News Huawei's 5nm Kirin 9006C laptop chip was reportedly produced by TSMC in 2020, dispelling SMIC production rumors

[Admin]

Teardown reveals that SMIC did not produce Huawei's 5nm Kirin 9006C laptop processor, it was TSMC in 2020.

Huawei's 5nm Kirin 9006C laptop chip was reportedly produced by TSMC in 2020, dispelling SMIC production rumors : Read more

 

[peachpuff]

Who exactly thought that smic produced it? Anyone with a single brain cell could tell you that was old stock.

 

[toffty]

Any and all news from China really should be assumed false from the start until it can be verified.

They have hundreds of chip companies being created to go after the easy money before declaring bankruptcy after the money stops.

I can't blame the companies as they're going after easily swindled money.

This story is a prime example. 5nm production? No. I'd even heavily question anything under 10nm.

Even trying to reverse engineer the manufacturing equipment is very difficult. It'll take another decade for China, and even the US, to be able to have everything that's required to make sub 10nm chips at scale from home-sourced manufacturers.

Chip fabrication is global, requiring hundreds of specialized entities to create the tools, materials, and final product.

 

[NinoPino]

Any and all news from China really should be assumed false from the start until it can be verified.

I actually read of it from Tom's Hardware, not from a Chinese news site.

 

[NinoPino]

"it is unclear why Huawei did not use the SoC earlier and allowed an expensive piece of silicon to lie unused for over three years."
Somebody have a plausible explanation for this ?

 

[thekingofALLmonkz]

"it is unclear why Huawei did not use the SoC earlier and allowed an expensive piece of silicon to lie unused for over three years."
Somebody have a plausible explanation for this ?

They actually did use the 9006C in their QingYun L420, and that was a couple years ago:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Huawe...or-to-the-ARM-based-L410-laptop.582694.0.html

 

[thekingofALLmonkz]

Even trying to reverse engineer the manufacturing equipment is very difficult. It'll take another decade for China, and even the US, to be able to have everything that's required to make sub 10nm chips at scale from home-sourced manufacturers.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it was already confirmed months ago that SMIC accomplished 7nm on DUV for the Kirin 9000S.

 

[Darkoverlordofdata]

Yes, it's mostly tomshardware pushing these rumors. Or should I say 'Hey Anton - you ever check out these stories, or do you just print them?'

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it was already confirmed months ago that SMIC accomplished 7nm on DUV for the Kirin 9000S.

It is not a viable process with an estimated 15% wafer yield due to the use of DUV quad patterning. The resulting cost of a working die is around 10 times higher than TSMC.

 

[thekingofALLmonkz]

It is not a viable process with an estimated 15% wafer yield due to the use of DUV quad patterning. The resulting cost of a working die is around 10 times higher than TSMC.

The point is that they made it, regardless of whether it's worth it. It's a huge accomplishment on their part.