• cyd@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yes and no. There were plenty of commentators claiming that US sanctions were a death blow to the Chinese chip industry, who would not be able to go below 10 nm themselves, etc. This was one of the selling points for the sanctions.

      • Candelestine@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        1 year ago

        You can find plenty of commentators saying anything in the modern world. That is not evidence of credibility, unless you’re in a church or something.

        I would challenge anyone to said that to explain how exactly stopping trade would prevent Chinese companies from improving their chips. Is it assumed they are incapable of improvement?

        • cyd@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I agree, but the US government thinks otherwise, and apparently the Commerce Department is now opening an investigation into how the Chinese could possibly have made a 7 nm chip. Though it’s not clear what else they can do; they’ve already completely blacklisted Huawei by this point, yet somehow it still lives.

          • Candelestine@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Don’t believe everything you hear. I can think of no compelling arguments for why the Chinese cannot do research that remains 10 years behind the Taiwanese.

          • Candelestine@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            If everyone within a church is saying something is true, you will have a very hard time convincing them otherwise, their perceived credibility is too high. In other environments, you could attempt to find some kind of proof or evidence. Without faith to get in the way, proof can sometimes change people’s minds when they are wrong.

            • ripcord@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              Ah, gotcha. Just read the Wikipedia article on Copernicus earlier and was thinking about s lot of this stuff.

      • Candelestine@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        Exactly. If some random consumer-grade laptop has a 10nm in it, a competitor being able to make 7nm sometime soon should probably be expected.

      • severien@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Intel 10nm is comparable to TSMC 7nm.

        The numbers sound exact, but they aren’t much more than marketing terms nowadays.

  • severien@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    SMIC used ASML lithography machines to produce those chips. Thry can’t buy more of them and can’t get spare parts. It will be more tectonic when China can produce such lithography machines, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.