RF/Storage/Networking
LSI (Acquired by Avago) $1,870 $2,044 $2,506 $2,370 In Avago In Avago In BRCM In BRCM In BRCM NM Storage/Networking
QCOM QCT $7,204 $9,828 $13,177 $17,211 $19,291 $16,008 $15,415 $17,029 $16,581 10% Mobile Processors
NVDA $3,543 $3,998 $4,280 $4,130 $4,682 $5,010 $6,910 $9,714 $11,716 9% Graphics
MediaTek $3,605 $2,956 $3,358 $4,586 $7,030 $6,718 $8,549 $7,832 $7,902 11% Mobile/Digital Home
AMD (+ ATYT) $6,668 $6,748 $5,616 $5,481 $5,668 $4,111 $4,272 $5,253 $6,506 -5% Processors/Graphics
XLNX $1,896 $2,437 $2,315 $2,256 $2,485 $2,447 $2,334 $2,485 $2,658 3% Programmable Logic
MRVL $2,808 $3,612 $3,393 $3,169 $3,404 $3,707 $2,726 $2,393 $2,416 0% Networking/Connectivity
ALTR $1,954 $2,064 $1,783 $1,733 $1,932 $1,971 $2,010 $2,050 $2,091 0% Programmable Logic
Novatek $1,153 $1,193 $1,253 $1,397 $1,784 $1,602 $1,416 $1,548 $1,820 3% Driver ICs/Display
Top global fabless $39,613 $44,605 $48,052 $53,158 $58,933 $54,346 $56,924 $65,969 $71,719 5%
YoY Growth 13% 8% 11% 11% -8% 5% 16% 9%
Top global fabless market share 69.5% 70.5% 70.6% 69.9% 69.4% 60.5% 64.3% 67.6% 69.0%
China top 20 fabless $2,153 $3,768 $4,359 $6,357 $7,928 $9,601 $11,262 $13,731 $16,808 23%
Overseas fabless revenue $54,833 $59,526 $63,688 $69,656 $77,045 $80,172 $77,288 $83,883 $87,197 4%
Global fabless revenue $56,986 $63,294 $68,047 $76,013 $84,973 $89,773 $88,550 $97,614 $104,005 6%
YoY Growth 11% 8% 12% 12% 6% -1% 10% 7%
0%
3%
6%
9%
12%
15%
18%
21%
24%
27%
30%
$0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000
$90,000
$100,000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Top 20 China fabless Overseas fabless revenue
Top China fabless market share
Fabless sales (US$mn) Top China fabless market share (%)
China has had more
success in mobile,
networking and consumer
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 39
5G smartphone with internal Kirin 990 modem built on TSMC 7nm+ as the first high
volume customer on that node. Huawei has also internalised its RF transceiver, low-end
power amplifier and connectivity chipsets to lessen reliance on the US supply chain,
following its placement on the entity list.
Elsewhere in mobile chipsets, UniSOC (formerly Spreadtrum) has somewhat lagged on 4G
after developing a competitive presence on 2G/3G, although it is still pushing ahead with
commercialising its 12nm modem in 1H20 and developing its first 5G SoC on 7nm by the
end of 2020. UniSOC also acquired RDA which also gives it capability on the connectivity
and RF. Beyond these mobile chipset providers, China has developed a competitive
footprint in other mobile peripherals including CMOS image sensors (Omnivision,
GalaxyCore), fingerprint IC (Goodix, Silead) and RF (Vanchip, RDA).
■ Networking. HiSilicon also leads China’s networking IC sector with internal supply to
Huawei’s base stations and infrastructure including its own high-end ASIC which is
displacing some of the FPGA content. ZTE Microelectronics and Datang have also
emerged as infrastructure suppliers to their parent companies and Montage has developed
a leading memory interface solution for cloud computing systems.
■ Consumer electronics. Lower entry barriers for mature high volume consumer products
have also enabled entry of a number of Chinese designers, including several application
processor suppliers that initially reached a high volume on tablets and are currently moving
into connected audio and video and IoT applications including Rockchip, Allwinner, Actions,
AM Logic, Zhuhai JieLi and BES.
■ Crypto-currency/AI inference. China’s local IC design companies including Bitmain,
Pansemi and eBang commanded 95%+ of the crypto-currency ASIC market. The
companies along with start-up Cambriconare currently using their processing and low
power design capability and software algorithm work in crypto-currency into AI inference
processors for smart buildings, smart home and smart city applications.
■ Flash memory. China has worked with several sources of IP for flash memory.
Gigadevice produces NOR flash and NAND flash through SMIC and Huali. YMTC is also
developing 3D NAND flash by leveraging multiple international chipmakers’ NAND flash
IPs. Integrated Silicon Solution Inc (ISSI) is also being acquired by Ingenic. These together
will bring China’s capacity in flash memory. Ingenic is in the process of acquiring ISSI.
YMTC also has recently showcased a 64-layer sample for its own SSD for its volume
production planned in 1H20. ChangXin (CXMT) has also been sampling its 19nm DRAM
and has an initial volume production planned in early 2020.
■ Smart card ICs. China is developing its local smart card IC vendors to embed flash on a
secure card for use in transportation, social security/National ID cards, and financial IC
cards. The company has qualified six vendors for mobile payments, including Tongfang
Guoxin, Datang, Huada, NationZ and Hua Hong IC.
Despite success in these high volume markets in mobile, networking and consumer, China is
still a small player in a number of strategic and high value areas in the industry, with low-single-
digit share in a number of critical semiconductor categories including microprocessors, graphics
processors, microcontrollers, programmable logic, MEMs sensors, analog, automotive
components, memory, storage ICs and display drivers. We estimate that these markets where
China has less than 5% market share represent about US$333 bn of sales, and over 70% of
area in the semiconductor industry for China to target through building up its in-house teams
and supplementing with hiring overseas talent, M&A or equity stakes to accelerate development.
China's share is still low in a number of large
chip segments including processors, analog,
graphics and sensors
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 40
Figure 41: China’s success higher in mobile, consumer and wired applications, low in
analog, RF processors, memory, FPGAs and GPUs
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Areas where Chinese companies still lag
CPU – dominated by Intel and AMD. The processor market is dominated by Intel and
AMD, with their x86 architecture as the basis for running the PC and server operating
systems. China’s opportunity in the core processor is to leverage ARM’s core for servers
tailored to China domestic applications. Huawei’s Kunpeng server chipset is the highest
performing ARM core and may be its solution to mitigate the impact from its ban on US
technology. Zhaoxin has also licensed the x86 core as a JV with Via and the Shanghai
Municipal Government for a home-grown processor based on Intel’s well-established x86
instruction set for compute. Loongson is also targeting MIPs 64 bit CPUs for general
purpose computing.
FPGA – Xilinx and Altera/Intel lead. Xilinx and Altera have over 80% market share,
followed by Microchip (acquired Microsemi/Actel) and Lattice each with about 5% market
share, and negligible share for the Chinese players. The FPGA market has higher barriers
due to the software platforms used to programme the FPGAs and now increasing amount
of embedded IP and requirement to manufacture high-end FPGAs at large die size (more
difficult to use) on the advanced technology nodes. Several Chinese players including
Gowin, Fudan Micro, Unigroup Guoxin and Huada are developing FPGAs.
Analog/Discretes – Chinese design houses focusing initially on high volume IT.
China is following the route of Taiwan analog companies a decade prior by focusing on
high volume IT markets initially in computing, mobile, consumer/IoT, display and LEDs and
later focusing on auto/industrial. China has several emerging companies including SG
Micro, Silan, and Silergy and ZTE’s Microelectronics (SaneChips) that are gaining traction
and growing both as a lower cost alternative for global companies or a local source
domestically in China. In standard products, Wingtech’s purchase of Nexperia’s standard
products group also gives it a high position in discrete.
Graphics – barriers high, a couple of Chinese design houses trying to address.
The graphics has had high barriers as both NVIDIA and AMD have built their GPUs as
platforms for gaming, in close collaboration with the leading game developers and in
extensive marketing to build up the consumer base for their systems. The graphics requires
a long design cycle, large die size, complex architecture and advanced manufacturing and
marketing capabilities, raising the barriers to entry. China has a couple of IC design
companies working on graphics including Jingjia Micro developing a high performance GPU
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
$0
$10,000
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$100,000
Mo
bil
e p
roc
es
so
rs
Dis
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te m
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ed
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tes
PM
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DR
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FP
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NA
ND
MP
U
GP
Us
DS
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Overseas China China Share
US$mn China share (%)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 41
starting with 28nm (vs NVIDIA on 12nm and AMD on 7nm). Zhoxin has also integrated
Via’s GPU technology for an integrated processing unit with graphics.
Figure 42: China’s 2018 market share was still relatively low in many of the large semiconductor categories
Source: Gartner, Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
MCU – a broad fragmented market dominated by global IDMs makes penetration
slow. China has a low-single-digit share in the MPU market dominated by global IDMs
including Renasas, NXP, Microchip, STM, TI and Infineon. The MCU customer base is in
thousands and relies on a large catalog of products and takes time to build up the
customer base. China has multiple MCU suppliers including Gigadevice, Ingenic, Silan,
Datang and Huada and can use Hua Hong/SMIC’s embedded flash capability. The MCU
companies can target the large domestic China market looking for a domestic source and
also some of the higher volume markets such as home appliances and toys.
Market Size US$mn Overseas players Share Chinese players Share Market Size US$mn Overseas players Share Chinese players Share
Samsung Electronics 42.8% YMTC <1% Robert Bosch 13.5% Goodix 4%
SK hynix 29.5% CXMT <1% Infineon Technologies 7.8% Silan <1%
Micron Technology 22.9% Fujian Jinhua <1% STMicroelectronics 7.8% Shanghai Belling <1%
Nanya Technology 2.8% TDK 4.9% Yangjie <1%
Overseas subtotal: 98.0% Chinese subtotal: <1% Knowles 4.4%
Samsung Electronics 37.8% YMTC <1% Overseas subtotal: 38.4% Chinese subtotal: <5%
Western Digital 15.5% GigaDevice <1% Qualcomm 54.0% HiSilicon Technologies 15%
Toshiba Memory 14.6% ISSI / Ingenic <1% MediaTek 13.8% UniSoC Technologies 4%
Micron Technology 11.1% Samsung Electronics 13.8% Allwinner <1%
SK hynix 11.0% Overseas subtotal: 81.6% Chinese subtotal: <20%
Toshiba 4.9% NVIDIA 81.4% Jingjia Micro <1%
Intel 4.1% AMD 18.1% Zhaoxin <1%
Overseas subtotal: 98.9% Chinese subtotal: <1% Overseas subtotal: 99.5% Chinese subtotal: <1%
Intel 91.2% HiSilicon <1% Broadcom 26.9% HiSilicon Technologies <1%
AMD 5.4% Cambricon <1% Qualcomm 18.6% UniSoC Technologies <1%
NXP 0.8% Alibaba <1% MediaTek 6.7% Maxscend <1%
Texas Instruments 0.5% Montage <1% NXP 5.1% Goodix <1%
Marvell 0.8% Eeasy Tech <1% Cypress Semiconductor 4.0% Will Semi <1%
Overseas subtotal: 98.8% Chinese subtotal: <1% Overseas subtotal: 61.3% Chinese subtotal: <1%
Renesas Electronics 18.2% CEC Huada 1% Broadcom 36.4% Sanechips Technology 7%
NXP 17.4% Gigadevice <1% Intel 9.2%
Microchip Technology 14.1% Unigroup Guoxin <1% Marvell Technology Group 8.4%
STMicroelectronics 11.2% SinoWealth <1% HiSilicon Technologies 7.0%
Texas Instruments 9.7% Silan <1% Realtek Semiconductor 3.0%
Infineon Technologies 9.0% Goodix <1% Overseas subtotal: 64.0% Chinese subtotal: 7%
Overseas subtotal: 79.7% Chinese subtotal: <2% Skyworks Solutions 22.4% Sanechips <1%
Texas Instruments 41.7% Qorvo 17.3% Vanchip <1%
NXP 22.6% Qualcomm 14.7% Xinyi Semi <1%
Analog Devices 21.6% Broadcom 13.9% Smarter Micro <1%
Overseas subtotal: 86.0% Chinese subtotal: <1% NXP 5.2% Lansus <1%
Xilinx 51.1% Unigroup Guoxin <1% Murata Manufacturing 4.4% UniChip <1%
Intel 35.8% Fudan Micro <1% Overseas subtotal: 77.8% Chinese subtotal: <1%
Microchip Technology 5.2% Huada <1% Texas Instruments 15.7% HiSilicon Technologies 3%
Lattice Semiconductor 5.0% Gowin <1% Qualcomm 9.8% Silergy 3%
Overseas subtotal: 97.1% Chinese subtotal: <1% Dialog Semiconductor 8.4% SG Micro <1%
Samsung Electronics 28.4% Huada 3% Infineon Technologies 6.7% Shanghai Belling <1%
Novatek 16.1% SinoWealth <1% STMicroelectronics 6.4% Silan <1%
Himax Technologies 9.5% Solomon Systech <1% Overseas subtotal: 47.0% Chinese subtotal: <10%
Silicon Works 9.1% Chipone <1% Intel 27.5% Bitmain Technologies 5%
Synaptics 6.7% STMicroelectronics 4.6% HiSilicon Technologies 4%
Overseas subtotal: 69.9% Chinese subtotal: <5% Infineon Technologies 3.6% Montage Technology 1%
Texas Instruments 29.0% ON Semiconductor 3.0%
Analog Devices 20.3% Renesas Electronics 2.8%
Maxim Integrated 4.6% Texas Instruments 2.7%
ON Semiconductor 4.1% Overseas subtotal: 44.2% Chinese subtotal: <15%
Cirrus Logic 3.0% Apple 28.7% HiSilicon 2%
STMicroelectronics 2.5% MediaTek 11.8% Unisoc N/A
Overseas subtotal: 63.5% Chinese subtotal: <1% Broadcom 7.6%
Infineon Technologies 14.4% Nexperia 5% AMD 6.9%
ON Semiconductor 10.4% Jilin Sino-Micro 1% NVIDIA 5.3%
STMicroelectronics 5.9% HiSilicon <1% Intel 3.4%
Mitsubishi 5.6% SG Micro <1% Overseas subtotal: 63.8% Chinese subtotal: <5%
Vishay 5.4% Silan <1% Intel 39.3% UniSoC Technologies 9%
Rohm 5.2% Shanghai Belling <1% Qualcomm 37.0%
Toshiba 5.0% Will Semi <1% MediaTek 6.1%
Overseas subtotal: 51.9% Chinese subtotal: <10% Overseas subtotal: 82.5% Chinese subtotal: <10%
Sony 47.0% Will Semiconductor 11%
Samsung Electronics 20.1% Galaxycore 3%
ON Semiconductor 5.9% BYD Microelectronics <1%
SK hynix 2.3% SmartSens <1%
Overseas subtotal: 75.2% Chinese subtotal: <1%
4,153
11,431
ASICs 24,801
Discrete AP 25,264
11,362
Wired 22,122
RF 11,831
10,489
Mobile
Processor14,829
GPUs 8,262
Discretes 22,731
CMOS
sensors12,281
Sensors
Connectivity
PMIC
Discrete
modem
FPGA 5,683
Driver IC 6,060
Analog 24,401
MCUs 19,211
DSP 1,453
DRAM 99,872
NAND 57,951
MPUs 54,151
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 42
RF – advanced specialty technology requires an experienced team. RF design is
increasingly complex supporting multiple bands across 2G-5G, integration of multiple
components and use of specialty compound semiconductor materials requiring experienced
radio frequency chip designers. China’s RF suppliers (HiSilicon, RDA, Maxscend, Vanchip)
are now competitive on 2G and 3G but only supply the entry-level 4G. The supply chain will
also rely on Murata (PA filters) and Taiyo Yuden (BAW filters) to mitigate risk of US
technology exposure.
Display drivers. Taiwan and Korea lead in driver ICs with established position from years
of supplying their domestic panel makers. Market share is led by long-time suppliers
Novatek, Himax, Synaptics, FocalTech, Magnachip and Samsung’s internal division. China
does have a few suppliers seeking entry including SinoWealth, Galaxycore, Solomon
Systech and Chipone, though it lags in capacity support (at times tight on 8”) and panel
makers’ confidence relative to the established suppliers already with a large purchasing
scale and design advantage.
Foundry: China lags on advanced capacity, more
competitive on the mature nodes
Current market structure
China has been committed to the foundry sector for more than a decade, with Hua Hong
founded in the late 1990s and SMIC and Grace Semiconductor in 2000 charged with creating
local champions for contract semiconductor manufacturing. Despite consistent government
support, several industry cycles of investment and management teams, the China foundry
sector's share in 2018 remains 9.5%, virtually unchanged from the 9.6% share it held in 2008,
although has clawed back 170 bp of share since bottoming in 2015 at 7.8%.
Figure 43: China foundries led by SMIC and Hua Hong, but still modest in the global picture
Source: Company data, Gartner, Credit Suisse estimates
Foundry 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
CAGR
2011-2018
SMIC $1,354 $1,070 $1,554 $1,319 $1,702 $2,069 $1,970 $2,229 $2,914 $3,101 $3,351 14.2%
Hua Hong (plus Grace) $513 $357 $620 $610 $572 $585 $665 $651 $721 $808 $929 6.2%
CSMC $142 $151 $225 $230 $212 $210 $341 $328 $418 $456 $492 11.5%
Shanghai Hauli $0 $0 $0 $0 $37 $111 $305 $280 $310 $587 $676 NM
XMC $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $180 $210 $200 $250 $250 $300 NM
ASMC $136 $95 $130 $124 $137 $128 $132 $120 $116 $124 $180 5.5%
Shanghai Belling $23 $14 $20 $20 $13 $15 $15 - - - - NM
China foundry sales (US$mn) $2,168 $1,687 $2,549 $2,303 $2,673 $3,298 $3,638 $3,808 $4,730 $5,326 $5,928 14.5%
YoY Growth -22.2% 51.1% -9.7% 16.1% 23.4% 10.3% 4.7% 24.2% 12.6% 11.3%
China foundry share (%) 9.6% 8.4% 9.0% 8.0% 7.9% 8.4% 7.9% 7.8% 8.8% 9.0% 9.5%
TSMC $9,575 $8,396 $12,141 $12,359 $14,621 $17,213 $22,396 $25,100 $29,451 $32,155 $34,208 15.7%
GlobalFoundries $1,743 $2,422 $3,662 $3,005 $4,013 $4,121 $4,352 $5,016 $5,495 $6,176 $6,209 10.9%
UMC $3,188 $1,786 $1,873 $2,484 $3,596 $2,900 $3,203 $3,261 $4,579 $4,909 $5,021 10.6%
Samsung Foundry $515 $486 $390 $770 $1,295 $3,200 $3,339 $2,621 $3,700 $4,475 $4,721 29.6%
Japanese IDMs $1,265 $972 $1,095 $992 $940 $954 $1,111 $1,261 $1,291 $1,289 $1,318 4.1%
Powerchip Logic $190 $140 $149 $431 $614 $862 $917 $985 $987 $1,057 $1,152 15.1%
TowerJazz $436 $298 $509 $613 $639 $505 $828 $961 $1,249 $1,387 $1,303 11.4%
Vanguard $490 $400 $546 $514 $579 $697 $755 $736 $802 $819 $959 9.3%
Dongbu $432 $370 $512 $483 $478 $464 $540 $590 $667 $611 $615 3.5%
IBM $566 $383 $500 $545 $634 $495 $519 $280 - - - NM
Magnachip $310 $265 $410 $338 $390 $400 $400 $291 $274 $320 $327 -0.5%
X-Fab $368 $211 $317 $278 $297 $290 $310 $290 $461 $582 $588 11.3%
Silterrra $157 $160 $180 $180 $160 $172 $160 $150 $130 $120 $190 0.8%
Other $1,185 $2,165 $3,473 $3,460 $2,789 $3,778 $3,385 $3,542 $184 $131 $133 -37.2%
Global foundry sales (US$mn) $22,588 $20,141 $28,305 $28,754 $33,716 $39,349 $45,852 $48,891 $53,999 $59,357 $62,673 11.8%
YoY Growth -10.8% 40.5% 1.6% 17.3% 16.7% 16.5% 6.6% 10.4% 9.9% 5.6%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 43
Key barriers to entry
■ High capex requirements. TSMC's capex at US$10-12 bn per year is a 5x multiple over
SMIC's recent US$2-2.5 bn range. Equipment cost for the most advanced leading-edge
capacity is now US$150-200 mn per 1,000 WPM capacity, limiting SMIC to 10-15,000
capacity additions per year at its current budget, paling in comparison to TSMC's installed
400,000 wafers per month capacity at 28nm and below. While SMIC has used its
Shanghai and Beijing JVs to share the capex and initial losses, the capex, even including
those JV investments, still implies that the scale gap only widens in the coming years with
TSMC continuing to outspend.
The higher scale base also translates to a wide difference in revenues. SMIC's revenue
base is still only 8% of TSMC's and is also playing out in investment capability, with
operating cash flows also only 6% of TSMC's operating cash flow and capex staying
around 20% of TSMC's overall capex. At a US$2-2.5 bn budget, SMIC can add about
15,000 14nm wafers, enough to generate US$500 mn on the advanced node, still less
than 1.3% of TSMC's projected 2020 sales.
Figure 44: SMIC <10% of TSMC's sales and cash flow Figure 45: TSMC capex is much higher than that of SMIC's
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
■ Capacity additions committed from the government, but not yet needed. Contrary
to memory where fabs are kept loaded to minimise unit costs, foundry requires specific
wafer demand from unique customers that have qualified product, all subject to having
effective and competitive capacity. SMIC has available government commitments for it to
have another 35k Beijing JV capacity, 70k Shanghai JV capacity, and 35k available in
Shenzhen with only 10k built out as management will only ramp up as customer
commitments come through. Our tracker of China capacity shows only 191k WPM of
capacity built out by foundries in China, out of the 565k available capacity planned.
0%
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SMIC Operating Cashflow TSMC Operating Cashflow
SMIC OCF as % of TSMC OCF SMIC Sales as % of TSMC Sales
US$mn (%)
0%
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2018
2019E
2020E
Capex/Sales (%)
Capex US$mn
TSMC Capex SMIC Capex TSMC Capex/Sales SMIC Capex/Sales
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 44
Figure 46: China has sizeable committed capacity, but only gradually building it out
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
■ Technology gap remains high. Technology and scale shows up as a sizeable gap both
on mature and leading nodes. SMIC has done quite well to fully load 8" and its mature 12”
capacity with specialty and 2nd wave applications (fingerprint IC, smart cards, power
management, image sensors, NOR flash, RF transceivers) but is still only 20% of TSMC's
revenue base. On the advanced nodes, SMIC has only 3% of sales on 28nm and no sales
below that node, keeping its sales base limited in areas that account for 70% of TSMC's
sales. SMIC is no longer aggressively targeting 28nm expansion due to low profitability,
although will expand its 3k WPM pilot line on 14nm to 15k WPM over the next year as
customer orders ramp up, giving that node a chance to scale to US$500 mn sales, though
still only one-sixth the size of TSMC’s 16nm capacity and not able to access the 110k
capacity being built on 7nm and 50k on 5nm.
Figure 47: TSMC's revenue on legacy nodes is still much
higher even with SMIC’s progress
Figure 48: TSMC has a significant leading-edge scale
advantage over SMIC
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
■ Ecosystem development has posed a barrier. The challenges of ramping up a new
node every two years and increasingly a half node every year requires development across
equipment, materials, design software (EDA), IP developers, foundry and customers,
keeping an advantage for the incumbents ahead on technology. TSMC has noted a rising
number of titles now approaching 21,000 IP blocks qualified on its manufacturing platform
and a stepped up rise in IP qualification, architecture design and system verification. The
Chinese foundries are working to put in place that ecosystem, but the size of revenue base
Company Location Node 4Q17 4Q18 4Q19Max
CapacityStatus
SMIC Beijing 90nm-28nm 46.0 42.0 50.0 50.0 Fully built
SMIC Shanghai 45-28nm 17.0 10.0 8.0 20.0 Fully built
SMIC Beijing 2A JV 40nm 29.0 33.0 36.0 35.0 Ramping
SMIC Beijing 2B JV 40nm 0.0 0.0 0.0 35.0 Ramping
SMIC Shenzhen 90-40nm 6.8 6.8 6.8 35.0 Pilot Line
SMIC Shanghai JV 28-14nm 0.0 0.0 6.8 70.0 Future
SMIC capacity build-out in China: 98.8 91.8 107.5 245.0
Hua Hong/Huali Shanghai F5 55-40nm 35.0 35.0 35.0 35.0 Fully built
Hua Hong/Huali Shanghai F6 28nm 0.0 0.0 0.0 40.0 Construction
Hua Hong Wuxi F7 90-65nm 0.0 0.0 5.6 40.0 Planning
TSMC Nanjing 16nm 0.0 10.0 10.0 80.0 Starts 2Q18
UMC Xiaman: F12X 40-28nm 11.5 17.0 17.0 50.0 Ramping
Powerchip Hefei 90nm 0.0 6.0 6.0 40.0 Starts 2018
GlobalFoundries Chengdu 22nm FDS 0.0 10.0 10.0 65.0 Starts 4Q18
Guangzhou Yuexin Guangzhou 40-28nm 0.0 0.0 0.0 30.0 Starts 2019
Other foundries capacity build out in China 46.5 78.0 83.6 380.0
Total capacity build out in China 145.3 169.8 191.1 625.0
0
500
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TSMC - 65nm and below SMIC - 65nm and below
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 45
with TSMC at US$35 bn vs SMIC at US$3 bn places a huge gap in resources committed,
even with the government and IC fund backing and subsidy support.
Figure 49: TSMC qualifying a large IP pool on its process Figure 50: TSMC has built a wide ecosystem of partners
Source: Credit Suisse (TSMC – 2018 ARM Forum) Source: Credit Suisse (TSMC – 2018 ARM Forum)
TSMC captures a large share of the opportunity
China IC design growth helps the foundry sector, though TSMC capturing high share
The foundry opportunity from domestic IC design companies in China has increased at a 23%
CAGR to US$8.5 bn, representing almost 15% of the foundry market and an opportunity for all
the players. Due to its scale and leadership on advanced capacity, TSMC has grown even faster,
increasing its share of China local customers from 20% in 2010 to over 60% in 2018. We
estimate TSMC’s China sales currently at US$5.5 bn vs US$1.8 bn for SMIC and US$500 mn
for Hua Hong.
Figure 51: TSMC gaining share at the Chinese fabless Figure 52: China foundry share flat due to TSMC’s lead
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
TSMC also has a 12” fab to address the China opportunity
TSMC is also building out a fab in Nanjing China in four phases. The first of four phases is
capable of ramping up to 20k WPM at an initial cost of US$3 bn. The company will also have a
design service centre to support local IC design companies. The revenue contribution will be
modest at only 4% of sales once built out, but can allow TSMC to stay competitive addressing
local customers for its 16nm FinFET process as SMIC starts its Shanghai line for its 14nm in
4Q19.
