The chips are down in China as imports see largest ever drop China's imports of semiconductors and integrated circuits were hit by their largest ever drop last year, although chips are said to remain the country's biggest import item. Semiconductor imports by China reached a total value of $349.4 billion, according to customs data reported by Beijing. These figures are down by 15.4 …
Is it just wishful thinking or are we truly unable to connect the dots? We've effectively embarked on a trade war with China with an attack that has dropped any pretense of security but instead openly seeks to hold back their progress. Our politicians, media and pundits all talk about China in belligerent terms bordering on open racism while our foreign policy seems hyperfocused on 'containing' China up to the point of open military confrontation. Faced with this level of bullying China's obviously not going to respond in kind -- yet-- but it would be naive to think that there won't be consequences. (Yes, I know that in our World View China just has to lump it because they can't exist without our trade and technology but that view doesn't necessarily represent reality.)
Perhaps the most interesting recent business news is that Apple have had to take the hitherto unprecedented step of cutting their product prices in China to boost sales. China is a very important market for them but I'd guess that a combination of being a symbol of everything American and also being just relatively OK in its performance and features has taken the edge off it. I expect more of this at all levels.
Not sure what you mean here with your "connect the dots".
Chinese imports are down across the board: iron ore, crude oil etc... This is mainly caused by the slump in Chinese exports and to the economic crisis China is facing right now, following their zero-covid policy and the FDI-hostile policy from CCP authorities. Did you assume all these semiconductors were solely for domestic consumption?
Official figures are: For the 2023 full year, China posted a surplus of USD 823 billion, with exports falling 4.6% to USD 3.38 trillion while imports dropped 5.5% to USD 2.56 trillion.
Also, prices in China drop across the board. It's not just Apple.
Deflation: Why falling prices in China raise concerns (BBC). The whole financial press is full of articles on China's economic slump. The CSI 300 performance is mediocre, compared to major financial places China's Stock Market Is in Free Fall (Newsweek).
Many analysts question the official figure of 5.2% growth for 2023.
the data was also affected by China’s efforts to boost local output to cut reliance on imported chips.
the country is making solid progress in boosting local output of legacy chips, including those being used in cars and home appliances, to satisfy domestic demand.
According to the customs data, China’s imports of diodes and similar semiconductor devices, a proxy of garden-variety commodity chips, were also down by 23.8 per cent in volume terms last year.
Jan 12, 2024
As China is building more new fabs than any other country on the planet, it is on track to significantly boost its chipmaking capabilities in the coming years. Barclays expects the country to more than double its capacity within the next five to seven years, Bloomberg reports. This growth surpasses current market predictions and may be another example how badly China wants to be self-reliant when it comes to chipmaking.
Jan 13 , 2024
Chinese etching tools giant Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) expects revenue last year to grow more than 30 per cent from 2022, as core technology breakthroughs enabled the firm to deploy more chip-making gear to domestic semiconductor fabrication plants.
Shanghai-based AMEC said in a regulatory filing on Sunday that its 2023 revenue is expected to reach 6.26 billion yuan (US$879 million), up 32.1 per cent from the previous year, on the back of strong domestic demand. The company said it recorded 8.36 billion yuan worth of new orders, a 32.3 per cent year-on-year increase.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
