美国芯片机密遭窃案背后，中国的科技大国雄心

choi

孟宝勒, 美国芯片机密遭窃案背后，中国的科技大国雄心. 纽约时报中文网, June 25, 2018
https://cn.nytimes.com/technolog ... micron-chips-theft/

, which is translated from

Paul Mozur, Darker Side of Tech Bid by China; China hopes to compete directly with the United States on tomorrow's tech. New York Times, June 23, 2018.

Note:
(a) " The heist of the designs two years ago [former Micron employees took chip designs and joined UMC in 2016] and the [police] raids [on Feb 7 and 14 with (court-issued) search warrants] last year * * * Micron was the target of the heist in Taiwan, according to officials there and a lawsuit the company has brought against the Taiwanese company that employed the engineers, UMC 联华电子公司 (联电), and the Chinese company it says wanted access to the technology, Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Company 福建晋华集成电路公司 [located at 福建省泉州市晋江市]."
(b) "One state-backed factory in the city of Wuhan, owned by Yangtze Memory Technology Company, or YMTC, will be turning out chips that look similar to those made by Samsung * * * Earlier this year [Apr 26, 2018], President Xi Jinping of China visited YMTC’s production facilities, one way China’s leaders show their endorsement for projects."

From the website of Yangtze Memory Technology Technology or YMTC: "长江存储科技有限责任公司（长江存储）是一家集芯片设计、工艺研发、晶圆生产与测试、销售服务于一体的半导体存储器企业。 * * * 长江存储由紫光集团，国家集成电路产业投资基金，湖北地方集成电路基金，湖北科投联合投资240亿美元，于2016年7月正式成立。 * * * 长江存储现已在武汉，北京，上海，台北，东京，硅谷均设有研发基地。长江存储以武汉新芯 [长江存储武汉全资子公司 新芯集成电路制造有限公司 Wuhan Xinxin Integration Dianlu Manufacture Limited Co (XMC)] 现有的12英寸先进集成电路技术研发与生产制造能力为基础，采取自主研发与国际合作双轮驱动的方式，已于2017年研制成功了中国第一颗3D NAND闪存芯片"

(c) "Two years ago, Jinhua tapped UMC, a Taiwanese company, to help it develop technology for the factory."

A subsidiary of Micron, Micron Memory Taiwan Co, Ltd 台灣美光記憶體股份有限公司 (Micron = 美光) has a headquarters in Taipei and two manufacturing facilities:
(i) one at Central Taiwan Science Park 中部科學工業園區. The Science Park is composed of five separate locales, and Micron Taiwan was at the locale in 臺中市后里區.

Producing DRAM and based in 中科 (后里, that was established in 2006), Rexchip 瑞晶電子股份有限公司 was formed in 2006 as a joint venture of Elpida Memory, Inc (of Japan; 64% stakeholder) and Powerchip Technology Corp 力晶科技股份有限公司 (of Taiwan; 31% stakeholder). Micron acquired Rexchip in 2013.  This is the facility the three indicted former workers (see (d) ) came from.
(ii) the other at 華亞科技園區 (in 桃園市龜山區 and developed by Formosa Plastic Group 台塑集團 since 1994.

Inotera Memories, Inc 華亞科技股份有限公司, which was "a company incorporated as a joint venture between Nanya Technology Corporation [南亞科技股份有限公司] and Infineon (later Qimonda) in Taiwan in January 2003.”  Micron acquired Inotera in 2016.

(d) "Alerted by Micron, the Taiwanese police tapped the phone of one Micron engineer, Kenny Wang 王永銘, who was being recruited by UMC. According to an [Sept 6, 2017] indictment in Taiwan against Mr Wang and others [who were 联电 and its two other employees, all of whom had come from Micron Taiwan]"
(e) "In Jinjiang, a city in Fujian Province once known as a shoe-manufacturing center, Jinhua’s new factory is almost finished. Rising five stories and stretching several football fields long"
(f) Cheng Ting-fang, US Chipmaker Expands Taiwan Workforce to Counter China Poaching. Nikkei Asian Review, Apr 25, 2-19.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business ... nter-China-poaching
("Taiwan serves as the company's [Micron's] biggest production base for [DRAM] * * * Micron Taiwan had 6,800 workers as of March [2008] * * * Micron is the world's third-largest DRAM provider and ranks fourth as a NAND chipmaker * * * [YMTC] is building a giant NAND factory * * * Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit * * * are developing DRAM")
(g) I am no expert but wonder why China goes through all of these troubles. It is very difficult  to profitably break into the making of DRAM, let alone NAND. Taiwan has never been able to make NAND. And the technology of Taiwan's Dram has always lagged. Taiwanese DRAM companies have spent a fortune on it, lost money year after year, and mostly gave up on it. I doubt China can do better, especially since advanced technology is beyond China's reach due to Western agreement. (Taiwanese companies has failed in getting their hands on memory chipmaking. I do not know why -- unwilling to spend or nobody was willing to sell.)


Finally, UMC was not known for making memory chips. It is dumb of Chinese company to collaborate with a laggard.