Huawei announces chip breakthrough to shorten gap with TSMC

(SeaPRwire) –   Huawei Technologies Co. has announced a new approach to narrow the technological divide with industry frontrunner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), marking a potential milestone in producing sophisticated microchips without relying on state-of-the-art machinery.

Currently, a five-year gap separates TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities from those of Huawei and its fabrication partner, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC). During a rare public address at a semiconductor conference on Monday, Huawei’s chip division head, He Tingbo, revealed that the company aims to manufacture 1.4-nanometer chips by 2031 using its proprietary “LogicFolding” technology. In contrast, TSMC has slated mass production for the same node in 2028.

The executive noted that her team has established a path toward “sustainable evolution.” Speaking to journalists following her presentation, she asserted that Huawei can substantially improve its semiconductor fabrication capabilities without utilizing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems from Dutch manufacturer ASML Holding NV—equipment generally deemed vital for advanced chip production and currently restricted from China.

She further explained that the upcoming Kirin mobile processors, scheduled for release this autumn, will debut the LogicFolding architecture. This design enhances chip performance by packing more transistors onto the silicon and streamlining data transfer rates.

“We have a surprise in store for the entire sector this year,” she stated. “It is not about saturation or incremental progress, but rather a major leap forward.”

Following the announcement on Monday, Shanghai’s Star 50 Index, which tracks key Chinese semiconductor companies, climbed to an all-time high. SMIC’s stock price jumped by over 18%, while fellow chipmaker Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. hit its maximum daily trading limit with a 20% surge.

Successfully mass-producing 1.4nm chips would allow Huawei to challenge the prevailing industry belief that ASML’s EUV lithography systems are indispensable for manufacturing nodes at 5nm or below. These highly advanced chips are crucial for driving state-of-the-art artificial intelligence applications.

Nanometer measurements represent the physical dimensions of transistors on a silicon wafer. Shrinking these transistors allows more of them to be packed onto a single chip, boosting its overall processing power. ASML’s EUV systems are considered critical for this miniaturization process and are heavily relied upon by global industry leaders like TSMC, Samsung Electronics Co., and Intel Corp. for high-volume manufacturing.

According to He, the LogicFolding design is built upon Huawei’s proprietary Tau Scaling Law. The Chinese firm is positioning this principle as an alternative to Moore’s Law, which has guided the global semiconductor sector for decades. Named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, the law projects that transistor density on a chip doubles roughly every two years, though industry figures—including He—observe that this pace has decelerated lately.

She explained that Huawei’s progress under Moore’s Law stalled six years ago due to the impact of U.S. export restrictions. In response, her team developed a novel “time scaling” approach to succeed the traditional industry standard. This new methodology apparently prioritizes accelerating transistor data transmission speeds to make up for the inability to further shrink components using cutting-edge machinery.

“We discovered that time scaling offers significant advantages across various devices, circuits, chips, and systems,” He remarked, noting that Huawei has developed and produced 381 chips using the Tau Scaling Law over the last six years. In a separate announcement, Huawei revealed it is informally calling the new principle “Her’s Law” as a tribute to its semiconductor chief.

While the Tau Scaling Law reflects existing trends within the semiconductor sector, it represents the first formal effort by a corporation to integrate these concepts into a structured theory, noted Kitty Fok, managing director at research firm IDC China.

“This could serve as a fresh benchmark for the Chinese semiconductor sector as it works to bypass manufacturing process limitations,” Fok added.

The Shenzhen-based company has previously submitted patent applications indicating research into self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP). This technique, which involves etching silicon wafers multiple times to boost transistor density and performance, could enable the production of advanced chips without ASML’s EUV systems.

Although Huawei has steadily advanced its technological capabilities in recent years, it remains to be seen if pursuing this unconventional route will successfully propel the company to the forefront of semiconductor manufacturing.

Huawei has emerged as a leader in Beijing’s push for semiconductor independence, which was catalyzed by a multi-year, U.S.-led international effort to restrict exports of advanced chips and manufacturing equipment—measures that have slowed China’s artificial intelligence development.

Last September, Huawei unveiled a three-year plan to introduce a lineup of AI processors, aiming to fill the market gap created by export bans on Nvidia Corp.’s most advanced hardware in China.