SMIC is mass-producing the Huawei Kirin 710A chip

China has shown clear interest in minimising its reliance on foreign technology and as a part of that goal, the Chinese chip maker SMIC has started mass-producing the Huawei Kirin 710A chip. 

As per Global Times, the Kirin 710A chip produced by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) has reached an important milestone. SMIC's production of Kirin 710A is China's first domestically produced chip with independent intellectual property rights, meaning that all the groundwork leading to production of said chip has taken place in China.

According to Sun Yanbiao, head of Shenzhen-based research firm N1mobile, “the successful mass production benefits Huawei, as using chips provided by a manufacturer located in the Chinese mainland could help it reduce its reliance on Taiwan-based semiconductor maker TSMC, which will cushion shocks from China-US trade conflicts.”

Image credit: WinFuture

The domestically produced Kirin 710A comes as good news for Huawei, SMIC, and perhaps even more so for China. A big proportion of devices manufactured in China uses chips that have been produced by Taiwanese giant, TSMC. However, in the current political climate – with the trade war raging between China and the US –  the Chinese government is investing heavily into manufacturing technology to achieve foreign chip independence.

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