The brief

Analyst view

• SMIC operates foundries in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Shenzhen. It is China's only independent advanced foundry.
• Makes Huawei's Kirin smartphone chips and Ascend AI accelerators using 7nm and 5nm DUV processes.
• Pricing is 40-50% higher than TSMC for equivalent nodes, and yields on advanced nodes are lower, but it escapes US export controls.

Technical approach

As reported

DUV Only

No EUV access

SMIC cannot buy EUV lithography tools from ASML due to US export controls. It uses deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography with older but stockpiled equipment.

Process Nodes

7nm and 5nm logic

SMIC has shipped 7nm for mass production (Ascend 910C) and 5nm at lower volumes for Kirin processors. Both use DUV multi-patterning.

Portfolio

Analog and power chips too

Beyond advanced logic, SMIC operates fabs for analog, power management, display drivers and other mature nodes where it has better yields and costs.

Supply Chain

Huawei's anchor customer

Huawei's HiSilicon design arm is SMIC's largest customer, driving demand and investment in advanced nodes.

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