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25 July 2022 12:52
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Chinese SMIC copied 7nm chip technology from TSMC, which refused to cooperate with Russia. SMIC is still training on the production of simple chips according to a new technical process for itself and in the near future may move on to assembling more complex products. Russian companies, in theory, can give unrealized orders to TSMC specifically to the Chinese SMIC.
China honors “traditions”
Chinese contract chip manufacturer SMIC caught copying chip manufacturing technologies, writes the portal Tom’s Hardware. This conclusion was made by experts of the analytical company TechInsights after studying the structure the chip minimum wage MinerVa.
TSMC is the world’s largest chip manufacturer with orders AMD, Apple, Qualcomm and a number of other world-famous companies. She took 53.6% of global revenue from the production of chips in the first quarter of 2022 (data Statista.com), leaving Samsung 16.3% UMC 6,9%, Globalfoundries 5.9% and Chinese minimum wage 5.6%.
TechInsights is engaged in the opening of various microcircuits and their independent analysis. She studied the MinerVa ASIC chip and concluded that it uses proprietary TSMC technologies.
SMIC actively masters technologies of competitors
This is not the first case of this kind – TSMC has repeatedly sued its Chinese competitor for stealing its developments. She filed such lawsuits in 2002 and 2006, and the TechInsights statement could be the subject of a new trial.
Benefits for Russia
A fact revealed by TechInsights indicates that SMIC is mass-producing 7nm chips. She herself does not admit it yet. In 2020, she spoke about preparations for the launch of small-scale production of such microcircuits using the second generation N + 1 FinFET process technology. There was no talk of large-scale stamping of microchips – officially the company is concentrating on the production of 14- and 12-nanometer products.
Adapting Taiwanese TSMC’s SMIC technologies to your needs can be beneficial Russian microchip developers. TSMC flat out refused cooperate with them under pressure from the US authorities. They threatened the company with sanctions and TSMC was forced to refuse MCST«Baikal electronics” and other Russian companies in cooperation, just like in 2020, she stopped release chips for Huawei.
As for minimum wagethen this company, unlike TSMC, is already located under US sanctions. Under these conditions, Russian vendors could give her orders that she refused TSMC.
It’s too early to rejoice
According to a TechInsights report, the internal layout of the intended for mining cryptocurrencies The MinerVa chip looks pretty basic. The microcircuit itself has dimensions of only 4.6×4.2 mm. According to experts, this means that SMIC is still in the early stages of mastering the production of 7nm chips.
SMIC is still very far from the heights of TSMC
On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that SMIC is “filling its hand”, training on the production of such structurally simple microcircuits according to a relatively new technical process. TechInsights analysts believe that in parallel with this, the company is in the process of further debugging this topology. “This low-volume product could be the springboard for a true 7nm process,” TechInsights said in a statement.
USA won’t let it go
According to TechInsights experts, SMIC is far behind TSMC and Samsung by the level of sophistication of its 7nm manufacturing. The report also mentions Intelbut it does not yet have its own 7-nanometer capacities.
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Analysts attribute the backlog of SMIC primarily to American sanctions. In particular, the US authorities put pressure on Dutch ASML and banned from supplying China own equipment for EUV lithography.
ASML is the world’s largest provider “iron” for the production of microcircuits. What exactly prompted its management to comply with the requirements of the American authorities, which the company does not obey, is unknown.
China seeks by all means to prevent the stagnation of its production of microcircuits
Only the result is obvious – currently ASML cannot export To China EUV– equipment used for the production of chips according to modern standards, including 7 nm. At the beginning of July 2022, there was a threat to stop deliveries to China and DUV plants for less modern technical processes.
This is where the ASML leadership can oppose. How informed CNews, the shipment of equipment to China, even taking into account the restrictions on the supply of EUV units, brings ASML an impressive part of the revenue. China is the third largest market marketing products for the company Taiwan and South Koreawhere TSMC buy it, SK Hynix and Samsung. In 2021 alone, its activities in the Chinese market brought it within 16% of total sales.