Where there's a will, there's Huawei to develop one's own chipmaking kit
(2024/04/12)
- Reference: 1712872808
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/04/11/huawei_developing_chipmaking_equipment/
- Source link:
A sprawling industrial complex being built by Huawei near Shanghai will be used to research and develop chipmaking equipment to help the tech giant overcome restrictions imposed on it by the US, local sources are reportedly saying.
China's technology behemoth is [1]building an R&D center in Qingpu District, Shanghai, scheduled to go into operation in June. This is said to cover 2 million square meters (21 million square feet) and set to employ nearly 30,000 technical personnel.
The site is expected to conduct research into technology for sectors such as wireless networks and smartphones, and according to [2]Nikkei Asia will also be the location for its plan to develop and build lithography machines for manufacturing cutting-edge chips.
[3]
The Nikkei report also claims that Huawei has successfully hired numerous engineers that have been working with leading global suppliers of chipmaking equipment, such as Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA, and Netherlands-based ASML, which is currently the only provider of the most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography kit.
[4]
[5]
Last year, a former ASML employee based in China was [6]accused of stealing trade secrets about advanced chipmaking equipment from the company. It was later claimed that the worker had [7]likely been hired by Huawei .
According to Nikkei, experienced semiconductor engineers from leading chipmakers such as TSMC, Intel, and Micron are also being poached by Huawei.
[8]
Huawei declined to comment.
The US government has placed restrictions on the supply of advanced chipmaking equipment to Chinese companies, as well as cajoling allied nations to do the same, in a bid to curb Beijing's access to cutting-edge technology. Huawei has also been the target of various US sanctions.
These restrictions have led to China's chipmakers and other tech companies looking inwards for alternatives. Naura, China's leading supplier of semiconductor equipment, has seen its revenue more than quadruple since 2018, Nikkei says.
[9]Huawei Cloud reveals the dynamic traffic allocation system it uses to cut bandwidth bills
[10]Huawei's Iran sanctions evasion trial pushed to 2026
[11]Huawei's cloud unit is its current growth vehicle
[12]US may sanction those rumored to be in covert Huawei chip network
It was [13]recently reported that Huawei and a chipmaking partner have filed patents for a low-tech method called self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP) that could allow them to make advanced semiconductors without the need for state-of-the-art lithography equipment.
The restrictions didn't stop Huawei from surprising the world last year with the release of the [14]Mate 60 Pro , a premium smartphone powered by a 7nm homegrown processor produced by chipmaker SMIC, which Washington had not believed Chinese companies were capable of producing.
[15]
Reports surfaced last year that Huawei was creating a [16]covert network of semiconductor plants across China, taking possession of two existing chip factories and building three others, allegedly under the names of other companies to hide its involvement.
Such moves were to allow Huawei to circumvent restrictions and indirectly purchase chipmaking equipment or other supplies that would otherwise be off-limits to the company, it was claimed.
This led the Biden administration to consider [17]further measures against a number of Chinese semiconductor companies linked with Huawei, said to include chipmakers Qingdao Si'En, SwaySure, and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co.
Washington is also understood to be [18]pressuring the Netherlands to compel ASML not to honor service and repair contracts with Chinese chipmaker customers that have already purchased its lithography kit. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/2401160385/
[2] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Huawei-building-vast-chip-equipment-R-D-center-in-Shanghai
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zhix2mNYAFNNiIQjz-G5pgAAAAs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/27/asml_china_data_spying/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/24/asml_ip_huawei/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zhix2mNYAFNNiIQjz-G5pgAAAAs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/10/huawei_cloud_streaming_network_optimizer/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/huaweis_iran_sanctions_evasion_trial/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/02/huawei_cloud_unit_growth/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/washington_may_sanction_huawei_ring/
[13] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-22/huawei-tests-brute-force-method-for-making-more-advanced-chips
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/06/gina_raimondo_huawei_ambassador/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zhix2mNYAFNNiIQjz-G5pgAAAAs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/24/china_us_tech_restrictions/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/washington_may_sanction_huawei_ring/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/07/us_asml_china_restrictions/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
China's technology behemoth is [1]building an R&D center in Qingpu District, Shanghai, scheduled to go into operation in June. This is said to cover 2 million square meters (21 million square feet) and set to employ nearly 30,000 technical personnel.
The site is expected to conduct research into technology for sectors such as wireless networks and smartphones, and according to [2]Nikkei Asia will also be the location for its plan to develop and build lithography machines for manufacturing cutting-edge chips.
