Huawei Technologies Co. said it has come up with a new pathway to shorten its gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., potentially achieving a breakthrough in making advanced semiconductors without cutting-edge equipment.
Right now there is about a five-year gap between what TSMC is capable of and what together with its manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. can produce. Huawei will start making 1.4-nanometer chips by 2031 with its own “LogicFolding” technology, Huawei’s semiconductor chief He Tingbo said on Monday, while TSMC has previously said that it will begin mass production of the same product in 2028.
If Huawei can manage to make 1.4nm semiconductors in large quantities, it means it’s defying the industry consensus that Dutch supplier Holding NV’s state-of-the-art extreme ultraviolet lithography machines are necessary to mass-produce chips that are 5nm or more advanced. Such semiconductors are used to power the most sophisticated AI technologies.
The nanometer measure is used to indicate the size of transistors on a chip. The smaller a transistor becomes, the more can be fitted on a chip, which in turn will become more powerful. ASML’s EUV machines are seen as essential in shrinking transistors.
Shenzhen-based Huawei has been at the vanguard of Beijing’s semiconductor self-sufficiency drive following a years-long US-led, multinational campaign to tighten exports of advanced chips and gear that have somewhat curbed China’s AI progress.
In September, Huawei announced a three-year roadmap to roll out a series of AI chips to fill in the vacuum left by Corp., whose most advanced semiconductors are banned for China.