Russia is not afraid of the collapse of the global microchip market

The problem is Western sanctions

The planetary situation with sales of microchips leaves much to be desired. In January, they collapsed by 18.5% to $41.33 billion compared to $50.74 billion a year earlier. Demand is so low that manufacturers simply have nowhere to put their goods. For Russia, its microelectronics industry and the economy as a whole, such overstocking of the global semiconductor market has unobvious consequences. Rather, the point is not in it, but in the realities of sanctions: the supply of high-tech equipment from the United States and Europe has been stopped.

According to a press release from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), sales in the Americas in January decreased by 12.4% compared to the same month a year earlier, in China – by 31.6%, in Asia-Pacific and other regions – by 19.5%. While in Europe they grew by 0.9%, in Japan – by 0.7%. Taiwan’s Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and South Korean IT giant Samsung are now the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, with market shares of 54% and 17%, respectively. Their stocks are down and sales are down 30-50%.

As for Russia, as Reuters reported in December, Western chips (even from American companies such as Intel and AMD) are being imported into our country in circumvention of sanctions. Of course, supplies go through unofficial channels – from companies in other countries. There is also own production, with an annual output of about 150 billion rubles: the Soviet legacy in the field of microelectronics is affecting. We produce microcircuits with a design resolution of 90 nanometers, there are developments for 65 nanometers. If we talk about consumer electronics, then this is the level of 2005-2008. Such chips are not suitable for modern smartphones and PCs, but they are quite enough for household appliances and industrial equipment. There is also a state program for the development of the microelectronic industry in Russia, if implemented, by 2030 the country will be able to independently provide itself with the main assortment of semiconductors.

With the latest microcircuits (9-15 nanometers), the situation is fundamentally different. Firstly, no country alone produces them, and secondly, Russia will not be able to buy them due to sanctions from “unfriendly” states.

“The situation with chips in Russia is ambiguous, but it seems that the collapse in sales on world markets has little effect on it,” says Nikita Maslennikov, a leading expert at the Center for Political Technologies. “On the one hand, microchips determine the smoothness of many industries, from IT to manufacturing. – At the same time, sanctions remain in force, and deliveries through parallel import channels are so small that they cannot replenish the dwindling stocks of finished products. The problem is exacerbated by a new round of technological war between the US and China. Washington recently stopped granting US companies licenses to export technology to Huawei. In addition, in the case of imports from “friendly” countries, the question of price-quality ratio arises, which is far from always perfect.”