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SMIC will seemingly build a 5nm chip for Huawei without the use of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography machines. That is something a new report states, and it does seem plausible. Before we get into it, let me give you a bit of background here.
SMIC could actually be able to make a 5nm chip for Huawei without EUV lithography machines
Huawei has been heavily sanctioned by the US, as many of you know. That affected the company’s business plans over the years, of course. One of the problems is… processors. Huawei was unable to offer 5G on its phones for years, until last year, when it managed to offer its own chip with older tech. That chip was manufactured by SMIC, and it’s a 7nm Kirin 9000S.
SMIC created another chip for Huawei this year, the Kirin 9010, which is a different iteration of the Kirin 9000S. It’s also a 7nm chip. We’re in the era of 3nm processors, so this is rather old tech.
SMIC is unable to offer 3nm processors for Huawei, and Huawei is unable to request it from other chip manufacturers due to US sanctions. SMIC will be able to create a 5nm chip for Huawei later this year, though, it seems.
Why does SMIC has to do it without EUV machines? Well, because the US and Dutch governments prevent them from accessing those machines. Those machines can etch extremely thin circuitry patterns on silicon wafers.
SMIC will allegedly use older DUV lithography machines in order to make it happen
Now, based on a report from Business Korea, SMIC will seemingly be able to use older Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines to make a 5nm chip. Those machines were purchased prior to the ban.
Is that even possible? Well, based on what analysts had to say, it is. There is a catch, however, the price of doing something like that with DUV machines will be quite high. That processor will be made for the Huawei Mate 70 series, at first.
Another piece of news that got shared with this is that SMIC is now the third-largest foundry in the world. This is based on data from the first quarter of the year. It’s still far behind TSMC and Samsung in terms of sales, but it’s third-placed at the moment.