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Liang Mong-song, a former senior research-and-development executive at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), was named co-CEO of China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) on October 16, 2017. The appointment followed a TSMC lawsuit over confidential process technology that had prevented Liang from working for Samsung. SMIC brought him in alongside co-CEO Haijun Zhao as it sought to strengthen its technology development and manufacturing yields.
Who was Liang Mong-song?
Liang was an advanced-process R&D specialist who had held a senior R&D director role at TSMC and later became chief technology officer of Samsung’s system LSI division. SMIC announced him as co-CEO on October 16, 2017; he and Haijun Zhao were also executive directors.
What was the TSMC trade-secret case about?
In 2015, TSMC won a lawsuit against Liang concerning the leakage of company secrets, including information about its 28-nanometer process technology, to Samsung. The litigation prevented Liang from working for Samsung. The 2017 EE Times report said TSMC corporate communications director Elizabeth Sun declined to comment on his appointment at SMIC.
Calling Liang simply a “secrets leaker” can obscure the distinction between the case and the appointment: the reported lawsuit concerned confidential know-how and his Samsung role, while SMIC’s 2017 announcement was a separate hiring decision. The EE Times account does not establish details about any later legal proceedings.
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Why did SMIC hire him?
SMIC’s appointment was presented as a bid to improve its technology development, R&D and manufacturing yield. Independent analyst Andrew Lu said Liang could help narrow the company’s advanced-node gap with TSMC and Samsung, while emphasizing that stronger process technology alone would not resolve the utilization challenge.
“We expect this to be structurally positive to SMIC to narrow its advanced technology node gap with TSMC and Samsung.”
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Lu added: “SMIC clearly needs the help of technology, R&D and yield improvement for the long-term.” These were his assessments at the time, not evidence of results achieved after Liang joined.
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What did SMIC’s 14nm and 28nm ambitions look like in 2017?
The appointment came amid a sizable gap between SMIC’s reported process position and the roadmaps of larger rivals. The following are the plans and conditions described in the 2017 EE Times report, not statements of current production capability:
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| Company | 2017-era process position or plan | What the comparison shows |
|---|---|---|
| SMIC | Still developing 28nm capability; the report described utilization at 80–85%. | Lu argued that yield improvement and higher utilization were important to changing SMIC’s competitive position. |
| TSMC | Planned 16nm production at a new Nanjing fab in the second half of 2018, and planned to begin 7nm production in Taiwan the following year. | These were forward-looking plans reported in 2017, not confirmation here of whether or when they were completed. |
| UMC | The report said it had begun 14nm production. | This was a reported 2017 status, not a current node comparison. |
Lu said SMIC’s utilization would need to rise above 90%, from the 80–85% level cited in the report, for the “lose-lose situation” he described to change. He also tied improvement to raising 28nm yields, which could support wafer prices or utilization. The figures are his 2017 analysis, not a general threshold for foundries or a later measurement of SMIC.
What did the China foundry market figures add?
IC Insights forecast pure-play foundry sales in China at $7 billion in 2017, up 16% from 2016. It forecast TSMC to account for about 46% of that revenue, with sales of about $3.2 billion, up 10% from 2016. Those estimates illustrate the market stakes described in the 2017 report; they do not measure current market share.
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What the appointment does—and does not—show
In 2017, SMIC’s choice of a process-development veteran signaled an effort to close a technology gap through technical leadership as well as manufacturing improvement. It did not, by itself, demonstrate that SMIC had reached 14nm, solved 28nm yield issues or matched the rivals’ roadmaps. The cited report provides no basis for claims about Liang’s current employment or SMIC’s later process results.
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