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Deciphering the biggest secret of Huawei Mate 60 Pro; Why is Crane 9000S an important processor?

In 2020, SMIC briefly mentioned N+2 processing technology. The unveiling of N+2 at that time was a revolutionary leap for SMIC; Because this lithography experienced significant improvements compared to N+1.

Technology experts at the time saw N+1 as a low-cost alternative to TSMC’s 7nm lithography. TSMC is the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world and has big customers like Apple. About a year ago, the state media Global Times wrote in an exclusive report that Chinese analysts consider N+2 to be 5-nanometer class lithography.

SMIC has never publicly confirmed 7nm and 5nm processor manufacturing; However, experts’ review shows that SMIC has produced MinerVa IC processor for 7nm (N+1) lithography base.

Meanwhile, SMIC’s Twinscan NXT:2000i scanner, which is among DUV devices, has the ability to produce processors with 7nm and 5nm lithography. Thus, it is not unlikely that SMIC has achieved 5nm lithography.

However, one important issue should not be forgotten: SMIC requires extremely expensive techniques to place very small transistors on the chip surface and use 5nm lithography. Multiple modeling use. This technology has a dramatic impact on production efficiency and cost, and may force companies to raise CPU prices and increase graphics prices.

Thus, the economic productivity of 5nm SMIC lithography is likely to be much lower than that of companies such as Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. Probably, this issue has affected the price of Mate 60 Pro.

One of the interesting claims about the Crane 9000S is that the processor is said to use stacking technology. Global Times was the first media to make such a claim without providing any technical explanation and how stacking is used.

Perhaps the Crane 9000S processor placed the modem IC on top of the CPU and GPU IC to make room for the motherboard. We do not know the exact details; But the advanced chip packaging technology is a big achievement for SMIC and Huawei.

HiSilicon, which was forgotten in recent years, is the most successful chip designer company in China. Before the American sanctions, this company was following in the footsteps of the elders and in some cases even used advanced and modern technologies of TSMC.

After Huawei cut off access to American suppliers in 2020, HiSilicon lost the possibility to cooperate with TSMC. Huawei decided to help the development of SMIC after HiSilicon was crippled. Crane 9000S is the first fruit of this collaboration.

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