Vietnam turns to specialised chips for its semiconductor industry

At the seminar “Challenges and solutions for advancing specialised semiconductor chip development in Vietnam,” organised on September 10 in Hanoi, Nguyen Anh Tuan, director of the National Centre for Semiconductor Chip Pilot Production Support under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the ministry was preparing to issue a list of around 20 groups of specialised chips to be prioritised for state procurement.

The list will focus on AI, edge computing, next-generation telecommunications, sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), power electronics, and hardware security.

Tuan noted that, amid increasingly fierce global technology competition, Vietnam had identified the semiconductor industry as not only a high-value-added economic sector but also a foundation for ensuring technological self-reliance, national security, and economic competitiveness.

The Vietnam Semiconductor Industry Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050, issued under Decision No.1018/QD-TTg, adopts the formula C = SET + 1, in which “S” stands for specialised chips.

Specialised chips are designed to solve specific problems and can be used in AI cameras, IoT devices, robots, UAVs, telecommunications equipment, power electronics, smart grids, and security systems.

“This is considered a suitable direction for Vietnam, given that the country already has a chip design workforce, a developed electronics industry, and a large market in areas such as telecommunications, AI, electric vehicles, energy, and digital transformation,” Tuan said. “If successful, Vietnamese companies can gradually master high-value-added stages such as chip design, verification, testing, and integration.”

A list of around 20 groups of specialised semiconductor chips for priority state procurement. Photo: Ha Vy

Tuan noted that the gap between a chip design and a commercial product remains substantial. Companies need access to electronic design automation tools and licensed intellectual property (IP) libraries, which come at a high cost. In particular, each tape-out can cost millions of USD and always carries the risk of technical failure. Meanwhile, Vietnam has yet to develop a complete ecosystem covering design, fabrication, packaging, testing, and quality certification.

“For companies with small orders, accessing international packaging and testing services is both costly and time-consuming. Even when they have a chip prototype, companies still need to further develop the software and circuit boards, assess reliability, and integrate the chip into the final product,” Tuan said.

“But the biggest challenge may lie in the market. This is the ‘chicken-and-egg’ problem: companies are reluctant to make large investments without customers, while customers do not want to purchase a chip that has not yet been proven in real-world applications. This vicious cycle means that many new chip projects remain at the research stage and fail to move on to commercialisation.”

Tuan said one notable solution was to use public investment projects, national digital transformation programmes, and major infrastructure projects as the first customers for Vietnamese-designed chips. This could be the key to breaking the current vicious cycle.

“Once the first order is secured, companies will have an incentive to invest; when the chip is deployed in real-world trials, the product has an opportunity to be validated; and once companies have operational data and a track record, they will have a stronger basis for approaching larger customers,” he said. “At the same time, Vietnam needs to develop standards, testing laboratories, certification mechanisms, and reliability assessment systems so that domestically developed chips can compete effectively.”

Photo: Ha Vy

An Chen, vice president of Engineering at Qualcomm, said the group is expanding its R&D centres in Vietnam to address the intersection of four areas: AI, semiconductors, software, and systems engineering.

“Our goal is not simply to open another engineering office. We want to build teams that can take on increasingly complex technical challenges, contribute to global products, create intellectual property, and develop the next generation of engineering leaders. Vietnam has talented people, strong universities, a growing technology industry, and a clear national strategy for semiconductors and AI. Our shared task is to turn this strong foundation into long-term engineering capabilities,” Chen said. “We want engineers in Vietnam to develop deep expertise in their respective fields while also understanding the broader system. Over time, this broader perspective will enable them to shape system architecture and lead increasingly complex technical programmes.”

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