US-sanctioned Huawei denies breakthrough in chip packaging tech as speculation mounts on firm’s efforts to overcome trade restrictions

Speculation has been rife about Huawei’s development of a new semiconductor packaging technology that can achieve 7-nanometre performance for chips

Strict US trade restrictions have effectively cut Huawei’s access to advanced new integrated circuits for its smartphones and other devices

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Speculation about Huawei’s chip plans reflect strong interest in its home market on how the company can overcome stringent US trade restrictions. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:00pm, 15 Mar 2023Updated: 11:34am, 16 Mar 2023

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co has dismissed speculation about its development of an innovative semiconductor packaging technology, which would enable the US-sanctioned company to produce advanced chips for its smartphones and other devices, despite strict restrictions imposed by Washington.

Shenzhen-based Huawei on Tuesday denied the rumours, which claimed that the new packaging tech was able to achieve 7-nanometre performance for chips, according to a report on Chinese media outlet Sina.com.

Semiconductors manufactured on 7-nm technology node have smaller transistors and perform faster with increased energy efficiency. These chips enable smartphones and other electronics devices to provide more features and consume less power.

Huawei declined to comment on Wednesday.

Huawei Technologies Co has been the subject of rumours linking it to new chip packaging technology, which could help the company produce advanced semiconductors for its smartphones and other devices. Photo: Reuters

It is another US-blacklisted company, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), that is known to have already started using the 7-nm process to produce integrated circuits.

That conclusion was reached by Canada-based research firm TechInsights last year after inspecting a sample chip extracted from a cryptocurrency mining machine. SMIC, mainland China’s largest and most advanced contract chip maker, has not made any public comment about this finding.

US-sanctioned Huawei denies breakthrough in chip packaging tech as speculation mounts on firm’s efforts to overcome trade restrictions

Speculation has been rife about Huawei’s development of a new semiconductor packaging technology that can achieve 7-nanometre performance for chips Strict US trade restrictions have effectively cut Huawei’s access to advanced new integrated circuits for its smartphones and other devices

Speculation has been rife about Huawei’s development of a new semiconductor packaging technology that can achieve 7-nanometre performance for chips

Strict US trade restrictions have effectively cut Huawei’s access to advanced new integrated circuits for its smartphones and other devices