Chinaโs biggest contract chipmaker SMIC has applied to the US government to continue supplying to telecommunications equipment maker Huawei, local media reported, after the grace period for a semiconductor ban expired on Tuesday.
Details:ย Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) told Chinese newspaperย Securities Timesย that the company had applied to the US government to continue shipping to Huawei and vowed that it would โstrictly comply with laws and regulations.โ
- Shares of the company jumped 8.4% on Wednesday morning in Hong Kong on the news.
Context:ย SMIC itself, however, is under threat of being added to a US technology export blacklist. The US Defense Department said earlier this month that the Trump administration isย consideringย imposing export restrictions on the company.
- Experts told TechNode that SMIC may not have the capacity or capability to produce chips Huawei needs because its technology is โgenerations behind.โ
- SMIC is able to make 14-nanometer (nm) chips. In May, SMIC received $2.2 billion from Chinese state-backed venture capital funds to increase the capacity of one of its 14-nm chip fabrication plants.
- However, the chips Huawei needs include 5-nm Kirin 1100 processor for servers and 7-nm Kirin 810 chip for smartphones. Taiwan’s Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is able to make more advanced 7-nm chips, but the company has reportedly halted shipment to Huawei.
