Global semiconductor technology analysis company TechInsights released an analysis report on Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 9030 Pro on August 27th, providing empirical data to previous conclusions: the chip’s use of SMIC’s N+3 process is still far behind in overall process density and advancement compared to TSMC or Samsung’s commercially available 5nm process.
On August 27th, based in Canada, TechInsights released a report titled “HiSilicon Kirin 9030 Pro Process Flow Analysis: How Does SMIC’s N+3 Process Compare to Leading-Edge Nodes?” on its official website. As of now, SMIC N+3 is the most advanced domestically-produced logic process confirmed by publicly available data in China.
TechInsights stated that they have conducted reverse engineering analysis on SMIC’s N+3 process of Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 9030 Pro and compared it with leading-edge process nodes in the industry. This analysis aims to address the highly concerned question of how SMIC’s N+3 process compares to TSMC and Samsung’s leading processes.
The industry has been closely monitoring SMIC’s progress in advanced logic processes given the ongoing export restrictions and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology, as well as the true capability of manufacturing advanced chips for Chinese companies like Huawei.
TechInsights had previously disassembled Huawei’s Mate 80 Pro Max smartphone featuring the Kirin 9030 processor. At that time, there were various speculations about whether the processor used a 5nm, 6nm, or SMIC N+2 improved process. Through chip structure and size measurements, TechInsights confirmed that the Kirin 9030 uses SMIC N+3, a scaled-down evolution of SMIC’s 7nm process.
Previous analysis showed that compared to SMIC N+2, SMIC N+3 achieved a significant increase in transistor density, but at the same time, it confirmed that the scaling degree of SMIC N+3 still lags behind TSMC and Samsung’s commercially available 5nm process. TechInsights’ new analysis provides empirical evidence for these comparisons.
TechInsights’ competitor SemiAnalysis had conducted reverse analysis on SMIC N+3 over a month ago.
In a analysis published on July 14th, SemiAnalysis clearly stated that the performance of Kirin 9030 Pro is similar to Android flagship models from three years ago and inferior to Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Samsung’s current flagship single-chip system.
SemiAnalysis mentioned that with advanced DUV multiple exposure technology and design co-optimization, SMIC N+3 process achieved a density comparable to TSMC’s 6nm process, but at the cost of process complexity, efficiency, and control being reduced.
SMIC N+3 requires more complex DUV multiple exposure technology, therefore, in terms of process maturity and cost, it still lags behind TSMC’s 6nm process.
Regarding whether Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 9030 Pro can be used for AI data centers, TechInsights conducted an analysis in March this year and concluded: “Although China can now utilize SMIC N+3 process nodes to manufacture smartphone chips that meet product quality requirements, we believe that this process is not suitable for data center AI chips. The limitations of DUV lithography technology itself, combined with the relative newness of SMIC N+3 process, may lead to lower yields. Data center AI chips are much larger in size than smartphone chips, making this yield issue more prominent.”