In a major move, Huawei plans to develop a high-end node for the domestic chip industry, the 3nm GAA, which would put the Chinese firm in a competitive position.
Huawei Plans To Accelerate Chip Efforts In The Coming Years, Developing a Cutting-Edge 3nm Node
There's no doubt that Huawei is emerging as one of China's most dominant companies in innovating and adjusting product portfolios to compete with Western alternatives. The firm has a deep-rooted business, not just in the mobile segment, but also in AI and computing, making it a force not to be reckoned with. In a report by Taiwan Economic Daily, it is claimed that Huawei has initiated R&D work for 3nm GAA, after the company's success with the Kirin X90 SoC that employs a domestic 5nm process from SMIC.
The report claims that Huawei is going to opt for the GAA (Gate-All-Around) route with 3nm, and the firm is said to be moving away from traditional silicon designs for its transistor channels to employing "two-dimensional" materials, which is an approach not used for this particular node size. This could allow better performance at a smaller scale and lower power consumption than traditional silicon-based designs. Interestingly, a GAA-focused design for 3nm has only been done by Samsung Foundry for now, so could there be a potential collaboration with Huawei?
Apart from this, Huawei is also developing a "carbon-based" 3nm design, which will feature carbon nanotubes, an alternative to silicon-based transistors and interconnects. So, it is safe to say that Huawei will likely test out a new approach, collaborating with China's biggest foundry, SMIC. Currently, these plans are in the initial stages, and Huawei is known to have come up with optimistic plans but later abandoned them. However, with the company's success in the 5nm segment, especially when it comes to integrating the node into a consumer product, it wouldn't be wrong to say that we should expect more advancements.
Huawei is emerging as a key player in the region, and the firm has managed to vertically integrate the supply chain to the point where it can now compete with the West in terms of technological superiority. Interesting times are ahead of us, especially considering the US-China technological balance.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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