SMIC, Huawei’s foundry partner, was recently reported to have successfully developed the 5nm process and that too, without the help of EUV machinery. The first recipient of this lithography will likely be a future Kirin chipset that will fuel Huawei’s upcoming Mate 70 series. Now, according to one rumor, the Chinese firm has witnessed a new milestone in its 5nm progression, with one individual claiming that there has been a successful tape-out and small-scale production may have started.
Without the use of EUV machinery, Huawei’s 5nm chipset yields could be low and will be expensive to mass produce
Despite the U.S. sanctions breathing down on Huawei’s neck, @jasonwill101 mentions on Twitter that the company has witnessed some much-needed traction with its 5nm process, with a successful tape-out said to have been achieved. For those who do not know, in electronics jargon, the term ‘tape-out’ is the last stage of the design process, and it is at this point that the graphic of the photomask, or opaque plate of the circuit, is sent to the fabrication facility.
This rumor comes right after a statement was made by Huawei’s Cloud Services CEO, Zhang Ping’an, who stated that the company is unable to accept any 3.5nm chips from TSMC due to the U.S. sanctions. He also said that Huawei needs to focus more on utilizing the 7nm node effectively, suggesting that the 5nm yields will not be high enough to take advantage of it properly, at least right now. Besides the yield issue, SMIC’s 5nm chip prices were previously reported to be up to 50 percent more expensive than TSMC’s on the same lithography.
The latest developments for the Huawei Kirin equivalent 5nm chip: Successful tape-out has been achieved, and small-scale wafer-out is currently in progress.
— jasonwill (@jasonwill101) June 18, 2024
Regardless, the trade ban pretty much means that there is no way for Huawei to collaborate with companies influenced by the U.S., including TSMC and ASML. With these limitations in place, the company has to resort to other means to push its so-called cutting-edge chip production initiative, and from the looks of it, some progress has been made.
News Source: @jasonwill101