0%
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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
TSMC SMIC UMC Hua Hong TSMC's China share
Foundry sales in China (US$mn)
23.2% CAGR from 2010-2018
0%
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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018China foundry sales (US$mn) Global foundry sales (US$mn) China foundry share (%)
Foundry sales (US$mn) China foundry market share (%)Foundry sales (US$mn) China foundry market share (%)
TSMC currently investing in
a 12" fab in China
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 46
Figure 53: China foundry share small vs its opportunity Figure 54: China trying to build a locally sufficient chain
Source: SMIC Source: SMIC
China players SMIC/HuaHong invest to raise competitiveness, TSMC still the lead supplier
SMIC – high spending mode to improve its technology position. China’s domestic
foundries still have about 9% market share, led by SMIC and Hua Hong. SMIC is in a high
investment phase, reversing course from its strategy a few years back to fill its mature 12” and
8” with differentiated technology and gradually migrate to the advanced nodes. The company
has hired Dr. Liang, formerly at TSMC and Samsung, to improve its foundry process and R&D
capability. Since the stepped up efforts, it is spending at a high capital intensity and R&D level
and growing its ability to receive government R&D grants to advance its process towards 14nm
and n+1 technology (~8nm) to target more advanced mobile and high performance computing
applications.
The company’s profitability is only slightly positive even with the government support, with
management conceding a need to take time for sustainable solid profitability or cash flow, but
investing for a long-term improvement in technology competitiveness that can lift its
performance long term.
Hua Hong – focused on specialty technology on mature 8”/12”, privately held Huali
pushing advanced technology. China's other top foundry Hua Hong has carved out a role in
China's development as a specialty foundry focused on leveraging more mature technology on
8” and 12”. The foundry achieved good scale on 8” foundry manufacturing through the merger
of Grace and Hua Hong Semiconductor with differentiated specialty technology and particular
capabilities both in applications using embedded flash (over 40% of sales) and in supplying
domestic Chinese customers (over 50% of sales). The company’s technology roadmap focuses
production on a wide range of specialty applications including microcontrollers, power
management, RF, smart cards, discretes and MEMS. The company has licensed Super Flash
from SST, a Microchip subsidiary, and SONOS from Cypress to develop a competency in
eNVM (embedded Non-Volatile Memory) used in smart cards (SIM cards, bank ICs, mobile
payments, ID cards, social security cards) at 35% of sales and targeted to reach 50% of sales
long term.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 47
Figure 55: SMIC sales from China customers Figure 56: Hua Hong sales from China customers
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Hua Hong is now moving ahead more aggressively on the first 10k WPM of its new 12” fab for
first volume production late this year and maintains plans to ramp up 40k WPM 12” fab by
2022 to double capacity to US$2 bn. Its sister company Huali is also building a 2nd advanced
12” fab with an eventual capacity for 40k for 28-14nm.
Figure 57: Hua Hong's technology portfolio Figure 58: Hua Hong has grown embedded flash (eNVM)
Source: Hua Hong Semiconductor Source: Hua Hong Semiconductor
Aside from the leading players, China is also investing in several communal IDMs which would
combine manufacturing, chip design and partnerships with other IDMs and IC design companies
to address growing market opportunities in the industry. Dr. Chang, former SMIC founder and
Chairman, is building up a commune IDM in Qingdao China. The company will form a
partnership with system companies and chip designers to target an application to develop a chip
to jointly sell to the customer base. Requests are market driven, coming from end users and
manufacturers for SiEn to design, develop and produce the wafers for customers’ needs. In the
early 1990s, HP and Canon had collaborated with TI and the Singapore Economic
Development Board (EDB) to form a TECH company on the same business model.
SiEn plans to build 1 12” fab, 1 8” fab and a photomask shop. The 8” fab will ramp up initially to
30k WPM and 12” fab will ramp up to 40-45k WPM, with the first phase set at 10k WPM. The
company plans pilot start from August 2019-December 2019 and production start during
2020-21. The company also has land to develop living quarters and a school in an adjacent
area to assist in talent retention. Staff levels are up to 300 as of March 2019, with 30% having
PhD and Masters’ degree and 48% bachelor’s degree. The company has started up projects
for Microcontrollers, OLED Driver ICs, IoT chips for home appliances, and analog/power
management chips for industrial electronics. The company believes that several global IDMs will
partner with it for some new chip designs.
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
1Q
09
3Q
09
1Q
10
3Q
10
1Q
11
3Q
11
1Q
12
3Q
12
1Q
13
3Q
13
1Q
14
3Q
14
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15
3Q
15
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16
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17
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17
1Q
18
3Q
18
1Q
19
US$mn
North America China Eurasia
$0
$20
$40
$60
$80
$100
$120
$140
$160
Ma
r-1
4
Jun-1
4
Sep
-14
Dec-1
4
Ma
r-1
5
Jun-1
5
Sep
-15
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5
Ma
r-1
6
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6
Sep
-16
Dec-1
6
Ma
r-1
7
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7
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-17
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7
Ma
r-1
8
Jun-1
8
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-18
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8
Ma
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9
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9
US$mn
China United States Japan Asia Europe
$0
$50
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$150
$200
$250
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14
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n-1
4
Sep
-14
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4
Mar-
15
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5
Sep
-15
Dec-1
5
Mar-
16
Jun-1
6
Sep
-16
Dec-1
6
Mar-
17
Jun-1
7
Sep
-17
Dec-1
7
Mar-
18
Jun-1
8
Sep
-18
Dec-1
8
Mar-
19
Jun-1
9
US$mn
Embedded flash Logic & RF Discrete
Analog & PM Standalone NVM Others
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 48
Back-end: China has used M&A to gain a stronger
presence
Current market structure
Since 2013, the back-end sector has seen the faster emergence of China OSAT (Outsourced
semiconductor assembly and test) players following the local players’ acquisition of overseas
companies to gain capability and customers. Some of the key M&As in the sector included
JCET’s acquisition of Stats-Chippac, which moved its market share up from 3% to 10%,
Tongfu’s acquisition of AMD’s factories which gave it a high growth CPU customer and
advanced flip chip packaging and final test capabilities, and Tianshui Huatian closed on Flip
Chip International for flip chip bumping and wafer level packaging.
The wave of acquisitions in the 2013-15 period lifted the back-end companies’ market share
from 5% in 2012 to 20% in 2019, making it a competitive force and source of self-sufficiency
on mainstream and reasonably advanced technology (flip chip, fan-out packaging) for China.
The one area of lag is still in the high-end advanced packaging, where TSMC has also emerged
over the past five years by supplying the high density fan-out (InFO) process for Apple’s
application processor and CoWoS (silicon interposers) for advanced graphics integrating high
bandwidth memory and high-end FPGAs.
Figure 59: China accelerated share gains with M&A in 14-15, though now stabilising a bit
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
The Chinese OSATs after their aggressive M&As were initially aggressive to expand capacity
and gain share even at the expense of pricing and margins operating near break-even levels
and helping trigger several points of gross margin erosion for the whole sector. Due to that
expansion and also taking on some high dollar value but low margin SiP projects, China
companies have grown at a 25% CAGR (19% excluding M&A) to reach 20% market share.
0%
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China back-end Total back-end sales China % of back-end
Back-end sales (US$mn) China % of Back-end
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 49
Figure 60: China’s back-end sector has grown at a 25% CAGR to reach 20% share in 2019 (+20% CAGR excluding M&A)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates, (2014 revised to show the impact of JCET + Stats)
In the past year, the China suppliers became a bit more selective on bidding for SiP projects,
spending on capex and more restricted from large M&As on greater national protectionism, and
therefore may have more limited share gains. Key opportunity would be to continue outgrowing
the industry with the emergence of more local IC design companies.
China’s key OSATs intend on growing their position
We expect the China OSATs to continue to show outgrowth and target a combination of
growing domestic opportunities and International customers seeking either more localised position or a lower priced solution:
Figure 61: Comparison of ASE-SPIL with JCET and Tongfu
US$mn Revenue GM OPM FCF Top customers & revenue %
2018 2018 2018 2018
3711.TW ASE/SPIL 13,187 17% 7% 70 Apple 19% (including USI module revenue)
ASE/SPIL
ex-USI
8,114 21% 10% 178 QCOM 8%, Broadcom 7%, Huawei HiSilicon 6%, Mediatek 6%, NVIDIA 4%, Infineon 3%, STM 3%,
NXP/Freescale 3%
600584.SS JCET 3,608 11% 1% (300) Apple 23%, QCOM 7%, Broadcom 4%, Huawei HiSilicon 4%, Spreadtrum 3%, Bitmain/Cannon 3%,
Samsung/Hynix 1-2%
002156.SZ Tongfu 1,092 16% 1% (230) AMD 45%, MediaTek 7%, Broadcom 3%, Huawei HiSilicon 2%, STM 2%, TI 2%, NXP 2%
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse
1. JCET – targeting to be China’s strongest competitor and key global player.
JCET through its acquisition of Singapore headquartered Stats-Chippac became #3 in
back-end scale, after ASE/SPIL and Amkor. The company gained both advanced
technology with the fan-out, flip chip and advanced test and global customers
including Apple, Qualcomm and HiSilicon.
The company had been growing revenue over the past few years, adding low margin SiP
business to Apple, but is currently refocusing on improving its competitiveness and
execution to better serve its International and local Chinese customers in the core assembly
and test business. The company is looking to jump start sales as it is tracking flat to slightly
down this year, with below average margins (12% GMs/1% OpMs).
Sales comparison 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 '06-'10 CAGR 10-'18 CAGR
JCET $311 $343 $347 $535 $582 $703 $830 $1,043 $1,713 $2,875 $3,540 $3,607 $3,226 21% 27%
Tianshui Huatian $105 $107 $114 $172 $203 $257 $399 $536 $616 $824 $1,039 $1,081 $1,228 20% 26%
Tongfu Micro $167 $171 $181 $255 $251 $252 $288 $339 $369 $689 $967 $1,093 $1,225 13% 20%
China back-end $583 $621 $642 $962 $1,035 $1,213 $1,517 $1,918 $2,698 $4,388 $5,545 $5,781 $5,679 18% 25%
YoY Growth 18% 6% 3% 50% 8% 17% 25% 26% 41% 63% 26% 4% -2%
China % of back-end 3% 3% 4% 4% 4% 5% 6% 7% 9% 15% 18% 18% 19%
China organic back-end $583 $621 $642 $962 $1,035 $1,213 $1,517 $1,918 $2,253 $2,951 $3,944 $4,121 $4,092 18% 20%
YoY Growth 18% 6% 3% 50% 8% 17% 25% 26% 17% 31% 34% 4% -1%
ASE $3,081 $3,007 $2,608 $3,992 $4,345 $4,401 $4,829 $5,273 $4,873 $4,982 $8,035 $8,230 $8,040 7% 9%
YoY Growth 0% -2% -13% 53% 9% 1% 10% 9% -8% 2% 61% 2% -2%
% of back-end 15% 14% 15% 17% 18% 18% 19% 19% 17% 17% 26% 26% 26%
Amkor $2,739 $2,659 $2,179 $2,939 $2,776 $2,760 $2,956 $3,129 $2,885 $3,894 $4,186 $4,316 $3,910 2% 5%
SPIL $1,968 $1,925 $1,729 $2,026 $2,084 $2,188 $2,336 $2,743 $2,613 $2,640 N/A N/A N/A 4% N/A
Powertech $744 $993 $908 $1,202 $1,342 $1,407 $1,267 $1,321 $1,339 $1,500 $1,960 $2,072 $2,303 23% 7%
TSMC $246 $318 $270 $466 $654 $772 $1,006 $1,384 $1,596 $1,913 $2,247 $2,496 $2,548 18% 23%
UTAC $756 $711 $601 $925 $981 $978 $748 $734 $878 $875 $874 $888 $901 10% -1%
ChipMOS $698 $522 $352 $546 $620 $651 $652 $726 $627 $571 $589 $613 $649 -3% 1%
Chipbond $178 $168 $159 $399 $450 $508 $533 $584 $532 $536 $605 $621 $671 33% 6%
KYEC $441 $465 $382 $561 $516 $496 $495 $537 $540 $623 $647 $820 $941 8% 5%
J-Devices $474 $498 $523 $549 $576 $532 $825 $923 $822 N/A N/A N/A N/A 5% N/A
Carsem $372 $370 $275 $394 $360 $356 $350 $336 $360 $378 $384 $389 $395 3% 0%
Walton $315 $258 $256 $286 $279 $280 $299 $330 $249 $272 $310 $317 $324 -1% 1%
Unisem $285 $373 $300 $433 $380 $354 $315 $319 $323 $340 $345 $350 $355 23% -3%
Orient Semi $281 $327 $265 $357 $369 $360 $322 $456 $507 $490 $457 $467 $478 5% 3%
AOI Electronics $246 $248 $211 $234 $304 $331 $343 $363 $392 $336 $414 $385 $394 0% 6%
Formosa Advanced $274 $313 $276 $376 $404 $360 $302 $304 $276 $264 $259 $265 $271 17% -4%
Kingpak $3 $4 $30 $96 $58 $42 $42 $40 $81 $73 $71 $78 $91 82% -3%
Major Players (ex-China) $13,103 $13,157 $11,322 $15,782 $16,500 $16,777 $17,619 $19,502 $18,894 $19,687 $21,385 $22,307 $22,273 7% 4%
YoY Growth 8% 0% -14% 39% 5% 2% 5% 11% -3% 4% 9% 4% 0%
% of back-end 64% 62% 66% 67% 69% 68% 70% 72% 66% 66% 69% 71% 73%
Other suppliers $6,914 $7,430 $5,186 $6,850 $6,489 $6,536 $5,946 $5,710 $6,895 $5,836 $3,878 $3,337 $2,530 1% -9%
YoY Growth 5% 7% -30% 32% -5% 1% -9% -4% 21% -15% -34% -14% -24%
Total back-end sales $20,600 $21,209 $17,150 $23,593 $24,024 $24,526 $25,082 $27,130 $28,487 $29,911 $30,808 $31,425 $30,482 5% 4%
YoY Growth 7% 3% -19% 38% 2% 2% 2% 8% 5% 5% 3% 2% -3%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 50
2. Tongfu – advancing its capacity leveraging its AMD acquired assets. Tongfu
Micro is leveraging the acquisition of AMD’s China back-end operations in 2016,
giving it close to 50% of its revenue and more advanced operations, along with flip
chip assembly and final test. The company is spending at a high R&D level to develop
fan-out, driver IC, memory and packaging to support 7nm processors. Tongfu has
been improving its customer base with good position at global customers Mediatek,
Broadcom, Huawei, STM, TI and NXP.
The company is currently seeing accelerated growth including with Huaweidue to the trade
tension, Mediatek due to its share gains on low-mid-end smartphones, and recently
qualified Infineon’s high-end automotive chips. The company is on pace to grow 15-20%
on the back of growth from AMD and its better position at China and International
customers, though margins are still relatively low at 13% GMs and 1% OpM in 2019.
3. TSHT - focused on mainstream packaging and better profitability. Tianshui
Huatian (TSHT) traditionally has a higher level of profitability focusing on specialty ICs
including RF, CMOS image sensors, NOR flash and sensors. The company also
acquired Unisem (22% of sales in 1H19) which gave it access to international
customers Qorvo, Skyworks and Broadcom/Avago. The company expects
opportunities from domestic Chinese customers, replacing overseas headquartered
OSATs ASE and Amkor. CS projects 15-20% YoY.
Funding of semi ambitions
Other than broad level and significant funds available from the National IC Fund, local private
equity funds and private VCs (see earlier in the report), these semiconductor players in China
also stand to gain funding and help from the following sources.
JV fabs ease the investment burden for advanced
manufacturing
The China municipal funds have been helping the foundries build out capacity through JV fabs
which allow the foundry operator to have operating control, but the JV contributes up to half of
the capex outlay. During the first few years of fab investment, the high depreciation burden ensures losses but benefits the foundry P&L by sharing the loss of that operation with the JV
partners. The contracts often allow the foundry to inject more capital over time to assume a larger ownership once the fab turns more profitable. Key JV fabs in the foundry sector include
SMIC’s JV 12” fabs in Shanghai and Beijing, Hua Hong’s JV fab in Wuxi and UMC’s JV in Xiamen. GlobalFoundries had established a JV fab in Chengdu although we believe it is now up
for sale with the foundry focusing more on generating positive free cash flow and paring off
some of the more speculative investments.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 51
Figure 62: Fab investment in China across logic IC and memory from domestic and foreign companies
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse research
R&D and equipment subsidies help manage the high cost of
advanced technology development
China also provides support in term of grants for the manufacturers tied to R&D projects and
also investment grants that can offset interest expense. Our analysis of SMIC shows a steadily
rising amount of government grants in the past five years since China’s National Guideline for
the IC industry in 2014 and its Made in China 2025 programme were implemented. The
company’s income statement recognition of grants for R&D, interest and other income has
increased from US$40-50 mn range during 2011-15 to US$200mn in 2018. The funding for
R&D, as the company also steps up meeting the national goal for FinFET commercialisation by
2020, has also accelerated, ramping up from US$250 mn on the balance sheet during 2013-
15 to over US$600 mn in 2018, with new funding up from US$$40 mn in 2015 to US$265
mn in 2018.
Figure 63: SMIC government grants rising since 2015 Figure 64: SMIC’s government funding of R&D rising
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Origin
CountryCompany Fab Site
Wafer
sizeSegment Node (nm)
Installed
(WPM)
Next phase
planned
Final Capacity
(WPM)
China Fujian Jinhua Fujian 12" DRAM 25nm On Hold 0 60,000
China Hua Hong JV Wuxi 12" Foundry 90-55nm 10,000 10,000 40,000
China Huali Micro Pudong 12" Foundry 28-14nm 10,000 10,000 40,000
China CXMT Hefei 12" DRAM TBD 5,000 40,000 125,000
China SiEn Qingdao 8" Foundry 110nm+ 0 0 30,000
China SiEn Qingdao 12" Foundry 55/40nm 0 0 40,000
China SMIC JV Beijing 12" Foundry 40/28nm 35,000 0 35,000
China SMIC JV Shanghai 12" Foundry 14nm 3,000 12,000 70,000
China SMIC Shenzhen 12" Foundry 55nm 6,800 0 40,000
China Tsinghua Unigroup Nanjing 12" NAND/DRAM 2x nm TBD 0 100,000
China YMTC Wuhan 12" 3D NAND 3D NAND 20,000 60,000 300,000
Upcoming fabs by domestic companies 89,800 132,000 880,000
US Alpha & Omega Chongqing 8" Discretes 130nm+ 25,000 0 25,000
US GlobalFoundries JV Chengdu 12" Foundry 22nm FDS On Hold 0 65,000
Korea Hynix Wuxi C3 12" DRAM 1x nm 0 60,000 130,000
US Intel Dalian 12" NAND 3D NAND 80,000 20,000 100,000
Taiwan Powerchip Hefei 12" Logic 90nm 6,000 5,000 40,000
Korea Samsung Xian 12" 3D NAND 3D NAND 100,000 20,000 120,000
Taiwan TSMC Nanjing 12" Foundry 16nm 10,000 10,000 80,000
Taiwan UMC JV Xiamen 12" Foundry 28nm 17,000 0 50,000
Upcoming fabs by overseas companies 238,000 115,000 610,000
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
P&L grants - other operating income P&L grants - interest expense
P&L grants - R&D expenses Grants as % of Net Income
US$mn % of net income
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Government funding on the balance sheet New government funding on R&D projects
US$mn
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 52
Technology and IP from existing countries and companies supplemented by growing in-country talent
China is also looking to follow in the footsteps of other countries that developed their
semiconductor industry leveraging the insights of existing players. The electronics chain has had three major migrations of electronics’ value and production, with the US leading in the 1950s-
60s, a first migration to Japan and West Germany in the 1970s-80s, a second migration to the Asian Tigers in the 1990s-00s (South Korea, Taiwan), and a migration with evolution to China
in the 2010s. The Chinese lead companies have been aggressively offering packages to existing engineers from established companies to accelerate their build-up of know-how.
According to H&L Management Consultants, a Taipei recruitment firm, more than 300 senior
engineers from Taiwan moved to mainland Chinese chip makers in 2018 and more than 1,000 since Beijing set up its National IC fund in 2014.
Figure 65: Technology transfer through regions has been on-going since the 1950s
Source: Hua Hong Group
China has doubled its gross expenditure on R&D from 1% to 2% in the past decade (closer to
the 3-3.5% for the US and Korea) and currently is in the lead in granted and total patents.
China is also now graduating 7.5mn citizens from college vs. 3.3mn in the US and may raise its
global share of graduates from 18% in 2010 to 29% by 2020. In addition, China established
the Thousand Talents program in 2008 to attract foreign researchers and incentivise the return
of Chinese scientists from abroad with a background in STEM.
Figure 66: China has more applications and granted
patents than any other country
Figure 67: China has overtaken the EU in R&D spend as a % of GDP (OECD data)
Source: Refinitiv, Credit Suisse Global Strategy research Source: Refinitiv, Credit Suisse Global Strategy research
M&A activity another source of development, though now
more difficult
The Chinese supply chain went through an aggressive series of M&As through 2012-15 and
some selective deals in the past few years to build up its capabilities in acquiring established
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 53
foreign companies. The high degree of activity has attracted attention and also caused
government regulators to slow the approvals of deals, including the US CFIUS on the grounds
of national security concerns. Before the M&A window narrowed, China completed deals
including RDA (RF/Connectivity/DTV), Spreadtrum (Mobile), Montage (Set-tops) ISSI (specialty
memory), Omnivision (CMOS image sensors) and NXP's RF Power and Standard Products
divisions (Nexperia). In the back-end, JCET acquired Stats Chippac to become the #3 global
back-end supplier, Tianshui Huatian closed on Flip Chip International (flip chip bumping and
wafer level packaging) and Tongfu Micro acquired two AMD advanced packaging facilities in
China. In equipment, the E-Town Dragon Fund has also acquired Mattson, an equipment
supplier of dry strip, etch, RTP and annealing used in front-end semiconductor manufacturing.
ARM also spun off its China unit into a locally controlled company with better local access.
Figure 68: China supply chain has completed M&A to improve its technology position, although some larger deals cancelled
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Companies currently view large-scale M&As as more difficult as either US may block the deal or
China may ask for concessions. Companies are wary of larger deals currently in light of US
CFIUS and Presidential actions to block Broadcom-QCOM and China’s Mofcom failure to
approve Qualcomm-NXP. We expect the industry to still pursue acquisitions but political
pressure increasingly will limit large scale global M&As or Chinese companies gaining IP quickly
through acquisition, forcing it to maintain targets on smaller companies or acquiring IP or
seeking lower profile JVs.
Capital markets: new listings provide capital and recognition to China’s suppliers.
We expect 2019-20 to see one of the largest waves of semiconductor IPOs in China in history,
with strong support from the central/local governments and SOEs for the new Sci-Tech
Innovation Board, a capital market in China for emerging companies to list. The board may allow
much earlier-stage companies to list, including some small-scale, loss-making China
semiconductor suppliers, later this year.
As per our earlier analysis, A-share companies have traded at a 200%+ premium to the A-
share market in the past five years so the high valuations could give a good source of funds for
companies even at a relatively low profitability. There have been seven semiconductor
companies’ IPOs in A-share between March and July 2019, including equipment (AMEC),
materials (Anji Micro), IC design (Montage, Amlogic, Expressif, Beken, Maxscend). There will
Announced
dateTarget Acquirer
Value
(US$mn)Deal status
Announced
dateTarget Acquirer
Value
(US$mn)Deal status
12-Apr-12 Leadcore, Uniscope, Yousi Datang $289 Completed 15-Apr-16 Tongwei Tongwei Solar $770 Completed
12-Jul-13 Spreadtrum Tsinghua Unigroup $1,780 Completed 14-May-16 NXP Standard Products Wise Road Capital $2,750 Completed
11-Nov-13 RDA Tsinghua Unigroup $907 Completed 8-Jun-16Shandong Luyitong Intelligenet
EletronicsHangzhou Jianan Yunchi $459 Completed
1-Apr-14 NXP's auto IP Datang & NXP JV $60 Completed 26-Jan-17 YaGuang Technology Chengdu Yaguang Electronics $496 Completed
11-Jun-14 Montage Technology PDSTI $693 Completed 6-Jun-17 Jinglong Group JA Solar $1,408 Completed
14-Aug-14 OmniVision Will Semiconductor $1,900 Completed 30-Jan-18 GigaDevice Silead $424 Completed
3-Sep-14 Gerad Suzhou Wafer Level CSP $53 Completed 5-Jun-18 Undisclosed ARM Technology (China) $775 Completed
25-Sep-14 Tsinghua Unigroup Intel $1,470 Completed 27-Sep-18Asia Pacific Resources
Development InvestmentJiangsu Shunfeng Photovoltaic $692 Proceeding
6-Nov-14 STATS ChipPAC JCET, SMIC, IC Fund $780 Completed 13-Jul-15 Micron Technology Tsinghua Unigroup $23,000 Cancelled
16-Dec-14 FlipChip Int'l (FCI) Huatian $41 Completed 30-Sep-15 Western Digital Unisplendour (Tsinghua) $3,775 Cancelled
20-Jan-15 Sunplus' STB unit Availink Inc. $11 Completed 30-Sep-15 Pericom Montage Technology $430 Cancelled
20-Jan-15 Availink Inc. Sunplus' STB unit $10 Completed 30-Oct-15 Powertech Tsinghua Unigroup $600 Cancelled
12-Feb-15 SMIC National IC Fund $400 Completed 7-Dec-15 Mattson E-Town Capital $300 Cancelled
12-Mar-15 ISSI Uphill (SummitView) $764 Completed 9-Dec-15 Fairchild Hua Capital, CR Semi $2,460 Cancelled
28-Apr-15 Mic Led Light Huatian $8 Completed 11-Dec-15 ChipMOS Taiwan Tsinghua Unigroup $368 Cancelled
11-May-15 Static Control (SCC) Apex Microelectronics $63 Completed 11-Dec-15 Taiwan OSAT company Tsinghua Unigroup $1,700 Cancelled
19-May-15 HP's H3C HK Unisplendour $2,300 Completed 23-May-16 AIXTRON Grand Chip Investment $749 Cancelled
28-May-15 NXP's RF Power JAC Capital $1,800 Completed 26-Jul-16 Henan Yicheng New Energy Jiangxi Ldk Solar Hi-Tech $395 Cancelled
13-Jul-15 Silex Microsystems GAE N/A Completed 11-Jan-17 Qinchengda Investment Eging Photovoltaic $426 Cancelled
13-Aug-15 ISSI's Chingis MediaTek $27 Completed 22-Nov-17 Huaxin Investment Goodix $428 Cancelled
15-Oct-15 AMD's 2 ATMP facilities Tongfu Micro $371 Completed Proposed: $56,511
24-Nov-15 ZTE Microelectronics National IC Fund $380 Completed Completed: $21,189
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 54
be more A-share semi IPOs in late 2019-20, including but not limited to IC design (UNISOC,
Giantec, Fudan Micro), IDM (China Resources Microelectronics and Yantai Raytron), wafer
(National Silicon Industry Group), IC design service (VeriSilicon) and equipment (Accotest,
Kingsemi). BYD is also reported to have planned the spin-off of its semiconductor business
(BYD Microelectronics) to list in A-share.
Conclusion: China’s presence lagging in foundry,
rising in OSAT, varying in IC design
The Chinese semiconductor sector is having varying degrees of success establishing self-sufficiency in its domestic ecosystem due to high barriers on the advanced manufacturing and
chip design. In foundry, market share has been stable around 9% in the past decade, despite National IC fund investments and heavy attention on this sector as the centre of China’s
industrial development. TSMC’s wide lead on process technology and increasingly high-end
advanced packaging allows it to address the high-end compute, mobile and networking demand. The Chinese foundries have kept up with market growth, largely by leveraging their more legacy
8” and mature 12” process nodes to address high volume consumer and wireless/wired connectivity, and specialty high volume applications (CMOS image sensors, power management,
bank cards, specialty memory).
