Not all the investment is going into foundries. Since last year, the number of Shanghai chip-design houses has doubled, to 56. A city government-backed incubator called the Shanghai Research Center for Integrated Circuit Design hopes to have 41 tenants by yearend, according to Wang Ye, its director. One of them is Shanghai Fangcun Semiconductor, a startup that designs chips for a mainland company that makes personal digital assistants for schools. The tech-worker shortage is so dire that Hao Min of Shanghai Hua Hong is sending staff to night school.
Red tape is another headache.
That means one of Shanghai's largest plants is operating under capacity. Hiccups and headaches aside, Shanghai's push into the semiconductor industry illustrates how quickly China is moving up the global food chain in the electronics industry. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.