According to news on the 15th, the United States announced that it will increase tariffs on my country’s steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, critical minerals, solar cells, ships, cranes, medical supplies, etc.
As far as semiconductors are concerned, domestic exports of coded flash memory chips (NOR Flash) will be affected.
The United States bluntly stated that this substantial increase in tariffs is to prevent the influx of my country's mature semiconductor technology into the United States. Looking at the chip factories including Weir Semiconductor, Zhuosheng Micro, etc., their products are mostly the same as those of American companies. Domestic companies are in The microcontroller (MCU), power semiconductor and other markets have been successfully cultivated, which has seriously affected the business of US companies such as TI. Biden has raised tariffs on my country's semiconductor products exported to the US. Most of these mature chip orders will be transferred back to US companies.
It is worth noting that NOR Flash is an area in which US companies are quite weak. According to a report by IC Insights, a research institute, the global NOR Flash market is dominated by three manufacturers: Winbond, Macronix, and GigaDevice. Winbond ranks first with a market share of 35%, followed by Macronix with a market share of 33%, and GigaDevice with a market share of 33%. The third place is 23.2%, and the three manufacturers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait have a total of more than 91% of the market share.
However, all terminal products, ranging from cars, refrigerators, AI servers, to iPhones, laptops, PCs, white goods and watches, must be equipped with NOR chips. The United States cannot be self-sufficient in NOR chips and can only rely on outsourcing.
The NOR chip market is dominated by the top three on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Now it is facing the pressure of high tariffs from the United States. If the United States wants to buy NOR chips, buying orders will inevitably flow to the two Taiwanese manufacturers, Winbond and Macronix.