[3]
The Nikkei report also claims that Huawei has successfully hired numerous engineers that have been working with leading global suppliers of chipmaking equipment, such as Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA, and Netherlands-based ASML, which is currently the only provider of the most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography kit.
[4]
[5]
Last year, a former ASML employee based in China was [6]accused of stealing trade secrets about advanced chipmaking equipment from the company. It was later claimed that the worker had [7]likely been hired by Huawei .
According to Nikkei, experienced semiconductor engineers from leading chipmakers such as TSMC, Intel, and Micron are also being poached by Huawei.
[8]
Huawei declined to comment.
The US government has placed restrictions on the supply of advanced chipmaking equipment to Chinese companies, as well as cajoling allied nations to do the same, in a bid to curb Beijing's access to cutting-edge technology. Huawei has also been the target of various US sanctions.
These restrictions have led to China's chipmakers and other tech companies looking inwards for alternatives. Naura, China's leading supplier of semiconductor equipment, has seen its revenue more than quadruple since 2018, Nikkei says.
[9]Huawei Cloud reveals the dynamic traffic allocation system it uses to cut bandwidth bills
[10]Huawei's Iran sanctions evasion trial pushed to 2026
[11]Huawei's cloud unit is its current growth vehicle
[12]US may sanction those rumored to be in covert Huawei chip network
It was [13]recently reported that Huawei and a chipmaking partner have filed patents for a low-tech method called self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP) that could allow them to make advanced semiconductors without the need for state-of-the-art lithography equipment.
The restrictions didn't stop Huawei from surprising the world last year with the release of the [14]Mate 60 Pro , a premium smartphone powered by a 7nm homegrown processor produced by chipmaker SMIC, which Washington had not believed Chinese companies were capable of producing.
[15]
Reports surfaced last year that Huawei was creating a [16]covert network of semiconductor plants across China, taking possession of two existing chip factories and building three others, allegedly under the names of other companies to hide its involvement.
Such moves were to allow Huawei to circumvent restrictions and indirectly purchase chipmaking equipment or other supplies that would otherwise be off-limits to the company, it was claimed.
This led the Biden administration to consider [17]further measures against a number of Chinese semiconductor companies linked with Huawei, said to include chipmakers Qingdao Si'En, SwaySure, and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co.
Washington is also understood to be [18]pressuring the Netherlands to compel ASML not to honor service and repair contracts with Chinese chipmaker customers that have already purchased its lithography kit. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/2401160385/
[2] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Huawei-building-vast-chip-equipment-R-D-center-in-Shanghai
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zhix2mNYAFNNiIQjz-G5pgAAAAs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/27/asml_china_data_spying/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/24/asml_ip_huawei/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zhix2mNYAFNNiIQjz-G5pgAAAAs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/10/huawei_cloud_streaming_network_optimizer/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/05/huaweis_iran_sanctions_evasion_trial/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/02/huawei_cloud_unit_growth/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/washington_may_sanction_huawei_ring/
[13] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-22/huawei-tests-brute-force-method-for-making-more-advanced-chips
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/06/gina_raimondo_huawei_ambassador/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zhix2mNYAFNNiIQjz-G5pgAAAAs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/24/china_us_tech_restrictions/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/washington_may_sanction_huawei_ring/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/07/us_asml_china_restrictions/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Anonymous Coward
I love every time China says they made something equivalent to an M68K The Register goes "haha a lot of good that ban did".
martinusher
Quite apart from the fact you do some really good work with smaller processors (which are likely to be RISC-V anyway) the Chinese have been doing quite well with small geometry semiconductors.
The thing we don't see to get is that there's not only a lot of 'em but they're also educating as many as possible -- they're turning out about 35,000 engineers a year. They're not all going to be designing semiconductors or process equipment but since their industrial policy aims to develop higher value jobs there's a good chance that they will become a very significant competitor in the very near future.
We're going to lose out simply because we don't have an industrial policy. We expect a trained workforce to just materialize out of thin air. This isn't how things work, we've only got away with it because we've had all the money so if you want to start an enterprise here (the US and especially CA) has been the place to be. We've got competition now -- China's got the capital, the infrastructure and resources to move at speed. We have to have the same focus -- just saying "its not fair" because they've got the focus while we'll playing casino games in our financial markets isn't going to work.
DIY
elsergiovolador
Can't wait to buy DIY chip making kit from AliExpress one day.
The market's gonna reap what the US ban sowed. And it won't end well for the established players.