Core point of view:
1. Japan's semiconductor industry: to build a global semiconductor center through the integration of "government industry and learning"
The global semiconductor industry originated in the United States in 1950s, and completed the first industrial transfer from the United States to Japan in 1970s-1980. During the period of industrial transfer, Japan was led by the government, and enterprises and research institutions worked together to achieve huge technological achievements. Under the advantages of cost and technology, Japanese enterprises took the opportunity to grow and expand rapidly. By 1990, Japan had occupied more than 50% of the global market share of memory chips, and occupied six seats in the world's top ten semiconductor enterprises.
 
After 1990s, with the second and third transfer of semiconductor industry, Japan lost its technological and cost advantages, and its market share fell rapidly.
 
2. Semiconductor materials in Japan: the industrial chain is extended to undertake the past glory of Semiconductors
Although the share of semiconductor industry in Japan has fallen, the former glory of semiconductor materials in Japan has continued. In 2015, Japan's market share of semiconductor materials reached 52%, with 15% of its own consumption, accounting for 50% or more of the 14 important semiconductor materials, making it the largest semiconductor material exporter in the world.
 
3. Japanese semiconductor material enterprises: the leader of subdivision in the field of accumulation and development
In the development process of many years, Japan has emerged a number of leading enterprises in semiconductor material segmentation fields, such as shinyue chemical, letterpress printing, Japanese synthetic rubber, etc. under the leadership of these enterprises, Japanese semiconductor materials have been growing and developing. Among them, Xinyue chemical mainly relies on its technological advantages to achieve endogenous growth through product research and development. However, letterpress Co., Ltd. relies more on extension and cooperation to complete the expansion.
 
4. Enlightenment to China
Through the history of the rise and fall of Japanese semiconductor industry, combined with the rise and fall of Japanese semiconductor material enterprises, we can give domestic enterprises the following enlightenment.
1. Through the & ldquo; integration of industry, government and learning & rdquo; to carry out national level basic research, the technical level is the first productivity.
2. Identify core products with high added value to avoid product dispersion.
3. Only by actively carrying out overseas R & D and cooperative R & D, can the collision of different technologies give birth to the spark of innovation.
4. The timely transformation of business model, along with the development of the times, can obtain the full recognition of customers.
 
1、 History of semiconductor industry in Japan
（1） History of semiconductor industry transfer
Semiconductor industry is the foundation of electronic information industry and represents the most advanced mainstream technology development in the world.
Semiconductor industry originated in the United States in the 1950s, and has experienced three large-scale industrial transfer. The first time was at the end of 1970s, from the United States to Japan. After the first transfer, Japan became the center of the world's semiconductors. The second time was from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, industries were transferred from Japan to South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and other places, forming a world-wide situation in which the United States, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries and regions stand side by side. The third is since the 21st century, China is undertaking the third large-scale transfer of semiconductor industry due to its advantages in labor cost and other aspects.

（2） Development stage of Japanese semiconductor enterprises
The development of Japanese semiconductor enterprises has experienced four stages in turn: Rise (1970s), prosperity (1980s), decline (1990s), and transformation (2000s).


 
1. Rise: 1970s, technology innovation driven by VLSI R & D Consortium
In the early 1970s, Japan's semiconductor industry as a whole lagged behind the United States for more than ten years. In the mid-1970s, Japanese semiconductor enterprises suffered two serious impacts. One is that Japan was forced to open its domestic computer and semiconductor market in 1975 and 1976 under the pressure of the United States; the other is that IBM developed a new high-performance computer called futuresystem (F / s), which uses a trillion dynamic random access memory far beyond the technical level of Japan.
 
From 1976 to 1979, under the guidance of the government, Japan began to implement the landmark VLSI (very large scale integrated circuit) joint integrated technology innovation action project. The project is led by Japan's Toyo Province, with Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Japan's five major electric companies as the backbone, and has combined the electrical technology laboratory (EIL) of Japan's Toyo Province, the electronic comprehensive research institute and the computer comprehensive research institute of Japan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, with a total investment of 72 billion yen to make breakthroughs in the core generic technology of the semiconductor industry.

