The President of Chinese ZTE, Xu Ziyang, announced that the company is preparing to manufacture the most advanced 5 nm chip. This puts it in competition with Huawei or Qualcomm, which are also working on their 5 nm chips.
Its ramp-up to production is already promised for the next year. At the moment, no company has yet created this advanced processor process, and for example, American Qualcomm plans to bring it to the market in December. We’ll see who manages to do it sooner.
For now, ZTE only has 7 nm
The Chinese company announced its plans for the future at a shareholders’ meeting in Shenzhen. However, at the moment ZTE has only moved 7 nm chips into mass production—chips that other companies have been using in their smartphones for a long time.
It’s likely they changed their strategy and don’t want to be dependent on any external manufacturer anymore. President Xu Ziyang announced truly bold plans, because it was also mentioned that they will be working on a 3 nm chip—which they want to put into production next year as well, and later launch it on the market.
Big investment into R&D
A recent company investment into its science and research division makes up an enormous amount of 12.1 billion yuan, which is a mind-boggling 1.5 billion euros after conversion. This shows the company is taking its own processor really seriously.
This strategy is definitely justified by the sanctions from the USA. The fear of other Chinese companies is legitimate, and that’s why they focus on their own chips. So the semiconductor market may soon shift from America to Asia.
Apple already produces
The Taiwanese processor supplier TSMC, which works with Huawei as well as Apple, is already manufacturing new 5 nm chips. These are the Apple A14 chips, which will be used in new iPhone devices. Looks like for now Apple will be the first record-breaker.
Samsung, the South Korean company, also announced work on a new chip, as it is building its own processors too.
Tech enthusiasts will also be pleased with the information that TSMC has revealed the existence of a 4 nm manufacturing process. It’s kind of a stepping stone between the 7 nm and 5 nm technology, as suggested by the very naming “N4” and the statement that it will be an improved version of the “N5” technology. Production is expected to start only in 2023.
What do you think about these semiconductor market updates? Which chip, in your opinion, will rule the performance ranking?
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