It was purchased earlier
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, the Chinese company Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. used ASML Holding NV equipment to produce modern single-chip systems for Chinese Huawei smartphones.
Despite US sanctions, Huawei surprised the world in August by introducing the new Mate 60/60 Pro series with 5G connectivity and the latest SoC. A teardown of the device conducted by TechInsights for Bloomberg confirmed that the chip was manufactured by SMIC. This raised questions about the effectiveness of the sanctions and how SMIC was able to produce the chip.
ASML plays a key role in the global chip supply chain. It has a monopoly on advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems needed to produce the most advanced chips and also supplies deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines.
Huawei Mate 60 Pro 7nm SoC chip was manufactured on ASML equipment
ASML was unable to sell its EUV machines to China due to export restrictions. But less advanced DUV models could be retrofitted with deposition and etch equipment to produce 7nm and perhaps even better chips, according to industry analysts. This process is much more expensive than using EUV, making it difficult to scale production in a competitive market environment.
However, in China, the government is willing to bear a significant portion of the cost of producing chips. Chinese companies have been legally stockpiling DUV equipment for years – especially after the US imposed initial export controls last year and then won over Japan and the Netherlands.
Pressure from President Joe Biden’s administration prompted the Dutch government last summer to announce plans to ban ASML from supplying three of its four most advanced DUV immersion lithography machine models to China. Currently, ASML can still export these products to China, but shipments will be prohibited from January. New controls announced by the Biden administration this month further restrict DUV exports.