In the back-end space, China has increased share following M&As of overseas companies and
through a combination of aggressive pricing, targeting of SiP at high sales contribution but low
margin, and addressing the growing base of local fabless and International companies with supply chain in China. The companies following acquisition can address the mainstream high
volume packaging including flip chip and wafer level packaging though lag foundry leader TSMC integrating high-end applications on its silicon interposers and high density fan-out process.
Market share has been rising and now approaching 20%, although profitability is still a concern with China players operating at low-mid single digit operating margins.
In IC design, traction has been steady to lift share from 4% in 2010 to 16% in 2018, although
has been concentrated in select areas of the semiconductor space. Market share is the highest in mobile areas (processor, modem, wireless power management, connectivity, CMOS sensors),
wired connectivity (led by Huawei) and some new high volume applications seeing strong support in China (crypto-currency and AI). Share is still below 5% in areas representing about
70% of the industry, most notably processors, memory, GPU, FPGA, analog, MCU and RF.
Figure 69: China semiconductor industry continues to outgrow global peers
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
What happens in the coming years?
A few key trends we expect in the next 1-3 years:
China’s semiconductor expansion in its core wireless market. We expect China
to have most of its growth from its existing strong hold in wireless, higher content in
the mobile processor, connectivity, image sensor and gradual traction into RF. The
move to 5G networks will allow higher content in mobile devices and stimulate more
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
China foundry China back-end China fabless
Global foundry Global back-end Global fabless
China foundry share China back-end Share China fabless share
Semiconductor sales (US$mn) China market share (%)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 55
spending in the infrastructure, with benefit for the local ecosystem from launching in
the first wave vs lagging on 4G by a couple years.
AI emerges as a new high volume category for fabless. The China fabless were
successfully dominating the crypto-currency ASIC market by leveraging advanced
foundry capacity at TSMC and design service companies in Taiwan (GUC, Alchip), and
eventually Samsung and its design service ecosystem. We now see those companies
targeting AI inference and some cloud acceleration applications, which could drive
another revenue cycle, addressing the evolution towards smarter products capable of
voice recognition and image/object detection.
Growth from a low-base in analog, RF, and MCUs. China has an opportunity to
target more mature mainstream analog and discretes and MCUs, including at domestic
companies looking for a local source alternative to the global IDM. The presence of
local foundry capacity with Hua Hong’s 8” and new 12” mature fab and back-end
capacity should give it a base of competitive manufacturing to gain traction and grow
sales from a low base in these areas. The Asian RF foundries like Win Semi and
AWSC along with Sanan’s development should also help the emerging RF suppliers in
targeting some of the discrete RF components and mature 2G-4G cellular layers and
Wifi RF.
Local foundries continue to grow on specialty applications, still limited
advanced technology success. We expect China’s foundries to expand their
position with the growing design companies on their mature lines (power management,
flash memory, CMOS sensor, digital consumer). Hua Hong’s expansion of its Wuxi
fab would double its revenue base in the next five years on still mature technology
nodes, while SMIC should keep its mature lines relatively full with the growth of the
domestic market. The advanced technology may take more time, as SMIC’s
management admits that profitability on its upcoming 14nm FinFET ramp may still lag
due to time gap from TSMC’s launch in 2015 (now nearly depreciated) and requiring
development of n+1 and beyond to gain competitiveness and materially better
pricing/profitability.
China back-end takes more share of local customers. China’s back-end sector
is seeing increasing opportunities as it leverages the more advanced technology
capabilities picked up from its acquisitions to target domestic companies adding local
sources. Although, profitability may still lag a bit due to the on-going competition from
ASE’s higher scale post-merger with SPIL and from TSMC continuing to take some of
the highest value advanced applications with its wafer level system integration.
We also highlight a few trends possible beyond three years for China:
A possible advanced technology expansion for SMIC. SMIC’s aggressive push
on technology at the expense of near-term profitability, heavy government support,
and drop-off of advanced technology competition from UMC and GF gives it a chance
to emerge as a capacity source for more advanced applications. SMIC will need to
endure high capex and difficult profitability but may emerge in 3-5 years as a more
competitive foundry capable of supplying some of the more advanced mobile and
networking applications.
Domestic data centre silicon. China’s design houses are working on alternative to
Intel/AMD CPUs using ARM and RISC-V processors and NVIDIA accelerators with a
host of AI inference and training chips. Within 3-5 years, the push for a local source
for national security and economic reasons could allow local suppliers to gain some
traction.
More penetration into broad markets particularly in China. We would view more
build-up of local teams and domestic diversification to allow local suppliers to gain
further market share into broad markets in MCUs and analog.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 56
Still limited success in some high barrier applications. We still view barriers on
the platform in graphics, FPGAs with software and high-end integrated RF for 5G
requiring a higher hurdle of engineering talent and incumbency in market position to
gain strong traction.
Opportunities and challenges
We summarise the opportunities and challenges for China in achieving self-sufficiency. The key
opportunities include:
Foundries grow scale on the mature nodes. Key opportunities for China foundries
are to address and continue grow on the mature nodes requiring lower capital intensity
and with large domestic base of customers, with Hua Hong/SMIC already having
>50% of sales from local Chinese customers.
SMIC on the advanced nodes. SMIC has an opportunity if it can bear the high
expense in the next few years to leap frog UMC and GlobalFoundries on technology
and address more of the advanced mobile, networking and compute applications.
Back-end gaining from localisation. The Chinese back-end suppliers can continue
to gain share with their local supply chain and growing domestic market leveraging the
M&As they completed before the acquisition window narrowed with the recent political
sensitivity.
IC design - leverage ARM and RISC-V for server, networking, mobile,
connectivity. The IC design companies have lower entry barriers in some markets
through the support of ARM and the growing RISC-V consortium, with more access to
license the core IP for processing and connectivity applicable to data centre,
networking, mobile and IoT markets.
Embrace advanced packaging, SiP and chiplet architectures. The foundry, EDA
companies and back-end suppliers are providing more tools for integrating IP across
smaller more manageable and easier to fabricate chiplets and joining in packaging, a
possible opportunity to avoid the complexity in designing monolithic large system on
chips. China may be able to target further opportunities if more systems take a system
in package (SiP) or chiplet approach.
While China can capitalise on some of these opportunities, it also faces some risks:
Wide gap to TSMC in capex and R&D scale. TSMC’s 5x spending advantage on
capex and R&D and 10x advantage on revenue and even higher magnitude of free
cash flow likely keeps the resource, technology and ecosystem gap wide.
Overseas fabless and IDMs also have a scale advantage. The Chinese will also
face competition from established IDMs and fabless with embedded base of qualified
design wins, global customers and also IP blocks that allow them to integrate some
technology into the main chip – opposite trend of chiplets but still prevalent, for
example, the mobile SoC companies now integrating the AI processing unit.
Global customer access may drop. The Chinese may gain share at local
customers, but similar creation of two supply chains and overseas security
concerns/US pressure may limit some of the market opportunities for Chinese
suppliers into global customers.
Potential US restrictions on advanced technology. A risk for China would come
from the widening of export restrictions of US technology or advanced manufacturing
technology or equipment. The reliance on advanced tools for the fab or EDA tools
would severely hamper the local supply chain.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 57
Global alternatives to supply China if the domestic chain falls short
We believe the attempt for China to localise its supply chain or limit supply from the US if the
trade tensions continue to escalate will lead it to reach out to overseas non-US suppliers for its
development. We highlight Asian suppliers potentially gaining share displacing Western
companies:
Foundry: TSMC with only independent source of advanced manufacturing should
remain key supplier to the Chinese design companies on silicon for advanced
applications in mobile, networking, and high performance computing.
Back-end: We expect ASE, with 15% of sales in China and the largest industry scale
at 30% market share in the back-end plus 77% owned USI Shanghai subsidiary, to
also supply the local supply chain. King Yuan is also well placed for localisation with
15-20% of sales from Huawei’s chip division and 10-15% from Mediatek.
Mobile chipsets: Mediatek has a good opportunity, with Hi-Silicon’s mobile chipset
captive to Huawei and UniSOC still lagging on mobile processors. Mediatek has a
local advantage relative to Qualcomm if China continues to look for diversification from
US supply sources.
Analog: We expect Silergy and Mediatek’s Richtek division to see opportunities to
gain share, with Silergy competing against global analog companies and Mediatek
having opportunity to bundle its own power management content on its platforms.
Probe cards: Chunghwa Precision competes with US suppliers such as R&D
Altanova on probe card PCBs for advanced semiconductors, so it is already gaining a
bit of share in Huawei following the customers’ US entity list restrictions.
RF: In RF, the Japanese suppliers Murata and Taiyo Yuden can gain content share
from US suppliers, including Qorvo, Skyworks, Qualcomm and Broadcom. In Taiwan
Win Semiconductor, VPEC and AWSC have higher market share, with local fabless
versus the US IDMs.
Test equipment. In test equipment, Chroma and Anritsu have an opportunity to gain
some share from US supplier Keysight from diversification. In semiconductor test,
Advantest also can be an alternative Japanese test source to its rival Teradyne.
VCSEL. In VCSEL, Osram and Chinese based Vertilite can gain share from US
suppliers Lumentum and Finisar in the local market.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 58
Figure 70: China IC Design by application type
Source: Credit Suisse Research
Mobile processor Ticker MCU Ticker Memory Ticker
Huawei HiSilicon Private Gigadevice 603986 Gigadevice / ChangXin 603986
Unigroup Spreadtrum-RDA (Unisoc) Private, IPO Ingenic 300223 YMTC / XMC (Tsinghua Unigroup) Private
Allwinner 300458 Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics 002049 Fujian Jinhua Private
Rockchip Private SinoWealth 300327 Reliance Memory (JV of Rambus and Gigadevice) Private
Leadcore Private Silan 600460 Montage Technology 688008
ASR Micro Private Goodix 603160 Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics 002049
Pinecone (Xiaomi) 1810 HK Datang Microelectronics Private ISSI / Ingenic 300223
Sanechips (ZTE Microelectronics) Private Huada Semiconductor Private Giantec Private, IPO
Cloud, Server, NPU, AI Giantec Private, IPO SSD/eMMC controller
Huawei HiSilicon Private Yi-xin Private Huawei HiSilicon Private
Cambricon Private MindMotion Private Goke Microelectronics 300672
Montage Technology 688008 WinnerMicro Private Jiangsu Huacun Electronic Technology Private
Alibaba BABA Fingerprint sensor & touch controller Tsinghua Dera Private
Eeasy Tech Private Goodix 603160 SinoChip Semiconductors Private
Huaxintong Private Silead / Gigadevice 603986 Yeestor Private
Big Fish (Xiaomi) 1810 HK Fortsense Private StoreArt Private
ThinkForce Private Betterlife 835288 Power, MOSFET, IGBT
Iluvatar Private Chipone Private Huawei HiSilicon Private
Video, audio, surveillance, image BYD Microelectronics (within BYD, to IPO) 1211 HK SG Micro 300661
Huawei HiSilicon Private CIS (CMOS image sensor) Silan 600460
Fullhan 300613 OmniVision / Will Semi 603501 Shanghai Belling 600171
Vimicro Private Galaxycore Private Nexperia / Wingtech 600745
Ingenic 300223 SuperPix / Will Semi 603501 Silergy 6415 TT
Artosyn Private BYD Microelectronics (within BYD, to IPO) 1211 HK Will Semi 603501
Goke Microelectronics 300672 SmartSens Private Yangjie 300373
Eeasy Tech Private DDI (Display driver IC) BYD Microelectronics (within BYD, to IPO) 1211 HK
Dahua 002236 SinoWealth 300327 Good-ARK 002079
YITU Private Solomon Systech 2878 HK Xiaocheng Tech 300139
Horizon Robotics Private Chipone Private Sun.King Power Elec 580 HK
Sanechips (ZTE Microelectronics) Private RF, BLE, WiFi, connectivity Unigroup Spreadtrum-RDA (Unisoc) Private, IPO
Bestechnic Private Huawei HiSilicon Private Huada Semiconductor Private
FPGA Unigroup Spreadtrum-RDA (Unisoc) Private, IPO Tianyi Hexin Private
Gowin Private Maxscend 300782 Beijing Zhisi Microelectronics Private
Fudan Micro 1385 HK Goodix 603160 Sanechips (ZTE Microelectronics) Private
Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics 002049 Will Semi 603501 Chipone Private
Huada Semiconductor Private Espressif Systems 688018 Global Semiconductor Limited Private
Anlogic Private Siflower Private Jiangsu CAS-IGBT Technology Private
Hercules Micro Private Etra Semi Private Secure IC for bank card, sim card, security card
DeePhi (Acquired by Xilinx) XLNX Tianyi Hexin Private Nationz Technologies 300077
CPU WinnerMicro Private Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics 002049
Zhaoxin Private Xinyi Semi Private Shanghai Fudan 1385 HK
Montage 688008 Power amplifier Huada Semiconductor Private
Loongson Private Sanechips (ZTE Microelectronics) Private Giantec Private, IPO
GPU Vanchip Private LED driver, MEMS sensor, discrete
Jingjia Micro 300474 Xinyi Semi Private Silan 600460
Zhaoxin Private Kangxi Communication Private Shanghai Belling 600171
Cryptocurrency ASIC Smarter Micro Private Yangjie 300373
Bitmain Private Lansus Private Automotive
Canaan Private UniChip (Will Semi's subsidiary) 603501 NavInfo / AutoChip 002405
Ebang Communication Private Aerospace, satellite IC BYD Microelectronics (within BYD) To IPO
STB Orbita 300053 Horizon Robotics Private
Goke Microelectronics 300672 UniStrong 002383 Huawei HiSilicon Private
Amlogic 688099 Drone, robot SoC Sanechips (ZTE Microelectronics) Private
Availink Private Artosyn Private Allystar Private
Sanechips (ZTE Microelectronics) Private SiC (Silicon Carbide) Yi-xin Private
Yangjie 300373
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 59
Semi equipment and wafers
Current market structure—equipment
The global semiconductor equipment market is dominated by a few major players, including
Applied Materials (the US), KLA (the US), LAM Research (the US), ASML (Europe) and Tokyo
Electron (Japan). There are a few suppliers in Korea, but those mainly serve Samsung and
Hynix. In China, China has only two established equipment companies, Naura and AMEC,
though both scales are very small compared with global semicap.
Figure 71: China equipment suppliers still very small vs global players
Source: Company data, Gartner, Credit Suisse estimates
Current Chinese players
AMEC (Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China): Founded in 2004 and
headquartered in Shanghai, AMEC develops and manufactures dielectric and TSV etch tools for
semiconductor manufacturers and MOCVD tools for LED makers. It has shipped etch tools to
many semiconductor companies, including TSMC, SMIC, YMTC and Hynix. In December 2015,
AMEC announced that its etch tool passed TSMC qualification for 5nm and the company
expected a bigger opportunity at 5nm than at 7nm. In memory, AMEC indicated that etch tool
can be used in 64L NAND production. For MOCVD, the company claims that it is one of the
Top 2 suppliers, with the other one being Veeco. As of June 2019, AMEC had applied 1,280
patents, including 1,118 invention patents. It has been granted 961 patents, including 814
invention patents.
Naura (Naura Technology Group Co., Ltd): Naura is formed through the consolidation and
restructuring of Beijing Sevenstar Electronics and Beijing North Microelectronics in 2016 and
the group was renamed Naura in 2017. Different from AMEC which was founded by a group of
industry veterans, Naura and its previous entities assumes the nation’s mission to establish
China’s capabilities in various equipment fields, from semiconductors, new energy resources,
new materials and other fields. The more recent and important mission of Naura is to develop
equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, as China has barely any domestic supplies. Naura
develops a wide range of semiconductor equipment, including etch, PVD (physical vapor
deposition), CVD (chemical vapor deposition), diffusion, cleaning tool, UV curve, indexer, gas
measuring control, ALD (atomic layer deposition) and so on. That said, we note it has only
0-1% market share in these tools. Further, while AMEC’s etch has been qualified by TSMC’s
most advanced node, Naura is still far behind and its equipment is more used in production of
matured nodes. First, the company is too ambitious in development of a wide range of tools.
Insufficient R&D talents issue is an industry-wide problem, with no exception to Nuara. Second,
due to its history and management culture, Naura is more like an SOE (state-owned enterprise).
Its SOE culture is tough for it to recruit and keep leading R&D researchers to develop advanced
semi equipment.
Applied
Materials ASML
Lam
Research
Tokyo
Electron
KLA
Tencor AMEC Naura
Lithography 0.2% 83.1% - - -
Photoresist Processing (Track) - - - 88.5% -
Etch, Clean, and Planarization 19.0% - 34.7% 25.2% - ~1% 0~1%
Deposition 37.6% - 21.0% 12.7% - ~40% MOCVD
Ion Implanter (Doping Equipment) 68.2% - - - -
Process Control 11.5% 5.9% - - 51.1%
Manufacturing Automation and Control 4.0% - - - -
Total Wafer Fab Equipment 18.5% 16.4% 15.1% 15.1% 5.5% ~1% ~1%
China Player
Chaolien Tseng
852 2101 6795
Hideyuki Maekawa
81 3 4550 9723
Yoshiyasu Takemura 81 3 4550 7358 [email protected] Haas Liu 886 2 2715 6365 [email protected]
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 60
Figure 72: AMEC’s key customers by product
Equipment Customer type Major customers
Etch IC manufacturers, OSAT TSMC, SMIC, UMC, Huali, Hynix, YMTC, Winbond, China
WLCSP, GF, Bosch, STM
MOCVD LED chip, power discrete
manufacturers
Sanan, HC Semitek, Canyang Opto, Changelight
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse Research
Figure 73: AMEC revenue by etch and MOCVD Figure 74: AMEC shipments by etch and MOCVD
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Current market structure—silicon wafers
The wafer market is dominated by the five majors, which collectively control over 90% of the
market. Shin-Etsu Chemical and SUMCO are the two companies that have taken the lead in
wafers for cutting-edge nodes. Both companies have about 30% share of this market. For
Globalwafers, the company also gained share to 18% since the acquisitions of Topsil and
SunEdison in 2016, which also allow them to have global production base and support leading
edge foundries and memory makers.
There have been some regional players establishing joint ventures in China. Ferrotec has
established a 200 mm production base in Shanghai licensing technologies from GlobalWafers
since 2017. They further set up another joint venture as a sales agent for the 200 mm
production base, with 60% ownership by GlobalWafers and 40% by Ferrotec. Ferrotec also has
plan to build a 12” raw wafer fab to support local semiconductor demand. Additionally, RS
Technologies has invested in GriTek (GRINM Semiconductor Materials) in Beijing to make 200
mm prime silicon wafers. GriTek is 45% owned by RS Technologies, 49% by GRINM and 6%
by Fujian Kuramoto.
Figure 75: China silicon wafer suppliers far behind global suppliers
China players Market share Global players Market share Asian players to
displace Western
NSIG 0% for 12". 1-2%
for 8"
Shin-Etsu 30% ✔
Tianjin Zhonghuan
Semiconductor
<3% SUMCO 27% ✔
Regional players in
China
Market share GlobalWafers 18% ✔
Ferrotec –
GlobalWafers JV
5% for 8” Siltronic 15%
GRINM Semiconductor
Materials
~1% for <8”? SK Siltron 10% ✔
Source: Siltronix, Credit Suisse estimates
-
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
2016 2017 2018
Rmb mn
Etch MOCVD
0
50
100
150
200
2016 2017 2018
Shipments
Etch MOCVD
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 61
For China domestic players, local wafer companies include NSIG and Tianjin Zhonghuan
Semiconductor. They are working to boost their product competitiveness by recruiting engineers
from overseas with detail below.
NSIG (National Silicon Industry Group): NSIG is formed through the consolidation of three
entities, including Zing Semiconductor, Shanghai Simgui and Okmetic. The company also tried
to acquire Siltronic in 2016 for technology and capacity though didn’t come through due to
concerns on IP leakage and the industry was at the inflection point for pricing upturn from more
balanced supply/demand following years of loss.
Currently, Zing Semi develops 12” silicon wafer. It was qualified to supply test wafers to some
customers in 2017, but our channel checks suggested that it hasn’t yet begun real volume
production. Its first phase of 100k 12-inch wafers/month capacity was built in 2018 and it has
begun building the next phase of 200k capacity. Zing Semi plan to reach 1 mn capacity in next
few years. It recorded Rmb25 mn/Rmb188 mn revenue in 2017 and 11M18. Shanghai Simgui
produces <8” EPI and SOI wafers and it licenses SOI technology from SOITEC. Based in
Finland, Okmetic is the seventh-largest silicon wafer supply for wafers used in manufacturing
MEMS, sensor, discrete and analog circuits. Its revenue is over €85 mn. NSIG’s consolidated
revenue was Rmb694 mn and Rmb1,010 mn in 2017 and 2018, mainly from the sales of 8”
wafers.
Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor: Zhonghua is another China company which has
indicated strong ambition in developing and producing similar wafers. The company has 300k
WPM 8” raw wafer capacity in Tianjin in 2019 and targets to grow to 500k WPM in 2020. In
addition to 8” raw wafer capacity, the company also targets to grow its 12” raw wafer capacity
in its Yixin fab which is still under qualification by its customers. Although the company claims its
raw wafer technology and production capability has been qualified by 60 8” customers and is
under qualification by 20 12” raw wafer customers, we believe most of the raw wafers they
produce is still only for testing purpose and its technology and quality are lag by its global peers
by three to five years.
China's game plan
China government, either central or provincial, does not have separate policies specifically
supporting semi equipment or wafers. In general, for the semiconductor industry, the IC
Development Guideline is the top-level policy document. That said, it is widely recognised that
domestic customers (chip manufacturers) are encouraged to adopt equipment or wafers made
by China suppliers. China companies across all semiconductor sub-sectors have made efforts to
recruit international experienced talents to accelerate their R&D and expand their business.
For raw wafers, China government appears to subsidise around 20% of the purchase price
when China chipmakers purchase locally manufactured wafers. In addition, we believe local
government would encourage foreign raw wafer suppliers to set up fabs locally to ensure
sufficient supply amid macro uncertainty from the trade war.
Conclusion: Lagging in wafers and far behind in
equipment
Equipment still lagging 5-10 years behind global peers
For equipment, we estimate China players are at least five to ten years behind global suppliers,
or even longer for areas where not yet any volume production by China companies. We expect
the five-to-ten-year gap to continue in the foreseeable future, given the long development and
complex qualification required with chipmakers. That said, given China’s strong momentum of
domestic replacement, we expect some China players to shorten their gaps vs global players
(i.e., AMEC), while some may require even longer time.
Further, we remind that semiconductor makers are so keen on production yield and they have
relied on current global equipment suppliers to improve yields. It has been quite difficult to
change the suppliers unless China suppliers prove a huge technology advantage (less than 10%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 62
of performance gap may not be a trigger to change supplier). Price of equipment is not a critical
issue to change suppliers in the equipment market as production yield is quite an important
parameter for semiconductor makers.
Opportunities and challenges for China equipment and wafer suppliers are similar to all the other
semiconductor sub-sectors. Their great opportunities now are mainly driven by the strong
momentum of import substitution and domestic chipmakers are willing to try domestic solutions.
Key challenges are insufficient R&D talent in China and IP infringement risk.
China wafer makers unlikely to close technology gap
Although raw wafer is seen as a more commoditised product in the semiconductor supply chain,
we believe local Chinese wafer makers are unlikely to be able to close the technology gap with
the wafer majors and significantly boost their market share over the next one to three years.
Given also the size of the market shares commanded by Japanese, European, Taiwanese and
Korean makers, we do not envisage any noteworthy change in market share distribution. In
addition, we believe the raw wafer customers wouldn’t risk to switch raw wafer suppliers only
based on pricing as the raw wafers are essential and important for semiconductor
manufacturing, while only representing a small portion of the manufacturing (10-15% for 8”
foundries and mid-to-high-single-digits for 12” foundries).
At this point, we have ascertained the following major developments, although in all three cases
we understand there are unresolved technological issues. (1) Zingsemi is shipping 300 mm test
wafers to customers, but these are not ready for use in commercial mass production. (2)
Having hired in engineers from outside, RS Technologies has improved the technology of its
200 mm wafers, but not enough to catch up to the five market leaders. (3) Ferrotec has
increased the competitiveness of its product by licensing in technology from GlobalWafers, but
appears mainly to ship test and prime wafers and to a few China chipmakers that are not
particularly fussy about product quality.
As China chipmakers get up and running, growth in demand in the mature segment of the
semiconductor market that does not require high-end wafers should provide business
opportunities for China wafer makers.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 63
Enterprise and servers
Current market structure
US leadership in server declining
The global x86 server market had been on a favourable uptick trend with total units and vendors’
revenue growth of 6% and 14% CAGR from 2013-2018, respectively, driven primarily by the
growing infrastructure build-out from increasing cloud service penetration. Coming off
significantly above-trend 15%/35% unit/revenue growth in 2018, we expect the x86 market to
pause in 2019 as buyers digest excess capacity. However, longer term, we continue to be
believers in the rising value of data structurally increasing compute/server demand. US brands,
including HP and Dell, continue to dominate the x86 market with 12.8% (or 15.7% including
H3C) and 19.3% unit share, respectively. However, both of their market shares have been in
decline (Dell by 3.9 pp and 12.9 pp by HP/H3C from 2013 to 2018), due to the rise of ODM
Direct business models, particularly in the public cloud space, given concerns on total costs of
ownership supported by cloud operators’ in-house design and software capabilities. During the
same period, Chinese vendors’ market share has grown by 16.6 pp to reach 27.2% in 2018,
driven by: (1) an increase in China’s domestic share of the overall server market (6.9 pp); (2) an
increase in Chinese vendors’ share within the domestic market (4.4 pp); and (3) Chinese
vendors’ growth outside China (5.3 pp), most of all of which is from Lenovo who purchased
IBM’s x86 business in 2015. Supportive government policy has also been a key enabler of
growth.
Figure 76: US vendors HP and Dell still leading the market
despite overall shares declining…
x86 server market share % by total shipments
Figure 77: …due to the rise of new ODM Direct business
model and China vendors expansion
x86 server market share % by total vendor revenues
Source: Company data, IDC, Credit Suisse research Source: Company data, IDC, Credit Suisse research
For China vendors, we have included Great Wall, H3C, Hikvision, Huawei, Inspur, Lenovo,
Powerleader, Tongfang, Sugon, and ZTE into our analysis. According to IDC, the total unit
shipments from these China vendors grew by 19% CAGR from 2015 to 2018, representing
closer to 30% of the global units vs 20% in 2015. However, most of their shipments remain in
Asia-Pacific and more specifically China, in our view, with only three of the ten vendors,
including Huawei, Inspur and Lenovo, shipping to overseas markets. In 2018, only 18% of total
server shipments from China vendors were destined for markets outside of the APAC-region,
but up from 6-7% range from 2009 to 2013.
25.2%
12.8%
21.6%
19.3%
17.1%
25.5%
13.3%
19.8%
24.4% 24.2%
27.2%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
22%
24%
26%
28%
30%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
HP Dell ODM Direct China
26.9%
15.5%
19.7% 20.6%18.1%
26.0%
8.2%
14.8%
17.8%19.3%
22.9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
HP Dell ODM Direct China
Jerry Su
886 2 2715 6361
Matthew Cabral
1 212 325 1754
Sami Badri
1 212 538 1727
Kyna Wong
852 2101 6950
US brands market share declining from the
rise of ODM Direct and China competition
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 64
Figure 78: Only 3 of the 13 China vendors in our analysis have shipments outside of
APAC regions and shipments from most of which are still domestically focused
% of shipments
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse research
Among all the shipments made by the China vendors, the majority of them are volume servers
with an average selling price of below US$25,000, based on IDC definition. On the blended
basis, China vendors have an average selling price at US$5,826, or nearly 20% discount of the
global average of US$6,902. In the mid-range segment for pricing in between US$2,500 and
US$250,000, the market continues to be led by US vendors, including HP (39%), Dell (15%)
and Cisco (28%), and China vendors as a whole represent 11.5% of the total mid-range units.
