Huawei on Monday presented an innovative approach to developing advanced semiconductors despite US sanctions, as Nvidia faces restrictions on exporting its cutting-edge chips to China. The Chinese company has developed a new engineering method called “LogicFolding” to manufacture its Kirin chips for smartphones later this year. The strategy marks an inflection point in technological competition between industry giants, especially when Nvidia admits it is losing the Chinese market to Huawei.
Novo chip with performance equivalent to smaller nanometers
Huawei said that by 2031, its new chip technology could offer capabilities equivalent to a 1.4-nanometer process technology, while global leader TSMC has already started volume production of 2-nanometer chips. Processos in nanometers refers to semiconductor manufacturing technology, with smaller nodes generally allowing for faster and more efficient semiconductors. The company described its findings as the “Law of Tau” or “tau scalability,” saying it addresses challenges the semiconductor industry has faced for decades.
Segundo to Huawei, the new chip architecture expands the layout from a single layer to two, significantly increasing power efficiency. Tingbo He, president of Huawei’s semiconductor business and director of the company’s scientific committee, explained that this structure allows transistors to interact with each other at more points. He presented the details during Simpósio Internacional of Circuitos and Sistemas of Instituto of Engenheiros Elétricos and Eletrônicos.
Contexto’s intensified rivalry with Apple and Nvidia
Huawei’s Mate 60 smartphone, launched in 2023, included 5G connectivity powered by an advanced chip that helped the company regain market share from Apple. Enquanto American restrictions have prevented Nvidia from selling its most advanced chips to China in recent years, Pequim has sought to support internally developed technology. Last week, Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, told CNBC that the American manufacturer had “ceded” the Chinese market to Huawei.
George Chen, partner and co-chair of Asia Group’s digital practice, commented on the business implications: “For Nvidia, this means the window to sell advanced chips like the H200 to China is narrowing.” Chen added that this trajectory will likely intensify concerns at Washington, where Huawei remains a symbol of US export restrictions.
Ceticismo from experts on announced capabilities
Paul Triolo, head of technology for Ásia and Américas of DGA Group, was skeptical of Huawei’s 1.4 nanometer claim. “A stacked or folded design may produce effective density gains, but it does not mean that the Huawei has completely resolved the full process, yield, power, thermal, and device performance issues associated with genuine 1.4nm-class manufacturing,” he said. Triolo also pointed out that Huawei is turning an engineering strategy into a quasi-“law”, highlighting that the new principle is more of a system-level optimization doctrine that involves shortening wires, stacking logic, improving memory semantics and co-designing chips, packages, software and clusters.
Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, also raised questions about the plan’s feasibility on a large scale. “This parallel semiconductor pathway has not yet been proven at scale. Esta approach can introduce complex thermal constraints and packaging difficulties that can affect manufacturing yields,” said Shah. Ele stressed that Huawei’s efforts to deploy the technology in its high-end Mate 90 series of smartphones later this year would represent an engineering feat, but scaling it to artificial intelligence data centers would serve as the “ultimate acid test for China’s creative workaround of Western sanctions.”
Lei of Tau as a response to Lei of Moore
Huawei also seeks greater academic recognition for its semiconductor research. The company said it has designed and mass-produced 381 chips based on the “Lei of Tau” over the past 6 years. Semiconductor development for decades has been based on the “Law of Moore”, an observation that the number of transistors would double approximately every 2 years, delivering greater computing power at reduced costs. Contudo, even Jensen Huang, from Nvidia, stated that Moore’s Law is no longer applicable to future chip development.
Triolo highlighted that challenges remain around heat management and manufacturing at scale. Huawei’s LogicFolding approach attempts to bypass US restrictions that have blocked the company’s access to Dutch chip equipment manufacturer ASML’s advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography machines. With this alternative route, Huawei seeks to maintain competitiveness in artificial intelligence while facing technological barriers imposed by Western sanctions.
Desafios Manufacturing and Academic Recognition
He acknowledged that challenges remain as Huawei is just beginning a decade-long development path into the new technology. The company faces significant obstacles related to thermal dissipation, manufacturing yield and industrial-scale packaging complexity. The success or failure of this LogicFolding strategy will have profound implications not just for Huawei, but for the entire Chinese semiconductor industry as it attempts to circumvent Western technology sanctions.
