Huawei Technologies Co. has announced a new pathway to significantly reduce its technological gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), potentially achieving a breakthrough in advanced semiconductor manufacturing without relying on cutting-edge equipment.
Huawei's LogicFolding Technology
Speaking at a chip conference on Monday, Huawei's semiconductor chief He Tingbo revealed that the company will start producing 1.4 nanometre chips by 2031 using its proprietary "LogicFolding" technology. In comparison, TSMC has stated it will begin mass production of the same node in 2028, narrowing the gap to just three years from the current five-year difference between Huawei and its manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC).
He emphasized that her team has found a way for "sustainable evolution" and that Huawei can advance its chipmaking capabilities without using Dutch supplier ASML Holding NV's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. These machines are widely considered essential for producing cutting-edge semiconductors but are inaccessible to China due to export controls.
Kirin Mobile Chips to Debut LogicFolding
The Kirin mobile chips set to launch this fall will be the first to adopt the LogicFolding architecture. This design boosts chip performance by increasing the number of transistors and optimizing data transmission speed. "This year we have prepared a surprise for the whole industry. Not saturation, not continuation, but a big leap ahead," He stated.
Following the announcement, the Star 50 Index in Shanghai, which includes major Chinese chip firms, rose to a record high. Shares of SMIC surged over 18%, while foundry peer Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. jumped by the daily limit of 20%.
Defying Industry Consensus
If Huawei can mass-produce 1.4 nanometre semiconductors, it would defy the industry consensus that ASML's EUV machines are necessary for chips of 5nm or more advanced. These semiconductors power the most sophisticated AI technologies. The nanometer measure indicates transistor size; smaller transistors allow more to be fitted on a chip, making it more powerful.
ASML's EUV machines are used by leading global chipmakers like TSMC, Samsung Electronics Co., and Intel Corp. for mass production. However, Huawei's He noted that the LogicFolding architecture is based on Huawei's own Tau Scaling Law, a principle rivaling Moore's Law, which has guided the global chip industry for decades. He explained that Huawei's scaling efforts based on Moore's Law plateaued six years ago after U.S. export controls took effect. Her team then proposed a new "time scaling" method to replace the industry's gold standard, focusing on boosting data transmission speed by transistors to compensate for the lack of state-of-the-art equipment to shrink components further.
