
Kirin 9000s and SMIC

SMIC’s development of its 2nd generation 7nm manufacturing process raises concerns about the enforcement of US intellectual property and technology export restrictions. House of Representatives Committee on Competition with China Chairman Mike Gallagher joined the bandwagon, emphasizing the need for stricter enforcement of US technology exports. Gallagher, who advocated a complete halt to US technology exports to both Huawei and SMIC, stated that this would further increase tensions and complexities in the US-China technology trade environment.

Due to export restrictions introduced in 2020, all American technologies supplied to Huawei or its subsidiaries require an export license from the US Department of Commerce. And of course, it is not possible to obtain this license in practice for advanced technology. Therefore, Huawei lost access to the advanced 7nm and below processes of leading semiconductor manufacturers Samsung Foundry and TSMC.
SMIC is also blacklisted in the USA and its exports are subject to license conditions. However, although it is not known how, it seems that SMIC has produced Huawei’s Kirin 9000s chip without obtaining an export license in order to produce N+2.
Huawei and Sk Hynix crisis
As if it wasn’t enough for SMIC to produce the Kirin 9000s chip despite all the obstacles, another mystery has recently emerged. According to what is stated, SK hynix branded memory and flash storage are used in the Kirin 9000s chip.
Currently, SK hynix has launched an official investigation into how the company’s LPDDR5 and NAND flash memory found its way into the Huawei Mate 60 Pro. The Korean chip manufacturer reiterated that it has not sold any of its products to Huawei since the USA blacklisted Huawei in 2020.

The most likely explanation that comes to mind is that Huawei may have created a large inventory of SK hynix NAND or LPDDR5 before the export restrictions. Because SK hynix announced the UD310 in 2020, which coincides with the time when the USA added Huawei to its trade blacklist.
The answer to all these mysteries lies in Huawei. However, the brand, which quietly launched the Mate 60, Mate 60 Pro and Mate 60 Pro Plus models, is keeping its mouth tightly shut for now. Huawei’s historic success with Kirin 9000s is currently under US scrutiny.