High-end x86 enterprise servers (i.e., ASP above US$250,000) account for ~1% of the overall
market, with Huawei and Lenovo the only Chinese vendors competing. Oracle dominates the
overall market, representing 72% of the total units, followed by HP/Super Micro for 11%/7%
of the total units.
Figure 79: China vendors as a whole with majority of shipment still concentrate in the
volume segment
Source: Company data, IDC, Credit Suisse research
1% 6% 7% 5% 6% 6%17% 21% 18% 16% 18%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Exposure in APAC Exposure in non-APAC
Total High-End Enterprise Midrange Enterprise Volume
HP 12.8% 11.3% 38.8% 12.4%
Dell 19.3% 0.1% 15.1% 19.4%
ODM Direct 25.5% 0.0% 0.0% 25.8%
China 27.2% 4.1% 11.5% 27.4%
Inspur 7.7% 0.0% 2.1% 7.8%
Lenovo 6.5% 0.0% 6.6% 6.5%
Huawei 6.1% 3.5% 2.7% 6.1%
H3C 2.9% 0.2% 0.0% 3.0%
Sugon 2.6% 0.0% 0.5% 2.6%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 65
Figure 80: Global x86 server still selling at a premium of nearly 20% vs China
ASP in US$ (L-axis) and % of premium of global vs China
Source: Company data, IDC, Credit Suisse research
China vendors also catching up in networking
The Global Ethernet switch market has also been on an upward trajectory with total port units
and sales growing by 7.9% and 5.6% CAGR from 2013 to 2018, respectively, primarily driven
by builds-out of cloud infrastructure, proliferation of cloud services, and increasing wireless end-
point devices (we cover this extensively in our networking sector primer: Cloud Network Fabrics
Proliferate). In this market, US-based vendor Cisco is the single-largest player, constituting
about half of the market total sales, despite only shipping 22-23% of the total ports. Cisco’s
ability to have a large revenue share relatively to their port share is predominantly a function of
their enterprise business made up of the Fortune 1,000 companies across developed markets.
Additionally, Cisco’s dominant channel sales strategy with core value added resellers is a
strategic advantage for the company, capable of boxing out competing vendors out of core
enterprise deployments in most cases. Comparatively, China vendors as a whole including
Huawei, H3C, ZTE, TP-Link and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise are trailing behind Cisco by a wide
margin. But the gap against Cisco has been narrowing from over 55 pp to ~32 pp in
2018/1H19, supported majorly by the home market demand growth along with a more
favourable government policy.
Figure 81: Narrowing total sales gap between Cisco and China
vendors
Market share as % of total sales
Figure 82: China total ports shipments already surpassing
Cisco in 2016
Market share as % of total ports
Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse research Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse research
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
160%
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
$7,000
$8,000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
China Global Global ASP premium vs China vendors
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Cisco China
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Cisco China
China Ethernet switch vendors also catching
up with support of home market demand and
more favourable government policy
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 66
Figure 83: H3C, Huawei and TP-Link largest ethernet switch players in China
% of total China sales
Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse research
According to IHS, China Ethernet switch vendors total sales increased by 37.8% CAGR for the
past five years vs ports units growth of 19.5% CAGR for the same period. Nevertheless, as
contrary to the server market, China vendors overall have been more reliant on the home market,
with total sales from China growing from ~20% in 2010-11 to over 70% in 2018, driven by the
rapid demand growth domestically, with China market sales tripling from 2013 to 2018 vs 30%
growth for the same period for the global markets. Specifically, H3C is the only brand deriving
all of its sales from China, while the overall reliance of other vendors, including Huawei, ZTE,
TP-Link and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, on the home market all declined from the 2010 level.
Figure 84: Increasing domestic reliance from the China
vendors driven by increasing China market size…
% of total sales (L-axis) and % of China vs global market
Figure 85: …however, H3C is only vendor with 100% of sales
from China; other vendors reliance from China declining
% of sales derived from China market
Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse research Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse research
Among all the port shipments made by the China vendors, the majority of them focus on the
50GbE and below port speed segment (i.e., 90% of total sales), despite that they are making
good progress into the 100GbE port speed, representing over 10% of the total market share in
2018. Comparatively, Cisco continues to dominate across the board despite larger share
erosion from the 100GbE port speed segment by the whitebox players and Arista Networks.
However, Arista is solely focused on high-speed switching of 100GbE and above currently, with
the majority of its share flowing in from major cloud providers.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Huawei H3C ZTE TP-Link Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise
24% 18%
37%46%
55% 53%65% 69% 72% 70%
7%
15% 15%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Exposure in China Exposure in non-China % of China sales vs global
69%
58%
100% 100%100%
71%
42%37%
8%2%0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Huawei H3C ZTE TP-Link Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 67
Figure 86: Cisco dominating in ethernet switch; China players catching-up
% of market share
Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse research
Figure 87: China vendors narrowing the pricing gap from global market
ASP per port in US$ (L-axis) and pricing gap (R-axis)
Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse research
China's game plan
China MIC 2025 laying out concrete targets
China officially released the Made-in-China 2025 plan in 2015, aiming to support China
economic transformation, with key focus on promoting innovation, building internationally
competent companies, localising production and data, etc., through the use of state resource
and provision of financial policies, funds and subsidies support. Specifically, within the ten major
focus industries, China disclosed plans to have global market share for domestically produced
high-performance computers/servers to reach 30%, while the domestic market share to reach
60% by 2020, and the shares to reach 40% and 80% by 2025, respectively. It also aimed to
have domestically made high-end servers to represent over 50% of the domestic market; and
servers with domestically produced CPU to reach above 30% of the domestic market.
Figure 88: Overview of MIC 2025 targets set forth by China government on high-performance computers and servers
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Credit Suisse research
Total 100ME & 1/2.5GE 10/25/40/50GE 100GE
Cisco 50.4% 56.9% 50.0% 31.5%
Whitebox 2.8% 0.0% 1.7% 14.3%
Juniper 3.4% 1.3% 5.5% 4.8%
HPE (Aruba) 6.6% 9.0% 5.9% 0.7%
China 15.9% 15.7% 17.9% 11.2%
Huawei 9.1% 8.3% 10.5% 7.6%
H3C 4.8% 4.8% 5.3% 3.4%
ZTE 0.7% 0.2% 1.5% 0.2%
TP-Link 0.8% 1.7% 0.0% 0.0%
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise 0.6% 0.8% 0.6% 0.1%
0x
10x
20x
30x
40x
50x
60x
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
$40
$45
$50
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
China ASP per port Global ASP per port Global ASP premium vs China
Timeline Overall market share targets Other industry specific targets
20201) International market share for domestically produced servers reach 30%;
2) domestic market share reach 60%
1) Achieving domestically produced servers for financial services and
telecommunications industries to reach 75% market share;
2) Achieve domestically produced servers for financial services and
telecommunication industries to reach 90% market share
2025
1) International market share for domestically produced servers reach 40%;
2) domestic market share reach 80%;
3) domestically made high-end servers share reach 50% in China
n.a.
China MIC 2025 set forth tangible market
shares targets by 2020 and 2025
China government supporting key domestic
leaders to develop high tech projects with
subsidies
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 68
According to IDC, China server vendors total share internationally seems to be on a good track
to achieve the targets set forth under MIC 2025 plan with their total shares reaching over
27.2% in 2018 and 26.6% in 1H19 vs less than 20% in the end of 2015, while revenues
shares were lower given higher concentration from China vendors in the volume server segment.
Comparatively, China server brands total shares picked up more materially by over 12 pp in the
domestic market to over 62% in 2018 and 1H19 vs 50% in 2015 by unit shipments, or 17-19
pp to 62-64% in 2018/1H19 vs 45% in 2015 by sales.
Figure 89: China servers vendors global shares by unit
shipments increase 6-7 pp from 2015 to ~27% now
China vendors market share %
Figure 90: China server vendors’ shares increase even more by
over 10 pp domestically to represent over 60% of total shares
China vendors market share %
Source: Company data, IDC, Credit Suisse research Source: Company data, IDC, Credit Suisse research
China government subsidy supporting growth of domestic
leaders
In China, subsidy would typically be granted if companies develop high-tech projects that meet
the key milestones under the government policy or requirement for government, while the China
government tends to support key domestic leaders to achieve the targets. As server/switch are
involved with concerns on national security, we see key players have certain government
background from the management or major shareholders. For example, despite Huawei is a
private company, it is the national champion in the ICT industry. Also, Lenovo is a public
company but its ultimate shareholder, CAS Holdings, owns 29% of Legend which then owns
24% of Lenovo. Sugon’s major shareholder is a subsidiary of Institute of Computing
Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences; Inspur is owned by Shandong government (39%
stake); and H3C is under Unisplendour which is ultimately controlled by Tsinghua University.
Given such strong relationship with government among Chinese server vendors, we could
expect their milestone and mission in both the near-term and long-term timeframes are well set,
while subsidy serves to be source of sustainable capital to support the business development.
19.8%
27.2% 26.6%
14.8%
22.9% 23.0%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
2015 2018 1H19
Units share Revenues share
50.3%
62.5% 62.8%
45.1%
62.0% 63.5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2015 2018 1H19
Units share Revenues share
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 69
Figure 91: Government subsidies increased from Rmb1.26 bn
in 2017 vs Rmb232 mn in 2011
Subsidies in Rmb mn (R-axis) and capex % of subsidies (L-axis)
Figure 92: Subsidies received by Huawei exceeded combined
subsidies for Inspur, Lenovo and Sugon
Subsidies income in Rmb mn
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Note: Total government subsidies by Inspur, Sugon and Lenovo
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse research
We compile total government subsidies received by the leading China server vendors including
Inspur, Sugon and Lenovo, from 2011 to 2018, while we exclude H3C and Huawei from our
time series comparison given the lack of historical data. Overall, total government subsidies from
the three leading server suppliers saw a significant pick-up along the years to Rmb1.26 bn in
2017, from Rmb232 mn in 2011. However, the total subsidies came down in 2018 due to
lower Lenovo contribution (i.e., down nearly 60% to 65% of total subsidies vs 87% in the prior
year), despite flattish amounts received by Inspur (12% of total), while Sugon subsidies income
increased by 1.1x (23% of total). Comparatively, Huawei’s subsidies income nearly doubled in
2018 from 2016 to Rmb3.0 bn, already 60% higher than the total amounts received by the
other three leading China servers supplier.
Conclusion
Server: China vendors may see more obstacles expanding
internationally
China is already nearing self-sufficiency in servers from a hardware vendor perspective with
Chinese vendors accounting for >80% of the domestic x86 market, per IDC. Given the
government’s China First strategy and its intention to break from the US supply chain, we
expect China server vendors to continue to expand their dominant position domestically. On the
international front, Chinese vendors’ share remains relatively small at ~6%, 70% of which is
Lenovo who purchased IBM’s x86 business in 2015. Inspur has been making good progress
internationally, supported by its JDM business model and alignment to OCP standards.
However, we believe rising security concerns—especially after a Bloomberg report in mid-2018
speculated on a hacking incident allegedly involving China-produced motherboards used in
Supermicro’s servers—will slow the progress on Inspur’s expansion at US-based customers in
both cloud/enterprise segments. By the same token, Huawei should also see more obstacles
expanding internationally, especially for the roll-out of its 5G infrastructure, and we believe it
could take longer for Lenovo’s DCG business to break-even. We also see limited room for other
Asian vendors to meaningfully displace more traditional market leaders; Fujitsu, which is the
largest, only has 2% global x86 revenue share. On the other hand, ODM Direct vendors
supplying cloud operators, specifically Quanta and Wiwynn, will continue to take shares from
traditional server brands, leveraging their enhanced customisation and hardware design
capabilities, on top of lower total cost of ownership.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
$0
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Government subsidies (Rmb mn) Government subsidies % of total capex
$0
$200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
2016 2017 2018
Inspur/Sugon/Lenovo subsidies Huawei subsidies
We expect China vendors to gain more shares
in servers especially domestically with policy
support; however, they may see more
obstacles internationally from recent security
and trade tension
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 70
US server vendors adopting different strategies to secure leading shares
The two major US vendors, are likely to retain the largest market shares outside of China (ex-
ODMs) for the foreseeable future, though we’d note each is taking a slightly different strategic
approach to the market. Dell has been focused on expanding their leading market share with
trailing 12-month server revenue share having risen for the past ten quarters from a trough in
2016, though more recently, the momentum stalled in 2Q19 due to share loss in China where
they noted an increasingly competitive pricing environment. Going forward, we think there is
scope for Dell to continue to gain share, leveraging the EMC storage footprint to expand deeper
into enterprise accounts along with their “family” approach that better aligns innovation and
roadmaps across “core” Dell, VMware, and Pivotal. HPE has been more focused on margins
than share, working to shift their mix to higher ASP/higher-value areas of the market such as
high-powered compute, software defined, composable, etc. Part of this strategy involved exiting
the very low-margin Tier 1 (hyperscaler) market, which accounted for roughly half of their share
loss over the past two to three years, and is now essentially complete. Within the remaining
“Core” enterprise business we expect continued share loss ahead (CSe: ~1 pp annually through
2020) as they continue to focus on optimising mix and due to their outsized (~70%) exposure
to Windows based systems that have been ceding share to Linux systems.
Supply chain localisation a longer-term target
For supply chain localisation, we expect Chinese server vendors will increase their sourcing from
local components makers in the next few years; nevertheless, we expect majority of the BOM
should still be dominated by the US suppliers. Specifically, we see 40-50% of the total server
BOM associated with the chipset (Intel/AMD); 20-30% in memory (Micron, Samsung, SK
Hynix, etc.); and the majority of the remaining from storage (WD and Seagate). While we
believe China vendors are gradually catching up in their design capabilities and production
know-how as their learning curve scales along with international market share expansion, we do
not expect China to have a complete back-up solution, especially on the chipset. However, we
do expect sourcing of memory to shift to Japan/Korean players, as they move away from
Micron. Domestic sourcing will be encouraged, if CXMT/YMTC are able to deliver a successful
product, but our analysts believe that it is unlikely over the next five years (outside of some
consumer-level parts). Beyond the CPU, the other major obstacle to true Chinese self-
sufficiency in servers is operating systems where Windows and Linux continue to dominate.
Networking: Increasing competition pressure across all port speeds from China vendors internationally
For the networking market, we expect to see Chinese vendors to take more share overtime and
in the higher networking speeds of 100 GB+ from the low level today (10% of Chinese vendor
share in this speed) and expect to see more pressure on market share on US-based vendors as
political tensions persist. Where we see additional opportunities for Chinese vendors are
European developed markets where Germany recently called out that it will not ban Huawei
from its 5G build-outs, giving Chinese vendors more global opportunities for the networking
stack. For US overall switching, we expect to see Cisco, Juniper Networks, and HPE to
continue dominating the US share, with limited opportunity in China given the political tensions.
Finally, given the degree of R&D investments and supply chain ramp taking place in China, we
expect Chinese vendors to continue to dominate China, driven by domestic government policy.
Dell focusing on expanding leading shares;
HPE focusing more on protecting profitability
China will take long time to achieve supply
chain localization with key components
supplies still dominated by US suppliers
China vendors will gain more shares long term
in Ethernet switch from the US vendors, with
also increasing pressure to the higher ports
speed segment
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 71
Display
Current market structure
China’s central government started pushing the construction of new panel fabs in 2009. Since
then, leading players for large-size display applications like BOE and CSOT have built new
facilities with the support of the central and local governments. Moreover, smaller players like
CEC-Panda, HKC, and CHOT were also supported by different provincial governments and
constructed several new fabs in the past few years. As of 1H19, Chinese panel makers
accounted for 41% of the area shipment for LCD TV, 36% for NB/tablet, and 30% for monitor.
Although the industry has been in oversupply, Chinese panel makers are still building new large-
size panel fabs (mostly Gen 10.5) and will begin mass production in the next one to two years.
Figure 93: Chinese panel makers grabbed 38% share for large-sized display in 1H19
Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse
Adoption of flat-panel displays started from smaller-size handheld devices, such as PDA, laptop
computer and other consumer electronics. LCD panel replaced the CRT, becoming the
mainstream for monitors in 2005-06, and proliferated into TV since 2008-09. In 2009, Chinese
panel makers BOE and CSOT announced the making Gen 8.5 fabs, targeting TV applications.
These two fabs entered mass production in 2011-12 and China’s area market share for TV
panel increased from 1% in 2010 to 18% in 2015.
During the same period, Korean panel makers built two Gen 8.5 fabs in China, and Taiwanese
panel makers added some capacity to their existing lines, rather than constructing new fabs. In
2015-18, several new Chinese players started constructing new Gen 8.5/8.6 lines, while
BOE/CSOT also announced to build Gen 10.5/11 fabs. For the next few years, we still expect
Chinese panel makers to construct multiple new fabs for LCD TV and smartphone OLED
panels, although over-capacity continues in the industry.
OLED TV
LCD TV NB/Tablet Monitor Public Display
Samsung a r a a 13.7%
LGD a a a a a 21.1%
AUO a a a a 11.7%
Innolux a a a r 13.0%
HannStar a r 0.1%
Sharp a a r r 2.2%
BOE a a a a r 18.8%
ChinaStar a r r r 9.2%
CEC Panda a a a 4.2%
HKC a 2.3%
CHOT a 3.0%
Tianma a a 0.1%
Infovision a 0.1%
China's area share (1H19) 41% 36% 30% 8% 0% 38%
Large-area LCD Large size area
share (1H19)
Jerry Su
886 2 2715 6361
Keon Han
82 2 3707 3740
Kyna Wong
852 2101 6950
Sang Uk Kim
82 2 3707 3795
Mika Nishimura
81 3 4550 7369
China’s market share for LCD panels has
increased significantly in the past decade
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 72
Figure 94: We see at least 10 fabs under construction/planning and will start production in next five years
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
As a result of aggressive capacity builds, Chinese panel makers have dominated the commodity
TV segment, such as 32”, 39”, 43” and 50”, as their capacity is more economic for producing
these sizes, as well as smaller sizes have lower technological entry barriers. As of 1H19, China
accounted for 41% of the LCD TV area market share, but 78% of the unit shipment comes
from 50” and below.
BeijingBOE:
G8.5G5
ChengduBOE:
G6G4.5
Tianma:G4.5
CEC-PandaG8.6
ChongqingBOE:
G8.5G6
HKC:G8.5 Fuzhou
BOE:G8.5G6
GuangzhouLG Display:
G8.5G8.5
Foxconn/Sharp:
G10.5Visionox:
G6
GuizhouHH/Century:
G6
HefeiBOE:
G10.5G8.5G6
Visionox:
G6
KunshanAUO:
G6Visionox/K&D:
G5.5IVO:
G5MianyangBOE:
G6HKC:
G8.6
NanjingPanda:
G8.5G6
OrdosBOE:
G5.5
ShanghaiTianma/AVIC:
G5.5G4.5G5
EDO:G4.5G6
ShenzhenCSOT:
G8.5G8.5G11
G11HH/Century:
G5Royole:
G6
SuzhouSamsung Display:
G8.5
WuhanBOE:
G10.5CSOT:
G6
G6Tianma:
G6G4.5
XiamenTianma:
G6G5.5G6
ZhengzhouHon Hai:
G6HKC:
G11
Under productionUnder constructionPlanning
ShanweiTruly:
G5G2
Huizhou:Truly:
G4.5
XianyangIRICO:
G8.6
ChuzhouHKC:
G8.6
MeishanTruly:
G5G6
GuanVisionox:
G8.6
In 1H19, China accounts for 41% of LCD TV
area share but 78% of unit shipments were for
50” and below
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 73
Figure 95: Chinese panel makers’ TV panel unit share
surpassed Korean peers in 2017
Figure 96: …but its area share lagged behind Korean peers
until the crossover in 1H19
Source: his Source: his
For the IT panel market (NB/tablet and monitor), Chinese panel makers’ share expansion has
been slower than the TV in the recent years. We believe this is due to the fact that IT panels,
especially tablet and NB, are smaller and requires a thinner design, which is more suitable for
producing these panels in earlier-generation fabs (mostly Gen 5 and 6). Given China’s focus on
capacity expansion was on higher-generation fabs (Gen 8 and above), Chinese panel makers
have only seven Gen 5 and Gen 6 LCD fabs (~20% of global Gen 5/6 capacity). As a result,
we think its market share for IT panels would remain stable in the near term.
Figure 97: Chinese panel makers catching up on IT panel
shipment with 35% unit share in 1H19…
Figure 98: …but its area share still falls behind Taiwanese
peers
Source: IHS Source: IHS
For the small-/medium-size applications, Chinese panel makers have decent market shares
in most of the consumer products that use LCD display, such as smartphone (59% area share
in 1H19), tablet (53%), and smart watch (60%), especially for the mid- to low-end segments.
This is because of the lower entry barriers, as these products can be produced using the legacy
Gen 4, Gen 5, and Gen 6 fabs, and do not require the more advanced LTPS substrates.
Figure 99: Chinese panel makers have higher share for commodity LCD smartphone/tablet/wearable applications
Source: Company data, IHS, Credit Suisse estimates
14% 12% 6% 8% 8% 7% 5% 4% 3% 2%
46% 49%48%
30% 31% 29% 26% 26% 24% 24%
39% 37%34%
45% 43%40%
38% 35% 32% 29%
1% 2%11% 17% 18% 24% 31% 36% 40% 45%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
TV panel unit shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
15% 13% 8% 9% 8% 7% 5% 5% 4% 2%
51% 54%52%
31% 31% 28% 26% 25% 24% 22%
33% 32%31%
48% 48%47%
44% 42%39%
35%
1% 1% 8% 12% 13% 18% 24% 28% 34% 40%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
TV panel area shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
1% 0% 2% 1% 1% 2% 2% 5% 5% 5%
51% 54% 53%38% 39% 38% 39% 38% 38% 37%
41% 38% 35%50% 45% 44% 35% 26% 24% 23%
7% 8% 11% 11% 15% 17% 25% 30% 33% 35%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
IT panel unit shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
0% 0% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 3% 2% 3%
51% 52% 50%41% 40% 37% 37% 37% 37% 36%
42% 40% 38% 47% 45% 46%39% 32% 31% 30%
7% 8% 12% 11% 14% 16% 23% 29% 30% 32%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
IT panel area shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
Smartphone Tablet Automotive Industrial Smart watch Smartphone AR/VR Smart watch
BOE a a a a a a a a
ChinaStar a r
CEC Panda a
Tianma a a a a a a r
EverDisplay a a
Visionox a a
Infovision a a a
Truly a a a r a
Mantix a
Royole a
China area share (1H19) 59% 53% 25% 0% 60% 11% 0% 45%
S/M-sized LCD S/M-sized OLED
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 74
For the LCD displays used in high-end products, such as iPhone, iPad, automotive, and
avionic, Chinese panel makers have relatively lower market shares. LCD iPhone displays are
supplied by LGD, JDI, and Sharp, while LCD panels for iPad are supplied by LGD and Sharp.
BOE entered the iPad supply chain in 2018, though limited to the lower-cost models. On the
OLED side, Chinese panel makers’ market shares have been increasing, especially for smaller-
size applications such as wearable watches, while OLED displays for smartphones is still
dominated by Korean suppliers for both rigid and flexible OLEDs.
Figure 100: Chinese panel makers lead in smartphone
shipment…
Figure 101: …but Koreans still dominate OLED panels
Source: IHS Source: IHS
Although Chinese panel makers have established decent market positions in most of the end-
applications in the past few years, they still heavily rely on overseas companies to supply
processing equipment and key materials. For example, processing tools such as stepper for
LCD panels are supplied by Nikon and Canon from Japan, while the deposition equipment for
making OLED panels are sourced from Canon Tokki. For the key materials, Chinese panel
makers still rely on Corning, Asahi, and NEG for glass substrates, although there are some
domestic players such as Dongxu and Caihong that are able to supply glass substrates for
smaller-generation fabs. Other key components such as polariser, driver IC, and optical films
are also in a similar situation, wherein overseas suppliers remain in a dominating position given
the higher technology barrier and greater scale.
Using polariser as an example, Japanese supplier Nitto Denko mainly supplies polarising film
and other high-functional films for high-end models in smartphone. The company currently
supplies products to Chinese panel manufacturers for high-definition LCD and OLED
smartphone screens, and the share gain by Chinese panel makers will be a positive for Nitto
Denko.
China game plan
Focus shifting from LCD to OLED
The decision of constructing new display panel fabs in China is largely related to government
policy and incentives, as well as domestic market demand/self-sufficiency. China has been the
largest country for manufacturing TV since the CRT-era and it has accounted for over half of
global TV market in the last decade amid the LCD TV take-off. However, China lacked
indigenous panel-production capacity during the replacement of CRT TV with LCD TV. As a
result, the Chinese government announced its support of building high-generation panel fab in
2010 and implemented various measures to support the industry.
BOE and CSOT announced building their Gen 8.5 lines in 2009, and construction started in
2010 and mass production in 2H11. The central and local governments offered initial funding,
as well as subsidy, accounting for 30-35% of total investments. In 2010, China’s NDRC
decided to issue two more licenses for high-generation fab construction, with Samsung Display
(Gen 7.5, subsequently upgrading to Gen 8.5 in Suzhou) and LG Display (Gen 8.5 in
Guangzhou) selected, while other companies (BOE, Sharp, Foxconn) applied but didn’t qualify.
25% 24% 17% 15% 12% 9%
19% 17%
10% 9% 10%7%
27% 31%
37%34% 33%
32%
29% 29% 37% 42% 45% 52%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Smartphone panel area shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
100% 99% 98% 98% 95% 89%
0% 1% 1% 2% 5% 11%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
OLED smartphone panel area shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
China’s market share for high-end panels
remain low in 1H19
Key component and equipment are still
sourced from overseas suppliers
Government subsidies play an important role
on new fab construction
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 75
Later in 2013, the approval power was released from the central government to the provincial
governments, consequently boosting the take-off of new fab constructions as local
governments offer various subsidy and incentives to attract investments for boosting local job
employment and tax revenue. For example, BOE announced the construction of 90k
substrates/month Gen 10.5 fab in Hefei in April, 2015, with a total investment of Rmb40 bn
(US$6.45 bn), where 45% of the investment is funded by Hefei government, 45% from local
banks, and only 10% from BOE.
Figure 102: Structure for new fab construction
Source: Credit Suisse Research
Another example is HKC, a TV set assembler with annual capacity of 22 mn LCD TVs, which
built a new Gen 8.6 TFT-LCD fab in Chongqing with capacity of 140k substrates/month and
started mass production in 2017. The total investment of the Chongqing Gen 8.6 fab is around
Rmb24 bn, where the local government subsidises half of the funding. HKC then announced its
second Gen 8.6 line in Chuzhou in 3Q17, with capacity of 120k substrates/month for mass
production in 2019. Total investment of the Chuzhou Gen 8.6 fab is around Rmb24 bn, with
local government funding 70% of the investment.
China government has continued to subsidise TFT-LCD fabs in recent years, but the amount
has been declining and it has become more difficult to get funding for new fab constructions
due to industry oversupply. Instead, the China government and the industry now aim to break
the dominance of OLED panels by Korean panel makers, with the construction of multiple new
lines, despite the poor production yield.
