Huawei launched a brand new Qingyuan L450 pocket book in early December 2023 for the Chinese market and one of many centerpiece options is the brand new 5nm Kirin 9006C. This sparked rumors about China’s chip manufacturing capabilities and a few thought that SMIC has made an enormous breakthrough by producing superior 5nm silicon.
However, a teardown by Tech Insights put an finish to the rumors as they discovered a TSMC-made chip on the coronary heart of the Qinguyan L450. In reality, the SoC is primarily based on an older, much less environment friendly manufacturing course of from 2020, suggesting Huawei is utilizing outdated TSMC stockpiles of 5nm {hardware}.
There are nonetheless some reviews going round that SMIC is engaged on a 5nm node of its personal, however we nonetheless have not seen something substantial.
Why is this making the information? Ever since US sanctions happened a couple of years in the past, Huawei has been barred from utilizing Western-made chip applied sciences for its gadgets. This has made it more and more troublesome for Huawei to remain afloat and it is scrambling for chips to no less than preserve its competitiveness on Chinese soil.
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