FixedFocus revealed that Huawei still has many Kirin 8000 products in the pipeline. The processor could be used in new MatePad tablets and the upcoming Enjoy series. The company will probably unveil these devices by the end of this year.

On October 30, Huawei quietly unveiled the MatePad 11.5 2024 tablet. The company didn’t reveal the chipset info. However, an early leak suggested that the device uses Kirin 8000. It seems the OEM is planning more new products with the same chip.

The leak doesn’t specify any release time for these products. Yet, Huawei will likely unveil a new tablet and another Enjoy series before wrapping up this year.

Huawei hasn’t confirmed the news yet. Hence, let’s take this input with a grain of salt and wait for the official statements on this matter.

Huawei may launch more new Kirin 8000 products this year (Image Credits: FixedFocus/Weibo)

Kirin 8000 debuted with the Nova 12 Pro handset in December last year. It is an octa-core chipset that is inferior to Kirin 9000SL but promises better performance than the previous-generation Kirin 8 processors, for the mid-range lineup.

The chipset contains a 4+3+1 CPU architecture. It has four 1.84GHz small cores, three 2.19GHz medium cores, and one 2.40GHz large core. The chip is paired with Maleoon 910 GPU and has been installed on Nova 13 series, Nova Flip, and Nova 12 Pro.

Huawei is currently focusing on the Mate 70 series. The flagship lineup will likely launch next month with several new features as well as a powerful Kirin chip.

The device will further carry upgraded imaging features, improved and faster touch responses, and new satellite capabilities to enhance the user experience.

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Sophgo is a computing power service provider in China. It affiliates with Bitmain Tech and focuses on developing AI chips and products such as the RISC-V CPU.

TechInsights reported that a TSMC-made chip resides in Huawei Ascend 910B. Hereafter, the Taiwanese chipmaker blocked its chip shipment for one of the suspected Chinese firms. It looks like Sophogo is that particular firm.

Inputs reveal that Sophgo had ordered a certain amount of chips from the Taiwanese chip producer which seemed identical to Huawei Ascend 910B.

As a result, TSMC blocked chip supply for Sophgo as it suspected it to be a prime supplier of Huawei. But the AI firm denied such blame, saying that it has no ties with the Kirin chipset maker. The company even released a statement on its website:

“SOPHGO has been conducting business in strict compliance with applicable laws and regulations… and has never violated any of such laws and regulations. SOPHGO has never been engaged in any direct or indirect business relationship with Huawei.”

China’s Sophgo denies ties with Huawei as TSMC blocks chip supply (Image Credits: Sophgo)

TSMC vs Huawei

TSMC investigation stepped up after one of its important SoCs was found in the Huawei Ascend 910B. Both firms deny having any links with each other.

However, the U.S. authorities are seeing this incident as a major threat to their national security. Some foreign lawmakers even demanded answers and solutions to this happening at the earliest. Or else, it may become a huge problem for TSMC.

U.S. investigation circulates on whether TSMC has supplied its chips to China by any means. Although the probe didn’t find any significant revelations so far.

The search for loopholes in the US trade export controls and the secret behind China’s chip progress is in full swing. We may hit more details on this matter in the upcoming days.

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U.S. authorities are probing TSMC these days as TechInsights found a key component made by the Taiwanese firm in the Huawei processor. Read the story HERE.

This led to major discussion among U.S. lawmakers and congressmen for “security concerns”. They even ordered TSMC to respond on this matter at the earliest.

Amid the investigation, some analysts said that the long-term U.S. sanctions seemingly have loopholes for the Huawei chip tech. It didn’t affect the company rather helped it to become independent in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

One of these analysts is Arisa Liu, the Director of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. She says:

“US long-term sanctions on China’s semiconductor sector have proven to be porous.”

TSMC said that it hasn’t shipped any chips to Huawei since September 2020. Huawei also added that the company hasn’t developed any chips via TSMC after the U.S. sanctions. Hence, the confusion on how a TSMC SoC made its way to Huawei persists.

Long-term U.S. sanctions on Huawei chip tech proved porous: Analysts (Image Credits: TSMC)

However, the current scenario hints that the strict U.S. restrictions as well as trade rules aren’t affecting much to Chinese companies. Following such converse, the U.S. authorities may increase the trade export controls on China in the future.

Huawei is constantly improving its chips using native technologies. The company has said that its Ascend 910B chip is doing great and can draw level with the Nvidia A100. Ascend 910C is also in the pipeline and will soon join the processor series.