Focus is now shifting to OLED
China display industry is backed by China National High Technology Research and
Development Program, and Made-in-China 2025 policy. China has set a target to produce
300ppi small-to-medium-sized AMOLED panels with curve dimension of <1cm by 2020 and
foldable displays by 2025. Despite the Made-in-China 2025 turning low profile since the US-
China trade dispute, the progress of moving to OLED and building domestic display ecosystem
is still on track. Chinese panel makers started to spend significant capex from 2017 to expand
OLED capacities, triggered by Apple's adoption of OLED panel along with a massive subsidy
from the government. Several panel makers have announced to accelerate their OLED capacity
build-up plans including BOE, Tianma, EverDisplay (privately held), Truly, Visionox, Royole
(privately held) and CSOT. We estimate over Rmb400 bn of investment in OLED panel
manufacturing.
Hefei government funded 45% of BOE’s Gen
10.5 fab
Local government funded 50-70% of HKC’s
new fabs in Chongqing and Chuzhou
China is investing over Rmb400 bn in OLED
panel capacity
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 76
Figure 103: Over Rmb500 bn investment from China panel makers
Company Fab Gen Type Production schedule Designed capacity
(K/M)
Total investment
(Rmb bn)
BOE Ordos 5.5 LTPS/AMOLED 4Q13 4.00 22.00
Chengdu 6 Flexible AMOLED 3Q17 48.00 46.50
Mianyang 6 Flexible AMOLED 3Q19 48.00 46.50
Chongqing 6 Flexible AMOLED 1H21 48.00 46.50
Fuzhou 6 Flexible AMOLED TBC 48.00 46.50
Visionox Kunshan 5.5 Rigid/Felxible AMOLED 2017 15.00 15.00
Gu'an 6 Rigid/flexible AMOLED 4Q18 30.00 30.00
Hefei 6 Flexible AMOLED 2021 30.00 44.00
Guangzhou 6 Flexible AMOLED TBC 10.00 11.20
EverDisplay Shanghai Quarter 4.5 Rigid AMOLED 4Q14 21.00 7.50
Shanghai 6 Flexible AMOLED 2019 30.00 27.28
Tianma Shanghai 5.5 Rigid AMOLED 4Q15 4.00 1.00
Wuhan 6 Flexible AMOLED 2H21 37.50 26.50
Xiamen 6 Flexible AMOLED 2022 48.00 48.00
Truly Huizhou 4.5 Rigid AMOLED 4Q16 15.00 6.30
Meishan 6 Flexible AMOLED TBC 30.00 27.90
Royole Shenzhen 6 Rigid/flexible AMOLED 2H18 50mn module 11.00
CSOT Wuhan 6 Flexible AMOLED 2020 45.00 35.00
Shenzhen 11 LCD/AMOLED 2021 90.00 42.68
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
China is aggressively moving to OLED, as (1) Chinese panel makers are able to obtain capital
resources from the government and the stock market, (2) OLED development is well supported
by National high-tech policies, and (3) Chinese players aim to surpass global peers by cutting
corners. We see a massive capex roll-out since 2017, mainly driven by BOE, while other OLED
makers also ramped up their production.
Shanghai’s EverDisplay started mass production of OLED panel for mobile applications in end
2014. Kunshan Visionox started production in end-2015. Tianma also started shipping OLED
panels for Chinese smartphone makers in 2016 from its Shanghai OLED fab, and mass
production of its Wuhan OLED fab in 2018. Truly announced its OLED production line to start
production in 4Q16. BOE started mass production of Chengdu flexible AMOLED panels in
4Q17 which was the first Chinese company to commercialise flexible OLED.
We note that the majority of the projects have been set up with government parties and listed
companies mainly hold a tens percentage of stake, which could help lessen the financial burden
of listed companies. We estimate Rmb25 bn/56 bn/53 bn of capex for OLED fabs during
2017-19 in China and expect Rmb74 bn/93 bn/65 bn in 2020/2021/2022.
Figure 104: Estimated OLED capex in China
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
0
20
40
60
80
100
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
(Rmb bn)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 77
Among Chinese OLED panel makers, Everdisplay and Tianma were successful in delivering rigid
smartphone OLED panels in 2016. Everdisplay started with non-smartphone applications such
as smart watches, industrial and other handheld devices and has taken two years to ramp up.
Tianma shipped only a small volume in 720p resolution at the beginning, but now its Wuhan
OLED fab can deliver rigid smartphone OLED panels at a reasonable yield rate. BOE started
mass production of flexible OLED smartphone panels from 4Q17 but ramping up took a long
time without a flagship model. Huawei Mate 20 was the first flagship model it successfully
shipped in 2H18, and now we see BOE is facing another technical issue on Mate 30 display
requirement. We see Chinese OLED panel makers are struggling to improve yield and reduce
cost. Longer term, we expect more Chinese OLED panel makers could deliver rigid OLED
panels, while BOE remains the leader in flexible OLED panels in the China market.
Figure 105: Chinese panel makers now account for 12% of
smartphone OLED panel shipments…
Figure 106: …with faster share gain for flexible OLED as BOE
ramps up its capacity
Source: IHS Source: IHS
On top of financial support from the government, the Chinese panel makers also hired R&D and
process control talents from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), Japan, and Korea in the past decades to
shorten the learning curve and catch up on premium products. As shown in figure 102, China’s
TV panel unit and area shipments have surpassed Taiwan in 2017, but it still lags behind in 4K
TV panels. Nevertheless, with the continuous R&D effort, it has now caught up with the 4K TV
panel shipment share, having surpassed Taiwan and on a par with Korean peers.
Figure 107: Chinese panel makers also catching up on 4K TV Figure 108: BOE’s R&D expense is now on par vs AUO+INX
Source: IHS Source: Company data
Government pushing the localisation of key component and raw material
Despite the success in taking over leadership on TFT-LCD panels over Taiwanese and Korean
peers, the majority of the key components and processing material for Chinese panel makers to
produce TFT-LCD still relies on foreign suppliers. However, the government has launched
subsidies and incentives since 2017 to boost the adoption of key materials from local vendors.
Global polariser makers like LG Chem and Samsung have set up production sites in China,
while Japanese Nitto Denko SDI is working with several local players by licensing its production
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
100% 99% 99% 98% 94% 88%
0% 1% 1% 2% 5% 12%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
OLED smartphone panel unit shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
100% 98%89%
0% 2%11%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2017 2018 2019E
Flexible OLED smartphone panel unit shipment share
China
Korea
3% 5% 5% 6% 3% 2%
38%26% 25% 25% 24% 22%
48%59% 54% 51%
46%39%
11% 11% 16% 17%27%
37%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
4K TV panel area shipment share
China
Korea
Taiwan
Japan
0
200
400
600
800
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
AUO+INX's R&D BOE's R&DUS$ mn
Chinese OLED panel makers rely on overseas
supplier for raw material and equipment
Government encouraging the adoption of
localised material
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 78
technology. Based on IHS’ estimate, China’s polariser capacity would reach 40%+ of global
capacity by 2021, up from 17% in 2017, although this is likely to lead to a severe oversupply
from 2021 onward.
For Nitto Denko, Korean and Taiwanese TV manufacturers account for a high share of its
business, and Chinese makers currently account for a low share. However, with Chinese panel
makers gaining ground, Nitto Denko opened a new plant in Shenzhen, China to manufacture
ultra-thin polarizing plate (volume production started 2018). The company is also reinforcing its
royalty business, including licensing out roll-to-panel technology to Chinese polarizing plate
makers and forming business partnerships in the industry. In 2017, Nitto Denko formed a
technology alliance with China’s Jinjang group, which will see Nitto Denko receive up to ¥15 bn
in royalties during the five-year agreement period.
In terms of the display driver IC, A-share-listed Sino Wealth and H-share-listed Solomon
Systech are two IC design houses shipping LCD and OLED driver ICs to domestic panel
makers, while BOE has set up a design house ESWIN. Nevertheless, their market shares
remain limited and Chinese panel makers still source driver ICs mainly from Taiwanese players
such as Novatek, Himax, Raydium, etc. Driver IC fabless design houses are also encouraged to
use local foundries for wafer processing and panel makers could also offer higher allocation if
the production of the driver ICs are done in China. Novatek has taken advantage of its strong
engineering capability and completed the qualification ahead of its peers at Hefei Nexchip’s 12”
fab for large-size DDI, which helped it to gain share over its peers at BOE in 2H18-1H19.
BOE’s affiliate ESWIN originally focused only on display driver IC design, but it has announced
to form a strategic partnership with Chipbond in Dec-2017 and has expanded into driver IC
backend packaging by acquiring a majority stake in Chipbond’s China subsidiary Chipmore.
BOE and Chipbond have also set up a new JV named ESWIN material, focusing on COF tape
manufacturing. Post the transactions, ESWIN now has a COF tape capacity of 50 mn
units/months, 8” bumping capacity of 40k wafers/month, and TCP/COF backend capacity of
40 mn/month.
Figure 109: Driver IC maker’s share in 1H19 (LCD+OLED) Figure 110: AMOLED driver IC market share in 2Q19
Source: IHS, Company data Source: IHS, Company data
In 2017-18, the China’s MIIT also encouraged display makers to use local processing materials
(chemicals, photoresist, gas, substrates, OLED materials, etc.) by offering cash incentives to
panel makers if they adopt a certain amount of local materials. The policy was changed in late
2018 to compensating panel makers if the local material/components failed and thereby
caused yield-loss during mass production. The new policy could potentially increase the
adoption of local materials, as previously, some panel makers would just buy some local
materials and store those in the warehouse without using those for production to apply for the
subsidy.
Samsung
28.6%
Novatek
20.4%Himax
8.0%SiliconWorks
7.7%
Sitronix
5.3%
Synaptics
6.0%
Raydium
5.6%
MagnaChip
4.0%
FocalTech
2.9%
Ilitek
2.6%
Fitipower
2.6%
ROHM
1.3%
Solomon
Systech1.2%
Others
3.7%
Samsung LSI
60.0%
MagnaChip
24.5%
Raydium
6.0%
Novatek
5.5%
Synaptics
3.0%Others
1.0%
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 79
For OLED, Chinese panel makers still see limited supply from domestic vendors and purchase
equipment and raw materials from overseas vendors. We believe the lack of local supply chain
will likely prolong the cost reduction progress for panel makers. The quality of equipment and
materials also affects the yield of production. We expect Chinese panel makers to continue to
rely on overseas suppliers in consideration of the risks of production in terms of mature
materials, proven equipment and IP concerns. But in the long run, China aims to build up its
ecosystem through cooperation with overseas suppliers, M&A and government subsidy.
Figure 111: China OLED panel supply chain
Equipment Materials Driver IC AMOLED Panel 3D glass casing Handset
NAURA (002371.SZ) Jilin Optical (private) Sinowealth (300327.SZ) Tianma (000050.SZ) Lens Tech (300433.SZ) OPPO (private)
Han's Laser (002008.SZ) RuiYuan (private) Solomon Systech (2878.HK) BOE (000725.SZ) Biel Crystal (private) vivo (private)
Dalian Zhiyun (300097.SZ) Puyang Huicheng (300481.SZ) ESWIN (private) Truly (0732.HK) Tongda (0698.HK) Huawei (private)
Liande (300545.SZ) Valiant (002643.SZ) Visionox (002387.SZ) AAC (2018.HK) Xiaomi (1810.HK)
Selen (002343.SZ) EDO (private) Meizu (private)
Eternal Material (private) Olightek (private) ZTE (000063.SZ)
Kangdexin (002450.SZ) TCL (000100.SZ)
Lenovo (0992.HK)
Tecno (688036.SS)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Conclusion: Chinese display makers becoming more
meaningful but still lag key tools and raw material
Chinese display panel makers obviously have caught up on producing TFT-LCD panels,
especially for the commodity and lower entry barrier products. We expect their market share to
further increase as they ramp up new fabs, especially amid Korean panel makers’ strategy
change, although there is a concern that some smaller TFT players might not survive without
government subsidy.
Korean LCD makers to exit TFT-LCD manufacture
We fully expect Korean LCD makers to exit the TFT-LCD panel manufacturing over time. Most
of the LCD products are no longer profitable, and Korea's strategy is to move up the technology
curve to pure OLED production base while phasing out the existing LCD facilities. Both Chinese
and Taiwanese TV LCD panels have attained sufficient quality, where major TV brands such as
Samsung and LG Electronics (LGE) have been expanding panel procurement for TVs at lower
price points. High-end TV panels will move toward OLED TVs for both brands, with LGE
enjoying a head start. For example, While LGE still largely sources TV panels from its subsidiary
LG Display (LGD), the proportion has been declining, from 70% in 2015 to about 60% in 2018
and heading toward 50%, with Chinese suppliers gaining the bulk of the increase. This is to
improve the cost structure of TV sets. Generally, premium TV LCD panels will still be sourced
by LGD, while 100% of WOLED panels will be sourced from LGD as it moves to improve the
mix of OLED TVs to improve the TV profits.
Chinese LCD makers’ share could further
increase as Korean players exit the market
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 80
Figure 112: LGE's TV panel technology hierarchy
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse Research
Figure 113: LGE's TV panel procurement
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Figure 114: Samsung's LCD revenue continues to slide
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
LTPS LCD production nearly phased out
For small TFT-LCD and LTPS LCD display, Samsung began phasing out production in 2014.
The company shut down the L4 (2014) and L5 lines (2015) in Cheonan mainly producing
displays for low-end smartphones. In November 2016, Samsung proceeded to shutdown L7-1
fab mainly producing LCD panels for laptop PCs and PC monitors, including oxide substrate
OLED TV
Ultra HD LCD TV (Nano Cell)
LCD TV
LG Signature
LG OLED TV
LG Super Ultra HD TV
LG Ultra HD TV
LG LED TV
40%
30%
70% 60%
Other Panel Makers;BOE, Innolux and etc.
LG Display
2015 2018
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
1Q08 4Q08 3Q09 2Q10 1Q11 4Q11 3Q12 2Q13 1Q14 4Q14 3Q15 2Q16 1Q17 4Q17 3Q18 2Q19 1Q20E 4Q20E
Large Panel TFT-LCD Revenue
(W bn)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 81
based LCD. The equipment was sold to Truly of China. Additionally, in 2017, Samsung
proceeded to convert its L7-1 LCD line in Tangjung into an OLED facility.
Similarly, LG Display has closed its P2, P3 and P4 lines in Paju and Kumi, with most of the
AP2 lines used for making LTPS-LCD now being converted for the usage of OLED production.
While Samsung had sufficient internal smartphones to sell its LCD products, the strategic shift
to move toward OLED for the majority of its smartphones has prompted the move. Today,
Samsung produces no smartphone LCD displays internally. Instead, its early shift toward the
future of OLED displays enabled the company to enjoy near-monopoly status for more than a
decade. The OLED space is marked by fewer competitors and more advanced technology. The
near-monopoly status also enables the company to keep a tight control over its equipment and
material suppliers. OLED has grown into a K25 bn/year-revenue segment, with a much more
stable 10-12% sustainable OPM for the company.
Figure 115: Samsung: OLED has displaced LCDs and display revenue driver
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Similarly, LG Display was initially the top LTPS LCD display supplier for Apple's iPhones. It also
supported its parent, LGE's smartphone initiative as well as supplying to the Chinese brands.
While the company still runs a profitable business in the oxide-based LCDs for AAPL's PC
monitors and laptops, the mobile LTPS display has also been phasing out as Apple began to
adopt more OLED displays in its iPhone models and the smartphone volume of LGE has shrunk
considerably.
As an LG Group strategy, developing OLED TVs was emphasised first, and then flexible mobile
OLED transition following Apple's iPhone shift. Currently, LG Display is the sole supplier of
WOLED panel maker enabling many flagship models for global TV brands such as LG, Sony,
Panasonic, B&O, etc. Much of the initial WOLED capacity was built by converting its 8G LCD
capacity into OLED production facility, and the brand-new fab is just starting production in
Guangzhou, China.
Figure 116: LGD's TV OLED capacity build-up
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
1Q09 4Q09 3Q10 2Q11 1Q12 4Q12 3Q13 2Q14 1Q15 4Q15 3Q16 2Q17 1Q18 4Q18 3Q19E 2Q20E
OLED Revenue OLED OPM (RHS)
(W bn)
0K
50K
100K
150K
200K
2014 2015 2016 2019E 2020-2021ELGD - OLED TV capacity (K/mon, 8G)
P10?
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 82
Conversion from LCD fabs to OLED capacity
Starting with the L7-1 conversion to flexible OLED line, Samsung has begun shutting down
more Gen 7 and Gen 8 LCD capacities, starting with L8-1. Potential planed capacity elimination
could run as high has over 200k 8G substrates, which could represent ~30% of the Samsung's
Korea LCD capacity. Much of the capacity loss is expected to be retrofitted to production of
QD-OLED, Samsung's version of TV OLED technology. The company has officially unveiled a
W13 tn capex plan for the next seven years, with about W10 tn expected to be spent mostly in
the OLED area and W3 tn in R&D. While TV OLED technology is largely still in R&D phase,
about 20k to 30k in 8G capacity will be built from the converted LCD fab for the initial trial run.
Given Samsung's vast experience in more difficulty mobile OLED R&D and production, the
company will likely enter successful mass production toward the end of 2021. Large LCD panel
business is currently loss-making and no is longer attractive for Samsung given the continual
supply ramp in China pressuring global LCD prices.
LG Display is in a more dire position as the majority of its revenue is still being generated from
large LCD panel sales. Given the current market price of various LCD panels, virtually all of its
products are loss-making, except for its oxide-based LTPS LCDs for special laptop and desktop
monitor use. While LGE has transitioned to TV OLED early, it has just now reached the B/E
point in the Korea operations, while the new China facility is expected to post losses in the near-
term due to high ramp-up costs and low initial yields. Additionally, in order to regain the loss of
LTPS-LCD sales to iPhones, the company has built three new 6G flexible OLED fabs (two for
AAPL) to address the growing OLED usage in the smartphone market and rising demand from
the auto industry. However, until the new OLED production sites are on a sound footing,
restructuring that will include executive layoffs, voluntary retirement of LCD manufacturing staff
and job reassignment are likely to continue. YTD, the company has accepted over 300
voluntary retirement requests from it fab personnel.
Figure 117: Both Samsung and LGD loss-making in LCDs
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
China to rely on Japan, Korea, and the US for key raw
material, especially OLED
For the higher-end LCD panels (such as 4K narrow border TV panels, in-cell touch display,
large-size TV panels, etc.), we believe Chinese panel makers could become the main suppliers
in the next two to three years as they overcome the production yield issues. For the more
advanced TFT-LCD panels, such as smartphone panel with full-screen fingerprint sensing, 8K
TV panels, miniLED BLM, high-refresh-rate displays, etc., we believe it will take more than
three years for Chinese panel makers to catch up with its Taiwanese and Korean peers.
In near-to-mid-term (one to three years), China display industry will likely focus on (1) building
its capability and scale in OLED panel manufacturing and high-end TV panels (55” or above, 4K
and 8K TVs) and (2) incubating domestic display supply chain. BOE will remain the national
champion in TFT LCD and flexible OLED, reach international footprint, and gain global
recognition. Entering iPhone OLED panel supply chain is a key milestone.
-40%
-30%
-20%
-10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
1Q08 4Q08 3Q09 2Q10 1Q11 4Q11 3Q12 2Q13 1Q14 4Q14 3Q15 2Q16 1Q17 4Q17 3Q18 2Q19 1Q20E 4Q20E
Samsung LGD
More capacity to be shut down by Korean
panel makers
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 83
We believe Chinese panel makers might use more local material and components for
manufacturing in the next few years, although they will still rely on overseas vendors for certain
high-end components that requires more fundamental research on material science. We believe
material/components such as ultrathin cover glass (Corning’s Gorilla glass or Asahi’s
dragontrail), large-size glass substrate (Gen 10.5), OLED polariser (film-type circular or liquid
crystal pattern), high-end optical film (quantum dot film), OLED materials, etc., will still be
dominated by overseas suppliers, given their know-how of raw material, formulation, and end-
customer’s decision. Despite US suppliers like Corning leads in glass substrate/cover glass and
3M leads in optical films, we believe Chinese panel makers could also source these materials
from Japan to reduce dependence on US technology. Form a long-term perspective, China
would grow its domestic supply chain to get a meaningful contribution from local panel makers
and reduce reliance on overseas suppliers, especially US vendors.
For OLED materials/components, we believe it will take longer for Chinese panel makers to
establish their own supply chain, primarily due to Samsung’s black-box strategy to protect its
core technology. OLED is generally a much more difficult technology to master, as it involves
much trial and error due to its analogue manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the pioneer and
the leader, Samsung Display, has wanted to strictly control the supply chain, including building
up its IP portfolio on production methods, equipment advancement, and upgrading organic
materials science. Samsung has even acquired some key OLED materials/equipment supply
chain (i.e., Vitex Systems or Novaled) and invested in some critical equipment suppliers with
~5-10% ownership and disallowed them to sell the most advanced OLED materials/equipment
to potential Chinese competitors. That said, even if a leading Chinese OLED panel maker such
as BOE keeps trying to mass produce flexible OLED panels, it will find it difficult to stabilise
yield rates or it will lag behind the technology curve as it will be tough to procure the
latest/advanced technology equipment/materials due to patent issues.
Particularly for OLED materials, some key suppliers such as Universal Display, Dow Chemical,
Idemitsu Kosan, Duksan Neolux, etc., are already the dominant players in its sub-segments
where Samsung Display is unlikely to approve of them providing advanced materials supply to
Chinese panel makers.
Figure 118: Advanced OLED panel components/materials supply chain (i.e., Galaxy Fold)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Samsung’s blackbox strategy for OLED will
slowdown China to build its own raw material
supply chain
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 84
Components
We see China has dominated smartphone manufacturing, making half of the world’s
smartphones. China is also building its ecosystem and strengthening its global presence and
leadership in component makers. The Chinese smartphone market started with whitebox
smartphone manufacturing back in 2011-2012 and has passed through several generations
and brand reshuffles. At that time, the market was driven by operators with central procurement
on Rmb1,000 phones and the Top 4 domestic smartphone brands were ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad
and Lenovo. In 2014, operators cut handset subsidy which created open-channel opportunities
and intensified smartphone competition. Xiaomi successfully created its online business model;
while Oppo and Vivo are strong in the open channel, down to lower-tier cities in China. Huawei
was relatively sustainable in past generations and remains a top-tier smartphone brand. The Top
4 Chinese brands (Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi) accounted for 39%/45% of global
smartphone shipments in 2018/1H19. Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi are also ranked among the
global Top 5 smartphone makers.
Figure 119: Increasing brand concentration (Top 5: 67% in
2018)
Figure 120: Rising penetration of Chinese brands smartphone
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
China grows its smartphone supply chain by entering Apple supply chain and leveraging the
learning experience from making feature phones for Nokia and Motorola. We have seen Apple
shifting its component supply chain from Japan to Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) and then to China in
past decade. Domestic smartphone brands like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have also
grown their domestic supply chain along with increasing manufacturing scale.
Figure 121: China/HK: 21% of total no. of Apple suppliers Figure 122: Almost half of production sites based in China
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
Apple Samsung Huawei Xiaomi OPPO vivo Others
(mn)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
Chinese brands International brands % of global smartphones
(mn)
21% 12%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2018 2013
US China (incl. HK) Taiwan Japan Korea Others
47% 44%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2018 2013
US China Taiwan Japan Korea Others
Kyna Wong
852 2101 6950
Pauline Chen
886 2 2715 6323
Sang Uk Kim
82 2 3707 3795
Mika Nishimura
81 3 4550 7369
Akinori Kanemoto
81 3 4550 7363
Jerry Su
886 2 2715 6361
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 85
We have seen Apple supply chain moving from the US and Japan to China in the past five years.
China suppliers accounted for 21% of the total number of Apple suppliers in 2018, from 12%
in 2013. 47% of manufacturing locations were based in China in 2018, vs 44% in 2013. As
the major EMS is located in China, its supply chain has established production capacity in China
in order to shorten the lead time and reduce logistics cost.
Chinese components suppliers are well established in certain components such as acoustic
(speaker, receiver), haptic, cover glass, wireless charging module, connector/cable, battery
module, etc., in the Apple supply chain, with a major share allocation (over 50%). We see
domestic supply chain as sufficient to supply key components for Chinese smartphones and we
believe domestic substitution is a key trend for components supply chain. We see components
still relying on foreign suppliers including CIS, VCM, MEMS chips, HDI/SLP PCB, battery cell
and MLCC. We analyse the current market structure, how China would develop its home
industry and the near-to-long-term prospects by key sub-sectors—camera components (lens,
module, CIS, 3D sensing), PCB/substrate, casing, antenna, acoustic, power supply/battery
and MLCC. Display is discussed in a separated session.
Figure 123: Domestic smartphone component suppliers
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Acoustic
Current market structure
For miniature acoustic products, including receiver, speaker and MEMS microphones, we see
the Apple supply chain relatively concentrated, and the Android market relatively fragmented. A
few major products are driving growth and upgrade trends in the acoustics area.
Cover glass
Lens, Biel Crystal
Camera
Lens: Sunny, AAC,
O-film, Star JuYu, LceOptic, Huaxin
Module: O-film, Sunny, Q Tech,
Holitech, Truly, Luxvision, Shine, SZSeasons
CIS: Omnivisoin, Galaxycore,
SuperpixVCM: Hozel, ZET,
Shicoh, JssOpitcal
Display
BOE, Tianma,
CSOT, Visionox, Everdisplay, Truly
Acoustic
AAC, Goertek,
Luxshare
Casing
Lens, Biel Crystal,
BYDE, AAC, Everwin, Tongda, CN
Innovations
Antenna
Sunway, Speed,
AAC, Luxshare, JESONcom, Deman
EMS/ODM
BYDE, Huaqin,
Wintech, Longcheer, SIM Tech
Fingerprint
Module: O-film, Truly,
Q Tech, HolitechSensor: Goodix, Silead,
Fortsense
Haptic/vibrator
AAC, Luxshare,
Jinlong
Battery
Sunwonda, Desay,
ATL
Connector
Luxshare, Sunway
PCB/substrate
SYE, WUS, SCC,
Avary
MLCC
Fenghua, Three
Circle, Torch, Hongyuan,
Sinocera, Sunlord, Hongda
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 86
We expect an upgrade trend for Android acoustics, e.g., AAC’s SLS or Goertek’s SBS
penetrated mid-tiered models, expecting uptrend in both shipment/ASP. AAC also
released Classic SLS speaker for high-end smartphones, with increased vibration area,
new metal housing design, offering 40% improvement in acoustic performance and better
noise cancellation and waterproofing abilities.
High-end Android speaker/receiver ASP is ~US$1-2, or about half the ASP of similar
components of iPhone. For low-end, ASP is only ~US$0.5. We estimate the Android
acoustic market by our Android shipment units, and the market share of AAC acoustic
components among Android supply chain is ~17%, and Goertek ~5% in 2018, and expect
AAC’s share to expand to 30-40% and Goertek’s market share to 9-12% in 2020/21E.
We see another strong growth driven by TWS earphones in the acoustic area. Counterpoint
forecasted TWS shipment to reach 27 mn units globally in 2Q19, up 54% vs 17.5 mn in
1Q19. 2019 shipment is expected to reach ~120 mn units, with YoY growth of 160%+.
For Apple AirPod, we forecasted global shipment to reach 40-50 mn/55-60 mn units in
2019/20E. For Android TWS, Samsung (Galaxy Bud) is the leader in the Android camp
and Counterpoint estimated it having ~8% market share. With the release of Huawei TWS
FreeBuds 3, together with the release of new Android smartphone models, from Huawei
and Xiaomi, we expect the market share from Android TWS to increase.
