Companies Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Joint Stock Company – SMIC), use US technology to produce 7nm advanced chips in China by 2023, according to Bloomberg.
The report said that SMIC used machines from Applied Materials and Lam Research, based in California (USA), to produce advanced 7nm chips for Huawei last year. SMIC purchased technology equipment in October 2022 before the US imposed a ban on selling machinery to China in November 2022, according to Reuters.
In August 2023, Huawei and SMIC cooperated and were able to self-produce the Kirin 9000s smartphone line – a 5G chip on the 7nm process – to equip the Mate 60. This move received great attention, being hailed as a major step forward in semiconductors in China.
According to statistics from market research company Canalys, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Huawei achieved impressive growth by shipping 7 million mobile phones, an increase of 5,121% over the same period in 2022.
Bloomberg reported that China is mobilizing more than 27 billion USD for a chip fund to accelerate the development and investment in technology to produce advanced chips.
US Commerce Department officials said there is no evidence that SMIC can produce 7nm chips “on a large scale”.