Comments by "Arabic Reja" (@ArabicReja973) on "Apple Raises Prices of iPhone 15 Pro Max" video.
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(Long) This is how Huawei produced its 7nm Kirin 9000 chips via SMIC for its Mate 60 Pro:
- SMIC managed to tweak the DUV chipmaking machines that were designed to produce more mature nodes,14nm and up, to produce the 7nm chips.
- China is free to buy the simpler DUV machines from the Dutch company ASML but curbed from buying more advanced EUV lithography machines.
- The tweak of the DUV machines causes it to be inefficient, giving a low yield rate at 20% to 50% per waffer, compared to 90% of the EUV.
- The process only produces 50% or less the number of useable chips per waffer. The rest is thown away. As a result, it costs a lot more on a per chip basis, in addition to higher battery consumption.
- Huawei is currently selling its phone at a loss because of expensive chips inside.
- With this, China has made limited progress, but far from a breakthrough in the chip-making industry.
- SK Hynix, a Korean firm, said the Mate 60 contains 2 of its prohibited memory chips.
- How long Huawei or SMIC can absorb the loss is still a question provided they are unfairly heavily subsidized by the Chinese government.
- One thing for certain: the US will broaden hasher tech restrictions and plug any loopholes that Chinese firms are exploring.
Netherlands has said it will impose export control to limit SMIC's access to more DUV machines.
SK Hynix said it would never sell its memory chips to Huawei, which is in the US blacklist.
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