For global smart speakers, Canalys estimates continuous strong growth in 2Q19, with
global shipment reaching 26.1 mn units, up 55% YoY, with Amazon Echo still the market
leader (25.4% share), followed by Baidu’s 17.3% market share. Within the Top 5 players,
three Chinese players accounted for 44% share in 2Q19 (up from 31% in 2Q18). We
believe that smart speaker growth will mostly benefit MEMS microphone and speaker
module suppliers, as smart speakers usually use MEMS microphone arrays (usually from 2-
12 MEMS microphones). MEMS microphone arrays provide better far-field voice
recognition, noise reduction, reverberation elimination, echo reduction, etc. Goertek
mentioned it has a large order pipeline and targets mass production in 2020.
MEMS microphones are seeing a growth trend, driven by wide adoption in smartphones
(e.g., iPhones), and strong growth of smart speakers and smart home appliances, as their
voice recognition function relied on MEMS speaker arrays, which also helped realise the
noise reduction function. We estimate the MEMS microphone market size to be US$1.2
bn-1.7 bn in 2019, with expected CAGR in the low-teen level over 2019 -2025. MEMS
microphone has a smaller package size, lower impedance, and more scalable with better
sound quality than traditional (ECM) microphones, and is widely adopted in smartphones,
laptops/PCs, cameras, and automobiles.
Competitive landscape
Acoustic product GM varies in the range of 25-40% in recent years, and we see AAC’s
acoustic components’ average GM higher than Goertek’s. MEMS components GM is in the
25%+ level in 2018. However, the Luxshare/Merry joining the Apple acoustics supply chain
has driven down the acoustics GM, especially for AAC which lowered from ~41% in 2017 to
~37% in 2018 and ~27% in 1H19, and we expect it to stay in the 30%+ level up to 2021.
In the Apple supply chain, we see AAC, Goertek and Merry/Luxshare as the Top 3
suppliers for acoustics products, including receivers and speakers, for different products
such as iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. In the speaker market, Goertek is still the market
leader, with 40% or higher market share, but is likely to reduce to below 40% from
2020E—Merry and Luxshare have quickly gained market share (more from AAC) since late
2017 by entering the Apple supply chain to supply for iPhones. In the receiver market, we
expect Merry and Luxshare to quickly gain share from 2018 and rise to the No. 1 position
from 2019, with ~40% market share. Overall, Merry and Luxshare were the biggest share
gainers since 2018 in the Apple supply chain.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 87
Figure 124: Speaker market share and estimates Figure 125: Receiver market share and estimates
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
For Android acoustic (speakers and receivers) supply chain, we estimate market leaders
AAC and Goertek accounting for ~17%/5% in 2018; other players include Knowles
(KN.O), Merry (2439.TT), Hosiden (6804.TYO). The market for Android micro speakers
and receivers is still more fragmented than Apple acoustics.
For TWS, we believe Luxshare and Goertek will continue to gain market share from
Inventec and become the dominant suppliers for AirPods from 2020. Goertek sees strong
growth in its hearable business in the next two to three years, driven by AirPod and other
brands. The company’s investment in common equipment for AirPod with process and
efficiency reached the industry level, and it claims that its TWS’ yield and efficiency have
exceeded customer request.
Figure 126: AirPod shipment estimate by supplier
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
MEMS microphone: The Top 3 suppliers of MEMS microphones are Knowles, AAC and
Goertek. In terms of global market share in MEMS microphone, we estimate
Knowles/Goertek/AAC to be ~50%/15%/9%. Other players include ST Microelectronics,
BSE, NeoMEMS, Hosiden, Sanico Electronics, Bosch, MEMSensing, and InvenSense. The
core competitiveness for MEMS microphone is the MEMS IC. For a long time, the MEMS IC
supply was largely dominated by Knowles. But we saw AAC invested in Vesper Tech to
produce MEMS IC, ~10% MEMC IC is self-designed, and we expect this share to continue
to go up. We believe this technology advantage could help increase AAC’s market share in
smart speakers.
For speaker/receivers, as the technology has been more mature, we see the growth is
more tempered. Luxshare focuses on earphones for entertaining-use and high-power
speakers. Luxshare’s product offering focuses on high-quality speakers, capturing the
strong demand from smart speaker growth. The entertainment business sector will also
benefit from the smart home-related demand. Luxshare’s JV leverages the client base and
resources from parent companies.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
AAC Goertek Merry/Luxshare
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
AAC Goertek Merry/Luxshare
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2017 2018 2019E 2020E
Luxshare Goertek
(mn)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 88
Divergence in development directions for Chinese acoustic leaders: Goertek and AAC have
different development directions besides their major products in acoustics—Goertek
focuses on expanding its footprint in wearables, AR/VR products, integrating capabilities
for components, accessories and overall solution assembly; while AAC is focusing on
expanding its components offering to optics, such as WLG lens and precision components
for antenna uses for 5G smartphones.
The Chinese game plan
Similar to other components sectors such as casing and camera modules, government
grants/subsidies have been in the single-digit % of NI for AAC and Luxshare in recent
years; but for Goertek, it was much higher, at double-digit %, reaching 30% in 2018. Also,
the government grants/subsidies % of NI for Luxshare are relatively low and in a
decreasing trend, while that for AAC and Goertek were in an increasing trend for the past
few years, implying a lower reliance on government subsidies for Luxshare and stronger
execution vs its peers. The majority of Goertek’s government subsidies was from the
Weifang City or Shandong Province—for example, 81% in 1H19 subsidies was from
Weifang City’s Corporate Innovation Development Fund, and 57% in FY18 subsidies was
from Shandong Province’s special fund to support the growth of super-large-scale
companies in the province. The subsidies usually came in the form of awards or grants, and
mainly support R&D, equipment upgrade/expansion, commercialisation of new
technologies, talent attraction, etc. Similar to other high-technology companies, acoustics
players also enjoy VAT refund and preferential tax treatment from the Chinese government.
For Luxshare, the government subsidies include support for technology revamp/upgrade,
and some refunds regarding land use. For AAC, the government grants are related to
engagement in high-tech business, employment of expatriates, and technologically
advanced staff, as well as for acquisition of PP&E.
To reduce reliance on overseas IC supplies, Chinese players also have
developed/developing their own chipset—for example, Goertek has built a factory to
produce MEMS chips. However, the relatively lower reliance on government funding
indicates Chinese players’ have developed in-house technology organically, which helped
them achieve global leadership positions in the acoustics market. Such in-house
capabilities will likely support them to further enhance new technology capabilities. We see
a high R&D expense share % to revenue from the Chinese acoustics providers: AAC
reached 11%, while Luxshare reached 7% and Goertek ~5% by 1H19 results. Continuous
R&D provides a strong support for the technology advancement of Chinese acoustics
players.
Figure 127: Government subsidies as % of NI for leading
Chinese acoustics companies
Figure 128: R&D expense as % of revenue of leading Chinese
acoustics companies
Source: Company data Source: Company data
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
AAC Goertek Luxshare
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
AAC Goertek Luxshare
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 89
View on near-term and mid-to-long-term development
We see low overseas reliance on acoustic components, but continuing reliance on overseas
codec chip and MEMS chip in mid-to-high-end smartphones. We expect Chinese players to
continue to gain shares in key areas and see that they have already achieved dominant market
shares in the Apple acoustics supply chain, for speakers and receivers. AirPod production is
expected to be also largely divided between Luxshare and Goertek. In the MEMS microphone
market, Chinese players are quickly catching up with Knowles. Goertek and AAC are producing
MEMS IC and looking to increase the self-supply ratio of MEMS IC. We expect the Chinese
players to take longer to realise domestic substitution for MEMS IC—more of a medium-term
effort (three to six years). In the smart speakers market, we are already seeing an increase in
market share from both the end-product perspective—with Baidu, Alibaba and Xiaomi entering
the Top 5 global brands—and the supply chain perspective—with increasing share gains by
Chinese players such as AAC and Goertek.
Overall, we think the opportunity for China to realise domestic substitution in acoustic
components is high, with the majority to be realised in the short term (within three years),
except for key components such as MEMS IC which may take longer, likely in the medium term
(three to six years).
Antenna
Current market structure
We focus on antenna for mobile devices in this section. The major driver for mobile antenna
is still from smartphones, with trends of a rising number of antennae and of modularisation
(integrated packaging with other components). We forecast a 10% CAGR for the market
(shipment demand) over 2018-21, driven by 5G upgrade. The top vendors in the mobile
phone antenna market are Amphenol, Pulse, Molex, Skycross, Galtronics, Sunway, Speed,
JESONcom, Auden, Deman, Ethertronics, Sky-wave, 3gtx, and Southstar.
Figure 129: Global mobile device antenna shipment to grow at 10% CAGR for 2018-
21E
Source: Credit Suisse estimates
FPC antenna is a common type of antenna used in mobile devices. Polyimide (PI) is the
major type of materials used for flexible antenna, given its cost advantage, high resistance
to humidity, and good heat dissipation. In the value chain of PI or modified PI, we see the
US, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) and Japan companies dominating in material/film supply
space, and the US and Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) companies dominating in the flexible
copper clad laminate (FCCL) space. China and Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) companies are
mature in flexible board manufacturing for PI type antenna.
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
Handset antenna Notebook antenna Tablet antenna
(mn)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 90
Figure 130: PI/MPI antenna value chain
Material/film FCCL Flex board
Du Pont (US) Du Pont (US) Avary (TW)
Taimide (TW) Shengyi (CN) MFLEX (CN)
Mortech (TW) Taiflex (TW) Flexium (TW)
UBE (JP) Thinflex (TW) Career (TW)
Mitsubishi Gas (JP) AEM (TW)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Apple adopted liquid crystal polymer (LCP) antenna from 2H17 iPhone and then moved
one LCP to MPI in 2H19 for LAT (Low Antenna) on cost concerns, while UAT (Upper
Antenna) remains using LCP materials. In iPhone antenna supply chain, we see as Murata
dominant in upstream supply and involved in FPC and module assembly. Amphenol and
Luxshare are another two LCP module suppliers. In the general LCP antenna value chain,
Japan companies are dominant in LCP resin/film supply. Chinese companies are able to
provide downstream processes such as FPCB and module assembly. Sunway could get
30-40% share allocation in Macbook and iPad FPC antenna, while Luxshare could get 40-
50% share allocation in iPhone LCP antenna module, in our view.
Figure 131: LCP antenna value chain
LCP resin LCP film LCP FCCL LCP flex board LCP module
Sumitomo (JP) Sumitomo (JP) Sumitomo (JP) Sumitomo (JP) Sumitomo (JP)
Rinkuru (JP) Murata (JP) Murata (JP) Murata (JP) Amphenol (US)
Toray (JP) Kuraray (JP) Rogers (US) Rogers (US) Murata (JP)
Polyplastics (JP) Du Pont (US) Shengyi (CN) MFLEX (CN) Luxshare (CN)
UENO (JP) Gore-Tex (JP) Thinflex (TW) Kinwong (CN) Sunway (CN)
Mitsubishi (JP) WOTE (CN) Career (TW) ECT (CN)
Celanese (US) Pret (CN) Speed (CN)
Solvay (EU) AAC (CN)
WOTE (CN) Forewin (CN)
Pret (CN)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
Chinese game plan
We think FPC antenna is a component that China learns from and grows with its
customers. Back to 2000, or the Nokia and Motorola generation, Laird, the largest
antenna supplier, entered the China market and set up production plants in China. Sunway
acquired Laird (Beijing) in 2012 and entered the Apple supply chain later. Chinese
companies entered the market by mergers and acquisitions in the early stage.
Under the Made-In-China 2025 policy, we do not see a specific roadmap and goal setting
for FPC antenna, but it identifies the key technology, including large-scale array antenna
for communication infrastructure. Given the target China has set to build up its capability for
5G network, antenna design is also a key technology to develop its in-house capability.
The upstream supply chain is still dominated by overseas vendors, while China has been
building its capability downstream, including flexible boards and module assembly. Shengyi
is the domestic vendor that is able to supply FCCL. We see Sunway, Speed, Luxshare,
JESONcom, Deman as the major domestic players, and AAC as an emerging player.
We do not see a massive subsidy supporting this industry development—it depends on the
local government’s investment promotion and industry development plan. For the 5G
antenna development project, local companies can apply for R&D grant and subsidy. We
also believe the Chinese government would support the upstream development on
materials/film as well as CCL.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 91
View on near-term and medium-to-long-term development
We believe China will strengthen its domestic value chain and ecosystem by moving
upstream in the FPC antenna industry, somewhat overlapping with the PCB industry. We
think industry/enterprise investments will move from FPCB and antenna module assembly
to CCL midstream in next one to three years. Besides, local government or institute will
continue to invest in R&D for 5G antenna design, materials/resin development, etc. In the
long term, China would like to catch up with Japanese or US chemical companies in resin
and film manufacturing.
5G smartphone antenna upgrade and local substitution are two opportunities for local FPC
antenna suppliers. Challenges remain in terms of insufficient domestic materials supply, but
M&A or equity investments in overseas suppliers would be a way to build up a connection in
the upstream supply chain.
Casing
Current market structure
In the casing industry, current major materials include plastic, metal, glass, glastic and
ceramic. Plastic is commonly used for mid-to-low-end smartphones, while metal casings
are used in mid-end models, glass casings are used more in mid-to-high-end models.
Glastic casing offers a cheaper solution than glass but assembles some qualities similar to
glass, which has been adopted in mid-to-low-end models. We see 3D glass casing in the
uptrend, driven by (1) improving yield, (2) decreasing costs (cheaper than ceramic), and (3)
better suited for 5G smartphones as glass casing will not block RF signals as metal casings
do. Ceramic casing still faces the challenge in scale production and yield, leading to higher
ASP, so it is adopted more by flagship models. Glass casing is also suitable for wireless
charging as it does not block electromagnetic waves.
Within glass casing, 3D glass is gaining popularity along with rising adoption of flexible
OLED panels. Glass casings are also adopted in smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and
wearable products, due to their pricing and quality advantages. Heat bending machine is no
longer the bottleneck for 3D glass manufacturing, with a lower share in the overall cost
structure on technology maturity in the past two years.
In global smartphone back-cover shipment, penetration of plastic casing for smartphone
back-cover decreased from 89% in 2011 to 35% in 2018 and will likely rebound to 40%
due to glastic technology. Metal casing replaced plastic along with the launch of unibody
metal casing in iPhone. The adoption increased to 45% in 2017, but decreased in 2018
and will further decrease in 2019-21. The trend of metal cover will become the mid-frame
mechanical structure, supporting glass-casing smartphones. Glass casing’s share reached
34% in 2018, surpassing metal casing’s 30.2%, and it is expected to further expand to
39% in 2019E, mainly driven by 3D glass casing, whose share is expected to reach ~20%,
almost on a par with 2D/2.5D glass casing’s share. We forecast ceramic casing reaching
6% share by 2021.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 92
Figure 132: Global smartphone back cover share – increasing
share of glass casing mainly driven by 3D
Figure 133: Glass to achieve 40%+ penetration on back-casing
in China in 2021
Source: Credit Suisse estimates Source: Credit Suisse estimates
Android glass casing: We see the majority of HOVX flagship and high-end models
(roughly US$500+ models) adopting 3D glass casing in 1H19, and shipment could add up
to ~27 mn units. We think this trend will continue next year. We think competition in 3D
glass is still manageable, with Biel Crystal (private), Lens Tech and BYDE sharing the
Android market. However, we have seen slow growth with flattish market share and
intensified competition in the US$300-500 segment, which could limit the adoption of 3D-
glass unless ASP can be significantly reduced. For Apple glass casing, our check
suggests a more complicated process and potential composite change in 2H20 iPhone
glass casing. In terms of ASP change, our check suggests 40%+ ASP increase in back
glass, and next year we expect another double-digit growth on composite change.
Glastic casing: An important direction is the development of glastic casing, which offers a
lighter weight but look and feel close to glass cases. Leading Chinese players in this field
include CN Innovation and Tongda. Tongda’s IMT (In-Mold Transfer) technology could
improve anti-fingerprint, wear resistance qualities. Tongda also expects rising ‘glastic’
adoption and its share gains at Samsung and Vivo (a new customer from 2019). Tongda
will also unveil a next-generation 3D ‘glastic’ casing, ICM (injection compression moulding)
in 2H19. Despite average glastic casing pricing likely to decline ~US$0.5 per year, as for
the current 2.5D glastic, the new 3D ICM glastic, with 20%+ higher pricing, should help
stabilise the corporate ASP.
Figure 134: Global smartphone glass demand (front + back) Figure 135: China smartphone metal-casing peaked in 2017
Source: Credit Suisse estimates Source: Credit Suisse estimates
89%80% 80%
76%68%
51%
39% 35% 40% 42% 41%
3%10%
15%19%
24%
39%
45%
30% 18%9% 7%
9% 10%3% 3% 6% 6%
10%
20%
20%
22%20%
4% 6%14%
20%24%
26%
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3% 4% 6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
Plastic Metal casing Glass 2/2.5D Glass 3D Ceramic Others
100% 100% 98% 92%83%
57%
41% 39% 42% 44% 42%
2%6%
13%
37%
51%
39%25%
12%9%
2% 3% 5% 6%
11%
11%
15%15%
11%19%
25% 28%
3% 4% 6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
Plastic Metal casing Glass 2/2.5D Glass 3D Ceramic Others
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
mn units
2D 2.5D 3D
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
mn units
Metal casing Metal mid-frame
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 93
Ceramic casing: Besides the cost/yield issue, we see another challenge—the
electromagnetic shield of ceramic casing is stronger than glass but weaker than metal, yet
it is to be tested for the applicability for 5G smartphones. We expect the penetration rate to
be in single-digit % by 2021E. Currently, Lens Tech and Three Circle (300409.SZ, not
covered) have implemented production lines for ceramic casing.
Figure 136: ASP trend down across multiple casing materials Figure 137: Metal mid-frames growing fast globally/in China
Source: Credit Suisse estimates Source: Credit Suisse estimates
Competitive Landscape
Overall, the casing market is fragmented, and we see Taiwan suppliers
(Foxconn/Catcher/Casetek) mainly focusing on metal casing for Apple products, including
Macbook, iPad and iPhone. Taiwanese suppliers hold over 90% share (in terms of value) in
the MacBook business, with Everwin supplying the bottom casing for Macbook. Our
channel check indicates Apple watch casing could be provided by Chinese suppliers with
plants in Huadong region, Taiwan suppliers have less exposure, and Casetek getting into in
2H19 and 2020, probably starting with small shares. We see Everwin wanting to enter the
Macbook casing chain but not qualified yet on lagging in metal casing technology. Thus we
see the two groups of players competing in different fields. In Android, FIH, BYDE, Tongda,
Everwin and AAC are the major players.
For Apple products glass casing, we think Lens and Biel remain the two key players, with
difficulty continuing to increase. BYDE and Foxconn are still lagging much behind and are
finding it hard to get in as they do not meet the quality standard and yields are very low. In
the Android supply chain, Lens, Biel and BYDE are the major players for Android phone
casing. Lens Tech is the leader in iPhone/iPad cover glass, with 55%+/45% share
expected through 2019-21E, while it’s also increasing its market share in Chinese
smartphone/tablet cover glasses.
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
20.00
2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
Plastic Metal casing (front + back) Metal midframe 2.5D 3D Ceramic
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
0.0
100.0
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
600.0
700.0
800.0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018E 2019E 2020E 2021E
Global shipment China shipment Globa YoY % China YoY %
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Asia Technology Strategy 94
Figure 138: Lens Tech’s share in iPhone cover glass of 55%+,
and increasing for Chinese smartphone cover glass
Figure 139: Lens Tech’s high market share for iPad and
Chinese tablet cover glass
Source: Credit Suisse estimates Source: Credit Suisse estimates
BYDE is a well-rounded casing material provider, covering all major casing materials. It’s a
market leader in metal/plastic/glass casing for Android smartphones. As per the company,
its metal casing market share increased from 30-35% in 2017 to 37-28% in 2018 and
40%+ in 1H19 (despite revenue decreasing), and it’s also the No. 1 provider of plastic
casing. The company expects its market share in glass casing to be near 30% for FY19,
and was ranked in the Top 3 in terms of capacity and shipment in the past three years for
glass casing. BYDE also expects glass casing and ceramic casing to report strong double-
digit % YoY growth, and ceramic materials to expand their use from external/decoration
materials to functional components, such as in RF modules for 5G.
Tongda is one of the major players in glastic casing. Its management maintains a 140
mn/80 mn-200 mn smartphone unit estimate for 2019/2020, in which ‘glastic’ casing is
expected to account for 70%/75-80% of its shipment, implying 50% unit growth.
Chinese game plan
Chinese government subsidies for smartphone casing companies were in double-digit % of
NI in 2018, with that for Lens Tech and Everwin much higher than peers. The subsidy %
of NI generally increased during the past few years—for example, BYDE’s subsidy % of NI
increased from 2% in 2016 to 13% in 2018. The dependency on foreign suppliers is more
in the equipment-end—CNC machines can be internally developed by BYDE, but other
machines such as AF/PET coating and PVD (physical vapor deposition) coating machines
are mostly provided by foreign suppliers.
Figure 140: Government subsidies/grants as % of revenue Figure 141: Government subsidies/grants as % of NI
Source: Company data Source: Company data
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
iPhone cover glass Samsung smartphone cover glass Chinese smartphone cover glass
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E
iPad cover glass Samsung tablet cover glass Chinese tablet cover glass
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
BYDE Lens Tongda Everwin
(150.0%)
(100.0%)
(50.0%)
0.0%
50.0%
100.0%
150.0%
200.0%
250.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
BYDE Lens Tongda Everwin
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Asia Technology Strategy 95
Government grants and subsidies come more from local governments in the provincial and
city levels (particularly where their headquarters or factories locate), and in the form of
grants or awards, to the company itself or its local subsidiaries. The government grants and
awards come by projects, and are mostly related to key product R&D, automation,
equipment upgrade and other projects, and each grant/award varies by size. For example,
BYDE’s total government grants and subsidies for FY18 was of Rmb287 mn and it was
divided between assets and income. The total is an aggregate of multiple subsidiaries in
Huizhou, Shantou, Xi’an, etc., and of other entities including the Bureau of Human
Resources and Social Security, for the purpose of technical transformation, R&D, employee
stability, logistics and opex.
View on near-term and medium-to-long-term development
In the casing market, Chinese players are already the market leaders in terms of market
share and technologies across different casing materials for Android smartphones and
tablets. For the Android supply chain, BYDE leads in metal, plastic, and glass casings, and
is aggressively pricing and has capacity expansion strategy. In terms of quality and segment,
FIH and AAC target high-end mid-frame/metal casing, BYDE focuses on mass market
and Tongda focuses on mid-low-end segments. Lens Tech is expanding its share in
Android glass casing, with new products of rising precision, strength and more colour
options. Tongda is leading in glastic casing and innovating with ICM and 3D glastic casing
materials. For Apple glass cover/casing, Chinese companies (Lens Tech and Biel Crystal)
are also the market leaders, with advanced new products with rising precision from unibody
design and higher strength/more colour options. However, Chinese players are trying to
get into Apple metal casing but still lag behind their peers in, and it’s unlikely for Chinese
players to get into Apple metal casing supply chain in the short term as it is lagging in
technology advancement and precision manufacturing.
In the Android supply chain, we see low reliance on overseas suppliers. Domestic vendors
dominate in plastic casing, metal casing, glass casing and ceramic casing. But reliance on
overseas equipment makers is still high as the casing manufacturing process involves
multiple steps and require custom machines with specific/high-entry barrier technology,
some of which can be sourced only from foreign suppliers so far, e.g., for a certain coating,
photolithography, and silk printing machines. However, BYDE has developed and adopted
some in-house equipment, including CNC machines, and it is also adopting more general
equipment that can be used for multiple materials/product lines. The current geopolitical
situation, including the US-China trade dispute, will likely accelerate domestic substitution,
but many equipment can be procured in Japan and Korea.
Camera module
Current market structure
The CCM (Compact Camera Module) market is expected to grow from US$27.1 bn in 2018 to
US$45.7 bn by 2024, with a five-year CAGR of 9.1%, according to Yole. CCM shipment
growth is entering a slower and stabilising growth phase, yet the upside mainly comes from
dual/triple/quad cams. We have observed several trends in the smartphone lens industry:
Increasing multi-cam adoption with more complex designs: TSR forecasts multi-
cam (including dual cam) adoption to increase from 5.3% in 2016 to 85.9% in 2021, with
52.2% of dual cam and 33.7% triple cam or above, representing a 75% five-year CAGR
of multi-cam smartphone unit shipment for the period. Chinese CCM makers benefit from
rapid multi-cam adoption among Chinese smartphone makers. Sunny, Luxshare, O-film
and Q Tech are capable of dual-cam/triple-cam production. Globally, LG Innotek and
SEMCO are the leading in high-end CCM products, while Sunny and Luxshare are leading
in the China market.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 96
Figure 142: Global smartphone CCM shipments (by single
CCM)
Figure 143: Multi-cam penetration increasing in smartphone
shipment
Source: TSR Source: IDC
Module assembly technology trends: Within the current CSP (chip size package), COB
(chip on board) and FC (flip chip) technologies, with a decreasing module size, thickness
and increasing light transmittance. The cost of assembly line for FC is also 30-50% higher
than that of COB assembly line, and the yield for FC is lower due to the higher technical
difficulty. COB is still the mainstream technology among Android smartphone cameras.
With the penetration of full-screens comes higher demand for miniature and thinner CCMs
and with better cost. So far, mainly iPhones have adopted FC in its cameras, and suppliers
include LGI, Sharp, O-film (Sony) and Cowell. O-film acquired Sony’s factory in South
China and gained the FC technology. Sunny developed its MOB (Molding on Board) and
MOC (Molding on Chip) technologies for full-screen front cameras, while O-film developed
CMP (Chip Molding Package).
Dual and triple cameras require higher precision and algorithms: Dual/triple
cameras have higher algorithm requirement and packaging precision for image sensors,
lenses and VCM, which can be realised by active alignment (AA). AA equipment are mainly
provided by in-house tooling, ASM Pacific, Pioneer and HyVision. Sunny Optical has
developed its own AA equipment. It claims that its in-house AA equipment is used for high-
end models, while the ASM Pacific equipment is used in mass models.
New technology innovations increasing: ToF penetration is increasing in high-end
smartphone models, driving the growth of WLO (wafer level optics) and VCSEL technology
development. Periscope-style products are also gaining popularity. WLO techniques is
mostly adopted by ams, Himax, and AAC, driven by 3D camera growth. As per a Yole
report, WLO is expected to grow at a CAGR of 55% in the next five years and reach
US$1.6 bn, primarily driven by smartphone growth demand. We see limited supply chain in
the domestic market, including VCSEL wafer fabrication, DOE, and sensor for 3D sensing
measurement. However, Vertilite has designed its own VCSEL chip and outsourced to
VPEC and Win Semi. It has passed Huawei's qualification and started volume production in
3Q19. Other components for 3D depth sensing, such as CMOS IR camera, have lower
entry barriers and can be provided by domestic module suppliers like Sunny, Q Tech or O-
film.
CIS increasing share of higher resolution: Based on a TSR report, for rear cameras,
we see 13MP+ CIS sensors share increasing, in particular for 40-48MP CIS, which is
expected to reach ~23% by 2023E; while 10-13MP CIS is still mainstream, its share is
expected to decrease from 50%+ in 2018 to ~29% in 2023E. In front cameras, although
5MP and 7-8MP CIS are still mainstream, the share of 10MP+ CIS is increasing quickly
and is expected to exceed 7-8MP and take the largest share of ~32% in 2020E. The
trend of rising resolution is benefiting CIS, lens, and module suppliers.
