In late August 2023, Huawei, the global telecommunications powerhouse, made a decisive re-entry into the proprietary smartphone chip market. The launch of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro, powered by the much-anticipated Kirin 9000S, a seven-nanometer class chip, marks a crucial turning point in Huawei's technological journey, sparking extensive industry dialogue.
Tectonic shift? 7nm chips are older models, they are not new.
Yes and no. There were plenty of commentators claiming that US sanctions were a death blow to the Chinese chip industry, who would not be able to go below 10 nm themselves, etc. This was one of the selling points for the sanctions.
You can find plenty of commentators saying anything in the modern world. That is not evidence of credibility, unless you’re in a church or something.
I would challenge anyone to said that to explain how exactly stopping trade would prevent Chinese companies from improving their chips. Is it assumed they are incapable of improvement?
I agree, but the US government thinks otherwise, and apparently the Commerce Department is now opening an investigation into how the Chinese could possibly have made a 7 nm chip. Though it’s not clear what else they can do; they’ve already completely blacklisted Huawei by this point, yet somehow it still lives.
Don’t believe everything you hear. I can think of no compelling arguments for why the Chinese cannot do research that remains 10 years behind the Taiwanese.
Exactly, ASML are piloting sub 1nm
https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/imec-asml-team-for-pilot-line-for-sub-1nm-development/
The laptop I’m writing this from uses 10nm technology.
Exactly. If some random consumer-grade laptop has a 10nm in it, a competitor being able to make 7nm sometime soon should probably be expected.
Intel 10nm is comparable to TSMC 7nm.
The numbers sound exact, but they aren’t much more than marketing terms nowadays.