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| Huawei takes action to counter the forthcoming US ban on chips |
Reuters quoted people familiar with the matter on Thursday to inform that Huawei is gradually moving its own chip production from a Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC to a Chinese company to anticipate new US restrictions.
When Washington moves to SMIC in Shanghai, it is preparing to enact new legislation requiring foreign companies using US chipmaking equipment to obtain approval before Huawei submits, which will have a direct impact on TSMC. He also noted how the U.S. restrictions on Huawei are pushing Chinese companies to accelerate the development of domestic technology.
According to the US government, Huawei, the world's largest maker of telecommunications and smartphones, poses a threat to national security with the use of spy devices in Beijing, and has blocked US companies from selling them to Chinese companies without permission. Huawei has repeatedly denied that its products pose a security threat.
A Reuters source said, "Huawei's HiSilicon chip manufacturing department began in late 2019 to lead some of its engineers to SMIC design instead of TSMC."
A Huawei spokesman said in a statement to Rutzer that the change was an "industrial practice". He said, "Huawei is seriously studying capacity, technology and delivery issues when selecting a semiconductor manufacturing facility."
It should be noted that no one except TSMC can manufacture the latest Kirin processor exclusively for HiSilicon Huawei mobile phones. However, experts say SMIC can be used to manufacture previous Kirin processors.