Huawei Technologies, a Shenzhen-based communications producer, is apparently struggling to secure adequate high-end cards for the next edition of its Mate70 premier smartphone, the latest outcome in the US-initiated device war on China.  ,
According to The Information, Huawei and its local chip-making partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp ( SMIC ), both sanctioned by the US, planned to produce 2.5 million chips before releasing the Mate70 for a September product launch, but the goal was met due to limited manufacturing capacity and productivity issues, The Information reported.  ,
According to the Information Report, the” continuing influence of a four-year-old US restrictions on the source of chip manufacturing equipment to Huawei and SMIC” is the root cause of the missed goal.
Huawei would release the Mate70 smartphone in China on September 10, a moment after Apple Inc. unveiled the iPhone16 in the US on September 9. However, according to Chinese media, the Mate70 smartphone is then anticipated to be released in November.  ,
Huawei properly still choose to showcase its Mate70 the following week, according to The Information, but only a select few phones will be made quickly available for purchase.  ,
It stated that the company would allow users to pre-order and waited for delivery, a policy similar to the one used to build the Mate60 Pro in late August while US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was in Beijing.
In September 2023, Raimondo, the prospect US national behind the device war, said she was “upset” by the release of Mate60 Pro, which is powered by 7nm Kirin 9000s bits and showed China had found alternatives on US high-end device restrictions.
She claimed at a hearing in the US House of Representatives that her team had no idea that China could produce 7nm cards at the range. Last October, she told the Senate that the launch of Mate60 Pro was “incredibly disturbing” . ,
If the Mate70 is actually launched in November, Raimondo might not have to deal with legislative scrutiny before the US national elections on November 5.  ,
Chinese IT websites reported on Thursday ( September 5 ) that Huawei will unveil the world’s first triple-fold smartphone, known as Mate XT, at a marketing event on September 10. They said the long-awaited Mate70 or Mate70 RS will not be unveiled at the occasion.  ,
Cailian Press, a Chinese economic media company, reported citing unnamed resources on August 28 that Huawei will release the Mate 70 in November. The smartphone may use a fresh Kirin computer and HarmonyOS NEXT, an Android operating system developed by Huawei without the use of Android code, according to the statement.  ,
The Mate70 is anticipated to use a 7nm device known as Kirin 9100, according to popular belief.  ,
A Guangdong-based IT columnist , says , there are several types of Kirin 9100, but even the lowest-end another has a performance relative to Qualcomm’s Android 8 Gen 1 computer. The blogger asserts that the Kirin 9100 can produce video smoothness comparable to that of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and 3 chips.
Minimal production capacity
Since 2019, the US has asked ASML, the world’s largest chip equipment supplier based in the Netherlands, to stop shipping extreme-ultraviolet ( EUV) lithography machines to China. In a single exposure, EUV lithography can produce 2-3nm chips in various exposures, and 7nm chips can be produced in one.
A team led by Liang Mong-Song, managing director of SMIC and a former engineer at TSMC and Samsung, later successfully made 7nm chips using deep-ultraviolet ( DUV) lithography machines and multiple exposure techniques.  ,
In June this year, The Data reported that Huawei had faced roadblocks in manufacturing its Ascend 910B, a 7nm device that is said to be equal to 80 % of Nvidia’s A100 in terms of AI-training performance. It said the situation was a result of the US Commerce Department’s device trade controls.  ,
But, a calculation made by Asia Times using common figures , showed , that Huawei is also simply end its goal of making 400, 000 to 500, 000 Ascend 910B chips , this time even if its supply is as low as 20 %. In case Huawei needs more capacity to make AI chips, it can reduce the production of HiSilicon’s Kirin chips.
Whether Huawei and SMIC have slowed the development of Kirin chips to accommodate Ascend 910B is still undetermined.  ,
Despite a difference in yield, SMIC’s capabilities are only three years behind TSMC’s, based on the performance of the Chinese chips that were shipped, according to Hiroharu Shimizu, CEO of Tokyo-based TechanaLye, a semiconductor research company that disassembles and analyzes 100 electronic devices a year.
Shimizu told Nikkei in an interview last month that HiSilicon’s design capabilities have also improved, given that its 7nm chips perform comparable to TSMC’s 5nm products.  ,
More chip export rules
The Dutch government has stopped granting ASML licenses to export to China its NXT: 2000i and subsequent DUV immersion systems since the start of this year.  ,
The Dutch government announced on Friday that ASML will need to submit an application for export licenses with it rather than the US government for shipments of its vintage DUV immersion lithography machines, NXT: 1970i and 1980i, respectively. The new rule will become effective on September 7.
” I am making this decision for our security. When exporting this particular production equipment, we observe that technological advancements present greater safety risks. Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Reinette Klever stated in a statement released on Friday, particularly in the current geopolitical climate.
” The Netherlands has a unique and leading position. That comes with a responsibility that we must take seriously”, he said.  ,
Klever noted that the expansion of the licensing requirement affects specific equipment that is only produced by a select few businesses in the Netherlands. The company licensing requirement “requires a small portion of the total product portfolio of the companies that fall under this scheme.”
The updated license requirement, according to ASML, is only a technical change intended to “harmonize the approach for issuing export licenses.” China may fall under this new rule, according to some media reports, adding that the Hague will evaluate export license applications “on a case-by-case basis.”  ,
38 country coalition
On Thursday, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security ( BIS ) announced new export controls on quantum computers, advanced chip-making equipment and Gate All-Around Field-Effect Transistor ( GAAFET ) technology that can be used to make chips for supercomputers.
The BIS stated in a press release that it has worked diligently to establish relationships with like-minded nations abroad and to form a 38-country coalition to improve the impact of export controls on degrading Russian military capabilities and its supporters, including Belarus and Iran.  ,
China is not mentioned in the press release, but it appears that all curbs point to it. On Friday, Mao Ning, a representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, criticized the US for politicizing and stifling economic issues and stumbling upon global supply chains.  ,  ,
Read: China threatens chip war retaliation against Dutch, Japanese
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