Semiconductor Manufacturing International's (SMIC) 28nm HKMG process has entered its mass production stage, according to company CEO Haijun Zhao. SMIC will move forward making chips using a newer 14nm process in 2018, said Zhao.

SMIC, along with other China-based IC foundries, are looking to start volume production of 14/16nm chips in 2018, Zhao indicated.

Zhao identified 28nm as a long-lived node which will be available through 2025. The next long-live nodes could be 10nm or 7nm, while 14/16nm are relatively short-lived nodes, Zhao said.

SMIC is aiming to become a global top-3 pure-play foundry chipmaker, but the company still needs to more than double its sales scale in order to reach the goal, Zhao noted. Annual sales will have to be at least US$6 billion for SMIC to be among the top three, Zhao said.

In addition, Zhao suggested that the IC industry development will go in three directions: IC dies shrinking in size; a variety of chip types that don't require die shrinking due to diverse demand; and the importance of SiP (system-in-package) packaging.

Zhao also commented that 18-inch wafers are unlikely to replace 12-inch as the mainstream until five years later.

By: DocMemory
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