Despite the restrictions of the United States in providing advanced chip technology to China, Huawei managed to develop a new and relatively powerful chip with the technology of American companies for the Mate 60 Pro phone.
Called Huawei, together with the SMIC chip maker, has used the technology of California-based Applied Materials and Lam Research to make a seven-nanometer chip.
Although the 7nm technology is outdated, it exceeds the limit set by the US in the trade war against China. Before this, another news was published that SMIC uses the technology of the Dutch company ASML for an advanced processor in the Huawei phone.
Reports indicate that SMIC was able to acquire American technology before the US Commerce Department sanctioned it in October 2022.
The embargo prevents US companies and US-allied countries from supplying chips or advanced chip-making equipment to Chinese companies. More restrictions were also imposed in November 2022 (Aban and Azar 1401) under the pretext of security concerns against Huawei and other Chinese companies.
While the U.S. Commerce Department has found no evidence of SMIC mass-producing advanced chips, Huawei received a lot of buzz for the Mate 60 Pro in the first weeks of 2024. In the same period, iPhone sales in China decreased by 24% compared to the previous year.
