Chinese company Huawei Technologies Co. and its partner, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., used American technology to produce an advanced chip in China over the past year, according to people familiar with the matter.
A report published by Bloomberg stated that SMIC, based in Shanghai, used equipment from Applied Materials Inc and Lam Research Corp in California, to manufacture an advanced 7-nanometer chip for Huawei, the Chinese technology giant, during the year 2023. .
The move indicates, according to Bloomberg, that China is still unable to replace some foreign components and equipment required to manufacture advanced products such as semiconductors.
China has set before its eyes a national goal with the highest priority, which is to make the world’s second largest economy capable of achieving technological self-sufficiency, and Huawei’s efforts to develop, design and manufacture local chips have received government support.
The ability of Chinese companies to manufacture a 7-nanometer chip was praised as a major leap in semiconductor manufacturing locally, as the chip manufactured by SMIC was used last year in operating the Mate 60 Pro phone, Huawei’s most famous smartphone, and it also witnessed great demand from customers. Before Asian technology companies.
The chip is still generations older than more advanced chips produced by international companies, but it is ahead of where the United States had hoped to stop China’s progress.
Some people said that SMIC acquired the American machines before the United States banned the sale of such technological equipment to China in October 2022.
The companies “Applied Materials Inc” and “Lam Research Corp” were among the American suppliers that began withdrawing their employees from China after these rules came into effect, preventing American engineers from servicing and maintaining some machines in the Asian country.
Chipmaker ASML has also asked American employees to stop cooperating with Chinese customers in response to the US restrictions, but the company’s Dutch and Japanese engineers are so far able to service many machines in China, much to the chagrin of their American competitors.
According to Bloomberg, companies are now prohibited from selling the latest American-origin technology to SMIC or Huawei, which is headquartered in Shenzhen.
The United States has blacklisted the two technology companies over alleged links to the Chinese military, while Washington is working to generally tighten China’s access to advanced chipmaking and semiconductor equipment.
These trade constraints have prompted Huawei and SMIC to pursue ways to build a local chip supply chain, and the Mate 60 Pro was a surprising advance in that effort.
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