On July 1, according to foreign media reports, the United States has previously announced that it will impose new export controls on technologies such as EDA software necessary for designing GAAFET (all-gate field effect transistor) structure integrated circuits.
EDA software is the key to custom system semiconductor design and has become a key factor in the global semiconductor war. It is not only used for circuit simulation and error verification, but also for post-processing package design.
Market research data shows that the global EDA market is dominated by American companies such as Synopsys, Cadence and Siemens EDA, accounting for nearly 75% of the market share. The remaining 25% is occupied by mainland China and European companies. Although there are two EDA companies in South Korea, their market share is close to 0.
As the United States strengthens semiconductor supervision on mainland China, the importance of EDA technology has become prominent. Major countries and regions have begun to use EDA as a strategic weapon in the semiconductor war, imposing strict conditions for use and increasing costs.
Some experts and practitioners said that without EDA, it is really impossible to make chips. The transistors in the old SOC were more than tens of millions, and the number now is hundreds of millions or even billions. If one line is connected incorrectly, the function of the entire product may change. In other words, you spend tens of millions and only get a brick that a bunch of people can't smash. All previous investments are wasted. Generally speaking, the more advanced the process, the more expensive the manufacturing and R&D costs, even for the very old 0.5um and 0.35um processes.
