Burn J. Lin, a former vice president of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., stated that SMIC and Huawei, who startled Washington by revealing a phone processor built in China, may employ the older equipment they already have to create even more advanced silicon. Lin, who at TSMC championed the lithography technology that revolutionised chipmaking, stated that SMIC should be able to go to the next generation at 5 nanometers with equipment from ASML Holding NV that it now operates.
When Huawei revealed a 7nm CPU manufactured by SMIC in the Mate 60 Pro, the semiconductor industry was electrified. This led to celebrations in China and charges in the US that an attempt to restrain the country’s technological ascension had failed. Furthermore, Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. is now manufacturing some of the most cutting-edge memory chips available. October marked the beginning of a new chapter in the battle to influence technology vital to maintaining the political and economic balance, as the Biden administration reinforced existing limitations to eliminate loopholes through which the nation may be acquiring modern American gear.
However, according to Lin—who is well-known in the industry for being the first to propose immersion lithography, the method that powers ASML’s main products—that might not halt China’s technical advancements.
SMIC created the 7nm chip for Huawei using the immersion lithography equipment of ASML. Beyond attempting to hit the 5nm milestone, Lin said China will likely explore with novel materials or sophisticated chip packaging in an effort to produce semiconductors with more power. SMIC’s shares saw their largest increase in about two weeks in Hong Kong, rising as high as 5.8%.
Lin, who is dean of the semiconductor research college at National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, stated in an interview this week that “it is just not possible for the US to completely prevent China from improving its chip technology.” That echoed remarks made last month by Rene Haas, the CEO of Arm Holdings Plc.
“Instead of trying to impede China’s progress, which is pointless since China is adopting a whole nation strategy to boost its chip industry and hurting the global economy,” Lin continued, “what the US really should do is focus on maintaining its chip design leadership.”
In 2020, Washington essentially outlawed TSMC from doing business with Huawei. TSMC supplies the most cutting-edge silicon in the world to companies like Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp. At that point, according to Lin, SMIC stepped up to take over the large orders, which enabled it to advance its production process. Requests for comments from SMIC and YMTC representatives were not answered.
The question of whether Washington and its allies should intensify their drive to restrict China is being hotly debated in the US and abroad. According to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Washington lacks proof that China can produce cutting-edge electronics “at scale.” However, Alan Estevez, the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, stated that Washington is “absolutely” concerned that the Asian country may employ 7nm technology, or even better, for military purposes.
Analysts in the industry, such as Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities, have projected that Huawei may use its own Kirin chips to produce up to 70 million smartphones by 2024. This number is not trivial when considering that Apple Inc. delivers over 220 million iPhones a year.
China is also making headway in memory chips, a more commoditized form of silicon than CPUs but nevertheless essential for everything from military drones to cellphones and AI training servers. This is another area of concern for Washington.
A sophisticated chip manufactured by Yangtze Memory was found by the Canadian research firm TechInsights Inc. in a solid state drive that was introduced in July, months after US sanctions issued last year prompted foreign equipment suppliers to cut connections with the Chinese semiconductor manufacturer. The 232-layer quad-level cell 3D NAND died during a normal device breakdown, according to TechInsights, which discovered SMIC’s and Huawei’s 7nm semiconductor through a collaborative research with Bloomberg News. The company called this one of the most sophisticated chips it has ever seen.
Despite being hindered by problems after the sanctions, YMTC is covertly developing cutting-edge technologies, TechInsights stated in a blog post on Tuesday. “There is growing evidence that China is succeeding beyond expectations in overcoming trade barriers and creating its own domestic semiconductor supply chain.”