Huawei Still Ships 5 nm TSMC Chips in its Laptops, Despite US Sanctions

[AleksandarK]

According to the latest teardown from TechInsights, China's biggest technology maker, Huawei, has been shipping laptops with technology supposedly sanctioned by the United States. As the teardown shows, TechInisights has discovered that Huawei's Kirin 9006C processor is manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm semiconductor technology. Originally, the United States have imposed sanctions on Huawei back in 2020, when the government cut off Huawei's access from TSMC's advanced facilities and forbade the use of the latest nodes by Huawei's HiSilicon chip design arm. Today's findings show signs of contradiction, as the Qingyun L540 notebook that launched in December 2023 employs a Kirin 9006C chipset manufactured on a TSMC 5 nm node.

TechInsight's findings indicate that Kirin 9006C assembly and packaging occurred around the third quarter of 2020, whereas the 2020 Huawei sanctions started in the second quarter. Of course, the implication of the sanctions likely prohibited any new orders and didn't prevent Huawei from possibly stockpiling millions of chip orders in its warehouse before they took place. The Chinese giant probably made orders beforehand and is using the technology only now, with the Qingyun L540 laptop being one of the first Kirin 9006C appearances. Some online retailers also point out that the laptop complies with the latest security practices required for the government, which means that they have been in the works since the chip began the early stages of design, way before 2020. We don't know the stockpile quantity, but SMIC's domestic efforts seem insufficient to supply the Chinese market alone. The news that Huawei is still using TSMC chips made SMIC's share go for a 2% free fall on the Hong Kong stock exchange.



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[P4-630]

US be like

 

[Jozsef Dornyei]

Huawei is a Chinese company and not a US company. Huawei can manufacture any chips it wants. The sanction is actually on US companies. US companies cannot sell chips to Huawei.
Huawei has probably learned how to manufacture 5nm chips.

 

[Suspecto]

Capitalism for me, but not for you. Japan experienced the same with their cars in the past.

 

[Marcus L]

Huawei is a Chinese company and not a US company. Huawei can manufacture any chips it wants. The sanction is actually on US companies. US companies cannot sell chips to Huawei.
Huawei has probably learned how to manufacture 5nm chips.

They are TSMC 5nm manufactured chips

 

[Denver]

Huawei is a Chinese company and not a US company. Huawei can manufacture any chips it wants. The sanction is actually on US companies. US companies cannot sell chips to Huawei.
Huawei has probably learned how to manufacture 5nm chips.

You seem to have only read the title, and yet you didn't even understand that.

The restrictions extend to TSMC. Huawei doesn't make chips, China won't make chips on TSMC's 5nm-equivalent process in any near future, they also don't have access to the necessary equipment from ASML.

Btw, From what I've seen this laptop is terrible, and super expensive for what it offers. So who cares

 

[Tomorrow]

What what? 5nm TSMC made in 2020?

The only chip TSMC made at the time at 5nm (N5) was Apple's A14.
Considering how Apple always gobbles up the first available supply of a new process node there could not be too much left for others like Huawei.

Even so - 5nm (N5) made 3 years ago on a laptop is not particularly powerful. I doubt A14 itself would be either.
As for proper 5nm high power chips - these did not appear on desktops until the latter half of 2022. On laptops even later.

 

[SkullFox]

Who cares??

 

[AnotherReader]

What what? 5nm TSMC made in 2020?

The only chip TSMC made at the time at 5nm (N5) was Apple's A14.
Considering how Apple always gobbles up the first available supply of a new process node there could not be too much left for others like Huawei.

Even so - 5nm (N5) made 3 years ago on a laptop is not particularly powerful. I doubt A14 itself would be either.
As for proper 5nm high power chips - these did not appear on desktops until the latter half of 2022. On laptops even later.

Until Huawei was barred access to new nodes, they were neck to neck with Apple in getting to the newest nodes. The A12 started shipping to customers in September 2018 and the first device using the Kirin 980, Huawei's first SOC using TSMC's N7 node, was available less than a month later in early October.

 

[Tomorrow]

Until Huawei was barred access to new nodes, they were neck to neck with Apple in getting to the newest nodes. The A12 started shipping to customers in September 2018 and the first device using the Kirin 980, Huawei's first SOC using TSMC's N7 node, was available less than a month later in early October.

I see. Im guessing at much lower volume though?

Besides first generation 5nm optimized for low power cant be a good fit for a laptop.

 

[AnotherReader]

I see. Im guessing at much lower volume though?

Besides first generation 5nm optimized for low power cant be a good fit for a laptop.

Huawei used to be second only to Apple when it came to their share of TSMC's orders. In the table below, Hi-Silicon is Huawei.

They were a leading customer until September 2020 when TSMC stopped supplying chips to them. By that time, N5 was nearly two years old so this chip is likely to be made on a mature N5 process.

 

[Tomorrow]

N5 was nearly two years old so this chip is likely to be made on a mature N5 process.

You sure? A13 was made on N7 in 2019 and A14 on N5 in 2020. If N5 was two years old and mature then why did Apple use N7 just a year prior?
Wikipedia says N5 went into production in 2020. 2019 only had risk production: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_nm_process#5_nm_process_nodes

So i would not call 2020 N5 as mature when N5P was introduced a year later.

 

[AnotherReader]

You sure? A13 was made on N7 in 2019 and A14 on N5 in 2020. If N5 was two years old and mature then why did Apple use N7 just a year prior?
Wikipedia says N5 went into production in 2020. 2019 only had risk production: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_nm_process#5_nm_process_nodes

So i would not call 2020 N5 as mature when N5P was introduced a year later.

Mea culpa; you're right. I was thinking of N7 and wrote N5. Given that the first chips built using N5 started shipping in September 2020, Huawei would have had time to stockpile a few million SOCs built using N5, but it can't be much more than that, and it would be the first iteration of N5.

 

[Dave65]

I had a Huawei tablet a few years back, it was very good. Sad we can't all just get along and not spy on each other..

 

[P4-630]

I had a Huawei tablet a few years back, it was very good. Sad we can't all just get along and not spy on each other..

Plenty of Lenovo tablets / laptops here in my country....

 

[R0H1T]

If N5 was two years old and mature then why did Apple use N7 just a year prior?

What was M1 made on?

Sad we can't all just get along and not spy on each other..

It's all about money all the time ~

Spoiler

 

[Tomorrow]

What was M1 made on?

Same 5nm as A14. Also 2020.

 

[R0H1T]

Yes so it was pretty mature by then. M1 was a massive upgrade from anything Axx at the time.

 

[Assimilator]

The important thing here is that it was not fabbed by SMIC, which so far has demonstrated 7nm chips using DUV. That hopefully means that EUV remains out of the PRC's hands, exactly as the USA intended.

 

[R-T-B]

Huawei has probably learned how to manufacture 5nm chips.

Yeah, no.