The VLSI project is an important practice of the integration of government industry and University in Japan. It organizes the research talents of five computer companies that compete with each other and the Institute of electronic technology integrated research affiliated to the Ministry of general industry to carry out research work together. It not only focuses on the advantages of talents, but also promotes the mutual exchange and mutual inspiration between the computer companies that do not communicate with each other in technology, It has promoted the improvement of national semiconductor and integrated circuit technology, provided a platform for the further development of Japanese semiconductor enterprises, and made Japan's technology level in the field of microelectronics keep pace with that of the United States. During the four years of project implementation, more than 1000 patents have been obtained, greatly improving the VLSI production technology level of member enterprisesJapanese companies take the lead in the VLSI chip market.
 
At the same time, the government has also given strong support in policy. In 1957, the Japanese government promulgated the law of Interim Measures for the revitalization of the electronic industry to support Japanese enterprises to actively learn from the advanced technology of the United States and develop their semiconductor industry. In 1971 and 1978, the Interim Measures Law for the revitalization of specific electronic industry and specific mechanical industry and the Interim Measures Law for the revitalization of specific mechanical information industry were promulgated respectively, which further consolidated the development of Japanese information industry with semiconductor as the core.

2. Heyday: 1980s, relying on low price strategy to quickly occupy the market
At this stage, the main competitiveness of Japanese semiconductor industry is the cost advantage and reliability of products.
The rise of Japanese semiconductor industry takes memory as its entry point, mainly DRAM (dynamic random access memory). By the 1980s, thanks to the rapid development of Japan's automobile industry and the global large-scale computer market, DRAM demand increased dramatically. At that time, Japan had achieved the leading technology in DRAM. At this time, Japanese enterprises, relying on their large-scale production technology, gained the advantages of cost and reliability. Through the competitive strategy of low price promotion, they quickly penetrated into the U.S. market and rapidly replaced the U.S. as the main DRAM supplier in the world. With the development of Japanese semiconductors, the world market is rapidly shuffling. By 1989, the market share of Japanese chips in the global market was 53%, that of the United States was only 37%, that of Europe was 12%, that of South Korea was 1%, and that of other regions was 1%.

In the 1980s, Japan's semiconductor industry occupied an absolute dominant position in the international market. As of 1990, Japanese semiconductor enterprises accounted for six of the top ten and twelve of the top twenty in the world. Japanese semiconductor reached its peak.

3. Decline: 1990s, loss of technology and cost advantages, rapid decline of market share
From the perspective of the world technology development trend of microelectronics industry, in the 1990s, there was a technological revolution with downing as the core in the United States, and the new information and communication equipment represented by PC developed rapidly, but Japan did not have enough preparation in this field. At the same time, Japan's technical advantage in DRAM is gradually lost, and its cost advantage is also replaced by Korea, Taiwan and other places.
 
PC has become the leading product in the computer market instead of mainframe, and also the main application downstream of DRAM. Different from the high requirements of mainframe for DRAM quality and reliability (reliability guarantee for 25 years), the main demands of PC for DRAM are changed to low price. DRAM technology threshold is not high, South Korea, Taiwan and other places have mastered the core technology through technology introduction, and quickly replaced Japan as the main supplier through labor cost advantage. In 1998, South Korea replaced Japan as the largest DRAM producer, and the global DRAM industrial center was transferred from Japan to South Korea. After that, South Korea continued to maintain its position as a major producer of DRAM, while developing SOC for digital TV, mobile phone and so on. Taiwan, through increasing investment, built a world-class silicon foundry company & mdash; & mdash; TSMC and liandian, and developed a new semiconductor manufacturing mode. Meanwhile, it actively researched and developed some cutting-edge technologies, which can already match with Japan goes hand in hand.


In this stage, Japanese semiconductor products are relatively single (too concentrated on DRAM), with low added value; meanwhile, they fail to keep up with the world technology trend, and the Japanese semiconductor industry is severely damaged in this stage. By 2000, Japan's DRAM share had fallen to less than 10%.

4. Transformation: 2000s, merger, integration and transformation SOC
In order to recover the declining trend of semiconductor industry, Japanese semiconductor enterprises first carried out structural reform. All other Japanese semiconductor manufacturers except Elpida withdraw from the general DRAM field and concentrate their resources on the system integrated chip with high added value and other fields. In 2000, the DRAM departments of NEC and Hitachi merged to establish Elpida. Toshiba sold its factory in the United States in 2002. In 2003, Elpida merged the memory Department of Mitsubishi Electric. However, Elpida went bankrupt in 2012 and was acquired by Meguiar in 2013, marking the complete elimination of Japan in DRAM competition.
 
