Chinese state media on Thursday said that Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co. had initiated mass production of chips on its 14nm-class fabrication process at its Fab SN1 near Shanghai, China, citing a local official. Perhaps more importantly, the report also claimed that despite being unable to procure advanced chip production equipment, the company is proceeding with…
When the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) restricted access of China’s largest contract chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) to fab equipment used to make10nm-class chips, it was considered a tough but not too severe move. Now the U.S. government is mulling restricting China from producing logic chips using a 14nm-class fabrication process. The DOC is…
At processor manufacturers, fundamental and applied research and development work never stops, so now that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has outlined a timeline for its N2 (2 nm-class) fabrication process that will enter high-volume manufacturing (HVM) in 2025, it is time for the company to start thinking about a succeeding node. If a new rumor…
Chinese chipmakers and chip designers at present are focused primarily on mature high-volume process technologies in a bid to support local makers of automobiles, consumer electronics, smartphones, and Internet-of-Things. Yet the country officials believe that next year local makers of semiconductors will begin to ramp up fabrication of chips using 14 nm and more advanced…
