Huawei plans 1.4nm chips by 2031 as China races to catch TSMC

Huawei Technologies Co., industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. He said that he had found a new way to shorten the gap with and potentially make a breakthrough in producing advanced semiconductors without the need for cutting-edge equipment.

What TSMC can do now and Huawei’s manufacturing partner, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. There is a gap of about five years between what they can produce and what they can produce. Huawei’s semiconductor chief He Tingbo said on Monday that Huawei will start producing 1.4 nanometer chips with its own “LogicFolding” technology by 2031, while TSMC previously said it would start mass production of the same product in 2028.

If Huawei can manage to produce large quantities of 1.4nm semiconductors, it means Dutch supplier ASML Holding NV is challenging the industry consensus that state-of-the-art ultraviolet lithography machines are required for mass production of 5nm or more advanced chips. Such semiconductors are used to power the most advanced artificial intelligence technologies.

The nanometer measurement is used to indicate the size of transistors on a chip. As a transistor becomes smaller, more of it can be placed on the chip, making it more powerful. ASML’s EUV machines are seen as important in miniaturizing transistors.

Shenzhen-based Huawei has been at the vanguard of Beijing’s semiconductor self-sufficiency drive, following a years-long, US-led multinational campaign to crack down on China’s exports of advanced chips and hardware that have somewhat constrained its AI progress.

In September, Huawei announced a three-year roadmap to launch a range of AI chips to fill the gap left by Nvidia Corp., whose most advanced semiconductors have been banned for China.