3.2 3.3 3.5
4.0
4.7
2%
6%
16% 16%
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
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1.0
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2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E
Global CCM shipment (mn units) YoY %
0%5%
17%
40%
60%
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2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Single or below Dual Triple or above % of dual or above
(mn units)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 97
Figure 144: 10-16MP still mainstream but 32MP+ share
increasing quickly (rear camera)
Figure 145: 5MP and 7-8MP still mainstream, but 10MP+
shares increasing quickly (front camera)
Source: TSR Source: TSR
Apple CCM makers: In high-end module, LGI has the majority of share (over 70%) in
triple-cam and 3D sensing supply. In dual-cam and single-cam, Sharp could take over
50% share, while O-film is the new entrant. However, Apple is concerned about O-film’s
capability and financial risk and is looking for an alternative.
Android CCM makers. O-film has the largest CCM capacity, while Sunny and Q Tech are
expanding. We see the three major players are key suppliers to HOVX CCM. As per TSR
forecast, for CCM counted by single camera, O-film and Sunny will have the biggest
market shares of 17% and 13% in 2019, respectively. Sunny supplies more on the high-
end, while O-film and Q Tech have higher share of mid-/low-tier CCM supplies. In Huawei,
O-film is the major supplier for mid-to-low-end phones, and Luxvision and Sunny are for
high-end models. In OPPO/Vivo, Truly and Q Tech are for mass models, while Sunny is for
high-end models. O-film is a major CCM supplier for Redmi, while Xiaomi also uses
SEMCO, Luxvision and Sunny for the Xiaomi series.
Figure 146: CCM market share of 2019E Figure 147: LGI/Sharp dominated iPhone CCM supply (2020E)
Source: Techno Systems Research, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Techno Systems Research, Credit Suisse estimates
Increasing concentration by top players: Market concentration is expected for the top
players in the CCM segment, and TSR forecasts the Top 3 players (O-film, Sunny, Q-Tech)
to take 39% market share in 2019E from 19% in 2016. This is expected to be driven by
the higher technology requirement and barrier from dual/triple and even quad cameras, in
terms of higher precision and better algorithm and automation, while maintaining a relatively
high yield and lower costs, which require R&D investment and technology accumulation.
The small companies are disadvantaged in this competition.
0% 0% 1% 10%
17% 22%
27% 33%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E 2022E 2023E
<10MP 10-16MP 20-32MP >32MP
3.9% 11.8%
16.9% 26.1%
31.9% 35.6% 41.5%
48.7%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E 2021E 2022E 2023E
<5MP 5MP 7-8MP 10-13MP 13MP+
O-film17%
Sunny13%
Q Tech9%
Holitech6%LGI
6%
Truly5%
PowerLogics4%
MC Nex4%
Cammsys3%
Luxvision/ Lite On3%
SEMCO3%
Foxconn3%
Sharp3%
Patron3%
Others18%
25% 28%
78% 70%
65% 58%
23% 30%
10% 15%0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Single camera Dual camera Triple camera 3D sensing
LGI Sharp O-film
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 98
Top Chinese players leading and gaining shares: When classifying the CCM by single
cameras, we also see Chinese players leading in market share, with O-film and Sunny
leading with 17%/13% share in 2019E respectively, followed by Q Tech/Holitech/LGI to
reach 8.6%/6.0%5.8% share respectively, and other players in single digit % share
according to TSR forecasts. This is driven by more system makers purchasing single
cameras and assemble them into multi-cameras. forecast, We also see shares of many
Japanese/Korean players (e.g., Sony, Cowell and CMK) have been shrinking, while top
Chinese players are the biggest share gainers, including O-film, Sunny, Q Tech, and
Holitech, comparing 2018 vs 2016.
Sunny and O-film lead in multi-cameras: Sunny, O-film and LGI lead in multi-camera
CCM shipment, while Q Tech and Truly have a higher share % of single-camera CCMs. A
higher share % of multi-camera will also help increase the ASP of overall CCM.
Figure 148: Sunny, O-film and LGI with highest multi-camera
shipment expected for 2019
Figure 149: Top Chinese players gaining shares while most
other players are losing shares (2018 vs 2016)
Source: TSR Source: TSR
Chinese game plan
Similar to camera lens, we have observed that most of the Chinese players have developed
from lower-spec products such as lower-resolution single camera, with a lower entry barrier, to
gradually enhancing their capacity and expanding into more complex structures and higher-spec
products, such as dual/triple cameras.
Higher risks for players with higher reliance on government funding: Government
grants/subsidies are mainly related to technology enhancement of production lines and
R&D. For the Top 4 Chinese CCM suppliers (O-film, Sunny, Q Tech and Holitech),
government grants/subsidies % of NI has a diverse range, and we see O-film and Holitech
having relatively high reliance on government subsidies—O-film with an average of ~20%
of profit from 2015-17, and spiked to 150%+ in 1H19, and Holitech with average ~22%
from 2015 to 1H19. Sunny and Q Tech have a relatively lower grants/subsidies % of NI,
indicating a self-reliance of development path for both companies with higher
competitiveness. Sunny’s government subsidies % of NI were 2.8%/8.0% in 2017/2018,
and Q Tech’s were 3.8%/721.6% in 2017/2018 (2018 was a challenging year for Q
Tech, with a very low earnings base), but down to 3.6% in 1H19 on earnings recovery. For
Q Tech, the government grants were received from several local government authorities as
a recognition of the company’s contribution towards the local economic development. Due
to the large revenue scale of CCM players, government subsidies % of revenue was on
average 1-2%, with Holitech much higher than its peers. As the CCM market has entered
a slowing growth stage due to sluggish smartphone demand, and decreasing dividend from
the industry with GM pressure in the upcoming years, even some large players such as O-
film and Holitech are facing financing risk in adverse market conditions, impacting the
performance of these companies. We see O-film has received significant
0
50
100
150
200
250
Sunny O-film LGI PowerLogics SEMCO Sharp Luxvision Primax Truly Darling Q Tech
2019E
(mn units)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
O-film Sunny Q Tech Holitech LGI Truly MC Nex Luxvision/Lite On
Foxconn Sharp Others
2016A 2018A
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 99
investments/financings from the governments (e.g., Nanchang government) and credit
lines from local banks in 2019 to support its cash position.
Figure 150: Government subsidies was on average 1-2% of
revenue across major Chinese CCM suppliers
Figure 151: O-film and Holitech with highest government
subsidies as % to NI among major Chinese CCM suppliers
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data
M&A was another method of expanding business footprint: Luxshare acquired the
CCM business from Lite-On in June 2018 and formed Luxvision, expanding into the CCM
market. Lite-On was one of key suppliers to Chinese Android brands such as Huawei and
Xiaomi. As per TSR, Luxvision’s market share was ~3-4% from 2016 to 2018, and is
expected to reach 3.4% in 2019E.
Preferential tax treatment for tech companies: Most Chinese technology companies
that qualified as National High-Tech firms, will receive a preferred taxation treatment
(rather than the usual 25% corporate income tax rate). For Sunny Optical, its effective
corporate income tax rate was in the range of 11-12%, and for other CCM peers’ in the
low-teen % in general, with preferential tax treatment.
Figure 152: CCM value chain
CCM 3D sensing module
CIS Lens VCM CCM Assembly VCSEL DOE NIR sensor Filter Module Assembly
Sony (JP) Largan (TW) Mitsumi (JP) O-film (CN) Lumentum (US) TSMC (TW) STM (Switzerland) Viavi (US) O-film (CN)
Samsung (KR) Sunny (CN) SEMCO (KR) Sunny (CN) Ams (AT) Ams (AT) Sony (JP) PTOT (TW) Q Tech (CN)
Omnivision (US) Genius (TW) JAHWA (KR) Q Tech (CN) Win Semi (TW) Himax (TW) Omnivision (US) Truly (CN)
ON Semi (US) Sekonix (KR) TDK (JP) Holitech (CN) IIVI (US) Himax (TW) Jabil (US)
Galaxycore (CN) Kantatsu( JP) Alps (JP) LG Innotek (KR) Finisar (US) Sunny (CN)
SK Hynix (KR) AAC (CN) Shicoh (JP) Truly (CN) Vertilite (US) Luxvision (CN)
G2Hysonic (KR) SEMCO (KR) LG Innotek (KR)
LG Innotek (KR) Patron (KR) Sharp (JP)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
View on near-term and medium-to-long-term development
Chinese players have well established their capability in CCM (multi-cam) and handset lens. We
think, in the near term (within three years), they will likely establish their leadership in 3D
sensing and advanced optical solutions, such as WLO and periscope-style products. However,
in the CCM value chain, key components such as CIS and VCM are still largely dominated by
Japanese and Korean players despite some Chinese players making progress in these products,
for example, Win Semiconductor for CIS and ZET, JSSOptical Technology and Shanghai B.L.
Electronics for VCM. For handset lens, Sunny Optical is an important supplier to HOVX
smartphones. We believe that in the long term we will see Chinese players establishing their
ecosystem and building a domestic supply chain for optical components, including CIS, high-
end lens and VCM, and gradually increasing their share and technology leadership.
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Sunny O-film Q Tech Holitech
(100.0%)
0.0%
100.0%
200.0%
300.0%
400.0%
500.0%
600.0%
700.0%
800.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Sunny O-film Q Tech Holitech
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 100
Hence, Chinese local camera modules makers such as Sunny Optical and Q Tech are already
taking a major share at local Chinese handset makers (Huawei/Oppo/Vivo/Xiaomi), not just for
mid-to-low-end phones, but for high-end flagship phones as well. Meanwhile, a growing
Chinese camera modules industry as well as its improving technology curve is offering better
growth opportunities out of China by penetrating into the Samsung handset supply chain, for
instance. Considering a rapidly rising multi-cam penetration at SEC, even for mid-to-low-end
phones (i.e., Galaxy A series), relevant camera modules makers (both Korea or China camera
modules suppliers) are all enjoying the total addressable market growth through shipment
volume as well as blended ASP-hikes.
Figure 153: SEC handset camera suppliers have enjoyed blended ASP-hikes on
rapidly rising multi-cam adoption.
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
However, we believe that in the medium-to-long-term, the existing Korea handset supply chain
will likely face more headwinds amid intensifying competition at the major client (SEC), either
through market shares loss or ASP-cut pressures. As of recent, Samsung is even testing the
ODM outsourcing strategy to Chinese makers. While we believe that the total smartphone
volume outsourced will remain controlled (~20 mn in 2019E and up to 40 mn in 2020E) and
only applicable to the very low-end A series which has little chance of ever becoming profitable,
it seems there still is a downside risk to existing Korea camera modules supply chain (mainly for
mid-to-low-end) such as Partron, Mcnex, and Powerlogics. In contrast, the strategy will likely
provide better growth opportunities for local Chinese camera modules makers, in our view. For
high-end flagship phones at Samsung, SEMCO may remain a key supply chain for longer,
considering the needs for key optics technology protection. However, more ASP-cut pressure
seems inevitable given the emerging alternative options from Chinese module makers with
better technology readiness.
Figure 154: Samsung – Galaxy A series-mix by models (production units base)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60
Single-cam (front)
Single-cam w/ iris scanner (front)
Dual-cam (front)
Dual-cam (mid/low-end, rear)
Triple-cam (mid/low-end, rear)
Quad-cam (mid/low-end, rear)
Single-cam (high-end, rear)
Dual-cam (high-end, rear)
Triple-cam (high-end, rear)
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 101
CMOS Image sensor (CIS)
Current market status
According to data from Gartner, Sony was the leader of the CMOS image sensor (CIS) market
in CY2018, with a 47% value share, followed by Samsung Electronics in the second and
Omnivision in third positions. Sony commands a technical lead in high-resolution sensors for
smartphones, supplying products fitted to many of the leading handsets on the market. Demand
is expected to remain strong in the near term for CMOS used in smartphones. The trend toward
equipping handsets with multiple and more advanced cameras is not only driving CIS volume
growth, but also allowing suppliers to charge higher unit prices as the technology shifts to larger
formats. Besides smartphone applications, demand is also expected to grow for sensors used in
automotive applications, industrial machinery, and surveillance cameras. ON Semiconductor is
the leader in automotive CIS.
Figure 155: Market share (value, all application) Figure 156: Market share (volume, >13MP, only for mobile
phone)
Source: Gartner, Credit Suisse Research Source: Techno Systems Research, Credit Suisse Research
Figure 157: Diffusion rate by camera resolution in global
smartphone market
Figure 158: Multi camera diffusion rate in global smartphone
market
Source: IDC, Credit Suisse Research Source: IDC, Credit Suisse Research
Sony47%
Samsung Electronics
21%
Omnivision12%
ON Semiconductor
6%
Galaxycore3%
SK hynix2%
Others9%
Sony56%
Samsung38%
OmniVision5%
SK Hynlx1%
Others0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
2010
Q1
2010
Q3
2011
Q1
2011
Q3
2012
Q1
2012
Q3
2013
Q1
2013
Q3
2014
Q1
2014
Q3
2015
Q1
2015
Q3
2016
Q1
2016
Q3
2017
Q1
2017
Q3
2018
Q1
2018
Q3
2019
Q1
20MP< 16MP< 12MP< 8MP<
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2015
Q1
2015
Q2
2015
Q3
2015
Q4
2016
Q1
2016
Q2
2016
Q3
2016
Q4
2017
Q1
2017
Q2
2017
Q3
2017
Q4
2018
Q1
2018
Q2
2018
Q3
2018
Q4
2019
Q1
2019
Q2
% of multi total % of triple or more
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 102
Chinese game plan
Huawei and other Chinese smartphone manufacturers are speeding up the adoption of multiple
cameras per handset. More of their flagship models include a high-resolution sensor of at least
40MP. Along with Apple’s new iPhone, this is likely to drive demand in the CIS market. Going
forward, we think demand will also increase for time-of-flight (ToF) sensors. This year, Sony
has already begun supplying ToF sensors to Huawei, Oppo and other Chinese handset
manufacturers for high-end models, and we think that Apple could introduce ToF functionality to
the iPhone range in 2020. A rear ToF sensor could become a standard feature of high-end
smartphones, potentially giving a further boost to demand in 2021 and beyond. Given that the
Chinese CIS vendors are focusing their business development on 2–5MP products (for models
such as the Galaxy Core), we think the market share status quo in the high-resolution CIS
segment is unlikely to shift substantially going forward.
Figure 159: % of multi camera (triple and more) in major
Chinese smartphone makers
Figure 160: Estimates for multi camera diffusion rate
Source: IDC, Credit Suisse estimates Source: IDC, Credit Suisse estimates
View on near-term and medium-to-long-term development
In the near term, we expect CIS suppliers to continue expanding production capacity to cater to
the growing demand. Sony plans to increase monthly capacity to 130,000 units by March 2021
(up from 105,000 in Apr–Jun-2019, based on 300 mm wafer). Over the medium and longer
term, we see Sony focusing on the functional fusion of sensors for automotive applications (to
integrate data taken from cameras, LIDAR and millimeter-wave radar). Through its alliance with
Microsoft, the company is also targeting a business model that generates recurring income by
channelling development resources into CMOS image sensors with embedded edge AI
processing capabilities.
CIS is one of the very few semiconductor areas where China has a top-tier player. We think
OmniVision’s CIS technology could be one to two years behind Sony, but at a similar level to
Samsung. In the automotive segment, OmniVision is ahead of Sony and Samsung, and only
behind On Semi. Driven by the geopolitical tension, OmniVision has been taking in the mid-to-
high-end-spec smartphone segment from Samsung since mid-2019 and also growing its share
in China automotive market. OmniVision’s gap vs Sony should continue for one to two years as
most OEMs customise CIS chips for flagship models, so it will take time for OmniVision to
regain position in the premium segment. In five years, we expect OmniVision’s technology to be
slightly behind, but close to Sony’s and its market share to grow from 12% in 2018 (per
Gartner data) to the high-teens or 20s percentage in 2023.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
2018Q1 2018Q2 2018Q3 2018Q4 2019Q1 2019Q2
Huawei Xiaomi vivo OPPO
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019E 2020E
% of Multi Camera total % of Triple Camera
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 103
Lens
Current market structure
Strong volume growth from accelerated lens upgrade: According to TSR,
Smartphone lens saw 6% YoY shipment growth in 2018, and Chinese lens suppliers saw
the strongest growth of 56% YoY, driven by the faster multi-camera adoption, as
triple/quad camera has become a mainstream feature for flagship smartphones, and
triple/dual camera further penetrated into mid-end smartphones. We think the proliferation
of other lens technology, including TOF lens and under-display optical lens, also
contributed largely to the high shipment growth of Chinese lens suppliers. TSR forecasts
that total smartphone shipment lens will grow 16% YoY in 2019, leaded by growth in 6P+
(which is estimated to grow 40% YoY), driven by accelerated lens upgrade including 7P
launch and continued MP migration. 5P and 3P shipment are also expected to grow
double-digit YoY in 2019, driven by triple camera set-up and depth sensing demand.
Largan remains the largest player and dominates 5-7P lens market: Largan
remained the largest smartphone lens supplier, with 32.8% market share, followed by
Sunny optical (23.6%) and Kantatsu (5.9%), in 2018. The Top 3 suppliers’ market share
is forecasted to decline slightly to 61.0% (from 62.3%) in 2019, but market share for the
Top 3 in 5-7P lens market will stay at 78%. Largan is the largest vendor in 5-7P lens, with
48% market share in 2019, while Sunny dominates the 4P lens, with 44% market share.
Takes time to bridge the technology gap; but good growth opportunities from
new 5G features: We believe the launch of 5G smartphone, with new features such as
video applications and VR/AR, could further accelerate lens spec upgrade. We expect 7P
proliferation in high-end flagship smartphone in 2020 and 8P lens to start emerge, as we
see lens element crucial to enhance aperture in the continued pursuit of image quality and
increasing demand for video applications. Other new features that also require higher
technology input include periscope lens (with increasing need to add more lens elements or
glass lens to solve heat problem) and under-display lens (the light and size problem). Sunny
started some shipment of 7P in late-2018; however, we don’t expect meaningful
contribution in 2019, but a good pick-up in 2020 when 7P demand is growing. AAC’s
shipment-mix, compared to other Chinese peers, sees higher exposure in 5-7P lens (61%)
driven by its 13MP/5P lens to Redmi smartphones, in our view. In the last upgrade cycle—
the migration to 6P lens—Sunny/Genius took an additional one to two years, compared to
Largan, to enter mass production, and other Chinese suppliers today still focus on the
5P/4P and lower market. We see the gap of about two years between Largan and Sunny
to achieve mass production yield for the new specs, but the gap will be gradually narrowing
along with increasing focus on camera and spec upgrade acceleration from mobile
networks. While Sunny and other advanced suppliers are going after high-end, other
Chinese suppliers will also need to improve their technology to fill in for 5P/6P in order to
support TSR’s forecasts of 16MP segment making up 30-50% of 2021-2023E
smartphones. Overall, we think it would take a longer for Chinese smartphone vendors to
rely on domestic supply.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 104
Figure 161: Lens market share (2018) Figure 162: Lens element migration
Source: TSR (1H19) Source: TSR (1H19)
Chinese players quickly taking up market shares: As per TSR estimate, comparing
market share of 2018 vs 2016, Sunny increased by 12.7 pp, AAC increased by 3.5 pp,
Huaxin Optical increased by 4.7 pp and O-film increased by 0.7 pp, while majority of other
players see a decreased of their market share during this period. AAC’s optical revenue
grew by 73%+ YoY in 1H19 to Rmb417 mn. Sunny’s handset lens shipment increased by
38% YoY in 1H19 in which 20MP+ accounted for 13.7%, optical components revenue
grew 42% YoY and takes up 22% of the total sales. Sunny’s handset lens shipment was
Global No. 2 and vehicle lens shipment is global No. 1 in 2018, with high-end
dual/triple/quad cam shipment global No. 1. On the other hand, we see Japanese and
Korean competitors’ shares are decreasing.
Figure 163: Lens industry leaders are deploying more R&D
resources YoY
Figure 164: Chinese players are gaining market share while
others decreasing
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Techno Systems Research
Chinese game plan
Despite the general tax benefit such as VAT treatment for qualified high-tech companies and
R&D subsidy from local governments, the reliance on government overall is relatively small, and
most companies grew through their own organic expansion and R&D. This is partly due to a low
entry barrier for camera lens, and the product complexity only increases with more complex lens
structure and new technology innovation. We also see diversity among companies, e.g., O-film
was quite relied on Nanchang government financing support.
Relatively small reliance on government funding: Within the component segment, we
didn’t see a lot of subsidy and special support from the government. For example, for
leading Chinese lens company such as Sunny Optical, which received funding and awards
from Yuyao local government, and its government grants has been increasing gradually
every year, and totalled to ~Rmb400 mn in the past five years, with a CAGR of 78%
(2014-2018). The grants are mainly supported by the government, and such subsidies are
related to technology enhancement of production lines and R&D of tech projects.
Largan (TW)33%
Sunny Optical
(CH)
24%
Genius (TW)5%
Sekonix (KR)5%
Kantatsu (JP)6%
Others27%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
2016 2017 2018 2019F 2020F
5P & below 6P & above 6P+ adoption(mn pcs)
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
2017 2018 1H19
Sunny Largan AAC
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
Largan Sunny Huaxin Optical AAC O-film Sekonix Kantatsu CHT/Xinhjuyu Genius Xingbang Others
2016 2018
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 105
Government grants/subsidies % of NI has a diverse range, and we see O-film has a
relatively high reliance on government subsidies—an average of ~20% from 2015-17, and
spiked to 150%+ in 1H19, but Sunny and AAC have a relatively lower grants/subsidies %
of NI, indicating a self-reliance of development path for both companies. For AAC, the
government subsidy was mainly to support constructing manufacturing plants and acquiring
machines. AAC’s government subsidies % of NI were 0.2%/1.2% in 2017/2018, and
Sunny’s government subsidies % of NI were 2.8%/8.0% in 2017/2018, both in much
better positions than O-film’s 17.3%/-57.5% in 2017/2018. Government subsidies % of
revenue was on average <1%, a relatively smaller impact.
Figure 165: Government subsidy was on average <1% of
revenue across Chinese lens suppliers
Figure 166: O-film has the highest government subsidy % as
of NI among major Chinese lens suppliers
Source: Company data Source: Company data
M&A was another method of expanding business footprint: O-film acquired Sony’s
largest factories of CCM in 2018, and entered the Apple supply chain for handset module.
O-film also acquired Fujifilm’s Tianjin factory which are mainly vehicle lens production and
consists of certain lens patents. Sunny also supplied to Samsung, including for flagship
models such as Galaxy S9, and Sunny entered Apple supply chain in 2018. Leica handset
lens was manufactured by Sunny Optical.
Overall among Chinese lens players, Sunny is the global leader with increasing market
share, while, and will have GM upside in 2020. AAC’s optical business is still small-scale
(4% in 2018 and 6% in 1H19); while O-film is at a distant lagging position, with <1%
global market share, and currently manages to self-supply for low-end smartphones
camera modules.
Government support for autonomous driving: In China, the government also declared
that it would speed up the development and promulgation of the relevant laws and
regulations in respect of autonomous driving. Driven by policy, cross-border competition,
consumers’ needs and other factors, the penetration rate of ADAS increased rapidly. In
addition, with the further development of the driverless vehicle market, the application
demands for LIDAR, smart headlights, night vision cameras and other related products will
be increased continuously. Sunny, as a leading vehicle lens supplier (~30% market share),
continued to leverage its pioneer advantages in the vehicle field to further enhance its
technical capabilities, explore application demands for its products and make micro-
innovations in its design, material selection, processing technologies, testing and
management processes, so as to further improve its market share and consolidate its No.
1 position in the global market of vehicle lens.
Preferential tax treatment for tech companies: Most Chinese technology companies
qualified as National High-Tech firms, will receive a preferred taxation treatment (rather
than the usual 25% corporate income tax rate). For Sunny Optical, its effective corporate
income tax rate was in the range of 11-12%.
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
0.6%
0.8%
1.0%
1.2%
1.4%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Sunny AAC O-film
(100.0%)
(50.0%)
0.0%
50.0%
100.0%
150.0%
200.0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 1H19
Sunny AAC O-film
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 106
View on near-term and medium-to-long-term development
As the overall reliance on government is small, and leaders such as Sunny can become No.
2 in terms of market share in the smartphone lens market, with continuous R&D
investment. The biggest competitors include Largan, Genius, which entered Apple supply
chain (Sunny not yet). We think throughout development history, Chinese players have
been gradually picking up the capabilities of lens and investing in R&D for high-end models
for it. The probability is high to realise domestic substitution in the near term (one to three
years), based on the following reasons: (1) technology wise, Sunny is already the market
leader, mastering the supplies for high-end lens suppliers to major Chinese smartphone
OEMs; (2) Chinese players are gaining shares with shipment penetrating into Chinese and
non-Chinese OEMs; (3) continued investment and R&D in the new business areas and
technology advancement; (4) scale and ASP advantage which helps Chinese players
further expand market share and client base.
MLCC
Current market structure
The global MLCC (Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor) market size is expected to reach ~US$13 bn
in FY20E. Considering the majority of MLCC usage is still highly linked to IT products (i.e.,
handsets, PC, AV and appliances), China consumes the largest part of global MLCC demand,
in our view (more than 50%).
Figure 17: Global MLCC market trend
Source: TTI, Company Data, Credit Suisse Research
In particular, MLCC demand in China has rapidly grown up in the past five years in tandem with
rising smartphone penetration in the region. In addition to smartphone unit shipment growth in
China, MLCC contents value per unit has also contributed to incremental MLCC value creation.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 107
Figure 18: Smartphone shipment in China vs. as % of global Figure 19: MLCC application-mix in China (as of FY19E)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
China MLCC demand growth is expected to accelerate from FY20E once 5G roll-out starts to
positively impact smartphone replacement rates. We assume 83 mn/167 mn 5G smartphone
shipment in China in FY20E/FY21E, which occupies 47%/40% of global 5G demand.
Furthermore, 5G smartphones or relevant networks investment (i.e., base station) will also likely
to lead to incremental MLCC contents growth per unit. For instance, a Taiwan MLCC maker,
Yageo anticipates an increase in 5G smartphone-related MLCC demand of 10–20% for sub-6
GHz and 20-30% for millimetre wave networks, while Korean makers (i.e. SEMCO) project an
increase of around 200 units of MLCCs per base station for sub-6 GHz services. Demand
growth from sub-6 GHz base stations is expected to be chiefly RF-related, while millimetre
wave demand growth is likely to be driven by PMIC peripherals as well as RF.
Despite the fact that China is one of the largest MLCC consuming market, the self-sufficient
rates appears relatively low. As of current, MLCC supply is majorly dominated by Japan
(Murata/TDK/Taiyo Yuden/Kyocera), Korea (SEMCO/Samwha Capacitor) or Taiwan
manufacturers (Yageo/Walsin Tech). A growing number of Chinese players are comprised of
Fenghua Advanced Technology (000636.SZ), Tianli Holdings Group Limited (0117.HK),
Chaozhou Three-circle (300408.SZ), and Fujian Torch Electron Technology (603678.CN).
Chinese MLCC manufacturers are rapidly growing in recent years but we would believe global
market shares are still only ~5% in aggregate. Also, a local Chinese MLCC maker is highly
likely to address MLCC demand in consumer electronics, mainly for the mid-to-low-end
segment (i.e., larger size/low capacitance) where leading JP or KR MLCC makers are
withdrawing for production optimisation (i.e., A/V, PC, appliances or low-end handsets).