On the other hand, Japan has reopened three large-scale & mdash; projects & mdash; Mirai, Asuka and halca. The three projects were started in 2001, with the world-class super clean room (SCR) of the industrial technology comprehensive research institute as the research and development room. The & ldquo; Asuka & rdquo; project was jointly funded by 13 semiconductor manufacturers including NEC, Hitachi, Toshiba, etc. for 70 billion yen from 2001-2005, mainly developing the basic technology necessary for the semiconductor manufacturing with circuit width of 65 nm; the & ldquo; Mirai & rdquo; project time was 200 From January 1 to 2007, Japan's Ministry of economy, industry and industry invested 30 billion yen, and 25 enterprises' research institutes and 20 universities' research labs jointly researched the & ldquo; halca & rdquo; project, in addition to the research on practical manufacturing technology, further research on high-speed and energy-saving technology. These three projects coordinate and complement each other from principle, basic technology, practical technology to mass production technology. In addition, the Japanese government has also implemented the SOC basic technology development project (aspla), etc. to further redevelop the previous project research results.
 
At present, the world semiconductor industry has entered the era of oligarchyThe competition pattern is relatively stable. Although the share of Japanese enterprises in the semiconductor equipment industry is decreasing, Japanese enterprises still maintain a dominant position in some other segments of semiconductor industry and semiconductor materials. The main producers in DRAM field are Samsung, Hynix and micron (including the original Japanese Elpida acquired); the NAND field is Toshiba (a four day factory jointly invested with SanDisk), Samsung and micron; the semiconductor manufacturing equipment is Tel, screen, Hitachi high tech, etc.; the semiconductor materials are JSR, tok, shinyue, etc.; the wafer has shinyue, sumco, etc.


 
Two, the development status of semiconductor material industry in Japan
There are 19 kinds of necessary materials needed to produce semiconductor chips, and most of them have very high technical barriers. Therefore, semiconductor material enterprises play an important role in the semiconductor industry. And Japanese enterprises occupy 50% or more shares in 14 important materials, such as silicon wafer, synthetic semiconductor wafer, mask, photoresist, pharmaceutical industry, target material, protective coating film, lead frame, ceramic plate, plastic plate, tab, COF, welding wire, packaging material, etc. the Japanese semiconductor material industry has maintained an absolute advantage in the world for a long time.
Figure 7 IC industry chain (from polysilicon to integrated IC chip)







As the world's largest semiconductor material producer, in 2014, Japan's domestic semiconductor material consumption accounted for 22%, and Japan is also the world's leading semiconductor material exporter. Most semiconductor materials are exported to other countries in the Asia Pacific region. At present, although the semiconductor industry has started the third transfer, and gradually transferred to China based areas with more production advantages, the production capacity of supporting semiconductor materials in China needs to be improved.
Figure 11 distribution of global semiconductor consumption market in 2014

3、 Development history of major Japanese semiconductor material enterprises
Semiconductor materials provide raw materials for chip manufacturing and packaging testing in the semiconductor industry chain. According to its position in the industrial chain, it can be divided into two categories: wafer manufacturing materials and packaging materials. In 2015, the total output value of the global semiconductor market was US $43.4 billion, and the materials for wafer manufacturing and packaging were US $24.1 billion and US $19.3 billion, respectively. According to the industrial chain process, semiconductor materials can be divided into wafer manufacturing materials and packaging materials.
Figure 12 semiconductor industry chain

Figure 13 output value of semiconductor material classification

（1） The leading enterprise in semiconductor material industry
Silicon wafer and silicon substrate are the most important part of semiconductor materials, accounting for 32% of the market share of semiconductor materials. As one of the leading enterprises in the semiconductor material industry in Japan, shinyue Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. is the world's largest semiconductor wafer supplier, with a 27% share in the global semiconductor wafer Market in 2015.
Figure 14 proportion of semiconductor materials

Figure 15 global wafer market share

At present, the monocrystalline silicon of Xinyue chemical has reached the production level of 99.999999% (11 / 9) purity, and its technology is far superior to other enterprises. Its products have also developed from semiconductor silicon to the main products, including silicone series with silicon element as the core, rare earth magnets for HDDs, photoresists for semiconductors, epoxy molding plastics and liquid epoxy packaging materials.
Figure 16 Xinyue chemical silicon

Figure 17 classification of Xinyue chemical products

1. Representing the development process of advanced silicon industry in Japan
As a model of "domestic technology" of Japanese silicone industry, shinyue chemical also represents the development of the whole Japanese silicon industry. Specifically, the development of sinyue chemistry mainly includes four stages.
 
