Chinese chips, suddenly spread a major good news

The latest news shows that after five years, the Chinese mainland chip company Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "Fujian Jinhua") got rid of the so-called "economic espionage" and other criminal charges in the United States, finally cleared. Us Judge Maxine Chesney in San Francisco found the company not guilty after a non-jury trial. Us media reported that the US Justice Department's action against China's so-called "theft of intellectual property" has been frustrated.

And not long ago, Fujian Jinhua also ushered in a piece of good news. On December 24, 2023 local time, a spokesperson for Micron Technology said in a media email statement that it has reached a global settlement agreement with Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., LTD., and the two companies will withdraw their prosecution of each other globally and end all litigation between the two parties.

This victory may be a major positive for Fujian Jinhua, and it may also be a good opportunity for the development of China's memory chips. At present, as storage prices continue to rise and low-price inventories continue to be released, the global memory chip industry is in an accelerated recovery trend, which will be a good window of opportunity for the development of China's related industries.

Carry the case

After five years in the United States, Fujian Jinhua got rid of the so-called "economic espionage" and other criminal charges and was finally cleared, Bloomberg News website reported. The report said that the US Justice Department's action against China's alleged "theft of intellectual property" has been frustrated.

According to reports, the US Department of Commerce had identified Fujian Jinhua as a threat to "national security" and blacklisted it. On February 27 local time, Judge Maxine Chesney in San Francisco found the company not guilty after a non-jury trial.

Bloomberg News believes that the ruling may temper the Biden administration's aggressive pursuit of prosecutions to protect American technology.

Chesney concluded that U.S. prosecutors had failed to prove that the Chinese company misappropriated proprietary data from Micron Technology Inc., the largest U.S. memory chip maker. The data was allegedly obtained through a manufacturing deal between Taiwan's United Microelectronics and Fujian Jinhua.

If the company is convicted, it could face fines and be required to give up chips and revenue from the so-called "stolen technology," according to a statement from the Justice Department when the lawsuit was originally filed.

The verdict is significant because while the United States has pursued individuals who illegally transferred intellectual property to China, many of whom have been convicted, the Justice Department has rarely prosecuted Chinese companies in U.S. courts.

The case against Fujian Jinhua was filed in 2018 amid trade frictions between then-President Donald Trump and China, and was billed as a major effort to crack down on alleged Chinese "espionage" against American companies and research universities.

reconciliation

In fact, not long ago, Fujian Jinhua also ushered in a piece of good news.

On December 24, 2023 local time, a spokesperson for Micron Technology said in a media email statement that it has reached a global settlement agreement with Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., LTD., and the two companies will withdraw their prosecution of each other globally and end all litigation between the two parties.

The lawsuit between Micron Technology and Fujian Jinhua stems from 2016, when Taiwan UMC signed a technical cooperation agreement with Fujian Jinhua to assist Fujian Jinhua in developing 32-nanometer DRAM related process technology. After the signing of the agreement, three Micron technology executives left to join UMC, causing commercial espionage suspicions. Micron separately sued UMC and Fujian Jinhua in 2017, alleging that the two companies allegedly stole Micron trade secrets. Over the years, Micron Technology launched lawsuits in many places around the world to pursue UMC and Fujian Jinhua for infringement, while Fujian Jinhua sued Micron Technology for alleged infringement of products sold in China.

According to Bloomberg, about 25% of Micron's total global revenue comes from the Chinese market. Since 2023, Micron has begun to repair relations with China. In June, Micron announced plans to invest more than 4.3 billion yuan in the company's factory in Xi 'an over the next few years. In November, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra visited China to meet with the Chinese side and expressed his willingness to continue to expand investment in China.

Analysts said that the victory in the United States and the settlement with Micron is undoubtedly a major positive for Fujian Jinhua's business, which is conducive to the healthy development of Fujian Jinhua and even the entire memory chip industry.

According to reports, Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. was established on February 26, 2016, the registration place is located in Fujian Province Jinjiang Integrated circuit Science Park Lianhua Avenue 88, the legal representative is Lu Wensheng.

Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. is an advanced integrated circuit manufacturer jointly funded by Fujian Electronic Information Group, Quanzhou Financial Holding Group Co., LTD., and Fujian Jinjiang Industrial Development Investment Group Co., LTD.

The company built a 12-inch memory wafer fab production line in Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, developed advanced memory technology and process technology, and carried out the manufacturing and sales of related products. The company takes the localization of integrated circuit chips as its responsibility, aiming to become an integrated circuit memory (DRAM) manufacturing enterprise with advanced technology and independent intellectual property rights system. The company aims to eventually launch 20-nanometer products, and plans to build four phases with a monthly production capacity of 240,000 pieces by 2025, with a total investment of more than $20 billion.

Come to

After nearly two years of decline, the global memory chip industry is ushering in an accelerated recovery in 2024.

The research report released recently said that looking forward to the first quarter of 2024 and the whole year of 2024, as storage prices continue to rise and low-price inventory continues to be released, it is expected that the performance of module and design companies will continue to improve.

Ping An Securities also pointed out in the research report that from the perspective of the industry, according to TrendForce forecast data, whether it is DRAM or NAND Flash, the average price of the overall storage contract in 2024 is expected to show a quarterly rise, and through observing the recent improvement in the performance of head storage manufacturers represented by Samsung and SK Hynix. The storage industry is expected to enter an upward cycle in 2024.

As global enterprise demand for electronic components increases, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) recently released a report predicting that the global chip industry is expected to rebound sharply in 2024, with sales expected to jump to nearly $600 billion, a record high.

SIA President and CEO John Neuffer said global semiconductor sales rebounded strongly in the second half of the year after a sluggish start to 2023, a trend that is expected to continue this year.

According to the report, global semiconductor industry sales in 2023 totaled $526.8 billion, down 8.2% year-on-year. However, thanks to the recovery of the market and increased demand, SIA forecasts that global chip sales will increase by 13% to nearly $600 billion in 2024.

SIA said this growth momentum was driven by increased demand for electronic components from a wide range of businesses. With the rapid development of science and technology, chips are more and more widely used in all walks of life, from smart phones, personal computers to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and other fields, are inseparable from the support of chips. Therefore, with the recovery of the global economy and the progress of science and technology, the demand for the chip industry will continue to grow.