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Last week, at a media tour organized by the Beijing municipal government, Liansheng Technology manager Tian Ye told visitors that the company’s products were “breaking the market monopoly.” [Microsoft’s] Windows”.
UnioTech, a company formed by a community of Chinese Linux enthusiasts, is leading the effort to replace foreign operating systems on domestic personal computers (PCs) and servers. Its Linux-based PC operating system is becoming increasingly popular with government customers as it provides an alternative to Windows.
China’s efforts to phase out foreign systems in its military and state agencies have been going on for years and are gaining momentum as a state-led innovation movement aims to develop homegrown alternatives to foreign chips, systems, databases and software. It also plans to turn the domestic technology sector into a 100 billion yuan ($13.9 billion) industry next year.
Despite these efforts, analysts say China still faces key obstacles in the semiconductor industry.
Dan Hutcheson, vice chairman of TechInsights, a Canadian semiconductor industry research company, said in a webinar last week that China is about 10 to 15 years behind the West in photolithography technology, a key step in wafer manufacturing, although the gap in processing technology is smaller. .
Russel Wu, general manager of TML, a network equipment startup that once worked for Intel, said that China lags behind foreign competitors in product quality and chip manufacturing precision, but if necessary, China will strive to achieve self-sufficiency.
“As long as cooperation is possible, we will choose to cooperate. [but] If we can’t do that, we go our own way,” Wu said. “It might be slower, but we won’t die.”
He added that startup activities provide an opportunity to create China’s own ecosystem, allowing local startups to rely on each other and grow together.
China launches domestic operating system to compete with Windows
China launches domestic operating system to compete with Windows
UnioTech’s operating system has been configured to be compatible with most processors produced by major Chinese central processing unit (CPU) manufacturers and brands, including Huawei, Haiguang Information Technology, Feiteng Technology, Loongson, Zhaoxin Semiconductor and Sunway.
Most of these companies have been blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, meaning their access to global foundry services has been blocked. Therefore, they rely on Chinese chip manufacturers to produce CPUs.
UnioTech said that as of last year, its systems were installed on more than 6 million local computers in China and had a 40,000-strong customer base, including entities such as government departments, financial institutions and state-owned enterprises.
China’s central government promised in March that spending on science and technology development would grow by 10% this year, reaching about 370.8 billion yuan. The additional fiscal support comes even as the country’s economy is mired in debt and a sluggish housing market.
Some foreign companies operating in China are already feeling the heat of local efforts to switch to domestic alternatives.
State-backed company apologizes for ‘homegrown’ software based on Microsoft code
State-backed company apologizes for ‘homegrown’ software based on Microsoft code
Cloud computing company VMware, recently acquired by California chip giant Broadcom, last year cut the size of its sales team in China, in part because state-owned enterprises shunned its database services, people familiar with the matter said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private business matters.
VMware faces increasing competition from Huawei and other Chinese companies offering similar solutions, people familiar with the matter said.
VMware did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This is nothing new; China’s impulse to replace foreign technology has been going on on and off for two decades,” said Cameron Johnson, a supply chain expert in Shanghai.
“U.S. companies in China are aware of China’s motivation to prioritize domestic IT suppliers and see this as contradictory to China’s attempts to convince the rest of the world of its openness to business.”
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