SMIC to Begin Production of Huawei 5nm Processor

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), the biggest chipmaker in China, is about to start mass producing new-generation 5-nanometer chips that Huawei developed. SMIC intends to make smaller more advanced 5-nanometer chips, including Kirin chips created by Huawei’s HiSilicon unit. SMIC will use its stockpiled inventory of lithography equipment form the Netherlands and the US. If the 5nm production line is successful, SMIC will also create Huawei’s most powerful AI processor, the Ascend 920, the closest alternative to Nvidia’s AI processors, at 5nm. In order to meet rising demand for Kirin processors and AI GPUs, SMIC has expanded its 7nm production capacity.

To make it harder for China to obtain state of the art chip fabrication machinery, the US government is collaborating with the Netherlands and Japan to impose higher restrictions on China. SMIC is retrofitting its DUV lithography equipment to achieve the 5nm process chips, however this strategy might result in lower yields and more expensive SoCs. According to rumours, Huawei is developing Harmony OS NEXT, a next-generation operating system based on its own proprietary kernel, and plans to employ the Kirin SoC in the P70 series of smartphones.

DISCLOSURE: All our E.F team members come from an investment background. Apart from writing articles about companies, investments and financial instruments, we also invest in most of them. Please read our terms of use for more details.