It would be worth seeing how this ongoing investigation on TSMC and China’s chipset growth will proceed in the coming days.

Huawei silently testing Ascend 910C AI chip to rival Nvidia: Report

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China-U.S. chip war came to light when Huawei launched the Mate 60 Pro last year with a Kirin 9000s 5G chip. Regardless of tough restrictions and challenges, the company managed to build a 5G chip for its smartphones with effective performance.

Pura 70 Ultra with Kirin 9010 and MateBook X Pro 2024’s Intel Core Ultra 9 added fuel to this chip war. As a result, the U.S. became more cautious about Huawei and China’s chipset progress. And TSMC investigation is a part of this “awareness”.

Part 1: Investigation begins

The story began last week when the U.S. suddenly started probing TSMC for if it was involved in any chip dealings with Huawei. Despite several explanations by TSMC, the U.S. didn’t find any satisfactory answers and continued its search.

If found in any dealings with Huawei, the Taiwanese firm may face punishments such as temporary restrictions on advanced chipmaking tools, fees, or more.

Although TSMC claimed that it hasn’t indulged in chipset relations with any Chinese firms including Huawei. It further said that as a law-abiding company, it will take prompt action to ensure compliance with the U.S. rules and regulations.

TSMC company (Image Credits: TSMC)

Part 2: Revelation

While the investigation was on, a research firm TechInsights revealed that one of Huawei’s AI chips has an important SoC made by TSMC. The chip is Ascend 910B which is said to use an advanced component supplied by the Taiwanese chip producer.

The discovery of this part in Huawei’s chip ultimately increased pressure on TSMC. It even informed the U.S. about this discovery immediately. It said that the company isn’t aware of this component and strongly follows all the regulations.

However, the U.S. authorities are probably seeing TSMC as a guilty firm in this case. One of the lawmakers from the U.S. – John Moolenaar stated:

“Reports that cutting-edge TSMC-manufactured chips have contributed to Huawei’s AI development represent a catastrophic failure of U.S. export control policy. Congress needs immediate answers from both Commerce and TSMC about the scope and volume of this disaster.”

Part 3: Cutting chip supply

Following the fierce investigation, TSMC has now stopped shipping its chipset to a specific client (suspected to be a supplier of Huawei). The chip producer is putting effort into proving its “no relationship with Huawei” statement.

Huawei on the other hand, said that it stopped taking any help from TSMC since 2019. Well, that means the company might have stockpiled these chips years back and is currently using them for its products. Although the matter requires more details for a clear view.

Huawei vs TSMC: U.S. begins investigation chapter on China’s chipset growth (Image Credits: Huawei)

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According to Bloomberg, TSMC has stopped the chip supply for a specific client. The chipmaker suspected the respective customer to be a Huawei firm’s well-wisher, helping it develop proficient semiconductors for its products.

Inputs reveal that the Taiwanese chipmaker played this move after finding some of its major SoC parts in Ascend 910B. TSMC has been under the U.S. investigation for some weeks and its components in Huawei’s processor increased the pressure on it.

Following the new findings, some U.S. lawmakers demanded immediate answers on the TSMC chip in Huawei devices. A representative from the U.S. says:

“Reports that cutting-edge TSMC-manufactured chips have contributed to Huawei’s AI development represent a catastrophic failure of U.S. export control policy. Congress needs immediate answers from both Commerce and TSMC about the scope and volume of this disaster.”

Following these tensions, TSMC halted the chip shipments to a suspected Huawei supplier in mid-October. The firm is investigating this matter more thoroughly.

TSMC reportedly stopped chip shipments to suspected Huawei supplier (Image Credits: TSMC)

However, it’s unconfirmed if the client belongs to the Huawei supplier list or is just a normal customer. Things might be revealed as the investigation proceeds ahead.

On Tuesday, Huawei mentioned that it hasn’t built any chips via TSMC after the U.S. sanctions since 2020. That makes the matter more confusing on how the TSMC chips made their way to Chinese processors.

Earlier teardowns of Huawei products implied that the company had some stocked components for three years. Perhaps it might be using these parts in its chips.

The U.S. will continue to investigate this matter till it gets satisfactory answers to its questions. In the upcoming days, we may hear some more interesting revelations on this topic.

