Canada-based research firm TechInsights has reiterated its earlier conclusion that China’s top chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) had made a key technological breakthrough that puts it on a par with its main competitors. TechInsights said SMIC had begun using the 7 nanometer process to produce semiconductors, although the company has not officially confirmed this. Analysts said in the updated research note that SMIC had indeed achieved technological maturity, as measured by “standard cells” – the basic building blocks in logic chipset designs – that can rival the world’s leading foundries, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), Samsung Electronics and Intel.
SMIC, which is on a U.S. trade blacklist and facing additional restrictions on the import of advanced equipment, declined to comment on the findings. The Hong Kong-listed company’s financial statements do not contain any mention of 7 nm grade technology. China’s push to catch up to the U.S. on chip technology faces strong headwinds after the White House signed the bipartisan Chips and Science Act into law, with the aim of deterring TSMC, Samsung, Intel and others from investing in advanced manufacturing, including 7 nm process technology or newer, in mainland China. Washington is also lobbying the Dutch government to block ASML Holdings, which has a monopoly position in the production of advanced chip-making machines, from selling to mainland Chinese foundries, including SMIC.
TechInsights noted that SMIC took only two years to reach 7-nm capability even “without access to the most advanced Western equipment and technologies”. By comparison, TSMC and Samsung took three and five years, respectively, to reach the same level. TechInsights in July reverse-engineered a Minerva bitcoin mining processor made by SMIC and concluded that the Chinese chip maker had achieved a technological breakthrough despite having no access to the industry’s most advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography systems from ASML. It used the older and less efficient deep ultraviolet technology, the South China Morning Post reports.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ban on Nvidia and AMD selling some advanced chips to China will hinder Chinese tech companies in areas such as facial recognition and data centers. The impact of the new ban could be widespread for downstream users of chips in applications such as the metaverse, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and facial recognition, industry experts warned. Nvidia said that U.S. officials instructed it to stop selling its powerful A100 and H100 graphics processing units (GPU) to customers in China, while AMD said it has received new license requirements that will prevent its MI250 artificial intelligence chips from being exported to China. The Chinese Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce said they firmly opposed such restrictions as they would “hurt not only legitimate rights of Chinese companies but also interests of American businesses”.
