Things were going fine for the Chinese tech giant until it got hit with US sanctions based on security concerns. The United States sanctions on Huawei technology put every aspect of the Chinese business at risk. This includes the production of cutting-edge Kirin chips since it uses American technology in its development. To battle this sanction and stay in business, Huawei had to fall back to its stockpile of Kirin chips. But the number of chips available could only last the smartphone manufacturing company a few years. Now, after years of fighting to save its smartphone business, the Kirin chips are finally out of stock. Lots of people might wonder what is next as Huawei’s self-developed chips are no longer available. Will the company’s mobile business fold? Are there any plans in place to develop chips without the usage of American technology? Well, all hope isn’t lost, as Huawei might have a second chance at boosting its mobile business.
Dutch EUV machines might remedy the Huawei Kirin chip situation
Sanctions from the United States government made it impossible for Huawei to access chips made with American technology. This in turn made it impossible for TSMC to continue making Kirin chips. So, Huawei had to turn to other local Chinese manufacturers like SMIC. Despite being the largest chip manufacturer in China, SMIC doesn’t have the technology to make flagship processors. Such processors need lower fabrication processes like 4nm and the upcoming 3nm process. At the moment, SMIC can only produce chips with the 7nm process, meaning such chips will be less powerful. To tackle this problem, Huawei needs to access technology that can be used in the production of chips in lower fabrication processes. The comapny can get this Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) technology from a Dutch company called, ASML. At the moment, however, this technology is not accessible to Chinese companies. This is because the United States worked with the Netherlands to restrict Chinese companies’ access to purchasing machine required. But, all of that might be changing, as the current economic situation in the Netherlands might move the country to sell these machines to China. If this sale eventually pulls through, Huawei can start producing its chips with Chinese foundries. That is not all, Huawei’s new patent permits it to make its chips on a 7nm fabrication process or lower. This Huawei EUV patent will allow it to create its EUV machine without American technology. Truthfully, this is a daunting task and will bring the Huawei Kirin chips back to life if successful. The coming months will bring more information on the progress of this issue.