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U.S. authorities began probing TSMC a few days ago as they suspected the firm of chip dealings for Huawei devices. Although the company claimed that it isn’t a part of such transactions and assured to take action to comply with the trade regulations.

Now the Taiwanese chip producer found a major loophole in this topic. As per a new report, TSMC notified the US about its chip parts being used in one of the Huawei AI processors. The company found details after a quick teardown by TechInsights.

TechInsights dismantled the Ascend 910B AI chip. During exploration, the research team found an advanced TSMC SoC within a multi-chip system of the processor.

The research firm informed TSMC about the new findings before sharing them publicly. Hereafter, the Taiwanese company brought the concern to the US.

During the investigation, TSMC uttered that it hadn’t shipped any chips to Huawei since mid-September 2020. Thus, the finding hints at the stocked components.

“We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time. We maintain a robust and comprehensive export system for monitoring and ensuring compliance.” – said TSMC.

Huawei earlier stated that it doesn’t build chips through TSMC after the US ban. Following the trade sanctions in 2019, the company was unable to access or export any products to foreign countries, if made by the U.S. advanced technologies.

Sources mentioned that Huawei launched its Ascend 910B in August 2019, before the sanctions. At that time, the chip used to be produced under the TSMC foundry.

Financial Times added that TSMC further informed the U.S. about a new customer placing orders for Huawei Ascend 910B chips. It interrogated the customer for orders but didn’t get any significant details on this matter.

The ongoing investigation will probably continue to get more turning points as it proceeds. It would be worth seeing how far the U.S. will probe firms for helping Huawei.

TSMC notified US about its chip used in Huawei devices (Image Credits: TSMC)

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A recent report claimed that U.S. lawmakers are urging to impose more export controls on Huawei to restrict it from doing better in the chipset space.

The demand has come as Huawei is gearing up the development of its new Ascend 910C AI chip and an alleged 5nm processor for the upcoming Mate 70 flagship.

John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi – members of the House Select Committee wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on this matter.

They demanded tougher restrictions on Huawei. Doing so will be a sign that the U.S. will take strict actions to prevent its technology from being indulged in problematic ambitions. U.S. authorities have been howling in the name of security for years and the current scenario is no exception to this matter.

Is the U.S. afraid of Huawei?

Do you know the reason why U.S. lawmakers want more limitations on Huawei? It is because they found that the company is teaming up with chip component suppliers that aren’t on the Entity List. For instance SawySure, Qingdao SiEn, and more.

Earlier Huawei tied up with the PXW Semiconductor company for its chip production. However, as the U.S. came to know about this collaboration, it chained PXW from accessing its advanced techs. Now it is planning the same for other firms.

More export controls and restrictions reflect growing fears among the US government about Huawei’s progress in the chipset sector. The company is making slow yet significant improvements in both smartphones and AI processors which seems a major concern for the US.

Well, that’s only one side of the story. In the fear of Huawei’s chip progress, the US is even probing other chipmakers for whether they are helping the Chinese tech giant in any manner. TSMC is the latest example which is now stuck in investigation.

• U.S. investigates TSMC on chip dealings with Huawei

A coin has two sides and so does this report. Those on the U.S. side will see these measures as a part of national security. Meanwhile, those supporting Huawei will say that the U.S. is under pressure as Huawei has started rising in the chip technology.

More export controls highlight US concerns over Huawei’s chipset progress (Image Credits: Huawei)

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Ming-Chi Kuo noted that ASML is in rumors to increase the price of its chip-making tools for TSMC. But that won’t be the exact case. Perhaps, the Taiwanese semiconductor firm will likely bargain with ASML and suppress it for price reductions.

TSMC is one of the biggest customers of ASML. The latter used to sell large lithography machines to the former to print circuit patterns onto silicon wafers.

Wall Street stated a few points that hint at why ASML could raise the price of its chip equipment for TSMC. Firstly, ASML has planned to achieve €30 to €40 billion in revenue range by 2025. The firm is taking new steps to enhance its sales by next year.

Secondly, TSMC and other customers of the Dutch chip equipment supplier are looking forward to more advanced chipmaking processes by next year. This may ultimately increase the demand for ASML’s highest-end EUV tools pricing €350 million.

Lastly, ASML is seeing a major decline in semiconductor stocks for the time being. Customers like Intel and Samsung didn’t make much progress. But TSMC has recently reported blockbuster earnings with 54% profit. This could be a reason to hike chip equipment prices for the Taiwanese semiconductor firm.

