Huawei recently unveiled its Qingyun L540 lineup of notebooks with one hardware specification that would make the U.S. downright nervous; a 5nm chipset called the Kirin 9006C. The existence of this SoC meant that China and its foundries had obtained autonomy to mass produce cutting-edge silicon that would no longer force it to remain tethered to foreign companies. Unfortunately, a recent teardown revealed that SMIC, China’s largest semiconductor firm, is yet to jump into the 5nm space because the Kirin 9006C was actually found to be made by TSMC.
Latest revelation shows SMIC is not yet ready to pursue 5nm chip manufacturing, Huawei to likely remain dependent on TSMC
After disassembling one of the Qingyun notebook units, research firm TechInsights found that TSMC’s 5nm technology fabricated the 5nm chipset. The Taiwanese giant previously used this manufacturing process in 2020, which was around the same time that the U.S. started imposing further trade sanctions on Huawei, of which one was barring the former Chinese giant from receiving wafer supplies from TSMC. Both Huawei and TSMC have not talked about the recent development when asked by Bloomberg correspondents.
SMIC has been reported to start 5nm chip manufacturing, but the entire process will be completed on older DUV machinery instead of the next-generation EUV lithography hardware, making everything more costly for the local foundry. Also, before TSMC cut its trading ties with Huawei, it was still supplying 5nm chips to the latter, which suggests that it might have wanted the stock to be utilized instead of going to waste. Currently, SMIC has been able to make the Kirin 9000S on the 7nm process, but in limited quantities.
The only way to maintain pace with the U.S.’ chipmaking prowess is by procuring next-generation EUV equipment. Unfortunately, before an exports ban was supposed to go into effect, ASML canceled shipments of its EUV machinery to China at the request of the Biden administration, thus dealing another blow to the region’s quest to attain self-sufficiency. The U.S. will likely breathe a sigh of relief now that the latest information has broken into the wild, and one of their officials are expected to make an announcement in the coming weeks related to the recent development, so stay tuned.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
