Huawei claims major chip breakthrough: competing with the best

Chinese tech giant Huawei claims to have achieved a major breakthrough in chip design. According to the company, it will be possible within five years to produce chips that can compete with the world’s most advanced semiconductors. With this move, Huawei is attempting to circumvent U.S. sanctions that have largely cut China off from advanced chip technology since 2019. What is particularly noteworthy for the Netherlands is that the Chinese tech giant would no longer need chip-making machines from ASML for that purpose.

Stacking chips vertically

During a technology conference in Shanghai on Monday, Huawei presented a new design principle for future Kirin chips. Instead of making transistors smaller and smaller—as the traditional chip industry does—Huawei wants to stack chips vertically into a kind of three-dimensional “skyscraper.” The company calls this method “LogicFolding.”

China wants to be independent

Normally, chip manufacturers rely on extremely advanced EUV lithography machines to produce ever-smaller transistors. Due to U.S. export restrictions, China has virtually no access to these machines. Huawei is now trying to circumvent this problem by building chips differently, without being completely dependent on further miniaturization.

The absolute world leader

According to He Tingbo, president of Huawei’s chip division, the technology could achieve a transistor density comparable to 1.4-nanometer chips by 2031. That is currently considered the absolute pinnacle of the market. By comparison, China’s most advanced chip production is currently around 7 nanometers, while TSMC is already working on 2-nanometer chips and plans to begin mass production of 1.4-nanometer technology in 2028.

Huawei also introduced a new concept called the “Tau Scaling Law.” Whereas the well-known Moore’s Law revolves around making transistors smaller and smaller, Huawei focuses on shortening the distance data must travel within chips. By stacking components, information should be able to move faster.

Experts’ reservations

Experts do, however, express reservations about the claims. Huawei has not yet presented independent performance data, and analysts point to major challenges regarding heat generation, energy consumption, and production costs. Nevertheless, some view the announcement as a significant milestone for China’s chip industry.