日本三大半导体厂求合体，Globalfoundries有意加入

《日本经济新闻(Nikkei)》日前报导，日本三大电子厂瑞萨(Renesas)、富士通(Fujitsu)与松下(Panasoinic)有意合并彼此的系统芯片(SoC)设计/研发业务，成立一家新公司；此外该报导并指出，这三家公司也有意将芯片制造部门独立，成立一家专职生产的新机构。 据了解，若三大日本电子厂真的成立合资公司，将可获得来自日本官方支持的“日本创新网络(Innovation Network Corp. of Japan，INCJ)”机构之大笔资金；而传言也指出， Globalfoundries 也有意加入合资的行列。日经新闻的报导充其量只能说是概略性的，因为尚未有任何一家日本公司开始着手针对此计划进行会谈。 而 这样一个复杂的合并/合资公司计划，充斥着日本政府经济产业省(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry，MEITI)的官僚气息；实际上，这类产业政策是起不了多大作用的，它也许能让那三家虚弱的电子厂商(主要是富士通与松下)因政府施援手而多活几年，但此举却可能威胁其中最有潜力的赢家(瑞萨)，在已经非常竞争的移动SoC市场上无法立足。 让我们来破解这个研拟中的计划吧！首先，日本半导体业者已经历过一系列的整并，包括瑞萨在2009年陆续合并了三菱(Mitsubishi)与NEC的芯片业务。甚至到现在，瑞萨仍在整理透过多起收购案得来的所有业务；该公司并在 2010年做了一个策略性决定，将瑞萨移动(Renesas Mobile)独立为百分之百持股的子公司，聚焦手机应用的SoC。 瑞萨移动的目标是在手机市场上成为“高通(Qualcomm)之外的选择”，而我怀疑，富士通半导体以ASIC为核心的业务型态，以及松下主要专注在大规模集成电路(LSI)研发的现况，是否有助于瑞萨移动达成目标？我认为，帮助不大。 在此同时，对松下来说，预兆早已浮现了好一段时间；这家日本消费性电子大厂也许在十年前曾风光一时，并拥有自家开发的、为该公司一系列数字消费性电子装置量 身打造的Uniphier LSI芯片。这个构想在那个时候是不错，松下也颇有雄心要将其芯片推销给其它客户，但随着台湾芯片设计业者如晨星(MStar)、联发科 (MediaTek)在近几年崛起，该计划逐渐失色。 松下在去年秋天宣布缩减半导体业务，将裁减约1,000名相关人力，并将芯片生产业务外包；据估计，松下芯片产能提供集团内用的比例在五成左右，但在该公司停止生产电视机之后可能进一步减少。对于正试图重整半导体业务的松下 来说，若能与瑞萨还有富士通合并，无疑是天上掉下来的礼物，该公司突然就有个地方能够把晶圆厂还有相关人员塞过去。 至于富士通半导体的困境，是在于缺乏平台；富士通仍主要是一家ASIC供货商，该公司可能在为国内系统商客户打造出色ASIC方面表现杰出，但一直无法转型 为ASSP供货商。富士通半导体能为假想中的三方合资公司提供之优势一样不明，也许是如NTT Docomo等的更多日本客户，但可确定的是不会有太多海外客户。 而更诡异的提案是将上述三家日本厂商的芯片制造业务合并──要如何让被那三家公司放弃的晶圆厂成为可行的芯片制造合资公司？此外，精确地说，Globalfoundries将在其中扮演什么角色？ 总的看来，这个创建两家合资公司(一家负责芯片设计，一家专职芯片制造)的计谋，可能只是让三家电子厂方便拋弃掉不想要的东西，而且不会被日本社会冠上“裁员恶棍”的污名 (在日本，裁员与关闭工厂会是特别大的事件)。 但缺乏领导者以及优柔寡断(总是不可避免地拖延一年又一年)的民族性，已经让日本电子产业损失甚钜；这个曾经在日本岛上最活跃的产业，现在像无头苍蝇一样不知何去何从，对未来很茫然。日本有句俗谚说“只要团结一致，就无可畏惧”；但现在看来，这群人很害怕，没人想率先跨出第一步。 编译：Judith Cheng 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文： Commentary: Japan Inc. faces choppy seas，by Junko Yoshida

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{pagination} Commentary: Japan Inc. faces choppy seas Junko Yoshida Nikkei, Japan’s economic journal, reported Wednesday (Feb. 8th) the potential merger of the SoC design/development divisions of Japan’s big three electronics companies – Renesas, Fujitsu and Panasonic – into one new company. Separately, according to Nikkei, the three companies will spin off their chip manufacturing divisions and create a new entity focused on production. That joint venture will reportedly receive a huge capital infusion from a Japanese government-backed investment fund called Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), and Global Foundries is reportedly expected to become a part of that joint venture. The Nikkei report is sketchy at best since none of the Japanese companies supposedly involved in the deal is talking. The blueprint for such a complex merger/joint venture plan has fingerprints of Japan’s bureaucrats at Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (MEITI) all over it. Practically speaking, such business engineering makes little sense. The plan may salvage the weaker players of the three (read: Fujitsu and Panasonic) to survive for several more years through government handouts. But the move threatens the potential winner of the three (Renesas Mobile) with a reduction to irrelevancy in the already very competitive mobile SoC market. Let’s break down the proposed deal. First, Japan’s semiconductor companies have already undergone a series of consolidations. Renesas