"In another month or so, it will be just about ready. The question now is whether Huawei will find a way to handle the production phase, or if TL Chip Company will go looking for a wafer foundry to do the contract manufacturing. At full capacity, there are only a handful of foundries capable of producing seven-nanometer chips. Leaving overseas options aside, it comes down to whether we go to TSMC, or to SMIC, or to the Xinneng foundry in Qingdao. However, both SMIC and Xinneng have certain issues. SMIC has already been added to the US 'Entity List,' which means SMIC cannot use production lines containing American technology and equipment for contract manufacturing. Therefore, this depends entirely on whether SMIC has completely decoupled from US technology and achieved fully independent production!"
Qin Xuan reported quickly. "Secondly, there is the Xinneng foundry. Xinneng was established only a few years ago. Although they previously recruited many elite backbones and have very rich experience in the fourteen-nanometer process, fourteen nanometers is, after all, different from seven nanometers. Moreover, Xinneng has kept its information tightly under wraps all along, so it remains uncertain whether Xinneng is truly equipped for seven-nanometer contract manufacturing!"
"By comparison, TSMC is undoubtedly the most suitable partner to help us complete design and mass production. It all depends on whether we can successfully negotiate with them. If we can reach a deal, there …
Chapter 774