Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is a Chinese chipmaker that is making the headline in recent times. This company got some attention after the American government commenced its crackdown on Huawei. SMIC is one of Huawei’s go-to foundries but there is a huge limit to which SMIC can help. However, SMIC 14nm process is the best that it has to offer for now.
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Due to the fact that SMIC’s best manufacturing process is 14nm, it is very far from the likes of TSMC and Samsung. These companies are already producing 5nm chips. In fact, plans for 3nm and 2nm manufacturing processes are already on the table. However, SMIC will be useful to Huawei in producing its entry-level Kirin chips. According to recent reports, SMIC 14nm process is now in mass production and the yield rate is constantly improving.
Recall that the Honor 4T Play was released back in April 2020. This smartphone comes with a Kirin 710A processor. This chip is a lower version of the previous Kirin 710. With SMIC’s 14nm process, Kirin 710A has a main frequency of 2.0GHz. Although this is only an entry-level chip, the Kirin 710A” represents a breakthrough in achieving an all Chinese chip. It is also an ice-breaking move for China’s semiconductor chip technology.
Last week, SMIC announced that its sales in the second quarter of 2020 were $938.5 million, an increase of 3.7% from $904.9 million in the first quarter of 2020.
