The Canon machine that should have U.S lawmakers worried will start shipping this year or next year،
This is important because as the number of process nodes decreases, the transistors used on these chips become smaller, allowing more of them to be placed inside a chip. And the greater the number of transistors inside a chip, the more powerful and/or energy efficient that chip is.
Cannon's NIL machine could help China's SMIC produce 5nm chipsets for Huawei
But if Canon isn't banned from shipping NIL machines at minimum wage, the foundry might suddenly be able to produce 5nm chips, bringing the country closer to the 3nm components that TSMC and Samsung Foundry are releasing of their assembly line this year. TSMC's 3nm node is already used to produce the A17 Pro application processor (AP) used with the iPhone 15 Pro double.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Richard Windsor, director of research company Radio Free Mobile, said: “If nanoprinting technology was a superior technology, I think it would have already been up and running and on the market in volume. » While he may be right, there's nothing stopping SMIC from trying to make NIL work so it can build 5nm Kirin chips for Huawei. After all, Hiroaki Takeishi, head of Canon's optical product operations, told the Financial Times that NIL technology will enable the creation of simple, inexpensive cutting-edge chips. This sounds exactly like what SMIC has in mind.
Current US export rules prevent foundries using US technology from shipping cutting-edge chips to Huawei without obtaining a license and Takeishi says he looks forward to Canon starting shipping its NIL machines in 2024 and 2025.