• photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 years ago

    It was only a matter of time before the Chinese started ramping up their own semiconductor capabilities. With all the inevitable industrial espionage involved, I wonder if the west really has that much of a head start in chip design.

    • iopq@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Design? No

      Fabs? The advantage is insurmountable as long as the US keeps preventing ASML from exporting EUV to China

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    2 years ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    In another Global Times publication, Chinese analysts labeled N+2 as SMIC’s 5nm-class production node about a year ago.

    Yet, there are independent proofs from TechInsights that SMIC produced MinerVa Semiconductor Bitcoin mining ASICs on its 7nm-class N+1 technology.

    Meanwhile, SMIC’s Twinscan NXT:2000i deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography scanners can make chips on 7nm and 5nm technologies, so that the company may have developed a 5nm-class fabrication process.

    Huawei’s HiSilicon is China’s most successful chip designer that has used to adopt TSMC’s leading-edge fabrication technologies.

    After Huawei lost access to American technologies in 2020, HiSilicon could no longer work with the world’s largest contract maker of chips, and it is believed that the parent company helped SMIC to advance its fabrication processes.

    Huawei has not commented on the matter, and even state-ran Global Times does not explicitly say that the HiSilicon Kirin 9000S uses SMIC’s 5nm-class process technology but prefers to call the information a rumor.


    The original article contains 574 words, the summary contains 148 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • A_A@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    When I use my (Android) phone I very much feel that I am not the customer but rather the product and it would be much worse (I think) if competition wasn’t there. in some ways, my experience with one (bad) Chinese phone was much better than what I had with one from South Korea.

    Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is a partially state-owned publicly listed Chinese pure-play semiconductor foundry company. It is the largest contract chip maker in mainland China.

    SMIC ordered an EUV step-and-scan system from ASML Holding for $120 million in 2018. The order was blocked after the US government lobbied ASML and the government of the Netherlands.
    (…Wikipedia)

    • phx@lemmy.ca
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      2 years ago

      Try a Pixel rather than a Samsung. Despite being from Google (whose main schtick is advertising) it’s a pretty clean experience, while my family members’ Samsung and LG (who have since exited the market) devices have pre-installed, unremovable apps, stupidly hard-coded configs and - esp in the case of Samsung - often seem add new bullshit in after updates.

      Samsung in particular pisses me off given how they charge a premium for devices that are full of intrusive bullshit.

      • A_A@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Thanks, I always went for the cheapest phone. Now, it’s been a few years with my last purchased and next time I will try and follow your advice or maybe go for Moto G…

        • Defaced@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Avoid the moto g series, they’re a clean Android experience but moto cheaped out on the CPU and they’re terribly slow. The Google pixel 6a is a good cheap phone and it’s going to get updated to Android 14 and security updates for another 2 years. I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit and it’s a clean stock android experience.

  • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 years ago

    It’s nice to see access to one of most important technology of the 21st century not at the hands of a single country whims

    Most people would’ve hoped for it to be from Europe but instead of working to free themselves from USA control over such important tech they regulate random stuff and make themselves look like fools.

    I strongly believe a joint cooperation of the European union could produce a powerful CPU, GPU but they’re sitting on their butts doing nothing. Shame…

    • misk@sopuli.xyz
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      2 years ago

      Dutch ASML is essential to 7nm and smaller processes. US pitched in enormous amounts of cash in very risky R&D for EUV lithography so they have a say in how it’s used but I wouldn’t say they control it entirely.

      These things are too risky, complex and expensive for any single country/federation or economic block to be on the cutting edge. It’s entirely possible to pour money for years and come up empty.

      EU should pull as many strings as possible to have cutting edge production capacity within own borders in case of emergency but first we’d have to invest heavily in education of engineers and guarantee competitive salaries because it’s incredibly challenging work.

      It took Taiwan a generation to accomplish and even now their manufacturing staff is being poached by China because of economic pressures and likely state funded corporate espionage.

      • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 years ago

        The brain drain is affecting all the worlds but until recently it wasn’t a big problem in Europe. Now, They all migrate to USA in hope of getting jobs at big techs.

        • ParkingPsychology@kbin.social
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          2 years ago

          They all migrate to USA in hope of getting jobs at big techs.

          Eh… It’s overrated. The pay is better, but otherwise it is definitely a downgrade. Maybe from east EU, it’s a decent deal, from west EU, it’s very disappointing. You basically end up thinking “but the money is good” over and over and wanting to go back to actual civilization.

          • severien@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            That “money is good” fixes a lot of problems, though.

            I’ve heard that developers in US can even afford a house!?! Crazy, huh, I couldn’t believe it either…

            • 520@kbin.social
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              2 years ago

              I can live a luxury lifestyle in Spain on a budget that would be below poverty lines in the US.

              ‘money is good’ until it’s all gone in the blink of an eye and you have nearly nothing to show for it.

        • severien@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Nah, it’s difficult to get into US even for high tech workers. Western Europe also gets a lot of talent through immigration.

            • severien@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              I give you that US is getting a better talent on average. But I don’t believe this is the most pressing problem for EU - there’s plenty of talent, there’s just a problem in leveraging it.

              • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                2 years ago

                I just want more competition. A single company controlling the market is bound to end bad. A single country controlling such sensitive tech is bound to end bad.

        • 520@kbin.social
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          2 years ago

          Nah bro. Tech workers have it crazy good here in Western Europe and they know it.noboby wants to be working 80 hour weeks so you can spend most of your income on rent, get fucked over on healthcare and employee rights, and that’s just the people not relying on the green card.

            • 520@kbin.social
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              2 years ago

              There’s plenty of it, it’s just not as widely publicised. The company that designed the chips in your phones started off as a British company (ARM) , the heart of the operating systems of many phones, computers and servers started in Finland (Linux), one of the biggest enterprise software developers is SAP (German), the world wide web, including HTTP and HTML, was invented by a Brit.

              • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                2 years ago

                I don’t see them being able to say who can and can’t use such and such tech they made or have patent about or something like that. ARM did but it was from USA pressure. Imagine if Torvalds said. I hate Dans, i don’t want them to use my kernel or the brits saying wewill cut the net from France.

                • 520@kbin.social
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                  2 years ago

                  I don’t see them being able to say who can and can’t use such and such tech they made or have patent about or something like that.

                  That’s because the likes of CERN and Linus Torvalds open sourced their work. And it’s a very good thing for the industry as a whole that they did.

          • iopq@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            You don’t need to work 80 hour weeks or spend most of your income on rent.

            Just don’t buy into the SF bay area meme.

            • 520@kbin.social
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              2 years ago

              There are large parts of the country that aren’t much better, and a lot of them are where these jobs are based. Doesn’t help that companies have become anti-WFH recently.

              • iopq@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                Texas is much cheaper, doesn’t have STATE INCOME TAX, housing is more readily available

    • datelmd5sum@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Dutch company makes the machines that shoot US chip designs via lasers via German mirrors to Japanese/German/Taiwanese silicon wafers that are further processes by Japanese machines in a Taiwanese factory.

      • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 years ago

        Care to elaborate ? More competition is always better. Usa being able to control who can and can not make CPUs is scary and heavily impact the sovereignty of all countries. Especially, in our modern world.

        • severien@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          heavily impact the sovereignty of all countries

          Personally I don’t have an issue with impacting sovereignty of countries like China or Russia, since their idea of sovereignty means suppression of others.

        • just_another_person@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          I don’t know what makes you think the US is controlling the chip sector, because it ain’t us. Almost all of the world’s general use chips are made in fabs in Asia. Why do you think the rest of the world is trying stop an invasion of Taiwan by China? The US is trying to bring BACK fabs ASAP because of that risk.

          Also, if you weren’t aware, nothing is stopping any other country from creating their own chip designs and having them fabricated.