Huawei launched a new Qingyuan L450 notebook in early December 2023 for the Chinese market and one of the central features is the new 5nm Kirin 9006C. This sparked rumors about China’s chip manufacturing capabilities, and some thought SMIC had made a big breakthrough by producing advanced 5nm silicon.
However, a teardown by Technological insights have put an end to the rumors as they found a chip made by TSMC at the heart of the Qinguyan L450. In fact, the SoC is based on an older and less efficient manufacturing process from 2020, suggesting that Huawei is using older TSMC stock of 5nm hardware.
There are still some reports circulating that SMIC is working on its own 5nm node, but we haven’t seen anything substantial yet.
Why is this newsworthy? Since US sanctions took effect a few years ago, Huawei has been banned from using Western-made chip technologies for its devices. This has made it increasingly difficult for Huawei to stay afloat and it is struggling for chips to at least maintain its competitiveness on Chinese soil.
Start a new Thread