Ex-TSMC exec says US cannot stop China from improving its chips

The recent escalation of tensions between the United States and China has led to a cold war of sorts, with the US attempting to restrict China’s access to critical technology, particularly semiconductors and chips. However, despite all these sanctions, China seems to always find a way, considering Huawei was able to launch a 7nm Kirin 9000S chip made by SMIC, which was light years behind just last year. Now, Burn J. Lin, an ex-TSMC vice president, suggests that the US cannot actually stop China’s progress in chip-making capabilities.

The Crux of the issue

At the heart of this issue lies Huawei’s recent Mate 60 Pro phone. This is because Huawei, being under sanctions from the United States, cannot procure the latest chips from companies like TSMC or Samsung. And although the US did eventually allow Huawei to source the non-5G enabled Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 from Qualcomm, by that time, the company had already started working with SMIC to improve its chip-making capabilities.

However, when Huawei launched the Mate 60 Pro, it made all the headlines since it featured a 7nm chip that could also access all the 5G bands in the country. This baffled the American officials because, under the restrictions, SMIC cannot work with US companies. And if the company did manufacture the chips, it would only have been possible using a lithography machine made by ASML.

While this development could result in even more restrictions, there is currently a widespread debate as some argue that SMIC dual stacked 14nm chips while others contend that TSMC manufactured these chips for Huawei before the 2020 restrictions.

SMIC used existing machines to make the 7nm chips

As per Lin, SMIC could have maximized the capabilities of its existing ASML machines to produce the Kirin 9000S chips. Additionally, he also argues that the company could further enhance these machines to produce 5nm chips, significantly improving chip performance and energy efficiency.

However, it is important to note that the recent incident involving the theft of ASML’s intellectual property concerning chip-making machines may be connected to this development.

What can the US do?

According to Lin, instead of attempting to restrict China, the US should focus on maintaining leadership in chip design and establishing manufacturing processes to further solidify its dominance.

“It is just not possible for the US to completely prevent China from improving its chip technology,” said Lin.