Until now, SMIC has been considered the leader of the Chinese semiconductor industry, both in chip production volumes and in the relevance of the technologies used. A couple of years ago, this company started producing 7nm chips for Huawei without access to advanced Western equipment. Hua Hong Group is rumored to follow in its footsteps.
At least, this is the information held by the agency. Reuters, mentioning the plans of the subsidiary Huali Microelectronics to establish contract production of 7nm chips for Chinese developers at its plant in Shanghai. Hua Hong itself is the second largest contract chip manufacturer in China after SMIC, so following the leader in mastering 7nm technology seems logical in this case.
Reuters sources could not confirm what equipment Hua Hong will use to manufacture 7nm chips, how mass production will be, and what the yield of usable products will be. The specifics of adopting 7nm technology by this Chinese chip manufacturer have not been disclosed either. It is believed that Huawei Technologies, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019, is involved in helping with modern components for survival in a fiercely competitive environment.
At the very least, Huawei-supported lithography equipment manufacturer SiCarrier has contributed to the adoption of 7nm technology by Huali. Huali began specialized work on this last year. By the end of this year, Huali expects to produce several thousand silicon wafers monthly using 7nm technology. In the future, productivity is expected to grow, sources note. AI accelerator developer Biren is already using Huali's 7nm technology for manufacturing prototypes of its next-generation chips. In 2023, Biren lost access to the Taiwanese TSMC's assembly line due to U.S. sanctions. Overall, Hua Hong has seven chip manufacturing plants, the most advanced of which is Fab 6, where the production of 7nm chips is expected to be established. The company openly states only about producing chips across a spectrum of technologies from 22 to 55nm.
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Source: 3dnews.ru
