[News] China’s Semiconductor Patents Reportedly Surge over 40% amid U.S. Export Restrictions and AI Boom

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China has been in the spotlight lately with its breakthroughs in semiconductors. Following the buzz that SMIC is said to produce 5nm chips for Huawei this year, Xiaomi is rumored to have taped out its first 3nm SoC. China’s efforts can also been seen by the surge of semiconductor patent applications, with the country’s filing in 2023-24 soaring by 42%, according to a report by The Register.

Citing the data from IP firm Mathys & Squire, the report notes that there is a 22% global increase in semiconductor patent applications, rising from 66,416 in 2022-23 to 80,892 in 2023-24.

It is worth noting that China’s semiconductor sector is rapidly advancing in response to U.S. export controls, while its semiconductor patent applications during 2023-24 showed the strongest growth among all regions, rising from 32,840 to 46,591 with a 42% year-over-year increase, according to The Register.

However, China’s surge in patent applications is not solely influenced by geopolitical factors. AI accelerators and high-performance chips have become highly sought after amid the AI boom, leading chipmakers around the world, including those in China, to rush to file patents for the next breakthrough in AI hardware, the report states.

An expert from Mathys & Squire cited by the report states that as the U.S.-China chip war intensifies, export restrictions are prompting China to increase its investment in domestic semiconductor research and development, and this is now evident in their rising patent applications.

On the other hand, the U.S. is also making great strides in semiconductors. The data from IP firm Mathys & Squire reveals that the hometown of chip giants Intel, Qualcomm and NVIDIA experienced a 9 percent increase in patent filings, reaching 21,269 in 2023-24.

With government policies channeling funds into domestic chip production—TSMC’s Arizona plant being a notable example—the U.S. is eager to strengthen its supply chain while intensifying its research and development initiatives, which is in line with the trend, the report suggests.

Nevertheless, China is still years behind the most cutting-edge chip technologies, the report points out. For instance, the report notes that the CPU released by Chinese chip firm Loongson last week, 3B6600, though claiming to rival 7nm x86 processors, would be similar to match the performance of AMD and Intel’s products from five years ago.

Read more

• [News] Xiaomi Rumored to Have Taped out its First 3nm Chipset, Which Might be Launched Next Year
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