Are all doing car-level chips. Are chip companies serious?
Automotive grade chip
Recently I visited many chip companies and read reports and news from many domestic chip companies. I found that there is one thing in common, that is, whether it is an analog chip company, an MCU company, or an AI chip company, they all aim at the same market. , That is the car-level chip market. Are so many chip companies that make automotive-grade chips serious?

It can be seen to the naked eye that it is difficult to make money with car-grade chips

We all know that the investment in the chip industry is large and the cycle is long. If there is not enough profit guarantee, it is actually difficult to support the development of next-generation technologies and products. This is especially true for automotive-grade chips, which is more difficult, because the design of automotive-grade chips is very different from consumer-grade chips. The design of a car-grade chip requires demand management, safety-critical design, and functional failure simulation. , Review and report, and third-party assessment of safety certification. Because once the chip fails, it may cause serious consequences.
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In other words, if you want to develop a real car-level chip, you need to meet the functional safety standard ISO26262, the quality management system certification IATF16949, and the reliability standard AEC-Q series.

Among them, ISO 26262 is a standard that chip companies should follow at the beginning of IC design. It covers the functional safety requirements of the chip's full life cycle, including safety requirements planning, design, implementation, integration, verification, verification, and configuration.

IATF 16949 is mainly to certify the production process, and it is a quality management system that must be followed for chips from tape out to large-scale production. Such as fabs and packaging and testing plants, only by obtaining the certification of this quality system can they enter the supply chain of domestic and foreign auto manufacturers.

AEC-Q certification focuses more on the component products themselves, which specifies a series of automotive electronic reliability testing and certification standards, including AEC-Q100 integrated circuit IC testing standards, AEC-Q101 discrete original standard, AEC-Q102 Light-emitting source device standard, AEC-Q103 MEMS sensor standard, AEC-Q104 multi-chip component standard, AEC-Q200 passive original standard.

There is also the so-called zero defect and a 10 to 15 year lead time guarantee. This means lower yield and higher production line maintenance costs.

Just to meet these standards and tests, chip companies need to purchase automotive-grade IP and EDA software, and they need to find qualified foundries and packaging plants. These are all costs.

According to a domestic chip company, they are building a car-level chip test laboratory, and the test equipment in it is purchased from millions to millions.

There is also the terminal market. The annual sales of automobiles are basically predictable, and the changes will not be too great. In 2020, the global sales of automobiles will be 73 million, and the Toyota Group with the largest sales will be more than 9.5 million. Of car sales are actually declining.

Of course, due to the rapid growth of new energy vehicles, the use of chips in new energy vehicles will increase, and the use of automotive-grade chips will increase in the next few years. But the speed and volume of this increase is actually very obvious.

The initial investment cost will be high, but the subsequent market demand will not have a high ceiling, and there will not be many companies that are destined to make money from it.

Knowing that you don't make much money, why do you rush inside?

I asked some knowledge in the industry. In fact, I saw the problem. They are clear. The real purpose of some companies to make car-grade chips is not necessarily to make money from selling car-grade chips. Of course, it is best to make money.

For example, some companies have said that it is precisely because of the difficulty of making automotive-grade chips and the high barriers to entry that they do so, so that they can show their R&D strength and capital strength, as well as show that they can make high-end chips. As for whether you can make money from car-level chips, just follow the fate, after all, companies have other product lines.

Some insiders also pointed out that the current domestic chip market share in the automotive industry is low, less than 4%, and the space is very large. The country is also encouraging chip companies to invest in this area. Even if the chips are not easy to sell, the subsidy should cover part of it. cost.

Of course, there is another secret that cannot be said. Many claimed car-level chips only use car-level packaging in the packaging process, and the original process and craftsmanship are used for others. In this way, the cost investment is not too large, and the benefits are not bad.