China Just Innovated Around Silicon Valley

By Rob Enderle for TechNewsWorld.com July 28, 2025 5:00 AM PT

China’s breakthrough in indium selenide wafer production signals a new phase in its high‑stakes technology race with the U.S.

About a week ago, a viral post declared that on July 19, China had “killed the silicon wafer.”

The claim was explosive: a breakthrough in a new semiconductor material called indium selenide (InSe) had supposedly rendered the entire Western chip ecosystem — from Intel’s FABs to TSMC’s foundries and America’s sanctions — obsolete overnight.

China, the post argued, had not just won the chip war; it had “exited the battlefield” by mastering a new law of atomic physics.

Like many things on the internet, this narrative was a dramatic oversimplification. But it was pointing at a real and significant event. On July 18, researchers from Peking University and Renmin University of China published an article detailing a novel method for the mass production of high-quality InSe wafers.

While this achievement won’t kill silicon tomorrow, it represents a genuine strategic leap. It signals that while the West has been focused on blockading the current technological paradigm, China is aggressively working to invent the next one.

Assessing the accuracy of the viral claims versus the scientific reality reveals a more nuanced but equally profound story about the future of technology, geopolitics, and the very materials that will power our world.

📦 Unpack what this breakthrough means for China, the West, and the future of semiconductors: https://www.technewsworld.com/story/china-just-innovated-around-silicon-valley-179839.html

About the Author:
Rob Enderle has been an ECT News Network columnist since 2003. His areas of interest include AI, autonomous driving, drones, personal technology, emerging technology, regulation, litigation, M&E, and technology in politics. He has an MBA in human resources, marketing and computer science. He is also a certified management accountant. Enderle currently is president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, a consultancy that serves the technology industry. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at Giga Information Group and Forrester. Reach out to Rob via email.

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