The US has increased sanctions on Chinese chips, which has led to the impact of declining sales. The US semiconductor industry giant Intel (Intel) plans to lay off large-scale layoffs, the number of which may be as high as thousands or more, to reduce costs.
According to "Bloomberg" reports, Intel plans to announce the decision to lay off employees in the third quarter of this year, including sales and marketing.
The last time Intel made large layoffs was in 2016, when it cut about 12,000 jobs, the report said. Intel is facing a sharp drop in demand for PC processors while competing for market share with another big U.S. maker, AMD. In July, the finance department warned that 2022 sales would be about $11 billion lower than previously expected, and analysts expect the company’s third-quarter revenue to fall by about 15%.
"Bloomberg" believes that Intel has lost its long-term technological advantage, and the executive class also admits that the company's innovation culture has withered in recent years. The PC, data center and artificial intelligence divisions weighed on the company's revenue amid the global economic downturn.
According to data from IDC, a global research institute, global PC sales fell by 15% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. The agency Canalys also recently released a report on global PC shipments in the third quarter, showing that notebook PC shipments fell by 19% year-on-year, showing that the PC market has weakened.
Most outside analysts are not optimistic about Intel's prospects. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya said that layoffs and divisions are necessary measures for Intel to try to reduce costs. It is estimated that it can cut 20% of marketing and sales expenses next year, which may help Intel's revenue next year. $1.3 billion to help the company meet its dividend commitments of about $6 billion.
Vivek Arya said, but Intel's internal disadvantages are still unavoidable, including Intel's foundry business is far behind TSMC, and its high dependence on the computer business will be a major problem for the company.
The U.S. sanctions on Chinese chips, and the Biden administration’s order has affected more than the past 4 years combined. Chinese executives are leaving.
Last Friday, the Biden administration of the United States announced new sanctions on China's chip industry, this time the blow is unprecedented. After a few days of fermentation, we have indeed seen that various effects are gradually emerging. China's chip stocks have plummeted, and a list of American executives is also circulating on the Chinese Internet. Many people exclaimed that China's high There are so many American executives in tech companies.
U.S. chip sanctions are like nuclear bombs, Chinese executives have left
However, these executives are leaving one after another. According to industry sources, a large number of domestic semiconductor manufacturers are currently involved, including Yangtze Memory, Huali, ICRD Jiading Factory, Hefei Changxin DRAM Factory, and Hangzhou Jihai.
U.S. wafer manufacturing equipment suppliers KLA and Lam Research are also withdrawing their employees at Yangtze River Storage and suspending business activities.
"Unless authorized, various equipment and other suppliers will have to withdraw personnel from fabs in China," a source told Reuters.
The Reuters source also said that as of midnight on Tuesday, suppliers also could not support, service and ship non-U.S. supplies to Chinese factories without a license if U.S. companies or individuals were involved. As a result, even essential items such as light bulbs, springs and bolts that keep tools running may not be shipped until the supplier is licensed. And those foundries in China, if they don't get the minute-by-minute support they need, they could start closing, according to one source.
The news revealed by the minutes of the expert meeting in the Chinese industry also includes that the impact of the new sanctions has affected every company in the semiconductor industry in China like never before. Not only did the Americans leave the venue before the 12th, but also the technology and equipment controlled by the United States also Cannot be used for blocked logic chips, DRAM memory and NAND flash memory.
Moreover, the order for equipment purchased by Chinese companies will not be delivered even before the ban is announced by the Biden administration on October 7, which is also a completely different place from the previous sanctions. Even if the money is paid, the advance payment will be refunded. Those Chinese chip factories under construction will simply not be completed.
U.S. companies dominate certain areas of the global wafer production equipment supply chain. Among them, U.S.-based Klei is known for semiconductor inspection equipment, Lam Group is known for etching machines, and Applied Materials is known for wafer surface deposition. Material layer tools, etc., are also key steps in the production of wafers.
Even if it is not the equipment of American companies, it is difficult to leave American technology, because the modern chip industry was born in the United States, and the famous TSMC and ASML of the Netherlands were developed with the support of the United States. At present, ASML has issued a notice to American employees to stop serving China.
The new ban stipulates that even foreign-made chips related to artificial intelligence and supercomputing that use U.S. tools and software in the design and manufacturing process require a license to be exported to China.
The attack on Chinese companies is actually not just about advanced processes. For example, Changxin Company, although the limit is below 18 nanometers, its 19 nanometer equipment has to sign an agreement to ensure that the products will not be used in the military field and not used in 18 nanometers. The following, so even if you apply, the United States will basically not agree.
How bad is this blow?
In addition to the fact that many company executives are American or have green cards and will have to resign, those employees of American companies that are providing services in Chinese companies, even a team of several hundred people, will not be able to stay, because "they will face return The United States or the risk of being caught when passing through a country that the United States can extradite to." Even if the person serving is Chinese, because the technology is American, it cannot continue to work.
Of course, this has also sparked discussions on the Internet. For example, netizen Mao Zong asked: "Qian Xuesen and Deng Jiaxian were both scrambling to give up the favorable conditions overseas to serve the motherland. Has this era changed now? The green card will all resign and make money. Are people getting smarter, or is the US imperialist getting smarter?"
Regarding this issue, there is actually a long-term misrepresented information. Qian Xuesen, the father of Chinese missiles, was a model figure who resolutely returned to the mainland to build socialism in the propaganda of the CCP, but in fact he was attacked by the United States against communism at that time. The McCarthy movement spread, and he couldn't stay, so he had to return to China. After the establishment of the CCP in October 1949, Qian Xuesen applied to the USCIS for naturalization, requesting US citizenship.
Of course, although it was an accidental injury, the US government did not make trouble for nothing. Because the FBI at that time discovered from the documents of the American Communist Party that Qian Xuesen had contacted the special envoy Zhou Enlai. His application for naturalization was then rejected and he was banned from participating in classified work.
So, why is the American citizenship or green card rare today? There are two main reasons. First, the CCP’s own high-ranking officials and dignitaries have broken their heads and turned themselves and their children and grandchildren into European and American green cards. Why should others stay when the disaster strikes?
The second reason is that they judged based on reality that China's semiconductor industry has suffered a catastrophe. What can change even if one or two people stay? What's more, everyone in the industry knows that semiconductor is a highly divided and international field. Even the famous Dutch company ASML has gathered talents from all over the world and accessories from many top companies. It is impossible to complete it alone. The most advanced lithography machine, so the CCP's closed doors is hopeless.
