Kirin 9000S Was Made On Older 14nm Process, Says Research Firm Executive; SMIC Employed Techniques To Make It Perform Closer To A 7nm Part

The Kirin 9000S, first found in Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro, has sparked debate across various platforms while also irking the U.S. government. Earlier reports claimed that SMIC, a Chinese-based semiconductor manufacturer, leveraged its 7nm technology to mass produce the latest SoC. However, one research firm CEO believes that only special techniques were involved in making the latest chipset perform on par with a 7nm part and that it is actually made on an older and inferior 14nm process.

Multiple teardowns and analyses have not mentioned anything about the Kirin 9000S being a 14nm SoC

Industry experts have lauded the Mate 60 Pro featuring the Kirin 9000S because Huawei was able to mass produce a silicon with the U.S. trade sanctions in place. While several research firms have concluded that the latest silicon is a 7nm part produced by SMIC, South China Morning Post conversed with research firm Fomalhaut Techno Solutions’ CEO, Minatake Mitchell Kashio, through email. Apparently, the Kirin 9000S is not a true 7nm SoC but a 14nm one.

“In an email interview, the chief executive at Tokyo-based electronics research firm Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, Minatake Mitchell Kashio, told the Post that he believes the Kirin 9000s CPU was made via SMIC’s 14-nm process based on their own handset teardown. He indicated that some special techniques were added to push the chip’s performance closer to a 7-nm grade processor.”

Several benchmarks also show that the Kirin 9000S has obtained numbers similar to what a 7nm chip would achieve, and SMIC is also operating DUV (deep ultraviolet) machinery that allows it to make chipsets at this lithography. Unfortunately, with the Chinese firm being unable to procure advanced EUV machinery from Dutch-based ASML due to the U.S. sanctions in place, it might not be possible to move past the 7nm ceiling.

Manufacturing 7nm chips would also be in direct violation of U.S. sanctions, with the export controls intended to keep China limited to 14nm and 10 years behind the latest technology. With the Kirin 9000S, a report states that China is now around four years behind the U.S., bridging the technological gap substantially. There is still a lack of evidence that the new SoC was fabricated on the 14nm process, so we will have to wait for more updates to provide concrete information.

Written by Omar Sohail