Semiconductor Manufacturing International Profile
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in the computer-aided design, manufacturing, testing, packaging, and trading of integrated circuits (ICs) and other semiconductor services, as well as designing and manufacturing semiconductor masks.
The company provides IC foundry and technology services on process nodes from 0.35 micron to 28 nanometer. In China, the company has a 300mm wafer fabrication facility (fab) and a 200mm fab in Shanghai; a 300mm fab and a majority-owned 300mm fab for advanced nodes in Beijing; 200mm fabs in Tianjin and Shenzhen; and a majority-owned joint-venture 300mm bumping facility in Jiangyin. Additionally, the company has a majority-owned 200mm fab in Intaly. The company also has marketing and customer service offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Taiwan; and a representative office in Hong Kong.
In addition to wafer fabrication, the company’s service offerings include a portfolio consisting of IC design libraries, circuit design blocks, design support, mask-making, wafer probing and gold/solder bumping. The company has a majority-owned 300mm bumping factory in Jiangyin, China; and also works with its partners to provide IC assembly and testing services.
Products and Services
Manufacturing of Wafers and Manufacturing Capacity
The company manufactures silicon wafers based on proprietary designs provided by its customers or third party designers.
The company’s factories manufacture various types of semiconductors, such as logic (including baseband, application processor, system on chip (SoC), secure ICs, display driver IC, application specific IC/application specific standard parts, flash controller, interface controller, timing controller, audio/video IC and field-programmable gate array (FPGA)); mixed-signal and radio frequency (RF) (including RF combo, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF identification, near-field communication, GPS, Zigbee, RF power amplifier, RF-front end module, RF transmitter/receiver, fingerprint sensor, demodulator and tuner IC); power IC (including bipolar- complementary metal oxide silicon-DMOS, power management IC, LED driver IC , quick charging IC, wireless charging IC, linear regulators, and switch regulators); micro processor (MPU) (including microcontroller unit-64/32/16/8-bits, touch controller IC, touch display driver IC, digital signal processor, GPU, and MPU); memory related (including static random access memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), low-density NAND Flash, NOR Flash, embedded EEPROM and eFlash, OTP/MTP, etc.); optoelectronics (including FSI and BSI CIS - CMOS image sensor, 3D, single photon avalanche diode, and analog photodiodes); other sensors (including micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microphone, accelerometer, gyroscope, smart sensors, IMU, micro-display, etc.); discrete (IGBT and integrated passive devices (IPD)); and others (including TSV, IPD, 3DIC, hybrid bonding, and bumping).
Integrated Solutions
In addition to wafer fabrication, the company provides its customers with a range of complementary services, from circuit design support and mask-making to wafer level probing and testing. This range of services is supported by its network of partners that assist in providing design, probing, final testing, packaging, assembly and distribution services.
Design Support Services
The company’s design support services provide its customers with access to the fundamental technology files and libraries that facilitate customers’ own IC design. The company also offers design reference flows and access to its design center alliance, as well as layout services to its customers. In addition, the company collaborates with industry leaders in electronic design automation, library and intellectual property services to create a worldwide network of expertise, resources and services that are available to its customers.
Libraries and Intellectual Property
As part of the fundamental building blocks for the company’s customers’ IC designs, it has a team of engineers who work with its research and development department to develop, license or acquire from third parties selected key libraries and intellectual property so that the company’s customers could design ICs that utilize its new process technologies. These include standard cell, inputs/outputs, memory compilers, embedded memory, high- speed interface, peripheral controllers, and embedded processors, among others, using 0.35 micron down to 14 nanometer process technologies. They have been developed primarily through its third party alliances, as well as by its internal research and development team, to facilitate design and integration into the overall design system. The company’s library partners include ARM Holdings PLC; Synopsys, Inc.; VeriSilicon; and M31.
Mask-making Services
While majority of the company’s mask-making services are for customers who use its wafer fabrication services, the company also produces masks for other domestic and overseas fabs as a separate revenue- generating service.
The company’s mask-making facility, which is located in Shanghai, includes a 4,400 square meters clean room with up to class I specifications. The company’s mask shop offers five-inch by five-inch, six-inch by six-inch and seven-inch circular reticles. The company’s facility is capable of producing binary masks, optical proximity correction masks and phase shift masks. Its mask facility also offers mask repair services.
Wafer Probing, Bumping, Assembly and Testing Services
The company has a majority-owned probing facility in Shanghai that provides test program development, probe card fabrication, wafer probing, failure analysis, and failure testing. The company also outsources these services to its partners. The probing facility in Shanghai, China occupies a clean room space of 2,500 square meters, which is rated at Class 1000 cleanliness equipped with advanced testers, probers and laser repair machines. The company has engineers to provide test solution development, probe card fabrication, wafer probing, characterization and failure analysis services for majority of eMemory, Logics, SoC, Mix-Signal, CIS and MEMS applications.
The company also has a probing facility in Avezzano, Italy, which occupies a clean room space of approximately 800 square meters rated at Class 100 cleanliness and equipped with advanced testers and probers to provide test solution development, probe card design, wafer probing, characterization and failure analysis services for majority of eMemory, Logics, SoC, Mix-Signal and CIS applications.
In addition, the company has a majority-owned 300mm bumping and probing factory in Jiangyin, which entered into mass production in 2016. Chip probing has been in production for mobile SoC, consumer and memory devices since 2015. Their products adopt various advanced technologies from early stage to mass production with quality. The company has established a network of partners that provide additional probing and bumping services, as well as assembly and testing services, to serve its customers. These partners, which include worldwide and domestic major assembly and testing companies, have helped to improve the range of services that the company is able to offer to its customers.
Customers
The company has a customer base that includes integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor companies, and systems companies.
Marketing Channels
The company has customer service and marketing offices located in the United States, Europe, Japan, mainland China and Taiwan; and a representative office in Hong Kong. Its mainland China offices serve mainland China, Hong Kong and other non-Japan, non-Taiwan Asian markets; its U.S. office serves the North American market; its Taiwan office serves the Taiwanese market; and its Europe and Japan offices serve the European and Japanese markets, respectively. The company also sells some products through sales agents in selected markets.
Seasonality
The company’s revenue is higher in the third quarter of its financial year (year ended December 2018) and lower in the first quarter of its financial year.
Regulation
The company’s Chinese subsidiaries are subject to various Chinese environmental laws and regulations promulgated by the central and local governments, for example, the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, effective December 26, 1989 and amended on April 24, 2014, effective January 1, 2015. The company’s majority-owned Italian subsidiary is subject to various Italian and European Union environmental laws and regulations promulgated by the central and local governments. The company’s operations in Europe are subject to the Environmental Protection Law Dlgs 152 effective 2006, concerning examination and acceptance of environmental protection measures in construction projects, the use, discharge and disposal of toxic and hazardous materials, the discharge and disposal of waste water, solid waste, and waste gases, control of industrial noise and fire prevention.
Research and Development
The company’s research and development expenses amounted to approximately US$558.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Competition
The company competes with other foundries, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.; United Microelectronics Corporation; and Global Foundries, as well as the foundry services offered by some integrated device manufacturers, such as Fujitsu Limited and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
History
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation was founded in 2000 under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The company was incorporated in 2000.
