Huawei announced that by 2031, it will achieve 1.4nm level chips. (Reuters photo)
[Financial Channel/Comprehensive Report] Chinese technology giant Huawei announced on Monday (25th) that they have found a way to narrow the gap with industry leader TSMC (2330), which may represent a breakthrough in the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors even without advanced equipment. However, the news also aroused doubts from the outside world, believing that it is still too early for Huawei to catch up with TSMC.
According to comprehensive foreign media reports, there is currently about a five-year gap between TSMC’s process standards and the technology of Huawei and its foundry partner SMIC. Huawei announced on Monday "Tao's (τ) law," a new principle used to improve chip performance, because the industry can no longer simply rely on shrinking transistors to improve performance. According to reports, Huawei has used this theory to successfully design and mass-produce 381 types of chips in the past six years.
Huawei said that the focus of Tao's Law is to shorten the transmission time of signals and data in chips and computing systems. If the technology does work, it could help Huawei improve performance and chip density even if China is restricted in accessing the most advanced semiconductor equipment.
Huawei said that the Kirin chips to be released this fall will be the first chips to adopt this new architecture of logic folding technology. It is expected that by 2031, 1.4nm class chips will be realized through this technology. Industry leader TSMC previously announced that the 1.4nm process will be put into mass production in 2028.
The industry generally believes that it is difficult for China to reach this level by relying on traditional technology alone, because Washington has restricted China’s access to advanced exposure equipment and other important semiconductor technologies, and Huawei has currently failed to provide any independent verification data claiming performance.
After the news came out, people from all walks of life were full of doubts, bluntly stating that what Huawei announced was still "theory and future direction, and did not confirm its own production capabilities." Analysts pointed out that with the United States blocking China from acquiring equipment from ASML, the most advanced process of Huawei's main OEM SMIC is still stuck at 7 nanometers, questioning Huawei's ability to further develop advanced processes;
In addition, some analysts mentioned that what Huawei calls "logic folding" technology seems to refer to Hybrid Bonding. TSMC has been using this technology for many years, and the new Kirin chips are still produced using SMIC's old machines, but the name has been changed. The reason why Huawei calls out 1.4nm is just that the performance is equivalent. Whether it really meets the definition of the 1.4nm process node is still questionable.
Huawei has been at the forefront of Beijing's push to promote semiconductor self-sufficiency. For many years, countries led by the United States have been trying to restrict the export of advanced chips and related equipment, which to a certain extent has restricted China's development in the field of AI. Against this background, the strategic significance of Huawei's announcement is even more prominent.
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