 |
SNS: Asia Letter: Q4 2023 A LONG, HOT SUMMER By Scott Foster _______ We often explore why Apple's products are so good, and we can also see the gap between us and Apple. I'm very happy to have a teacher that gives us the opportunity to learn and compare. In that sense, it would not be an exaggeration to call me an Apple fan. - Ren Zhengfei, Founder and CEO, Huawei Discovering a Kirin chip using SMIC's 7nm (N+2) foundry process in the new Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone demonstrates the technical progress China's semiconductor industry has been able to make without EUV lithography tools. The difficulty of this achievement also shows the resilience of the country's chip technological ability. At the same time, it is a great geopolitical challenge to the countries who have sought to restrict its access to critical manufacturing technologies. The result may likely be even greater restrictions than what exist today." - Dan Hutcheson, Vice Chair, TechInsights, which performed a teardown of Huawei's new 5G smartphone Hutcheson also said: "It's a pretty important statement for China. SMIC's technology advances are on an accelerated trajectory, and appear to have addressed yield-impacting issues in their 7nm technology" (Bloomberg, 9/4/23). The Mate 60 Pro was launched on August 29, while Commerce Secretary Raimondo was in China. It was even used to take her picture. Its Kirin 9000 series processor was made by SMIC using DUV ArF immersion lithography. This is not the most economical solution, but it was a practical solution that circumvented sanctions and can also be applied to other ICs, including AI processors. |
