TECH - Despite US Sanctions China Pushes Forward In Advanced Chip Development But Challenges Persist: Report | Benzinga
China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), has managed to produce more sophisticated chips despite U.S. sanctions. However, the company still faces significant hurdles in its quest for semiconductor self-sufficiency.
What Happened: Despite U.S. sanctions aimed at slowing China’s technological progress, SMIC has made strides in producing advanced chips. Last year, the U.S.-sanctioned tech giant Huawei launched the Mate 60, a smartphone equipped with a 7-nanometer chip manufactured by SMIC, a significant achievement for the Chinese chipmaker, CNBC reported on Sunday.
SMIC is now reportedly setting up new production lines to manufacture 5-nanometer chips for Huawei, a further step in China’s chipmaking advancement. This comes despite U.S. sanctions that have restricted SMIC’s access to crucial foreign technology. Apple’s newest high-end iPhones feature chips manufactured using a 3-nanometer process.
However, the company’s reliance on older chipmaking tools to produce more advanced chips poses two major challenges. Firstly, it is more expensive to produce semiconductors using older equipment. Secondly, the yield, or the number of usable chips produced, is lower with older equipment.
"SMIC is working very ...