Beware of the fake semiconductor "30 % is illegal"

As a result of an electronic device manufacturer who could not buy it on a regular route due to the shortage of semiconductors, the damage has been caused by fraudulent items as a result.Approximately 30 % of the semiconductors brought to a company that worked on the authenticity (Shingan) were fraudulent.Nevertheless, the current semiconductor shortage is serious enough to make a danger on the back.

In May, Shenzhen, China, accumulated by electronic equipment manufacturers.Jenichi Fujioka's highest executive (CEO) of JENESIS, an electronic device contract production service (EMS) company, felt that his back was frozen.

No power is turned on the microcomputer (semiconductor that controls electronic devices) that has just reached the factory.If you look closely, the dimensions of the package seem to be slightly different.When I asked an expert to investigate, the manufacturer name was exactly the same, but the contents were completely different from the specification varieties I wanted.

The payment of the microcomputer has already been completed.I hurriedly contacted the procurement, but the festival later.No matter how many times I contacted me, it was a crush.

JENESIS purchased this microcomputer on a mail order site operated by the Chinese Alibaba group.In response to the shortage of semiconductors, I couldn't buy a microcomputer on my usual route.I chose a mail order, but it backfired.

Increasingly "distribution inventory"

Against the backdrop of a semiconductor deficiency in which no signs of resolve is visible, the number of inquiries of semiconductors "distribution inventory" is increasing.It is a product without a manufacturer that is procured from a semiconductor manufacturer or a regular agency.It is not clear where and where and how it was stored.It is said that more and more fake semiconductors are getting lost.

Fake semiconductors have several patterns.Selling semiconductors taken out of the discarded devices as new, and selling non -standard defective products to be discarded.There are also malicious examples such as rewriting the manufacturer and model number engraved on the semiconductor package.

OKI -subsidiary OKI Engineering (Nerima, Tokyo) started to deal with these issues.

A corner of a residential area near the subway Hikawadai Station.Suspicion semiconductor devices are brought in one after another on the third floor of the company.Exterior inspection using an electron microscope, analysis of internal structures using X -ray inspection devices.Nearly 20 engineers are replacing them, and "black and white judgments" are made using more than a dozen devices.

The tip may be melted with a laser or solvent to protect the tip to protect the chip.This is to examine the logo marks and wiring patterns of the manufacturer engraved on the semiconductor silicon chip, and the bonding status of chips and extra fine wires.

"It is too late to be able to examine it after incorporating a semiconductor device after incorporating a semiconductor device and knows it is an illegal product. There are many device manufacturers who want to check in advance and pick the buds of defects."

When I started the service in June, there were about 150 inquiries by August.It is said that there are many related manufacturers related to industrial machinery and medical equipment.When about 70 of these surveys, about 30 % were fraudulent.

The general semiconductor package has a round mark so that the implementation machine can determine the orientation of the semiconductor.In some cases, the position of the mark is different, or the structure of the lead frame inside the package (the ultra -thin metal part connecting the silicon chip and the print wiring plate) is different.Some companies say that the number of stamps engraved on the top of the package and fake the date of manufacture.

Is the semiconductor regulation on Huawei triggered?

Some manufacturers are in trouble because one small semiconductor is not enough to ship equipment.For this reason, the OKI engineering is "for customers who can purchase on the non -regular route if the performance is the same, and we are also testing to confirm the functions and reliability of the semiconductor" (Director of the Reliable Solutions Division of the Division of the Solutions Division).。

Before starting the official service in June, the OKI engineering had made authenticity at an individual request.The number of inquiries increased in the fall of 2020.

In September 2008, the US Ministry of Commerce began to fully prohibit exporting semiconductors using US technology to Huawei, China.As a result of Huawei's gathering semiconductors from all over the world, the supply of regular routes may fall, which may have become a hotbed with fraudulent goods.

Not only the US -China conflict.The fact that the supply of semiconductor demand has not been caught up with the popularity of PCs, the power of cars, and the expansion of semiconductor demand, such as 5G, has also spurred the distribution of fake semiconductors.

As the view of "resolving semiconductor deficiency is around 23 years" (TSMC), the manufacturing industry increases as the view is increased.A manufacturer who can wait and live but can't get a semiconductor may want to reach out to non -genuine products.However, it is necessary to determine the authenticity in order not to be refused.

(Nikkei Business Kinji Uesaka)

[Nikkei Business Electronic Version Review of September 8, 2021]