https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/18/huawei-faces-big-blow-from-new-us-rules-to-cut-off-chips.html State-backed publication Global Times reported last week that SMIC had begun mass production of Huawei’s Kirin 710A chip. This processor is designed for a lower tier phone under Huawei’s budget Honor brand. This chip is only for one device and does not solve Huawei’s problems for the rest of its product portfolio.
Huawei declined to comment on the Global Times report.
On top of that, “TSMC is miles ahead of SMIC in terms of leading edge technology prowess, capacity and scale,” according to Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint Research, who added the new U.S. rules could be a “big blow” for Huawei.
Huawei’s flagship chip, the Kirin 990, is based on so-called 7-nanometer technology. This essentially refers to the size of certain aspects of the chips. These 7nm chips are smaller and faster than predecessors.
TSMC has been producing these for around two years. It’s unclear when SMIC may introduce a 7nm production process at scale. So even if Huawei wanted to switch production to SMIC, the chipmaker might not be able to actually produce those parts.