TSMC is highly dependent on ASML for chipmaking tools. Thus, the Dutch firm could take advantage of this point to some extent by raising its price. However, the U.S. government may subsidize this dealing with better profits on both sides.

Note that neither ASML nor TSMC has confirmed this news so far. Hence, it is better to take this rumor with a grain of salt at present.

ASML rumored to increase chip-making tool price for TSMC (Image Credits: ASML)

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Huawei is unable to access high-end chipmaking tools due to U.S. sanctions. Now the foreign authorities are planning more challenges for the company in semiconductor manufacturing. They are pressing Biden to impose more restrictions.

Chairman John Moolenaar and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi – the members of the House Select Committee on strategic conflicts between the U.S. and China, recently wrote a letter to Gina Raimondo (Commerce Secretary) on Chinese tech progress concerns.

The letter highlights that the Biden administration should increase export controls to block Huawei’s secretive chip network growth. The “clandestine semiconductor facilities” of Huawei will ultimately harm U.S. security on a large scale.

“…Just as you have taken steps to prohibit Huawei from purchasing U.S. chips, it is similarly important and logical to restrict the flow of SME to prevent Huawei from fabricating its chips. Restricting the flow… will send an important signal to… Huawei that the United States will take action to prevent U.S. technology from enabling its problematic technology ambitions.” (via)

According to Bloomberg, Huawei is currently teaming up with Pengxinxu, SwaySure Technology, and Qingdao SiEn to expand its chip network. These firms are free from U.S. restrictions and do not count in the Entity list.

US lawmakers urge tougher restrictions on Huawei chip tech: Report (Image Credits: Huawei)

Huawei also collaborated with the PXW Semiconductor to accelerate its chipmaking process. But later, the U.S. added the respective firm to the entity list, prohibiting it from accessing advanced technologies. Now they are planning the same treatment for the above-mentioned firms to block ways for Huawei.

The Commerce Department has said to respond on this matter soon with their appropriate mediums.

Huawei launched a 7nm chip last year which belongs to the SMIC foundry. Since then, the U.S. started eyeing the OEM for every step it takes in chipmaking.

The U.S. authorities canceled the licenses of many foreign semiconductor firms from selling chipsets or chipmaking equipment to Huawei. ASML is one of the major examples of this aspect. Now lawmakers are urging to ban 120+ Chinese companies and impose fresh restrictions on chip tool sales in China.

Apart from its own efforts, the U.S. is pressuring its neighboring countries to impose the same restrictions on China. Although they didn’t show much interest.

How Huawei will make its steps more firm in the chip tech field amid these US restrictions and export problems would be worth looking forward to.

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FixedFocus notes that the upcoming Huawei Kirin 9 series chip may have a “1+3+4” CPU architecture. It will use one self-developed large core, three medium cores, and 4 small cores. It could also use an improved 7nm Pro Plus chipset platform.

A self-developed large core implies better and higher performance. These cores can easily handle heavy tasks like gaming, video editing, and more. The medium and small cores maintain balance and ensure a reduction in power consumption.

7nm Pro Plus hints at a more enhanced chipset platform. Huawei has said to improve its existing 7nm technology rather than focusing on the new 5nm or 3nm ones. The 7nm Pro Plus refers to the company’s new improvements in chip making.

The leak also implies that the OEM may use 8, 6, and 4 channels as per the chipset yield. Here, channels refer to a separate path that enables the CPU to access memory. The number of channels in a processor helps it to interact with memory modules.

For instance, the Quad Channel has four channels to associate with the memory module. The “6-channel and 8-channel” mainly used for servers. A high number of channels also increases bandwidth and results in dynamic computing performance.

Some netizens predicted that Huawei may bring two new Kirin chips for its Mate 70 series. The standard Mate 70 model could use the new Kirin 9 chip. Meanwhile, the high-end variants will likely adopt a 5nm processor with upgraded performance.

The prediction might be accurate to some extent. Huawei has been long-rumored to develop new Kirin chipsets for its flagship products. It seems the processors are in the final development phase and could show up by the end of this year.

Other details about the new chipset such as its name, official parameters, and internal changes are still unknown. Although we will discover these inputs probably with the Mate 70 series launch, seemingly scheduled for November 2024.

New Huawei Kirin 9 chip may adopt ‘1+3+4’ 7nm CPU architecture (Image Credits: FixedFocus/Weibo)

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