Beijing’s Ambition on Semiconductors

choi

The "chip on one's shoulder" is an American phrase.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_on_shoulder

Semiconductors | Chips on Their Shoulders; China wants to become a superpower in semiconductors, and plans to spend colossal sums to achieve this. Economist,  Jan 23, 2016.
http://www.economist.com/news/bu ... spend-colossal-sums

Quote:

"In an earlier big push [By Beijing into semiconductor], in the second half of the 1990s, the government spent less than $1 billion, reckons Morgan Stanley, an American bank. This time, under a grand plan announced in 2014, the government will muster $100 billion-$150 billion in public and private funds.

"Last year China’s manufacturers, both domestic and foreign-owned, consumed $145 billion-worth of microchips of all kinds (see chart). But the output of China’s domestic chip industry was only one-tenth of that value. And in some types of high-value semiconductor—the processor chips that are the brains of computers, and the rugged and durable chips that are embedded in cars—virtually all of China’s consumption is imported.

"In the government’s earlier efforts to boost domestic manufacturing of solar panels and LED lamps, it spread its largesse among a lot of local firms, resulting in excess capacity and slumping prices. This time it seems to be concentrating its firepower on a more limited group of national champions. For instance, SMIC of Shanghai is set to be China’s champion 'foundry' * * * And HiSilicon of Shenzhen (part of Huawei, a maker of telecoms equipment) will be one of a select few champions in chip design."

Note:
(a) HiSilicon Technologies Co, Ltd 海思半导体有限公司 (2004- )
(b) "Zhao Weiguo 赵伟国 * * * chairman and second-largest shareholder (after the university itself) at Tsinghua Unigroup"

(c)  "Jiangsu Changjiang [Electronics Technology Co, Ltd (JCET) 江苏长电科技股份有限公司], a firm that packages chips, paid $1.8 billion in 2014 to gain control of STATS ChipPac, a Singaporean outfit in the same line of business. In 2015 state-controlled JianGuang Asset Management paid a similar sum for a division of NXP of the Netherlands, which makes specialist chips for cell-phone base stations. A group led by China Resources Holdings, another state enterprise, has made a $2.5 billion takeover bid for Fairchild Semiconductor International, an American firm."
(i) Company's English-language website: "JAC Capital Management Ltd (JAC Capital)," where I think JAC is acronym of "Jianguang Asset Management Co. Ltd" (ignore "M").

公司简介. 建广资产, undated
http://www.jaccapital.cn/index.p ... ;catid=26&id=34
("北京建广资产管理有限公司(建广资产)是一家专注于集成电路产业与战略新兴产业投资并购的资产管理公司，为中建投资本管理有限公司(中建投资本)的子公司")
(ii) NXP  (Formerly known as Philips Semiconductors; spun off from Philips: "The new name, NXP, stood for the consumer's 'next experience,' according to then-CEO Frans van Houten)  en.wikipedia.org
(iii) China Resources Holdings Co, Ltd

华润简介. undated
http://www.crc.com.cn/about/overview/Introduction/
("华润蕴含 '中华大地，雨露滋润' 之意。 * * * 华润（集团）有限公司（以下简称“华润”或“华润集团”）是一家在香港注册和运营的多元化控股企业集团，其前身是1938年于香港成立的“联和行”，1948年改组更名为华润公司，1952年隶属关系由中共中央办公厅变为中央贸易部（现为商务部）。1983年，改组成立华润（集团）有限公司。1999年12月，与外经贸部脱钩，列为中央管理")

choi

Maarten van Tartwijk, Philips Nixes Deal Rebuffed By US. Wall Street Journal, Jan 23, 2016.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/phil ... concerns-1453449046

Quote:

(a) "Royal  Philips  NV said Friday [Jan 22] that it terminated the planned $2.8 billion sale of most of its lighting components and automotive-lighting unit to a Chinese investor, after the powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the US blocked the deal on national-security grounds.

"The move comes just weeks after US Justice Department concerns about competition scuttled another European deal:  General Electric Co. ’s $3.3 billion sale of its appliance business to Sweden’s  Electrolux  AB. After pulling out of that deal in the face of a Justice Department lawsuit, GE agreed to sell the business to China’s Haier Group for $5.4 billion.

"Philips in March struck a deal to sell an 80% stake in its Lumileds business to GO Scale Capital, an investment fund led by Chinese venture-capital firm GSR Ventures 金沙江创业投资基金 [abbreviation: 金沙江创投]. The proposed transaction, however, raised concerns of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, known as CFIUS, an interagency group led by the Treasury Department that examines international transactions for their impact on national security.

(b) "Lumileds, like parent Philips, is based in the Netherlands, making the CFIUS action unusual. However, Lumileds has a large U.S. patent portfolio for light-emitting diodes, or LED, and a sizable presence in the US through manufacturing and research-and-development facilities in San Jose, Calif.

"GO Scale Capital said it and Philips made persistent attempts to explain the deal, but that their efforts failed to address 'unexplained government concerns.'

Note: Lacking a Chinese name, "GO Scale Capital is a new investment fund sponsored by GSR Ventures and Oak Investment Partners [1978- ; venture capital investments; Headquarters: Norwalk, Connecticut; Founder: Edward Glassmeyer]."