China's 7nm Chips: SMIC N+2
Asianometry2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2022–2024
explainer · intermediate · 2022–2024 on HN
Asianometry's short analysis of SMIC's N+2 node, China's 7nm leap forward. It considers how far behind the competition SMIC still is.
Recommended as a high-level, in-depth take on SMIC's 7nm progress and Asian chip manufacturing.
Up next
15 mo on HN1. Introduction to Human Behavioral Biology
Stanford
15 HN recommender · 2012–2026
6 mo on HNOld-fashioned rice cookers are extremely clever
Technology Connections
6 HN recommender · 2020–2025
18 mo on HNIndistinguishable From Magic: Manufacturing Modern Computer Chips
Andor Gafotas
19 HN recommender · 2016–2024
8 mo on HNThe Extreme Engineering of ASML’s EUV Light Source
Asianometry
11 HN recommender · 2022–2025
8 mo on HNJim Keller: Moore's Law, Microprocessors, and First Principles | Lex Fridman Podcast #70
Lex Fridman
8 HN recommender · 2020–2023
8 mo on HNJim Keller: Moore’s Law is Not Dead
UC Berkeley EECS
7 HN recommender · 2019–2025
7 mo on HNWhy It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED
Veritasium
10 HN recommender · 2024–2026
5 mo on HN38C3 - From Silicon to Sovereignty: How Advanced Chips are Redefining Global Dominance
media.ccc.de
5 HN recommender · 2025–2026
5 mo on HNThe man who almost faked his way to a Nobel Prize
BobbyBroccoli
6 HN recommender · 2022–2023
5 mo on HNAWS re:Invent 2016: Tuesday Night Live with James Hamilton
Amazon Web Services
5 HN recommender · 2016–2023
4 mo on HNHow does Computer Memory Work? 💻🛠
Branch Education
5 HN recommender · 2022–2023
4 mo on HN"Z2" - Upgraded Homemade Silicon Chips
Sam Zeloof
4 HN recommender · 2021–2026
4 comments from Hacker News
>> Western FDI constituted negligible part of PRC domestic investment as % of GDP... US made it geopolitically difficult to invest in PRC Foxconn leaving at apples behest (and the Foxconn owner getting vocal with the prc in a rare move). The banking exoudus from Hong Kong (now deep into its 2nd year). And the impact to the GDP... its a literal house of cards with the failure of ever grand with country garden hot on its heels... Meanwhile the retail apocalypse has hit china. High end luxury brands. Out. Grocery chains, shutting down. Finally the iron bowl, the local government workers are getting pay cut. (because land sales are a shitty source of funding)... Post pandemic there was going to be a realignment of global supply chains to be multi source and closer to home. Chinas covid zero policy just accelerated a decisions already made. >> Every component has domestic ventures to replicate. These have been facing up for decades. Without EUV they have no path forward. There is no EUV without Zeiss and ASML. Meanwhile unless your TSMC with their knowledge your going to have dismal yeilds. ▶ this video Probably one of the best high level insights into tech mfg in Asia. >>PRC hard tech sectors have exploded in employment and compensation. Broad unemployhment 5% which means new graduates get jobs eventually. There's new youth unemployment stats to discount students in tertiary like west, it's fine at ~20%. Youth? link Tech sector: link link The decline of Chinese tech from stem to
Asianometry released a video yesterday related to this. ▶ this video While stating that SMIC might still be around 4-6 years behind the competition, I was completely shocked to hear it was only that. The next few years are going to be some very interesting times.
Nah. Your interpretation is undoubtedly correct. I've been on HN 12 years now and I've become used to the increase in Western chauvinism over the recent years – mostly all of it led by US sentiment. The implication above is that the US is part of the civilized world (colloquially called "The West") and that China (and presumably Russia, and Iran, and Venezuela, and Cuba, et al) are part of the uncivilized world. See, for instance, on this page where Hume speaks of civilized versus uncivilized forms of government: “This chapter examines Hume's conception of government. It considers three forms of government that Hume distinguishes: barbarous monarchy, civilized monarchy, and free government (with its two subdivisions, limited monarchy and republic).” So civilized is contrasted with barbarous . link You'd think with SMIC demonstrating 7nm production ( as detailed in depth in this video by Asianometry: ▶ this video ) you'd think that the US had gotten the hint that the tech cat is out of the bag – or the tech genie has escaped the lamp or whatever metaphor you prefer … A comparison of SMIC's 7nm process versus the competition: link My prediction is that SMIC joins TSMC, Intel, Global Foundries, and Samsung at the top tier of semiconductor manufacturing by 2030, along with an ecosystem of Chinese design and manufacturing companies. In doing so the West's stranglehold on other companies like Huawei will be over. If Russia can survive the punitive Western sanctions until then it'll
Supposedly a high level TSMC executive moved to SMIC in 2017 and became co-CEO. So did 200 TSMC engineers. There was a lawsuit a few years ago that TSMC won but it before all this. ▶ this video link