The first stage: basic research and industrialization (1941-1953)
After the Second World War, Japan began to contact the organosilicon industry in the United States. Toshiba, sinyue chemical and Shimadzu started to develop the industrial technology of organosilicon. In 1952, Xinyue Chemical Co., Ltd. completed the monomer model test by the direct method of powder contact and mixing. The silicone products began to enter the market, and the Japanese silicone industry began to transition to industrialization.
 
The second stage: high speed development stage (1953-1966)
In 1953, Xinyue chemical obtained the use right of direct law patent holder & mdash; General Electric Company (GE) of the United States; in 1954, the company obtained the subsidy of silicon rubber industrialization from Japan's Ministry of general industry; in 1957, the company signed a special use right agreement with DC company for related products; in 1960, the company began to produce 1960 high-purity silicon, vinyl acetate monomer, polyvinyl alcohol, the company has Silicon machine business is on the right track. With the aid of the government's industrial subsidies, the company vigorously carried out research and development work, independently developed new silicone rubber products such as polyurethane vinegar foam stabilizer with new structure, addition molding liquid silicone rubber and so on, which improved the company's market share. In March 1960, the sales volume of organosilicon products of Xinyue chemical company exceeded 100 million yen for the first time. Since then, Xinyue chemical company's organosilicon monomer productionAt present, photoresist is the core material representing the development level of the whole semiconductor industry, which has the index function.
Figure 23 distribution of global semiconductor photoresist market in 2015

4、 Inspiration from the development of semiconductor materials industry in Japan to China
（1） Research on national basic research through the integration of industry, government and learning
In the early stage of development, China's semiconductor material industry can be overtaken by introducing foreign advanced technology, but in the long run, it is still necessary to learn the principle of independent research and development and independent production of Japanese semiconductor enterprises. Led by the government, all enterprises and research institutions jointly research, tackle large-scale basic research projects, develop key technologies, expand the proportion of semiconductor materials with independent intellectual property rights, and provide a platform for the development of enterprises in the industry. After each enterprise cooperates to develop key technologies, each enterprise will be commercialized.
 
（2） Identify core products with high added value to avoid product dispersion
In terms of the current global semiconductor industry, DRAM is the main product in South Korea, while American companies focus on MPU, DSP or MCU products, while Japanese companies generally produce 4-6 major products, lacking competitive core products. In terms of the semiconductor material industry, Japan's well-developed semiconductor material enterprises are basically their own fist products. After years of continuous investment in research and development of these products, the technical level of the industry is leading, ensuring the market share and market position of each enterprise.
 
（3） Actively carry out overseas R & D and cooperative R & D
In the 1980s, Japanese semiconductor manufacturers set up R & D bases in foreign countries, and established a good trust relationship with large users in the United States through joint development. However, in the late 1990s, with the decline of industry prosperity, Japanese semiconductor enterprises began to integrate and withdraw foreign R & D bases. On the one hand, the technology level began to be overtaken by emerging markets, on the other hand, the trust relationship with major customers in the United States was also damaged, which further reduced the international market share of Japanese semiconductor enterprises. However, Japanese semiconductor material enterprises have always maintained the fine tradition of overseas R & D and cooperative R & D, maintained the technological leadership and trust relationship, so Japanese semiconductor material enterprises still occupy a large share of the international market.
 
（4） Timely transformation of business model
Japanese semiconductor companies used to adopt IDM mode in the past, but after entering the 1990s, fabless + foundry mode is more suitable for the development of semiconductor industry in the world, while Japan did not transform from traditional IDM mode to light-duty mode in time.
Figure 24 development process of semiconductor business model

&Japan's semiconductor enterprises have a long industrial chain, which not only includes complete machine production and equipment production, but also involves the production of supporting components and parts. Although this mode has the advantages of supporting production, meeting the diversified needs of customers has become the focus of competition, and the specialization of semiconductor industry has become the development trend. After entering the 90s, the traditional IDM can not quickly respond to customer needs, showing a competitive disadvantage. Therefore, China's semiconductor enterprises should fully learn from the experience of Japan in the s, find a suitable business model, and carry out a thorough and powerful business model transformation in time with the development of the times.
Figure 25 IDM business model


 
Figure 26 introduction of fabless + foundry mode

Excerpted from GF Securities report < br style = "margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max width: 100%; box sizing: border box! Important; word wrap: break word! Important;" / >