For automobiles, semiconductor chips are no different from neural networks extending in all directions, which affect the whole body. Especially with the development of automobiles in the direction of electrification, intelligence, networking, and sharing, the demand for massive data processing has rapidly increased the amount of chips, and the proportion of automotive electronics costs in the cost of the entire vehicle has continued to increase.

According to a research report released by Deloitte, in 2017, the cost of automotive electronics accounted for 40% of the total cost of a new car, and is expected to reach 45% by 2030. The importance of automotive semiconductors has become increasingly prominent.

Survive

However, the shortage of chips has spread to automakers. As of now, parts of Audi and Ford's factories have stopped production, Subaru and Toyota have reduced the production of vehicles in the US plants, while Volkswagen, Nissan, General Motors (South Korea) and Fiat Chrysler are also embarking on production reduction plans.

At the same time, according to Nikkei, automotive semiconductor manufacturers such as Renesas, NXP and STMicroelectronics have announced to increase chip prices. For example, the price of automotive semiconductors such as power semiconductors and microcontrollers produced by Renesas will increase by several percentage points. In addition, TSMC and other fabs have also reported that they will take price increases. Under the dual-track attack of "out of stock" and "price increase" of automotive semiconductors, automakers are in a deep plight of core shortage.

On the other hand, although China is the world's largest automotive semiconductor market, more than 90% of automotive chips rely on imports. Among them, advanced sensors, in-vehicle networks, three-electric systems (electric drive, battery, electronic control), chassis electronic control, ADAS (advanced driving assistance system), automatic driving and other key system chips are almost monopolized by foreign companies, while my country’s autonomous car chips They are mostly lower-end discrete devices and radio and navigation chips.

The lack of core technology is the weakness of China's auto industry. In addition, with the increasingly complex international political environment, how domestic automakers can achieve controllable long-term development of the supply chain is also particularly critical.

Make a living

In the context of multiple factors, some domestic automakers have begun to explore their own semiconductor chip research and development. On the one hand, car manufacturers can directly provide support for the verification of chip products and shorten the time to market; on the other hand, they can also ensure a stable supply of core chips and reduce external influences.

First of all, take BYD, the domestic car company with the largest market value. When global automakers are falling into chip supply cutoffs, BYD stated that “the company has a complete industrial chain in terms of new energy batteries, chips, etc., which can not only be fully self-sufficient, but also have a balance external supply.”

In January of this year, BYD Semiconductor Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of BYD, has completed counseling and filing and plans to IPO and list on the domestic stock exchange. The current valuation exceeds RMB 10 billion.

Up to now, BYD has become the largest domestic manufacturer of automotive-grade power semiconductors (IGBT), breaking the foreign monopoly. IGBT is a key support project of the national "02 special project" and is called the "CPU" of power electronic devices. Especially in the field of new energy vehicles, IGBT modules play a vital role and are the core components of new energy vehicle motor controllers, car air conditioners, charging piles and other equipment.

It is worth mentioning that, in order to seize the high ground of the new energy automobile industry, BYD bought a stake in Shenzhen Huada Beidou Technology Co., Ltd. with 40 million yuan in 2020, and became the third largest shareholder with 6.93% of the shares. It is not difficult to see that BDS, which is engaged in navigation and positioning chips, may become an assisting force for BYD in the development of autonomous driving technology in the future.

In addition to BYD, there are also a number of domestic automakers that have set their sights on the semiconductor field. Including: SAIC and Infineon jointly established SAIC Infineon Automotive Power Semiconductor (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in 2018 to mainly produce IGBT modules for electric vehicles; Dongfeng Group and CRRC Times Semiconductor jointly established Zhixin Semiconductor, and the new company is in Dongfeng The new energy automobile industrial park builds an IGBT test production line. The installation and commissioning have been completed, and small batch trial production is in progress. Module testing and verification are going on at the same time. Mass production is expected in April; BAIC Industrial Investment, Imagination Group and Cuiwei Co., Ltd. jointly established Beijing Nuclear Xinda Technology Co., Ltd. focuses on the development of application processors for autonomous driving and voice interaction chips for smart cockpits.

In October 2020, the headquarters of Xinqing Technology, an automotive chip design company under Geely Holdings, officially settled in Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hubei. What makes the market concerned is that the shareholders of the new company include Amou China. According to Dr. Wang Kai, CEO of Xinqing Technology, the first 7nm automotive-grade chip designed by the company will be taped out this year.

the goal

With the deep integration of 5G and AI, more and more automakers are gearing up in the semiconductor field. One important reason is that customized car chips will promote the development of autonomous driving technology, and autonomous driving is considered a car The future of the industry.

Looking at overseas, the international giant Tesla has been unremittingly promoting the industrial transformation of autonomous driving technology. In 2019, Tesla released its self-developed Full Self-Driving (FSD) computer chip. The latest news shows that Tesla is cooperating with Samsung Electronics to develop FSD chips with a 5nm process, and mass production is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021.

As for why self-developed chips, Tesla CEO Musk once said on Twitter, "Neither Mobileye nor Nvidia can meet our requirements for performance, development schedule, cost or power consumption."

In Musk's view, a chip based on a generalized design not only lacks advantages in design cost and speed to market, but even the demand for high computing power and low power consumption for autonomous driving cannot be met.

The self-developed chip is based on the requirements tailored to oneself.

Musk said on the quarterly earnings call in January that he will release the final test version of the FSD software worth $10,000 to Tesla owners in 2021. He also reiterated that by the end of 2021, Tesla's FSD will have L5 level autopilot capabilities, that is, cars will no longer need driver operations to go anywhere.

In addition, it has been confirmed that Bai Jian, the former head of Xiaomi's chip, has joined NIO as the vice president of NIO's hardware team. The industry speculates that Wei will start the accelerator key from the research chip. Li Bin, chairman and CEO of Weilai, once said in a media interview that self-developed autopilot chips are not difficult, easier than mobile phone chips, and Weilai will maintain its competitiveness.

However, "making the core" is by no means a thing that can be done overnight. It takes ten years to sit on the bench. The localization of chips is only the first step. The ultimate goal is to continue to innovate and develop, and to firmly grasp the product advantages.

to sum up

The impact of the global shortage of automotive chips is like a stone throwing water and the impact is widespread. Some analysts said that the shortage of automotive chips may last as long as six months. A report by AutoForecast Solutions estimates that as of January 13, sales in the global automotive industry have fallen by 202,000. Even if the core shortage crisis is lifted, the auto industry is likely to face a new round of reshuffle.

The industry is in deep trouble, but it also allows automakers to see that the automotive chip market is gestating huge market opportunities and growth potential, and facing difficulties may make it possible.