Figure 20: MLCC global market shares (1H19E based on sales) Figure 21: MLCC global capacity trend (Top 5)
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
0
100
200
300
400
500
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
China smartphone shipment (mn, RHS)
China smartphone as % of global
Consumer Electronics
(inc. Handset), 65%
Industrials, 10%
Automotive, 10%
Military, 6%Others,
9%
44%
23%
14%
8%
4%
7%
Murata
SEMCO
Taiyo Yuden
TDK
Yageo
Others
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
0.0
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
250.0
300.0
350.0
400.0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 20182019E
(bn umits/month)
Murata Mfg Taiyo Yuden TDK
SEMCO Yageo yoy % chg.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 108
Chinese game plan and view on near-term and medium-to-long-term development
In the MLCC arena, while Japanese-owned MLCC makers and SEMCO are working to lock in
technology by manufacturing materials and equipment in-house, Taiwanese and Chinese-owned
makers are dependent on Japanese materials and equipment suppliers for the majority of their
raw materials and production equipment. This makes it highly unlikely that Chinese MLCC
makers will close the technology gap with the Japanese and Korean frontrunners anytime soon.
Our focus in the near term is on how they can shrink the gap between themselves and
Taiwanese makers.
PCB/substrate
China has larger share in conventional PCB, multi-layer and HDI: While China
controls half of the global PCB production value, Chinese PCB players have relatively
stronger presence in commodity, multi-layer, and HDI (high-density interconnection)
segments. In 2018/2019, Chinese players oversaw strong growth in the multilayer PCB
segment, thanks to strong network build out (mainly from 4G LTE). Among the players,
Shennan and WUS PCB are the major beneficiaries of the booming growth in multilayer
PCB, both having exhibited strong double-digit sales growth in 1H19 sales, with WUS
PCB noting growth in communication was highest at 37% YoY. Chinese PCB players,
however, are generally weaker in FPC (Flexible PCB) and substrates, with less than 50%
market share in these two areas. Chinese players have been aggressively building related
technology through acquisition. DongShan Precision (DSBJ) acquired US top FPC supplier,
MFLEX, in 2016, and has then grown its FPC sales from less than 20% of Avary’s
revenue to 40% of Avary’s revenue in 2018. We see high growth in the substrate market,
with double-digit sales growth seen through 2018/2019 among leading suppliers including
Shennan and Fastprint. We also see growing consolidation in the substrate market (with
Suntak acquiring PRV China) accelerating technology advancement. Nevertheless, China's
largest domestic substrate supplier, Shennan Circuit, held only 1.7% global market share in
IC substrates in 2017, vs global Top 10 suppliers' aggregate market share of 80-85% for
the same period. Shennan’s IC substrate business is mainly on smartphone application
(MEMS Mic and RF), but Shennan and Fastprint (second largest) both substrate business
have exposure in memory. Chinese customers (networking customer) have been asking
Taiwan substrate suppliers to add production in China, but given rising tension with data
security, especially on a national level, it is unlikely that significant amount of capacity would
be added in the medium term.
Government support has been a big help: China State Council stated in its 13th Five-
Year National Plan that it included PCB as one of the key technologies in strengthening its
stance in the IT industry in 2016, and China National Development and Reform
Commission incorporated HDI, FPC and specialty PCB board as the main focus in the
electronic products industry, and encouraged foreign investments in HDI, multilayer PCB,
FPC and IC substrate. China PCB suppliers have therefore enjoyed faster earnings growth,
compared to Taiwan peers, benefiting from government help, with subsidy to ease their
cost burden, as well as lower tax rate. We note that the top Chinese players, including
DSBJ, Shennan, WUS PCB, and Kinwong, received subsidy that aggregately adds up to
14% of their pretax profit.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 109
Figure 167: China PCB by technology Figure 168: China PCB global share by technology
Source: Company data Source: Company data
Commodity, 20%
Multi-layer, 44%
HDI, 17%
Substrates, 3%
FPC, 17%
China PCB
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Commodity Multi-layer HDI Substrates FPC
China PCB global market share by technology
China WW market share
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 110
4 N
ovem
ber 2
01
9
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ovem
ber 2
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9
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ovem
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9
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ovem
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Companies Mentioned (Price as of 01-Nov-2019) AAC Technologies Holdings Inc (2018.HK, HK$51.5) ACM Rsrch (ACMR.OQ, $12.59) AMEC (688012.SS, Rmb70.09) ASE Industrial Holdings (3711.TW, NT$80.0) ASM Pacific Technology Ltd (0522.HK, HK$103.0) ASML Holding N.V. (ASML.AS, €239.75) AU Optronics (2409.TW, NT$7.72) AVX (AVX.N, $15.32) Acer Group (2353.TW, NT$17.95) Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD.OQ, $33.93) Advanced Wireless Semiconductor Company (8086.TWO, NT$114.5) Advantest (6857.T, ¥5,130) Alibaba (BABA.K, $176.67) All Winner Tech (300458.SZ, Rmb24.77) Alps Alpine (6770.T, ¥2,334) Amkor Technology Inc. (AMKR.OQ, $12.43) Amphenol Corporation (APH.N, $100.33) Analog Devices Inc. (ADI.OQ, $106.63) Anji (688019.SS, Rmb112.63) Anritsu (6754.T, ¥2,110) Apple Inc (AAPL.OQ, $248.76) Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT.OQ, $54.26) Artivision (ARTT.SI, S$0.004) Asustek (2357.TW, NT$208.5) Auden (3138.TWO, NT$42.53) Avary Holding (002938.SZ, Rmb45.74) BYD Electronic (International) Company Limited (0285.HK, HK$13.4) BenQ Materials (8215.TW, NT$18.55) Bluecom (033560.KQ, W3,040) Bosch (BOSH.NS, Rs15327.05) CCTC (300408.SZ, Rmb18.57) CGT Group (000066.SZ, Rmb15.08) CMMT Co (4960.TW, NT$7.6) Cadence Design System (CDNS.OQ, $65.35) CammSys (050110.KQ, W2,980) Canon (7751.T, ¥2,961) Career Tech. (6153.TW, NT$38.1) Casetek Holdings Limited (5264.TW, NT$55.7) Catcher Technology (2474.TW, NT$265.0) Changelight (300102.SZ, Rmb4.38) ChipMOS Technologies Inc. (8150.TW, NT$30.55) Chipbond (6147.TWO, NT$61.1) Chroma (2360.TW, NT$143.0) Chunghwa Precision (6510.TWO, NT$960.0) Cirrus Logic (CRUS.OQ, $67.96) Cisco Systems (CSCO.OQ, $47.51) Compal Electronics (2324.TW, NT$18.2) Coolpad Group Limited (2369.HK, HK$0.231) Corning, Inc. (GLW.N, $29.63) Cree (CREE.OQ, $47.73) Crucialtec (114120.KQ, W959) DISCO (6146.T, ¥23,650) DNF (092070.KQ, W9,140) Daeduk Elec (008060.KS, W10,600) Dai-ichi Seiko (6640.T, ¥2,626) Datang Telecom (600198.SS, Rmb9.09) Delloyd Ventures (DELL.KL^G15) Delta Electronics (2308.TW, NT$133.5) Dongjin Semichem (005290.KQ, W16,500) DreamTech (192650.KS, W6,580) Duk San Neolux (213420.KQ, W22,050) EM-Tech (091120.KQ, W8,310) EPI (Holdings) (0689.HK, HK$0.1) EWPT (300115.SZ, Rmb15.1) Egis Technology Inc. (6462.TWO, NT$263.5) Elan Microelectronics Corp (2458.TW, NT$93.4) Elcomtec (037950.KQ, W1,490) Epistar Corporation (2448.TW, NT$30.0) Espressif (688018.SS, Rmb133.24) Eternal (1717.TW, NT$25.85) Eugene Tech (084370.KQ, W15,250) Extreme Networks (EXTR.OQ, $6.44) F-GIS (6456.TW, NT$117.5) FIT Hon Teng Limited (6088.HK, HK$3.18) FST (3532.TW, NT$118.0) Fenghua (000636.SZ, Rmb12.28) Ferrotec (6890.T, ¥1,074) Fitipower (4961.TWO, NT$40.51) Flexium (6269.TW, NT$113.5) FocalTech Corporation, Ltd. (3545.TW, NT$24.1) Foxconn Industrial Internet (601138.SS, Rmb15.59) Fudan Microelect (1385.HK, HK$5.91) Fujikura (5803.T, ¥473) Fujimi (5384.T, ¥2,818) Fujitsu (6702.T, ¥9,518) Fullhan (300613.SZ, Rmb165.22) GSEO (3406.TW, NT$447.0)
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GeoVision (3356.TW, NT$34.0) Gigadevice (603986.SS, Rmb159.84) Globalwafers (6488.TWO, NT$370.0) GoerTek Inc. (002241.SZ, Rmb18.63) Goke (300672.SZ, Rmb41.4) Griam (600206.SS, Rmb10.26) HC SemiTek (300323.SZ, Rmb4.81) HP Inc. (HPQ.N, $17.37) Haier Electronics Grp (1169.HK, HK$23.35) Haier Smart Home (600690.SS, Rmb17.36) Han's Laser Technology Co., Ltd (002008.SZ, Rmb37.89) Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (002415.SZ, Rmb32.9) Hannstar Display (6116.TW, NT$6.5) Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE.N, $16.41) Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX.OQ, $2.36) Hirata (6258.T, ¥7,620) Hirose Electric (6806.T, ¥13,730) Hitachi High-Tec (8036.T, ¥6,750) Holitech (002217.SZ, Rmb5.32) Hon Hai Precision (2317.TW, NT$84.8) Hongda Elec (300726.SZ, Rmb25.47) Hongyuan Elec (603267.SS, Rmb47.6) Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited (1347.HK, HK$15.62) Huada Automotive (603358.SS, Rmb13.01) Huayi Elec (600290.SS, Rmb3.89) Huicheng (300481.SZ, Rmb14.92) IBIDEN (4062.T, ¥2,496) II-VI (IIVI.OQ, $33.15) Idemitsu Kosan (5019.T, ¥3,170) Inari Amertron (INAR.KL, RM1.99) Infineon Technologies AG (IFXGn.DE, €17.796) Ingenic (300223.SZ, Rmb53.85) Innolux Corporation (3481.TW, NT$6.68) Intel Corp. (INTC.OQ, $56.53) Interflex (051370.KQ, W17,700) International Business Machines (IBM.N, $133.73) Inventec Co Ltd (2356.TW, NT$22.05) Irico Display (600707.SS, Rmb4.32) Iriso Electronic (6908.T, ¥5,320) JCET (600584.SS, Rmb18.75) JDS Uniphase Corp (VIAV.OQ, $15.96) JSR (4185.T, ¥2,044) Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL.N, $36.82) Jahwa Electronic (033240.KS, W10,550) Japan Aviation Electronics Industry (6807.T, ¥2,080) Japan Display (6740.T, ¥69) Jingjia Micro (300474.SZ, Rmb54.33) KCTech (281820.KS, W19,650) KDX (002450.SZ, Rmb3.52) KEMET (KEM.N, $21.74) KFMI (300666.SZ, Rmb39.7) KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC.OQ, $169.04) KYEC (2449.TW, NT$37.8) Kaifa (000021.SZ, Rmb10.24) Kingpak Technology (6238.TWO, NT$149.0) Knowles (KN.N, $21.58) Kolen (078650.KQ, W1,750) Korea Circuit (007810.KS, W10,100) Kyocera (6971.T, ¥6,945) LB Semicon (061970.KQ, W7,770) LCT Holdings (LCTH.SI, S$0.5) LG Chem Ltd. (051910.KS, W309,000) LG Display Co Ltd. (034220.KS, W13,300) LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS, W67,200) LG Innotek (011070.KS, W121,500) Lam Research Corp. (LRCX.OQ, $271.04) Largan Precision (3008.TW, NT$4460.0) Lattice Us (LSCC.OQ, $19.59) Lenovo Group Ltd (0992.HK, HK$5.67) Lens Technology Co., Ltd (300433.SZ, Rmb13.6) Liande (300545.SZ, Rmb24.16) Lite-On Technology (2301.TW, NT$49.95) Lumentum Hldg (LITE.OQ, $62.66) Luxshare Precision Industry Co., Ltd (002475.SZ, Rmb32.81) MCNEX (097520.KQ, W23,800) Macronix (2337.TW, NT$32.0) Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM.OQ, $58.66) Maxis Berhad (MXSC.KL, RM5.38) MediaTek Inc. (2454.TW, NT$405.0) Melexis (MLXS.BR, €62.3) Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK.N, $86.66) Merry Electronics Co. Ltd (2439.TW, NT$150.0) Micro-Star International Co., Ltd (2377.TW, NT$90.4) Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP.OQ, $94.29) Micron Technology Inc. (MU.OQ, $47.55) Microsoft (MSFT.OQ, $143.37) MinebeaMitsumi (6479.T, ¥2,078) Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T, ¥2,732)
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Montage Tech (688008.SS, Rmb59.25) Murata Manufacturing (6981.T, ¥6,053) NAURA (002371.SZ, Rmb70.95) NOK Corp (7240.T, ¥1,663) NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.OQ, $201.02) NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXPI.OQ, $113.68) Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board (8046.TW, NT$54.2) Nanya Technology (2408.TW, NT$70.6) Nations Tech (300077.SZ, Rmb6.83) Nichias (5393.T, ¥2,285) Nikon (7731.T, ¥1,377) Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (5401.T, ¥1,592) Nitto Denko (6988.T, ¥5,930) Novatek Microelectronics Corp Ltd (3034.TW, NT$202.0) ON Semiconductor Corp. (ON.OQ, $20.4) On-Bright Elec (4947.TWO, NT$181.0) Orbita (300053.SZ, Rmb10.16) Osram (OSRn.DE, €40.1) PSK Hldg (031980.KQ, W8,150) PXPL (087600.KQ, W4,715) Panasonic (6752.T, ¥981) Pegatron (4938.TW, NT$60.2) Photronics (PLAB.OQ, $11.8) Power Logics (047310.KQ, W9,800) PowerLeader (8236.HK, HK$1.9) Powertech Technology (6239.TW, NT$95.0) Q Technology Group Co Ltd (1478.HK, HK$10.52) QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM.OQ, $80.44) Qorvo (QRVO.O, $80.86) Quanta Computer (2382.TW, NT$59.9) ROHM (6963.T, ¥8,400) RS Technologies (3445.T, ¥4,495) Rambus Incorporated (RMBS.OQ, $13.845) Raydium (3592.TWO, NT$92.29) Raytron Tech (688002.SS, Rmb36.69) Realtek Semiconductor (2379.TW, NT$229.0) Renesas Electronics (6723.T, ¥725) Richwave (4968.TW, NT$234.0) SCREEN (7735.T, ¥7,700) SELEN (002341.SZ, Rmb5.46) SFA (056190.KQ, W42,000) SG Micro (300661.SZ, Rmb211.5) SHIBAURA MECHATR (6590.T, ¥3,550) SK Hynix Inc. (000660.KS, W83,100) SK Materials (036490.KQ, W185,000) SKC Kolon PI (178920.KQ, W34,000) STMicroelectron (STM.MI, €20.75) SUMCO (3436.T, ¥1,818) Samsung Electro-Mechanics (009150.KS, W114,000) Samsung Electronics (005930.KS, W51,200) Samsung SDI (006400.KS, W231,000) Sanan Optoelectronics Co. Ltd (600703.SS, Rmb15.44) Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (0981.HK, HK$10.1) Seoul Semiconductor Co Ltd (046890.KQ, W12,950) Shanghai Sinyang (300236.SZ, Rmb23.53) Sharp (6753.T, ¥1,287) Shennan Circuits (002916.SZ, Rmb148.46) Shenzhen Goodix (603160.SS, Rmb183.0) Shenzhen O-film Tech Co., Ltd (002456.SZ, Rmb11.25) Shenzhen Sunway Communication Co., Ltd (300136.SZ, Rmb41.15) Shin-Etsu Chemical (4063.T, ¥12,030) Silan (600460.SS, Rmb14.79) Silergy (6415.TW, NT$844.0) Silicon Works (108320.KQ, W33,200) Sino Wealth (300327.SZ, Rmb24.55) Sinocera (300285.SZ, Rmb21.0) Skyworks Solutns (SWKS.O, $91.06) Solomon Systech (2878.HK, HK$0.16) Sony (6758.T, ¥6,619) Soulbrain (036830.KQ, W77,800) Speed (300322.SZ, Rmb21.22) Sugon (603019.SS, Rmb33.5) Sumitomo Chemical (4005.T, ¥501) Sumitomo Corp (8053.T, ¥1,664) Sun.King (0580.HK, HK$1.07) Sunlord (002138.SZ, Rmb21.18) Sunny Optical Technology Group Co.Limited (2382.HK, HK$129.4) Suzhou Good-Ark (002079.SZ, Rmb7.4) Synaptics (SYNA.OQ, $42.11) Synopsys Inc. (SNPS.OQ, $135.75) Sytech (600183.SS, Rmb23.35) TCL Corporation (000100.SZ, Rmb3.39) TDK (6762.T, ¥10,700) TE Connectivity (TEL.N, $89.5) TJ Semi (002129.SZ, Rmb11.61) TTM Technologies (TTMI.O, $11.71) TXC Corp. (3042.TW, NT$37.85) Taiflex (8039.TW, NT$44.2)
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Taimide Tech (3645.TW, NT$51.3) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW, NT$299.0) Taiyo Yuden (6976.T, ¥2,861) Techwing (089030.KQ, W10,750) Tes Co Ltd (095610.KQ, W20,450) Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN.OQ, $117.99) ThinFlex (3144.TWO, NT$30.75) Tianli Holdings (0117.HK, HK$0.48) Tianma Microelectronics Co. Ltd (000050.SZ, Rmb13.86) Tianshui Huatian Technology Co., Ltd (002185.SZ, Rmb5.5) Tokyo Electron (8035.T, ¥22,245) Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (4186.T, ¥4,240) TongFu Microelectronics Co.,Ltd. (002156.SZ, Rmb11.63) Torch Electron (603678.SS, Rmb22.18) Toshiba (6502.T, ¥3,640) Toyoda Gosei (7282.T, ¥2,500) Truly International (0732.HK, HK$1.02) Tunghsu Optoelec (000413.SZ, Rmb4.83) Ube Industries (4208.T, ¥2,348) Ulvac (6728.T, ¥4,780) UniStrong (002383.SZ, Rmb10.71) UniTest (086390.KQ, W14,700) Unimicron Technology Corp (3037.TW, NT$47.2) United Microelectronics (2303.TW, NT$14.5) Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) (601231.SS, Rmb14.74) UniversalDisplay (OLED.OQ, $200.18) Valiant (002643.SZ, Rmb12.38) Vanguard International Semiconductor (5347.TWO, NT$65.2) Viatron Technolo (141000.KQ, W9,350) Victory Giant (300476.SZ, Rmb15.32) Vishay Intertech (VSH.N, $20.15) Visionox (002387.SZ, Rmb15.22) Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co., Ltd (2455.TW, NT$123.0) WITS (4953.TWO, NT$111.5) WLCSP (603005.SS, Rmb22.58) WTC (2492.TW, NT$181.5) WUS (002463.SZ, Rmb21.85) Wafer Works Corp (6182.TWO, NT$35.7) Western Digital (WDC.OQ, $51.65) WiSoL (122990.KQ, W15,000) Will Semi (603501.SS, Rmb107.28) Win Semiconductors Corp (3105.TWO, NT$324.5) Winbond (2344.TW, NT$17.05) Wonik IPS (240810.KQ, W32,550) Wonik Materials (104830.KQ, W27,900) XC TECH (300139.SZ, Rmb8.75) Xiaomi Corporation (1810.HK, HK$8.96) Xilinx (XLNX.OQ, $90.74) Yageo (2327.TW, NT$316.0) Yangjie Elctrnc (300373.SZ, Rmb15.49) Yoke Technology (002409.SZ, Rmb18.42) ZHIYUNAUTOMATION (300097.SZ, Rmb8.5) ZJ Ruiyuan Tech (8249.HK, HK$0.169) ZTE Corporation (0763.HK, HK$22.7) ZTE Corporation (000063.SZ, Rmb34.0) Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., Ltd (002236.SZ, Rmb16.38)
Disclosure Appendix
Analyst Certification
Manish Nigam and Clive Cheung each certify, with respect to the companies or securities that the individual analyzes, that (1) the views expressed in this report accurately reflect his or her personal views about all of the subject companies and securities and (2) no part of his or her compensation was, is or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.
As of December 10, 2012 Analysts’ stock rating are defined as follows:
Outperform (O) : The stock’s total return is expected to outperform the relevant benchmark* over the next 12 months. Neutral (N) : The stock’s total return is expected to be in line with the relevant benchmark* over the next 12 months. Underperform (U) : The stock’s total return is expected to underperform the relevant benchmark* over the next 12 months. *Relevant benchmark by region: As of 10th December 2012, Japanese ratings are based on a stock’s total return relative to the analyst's coverage universe which consists of all companies covered by the analyst within the relevant sector, with Outperforms representing the most attractive, Neutrals the less attractive, and Underperforms the least attractive investment opportunities. As of 2nd October 2012, U.S. and Canadian as well as Europea n ratings are based on a stock’s total return relative to the analyst's coverage universe which consists of all companies covered by the analyst within the re levant sector, with Outperforms representing the most attractive, Neutrals the less attractive, and Underperforms the least attractive investment opportunities. For Latin American and Asia stocks (excluding Japan and Australia), ratings are based on a stock’s total return relative to the average total return of the rele vant country or regional benchmark (India - S&P BSE Sensex Index); prior to 2nd October 2012 U.S. and Canadian ratings were based on (1) a stock’s absolute total return pote ntial to its current share price and (2) the relative attractiveness of a stock’s total return potential within an analyst’s coverage universe. For Australian and New Zealand stocks, the expected total return (ETR) calculation includes 12-month rolling dividend yield. An Outperform rating is assigned where an ETR is greater than or equal to 7.5%; Underperform where an ETR less than or equal to 5%. A Neutral may be assigned where the ETR is between -5% and 15%. The overlapping rating range allows analysts to assign a rating that puts ETR in the context of associated risks. Prior to 18 May 2015, ETR ranges for Outperform and Underperform ratings did not overlap with Neutral thresholds between 15% and 7.5%, which was in operation from 7 July 2011.
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Restricted (R) : In certain circumstances, Credit Suisse policy and/or applicable law and regulations preclude certain types of communications, including an investment recommendation, during the course of Credit Suisse's engagement in an investment banking transaction and in certain other circumstances. Not Rated (NR) : Credit Suisse Equity Research does not have an investment rating or view on the stock or any other securities related to the company at this time. Not Covered (NC) : Credit Suisse Equity Research does not provide ongoing coverage of the company or offer an investment rating or investment view on the equity security of the company or related products.
Volatility Indicator [V] : A stock is defined as volatile if the stock price has moved up or down by 20% or more in a month in at least 8 of the past 24 months or the analyst expects significant volatility going forward.
Analysts’ sector weightings are distinct from analysts’ stock ratings and are based on the analyst’s expectations for the fundamentals and/or valuation of the sector* relative to the group’s historic fundamentals and/or valuation: Overweight : The analyst’s expectation for the sector’s fundamentals and/or valuation is favorable over the next 12 months. Market Weight : The analyst’s expectation for the sector’s fundamentals and/or valuation is neutral over the next 12 months. Underweight : The analyst’s expectation for the sector’s fundamentals and/or valuation is cautious over the next 12 months. *An analyst’s coverage sector consists of all companies covered by the analyst within the relevant sector. An analyst may cov er multiple sectors.
Credit Suisse's distribution of stock ratings (and banking clients) is:
Global Ratings Distribution
Rating Versus universe (%) Of which banking clients (%) Outperform/Buy* 47% (32% banking clients)
Neutral/Hold* 38% (26% banking clients)
Underperform/Sell* 13% (23% banking clients)
Restricted 2%
*For purposes of the NYSE and FINRA ratings distribution disclosure requirements, our stock ratings of Outperform, Neutral, a nd Underperform most closely correspond to Buy, Hold, and Sell, respectively; however, the meanings are not the same, as our stock ratings are determined on a relative basis. (Please refer to definitions above.) An investor's decision to buy or sell a security should be based on investment objectives, current holdin gs, and other individual factors.
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Singapore recipients should contact Credit Suisse AG, Singapore Branch for any matters arising from this research report. The analyst(s) involved in the preparation of this report may participate in events hosted by the subject company, including site visits. Credit Suisse does not accept or permit analysts to accept payment or reimbursement for travel expenses associated with these events. For Credit Suisse Securities (Canada), Inc.'s policies and procedures regarding the dissemination of equity research, please visit https://www.credit-suisse.com/sites/disclaimers-ib/en/canada-research-policy.html. Investors should note that income from such securities and other financial instruments, if any, may fluctuate and that price or value of such securities and instruments may rise or fall and, in some cases, investors may lose their entire principal investment. Taiwanese Disclosures: This research report is for reference only. Investors should carefully consider their own investment risk
and note they may be subject to the applicable rules and regulations in Taiwan. Investment results are the responsibility of the
investor. Reports written by Taiwan based analysts on non-Taiwan listed companies are not considered as recommendations to
buy or sell securities. Reports may not be reproduced without the permission of Credit Suisse. Pursuant to the ‘Taiwan Stock
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Exchange Regulations Governing Securities Firms Recommending Trades in Securities to Customers’ and the ‘Taipei Exchange
Rules Governing Securities Firms Recommending Trades in Securities to Customers’, in order for a non-client of Credit Suisse AG,
Taipei Securities Branch to receive this research report, no provision by such non-client of the content of the report to a third
party, nor any conflict of interest, is permitted. By receiving this research report, any such non-client is deemed to acknowledge
and accept our terms and disclaimers included herein. This research report is authored by: Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited ............................................ Manish Nigam ; Clive Cheung ; Kyna Wong ; Chaolien Tseng Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) Limited ......... Hideyuki Maekawa ; Yoshiyasu Takemura ; Mika Nishimura ; Akinori Kanemoto Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, Seoul Branch ............................................................ Keon Han ; Sang Uk Kim Credit Suisse AG, Taipei Securities Branch .................................... Randy Abrams, CFA ; Jerry Su ; Haas Liu ; Pauline Chen Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC ........................................................................................... Matthew Cabral ; Sami Badri To the extent this is a report authored in whole or in part by a non-U.S. analyst and is made available in the U.S., the following are important disclosures regarding any non-U.S. analyst contributors: The non-U.S. research analysts listed below (if any) are not registered/qualified as research analysts with FINRA. The non-U.S. research analysts listed below may not be associated persons of CSSU and therefore may not be subject to the FINRA 2241 and NYSE Rule 472 restrictions on communications with a subject company, public appearances and trading securities held by a research analyst account. Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited ............................................ Manish Nigam ; Clive Cheung ; Kyna Wong ; Chaolien Tseng Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) Limited ......... Hideyuki Maekawa ; Yoshiyasu Takemura ; Mika Nishimura ; Akinori Kanemoto Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, Seoul Branch ............................................................ Keon Han ; Sang Uk Kim Credit Suisse AG, Taipei Securities Branch .................................... Randy Abrams, CFA ; Jerry Su ; Haas Liu ; Pauline Chen
Important disclosures regarding companies that are the subject of this report are available by calling +1 (877) 291-2683. The same important disclosures, with the exception of valuation methodology and risk discussions, are also available on Credit Suisse’s disclosure website at https://rave.credit-suisse.com/disclosures . For valuation methodology and risks associated with any recommendation, price target, or rating referenced in this report, please refer to the disclosures section of the most recent report regarding the subject company.
4 November 2019
Asia Technology Strategy 116
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