merged with the chip division of Mitsubishi, then with NEC’s chip division in 2009. Even now, Renesas is still sorting out all the assets it acquired through its various transactions. But Renesas made a strategic decision in 2010 to spin off Renesas Mobile, as a 100 percent subsidiary, solely focused on SoCs for the mobile business. In particular, for Renesas Mobile, which is looking to become “the Qualcomm alternative" in the mobile world, I doubt the infusion of Fujitsu Semiconductor’s mostly ASIC-centric business and Panasonic’s mostly inward-looking captive LSI development business could help advance its cause. Not much, in my opinion. Meanwhile, for Panasonic, the handwriting has been on the wall for awhile. The Japanese consumer electronics giant may have had its moment a decade ago, as it developed its home-grown Uniphier LSI chips, originally designed as an engine for a host of the company’s own digital consumer electronics products. A good idea at the time, and the company indeed harbored ambitions of extending its chip business to external customers. But that plan has steadily faded as SoC power houses in Taiwan like MStar; and MediaTek have emerged in the last several years. Late last fall, Panasonic announced its plan to shrink its semiconductor business by shedding about 1,000 employees and outsourcing chip production. Panasonic's internal IC consumption, which accounts for 50 percent of its total output, is expected to fall further as the company cuts back TV production. For Panasonic, which has been exploring ways to restructure its semiconductor business, the proposed merger plan with Renesas and Fujitsu must be a God’s send. Suddenly, it has a place to unload its fabs and engineers. What’s ailing Fujitsu Semiconductor is the lack of a platform. Fujitsu remains primarily an ASIC company. It may excel in crafting great ASICs for domestic system buyers, but it has never been able to transform its business into an ASSP supplier. Again, the assets Fujitsu Semiconductor could bring to the three-way Japan Inc. chip joint venture remains unclear. Perhaps, more Japanese customers, like NTT Docomo. But surely not many global customers. Even more mysterious is the proposed scenario of merging all three companies’ chip manufacturing units. How could the combined fabs dumped by the three companies become a viable chip production venture? And, precisely, what role will Globalfoundries play? This whole maneuver of creating two separate JVs (one for chip design and another for chip manufacturing) could be simply a convenient way for the three companies to unload a lot of assets they no longer want – without being painted as “job-killing” villains in the Japanese society. (Layoffs and fab closures are particularly problematic in Japan) But a lack of leadership, or an endemic case of indecisiveness (postponing the inevitable year after year), is costing the Japanese electronics industry dearly. Once the highest flying industry in the Land of Rising Sun, the electronics sector is now blindly huddling together — like orphans in a boxcar — with little idea of its future. There is a Japanese saying: “If we cross the street (river, or whatever) together, there will be nothing to fear.” But right now, the view from the boxcar is pretty fearful, and nobody wants to cross the tracks.