Taiwan’s primary news agency, Central News Agency (CNA), recently reported that Canadian research firm TechInsights revealed Huawei’s latest laptop, the MateBook Fold, uses legacy chip technology from China’s SMIC. This highlights how U.S. export controls continue to hinder China’s semiconductor industry.
Market expectations had been that Huawei would use SMIC’s latest 5-nanometer N+3 process for the MateBook Fold. However, the Kirin X90 chip inside the laptop still relies on the 7-nanometer N+2 process, first launched by SMIC in August 2023. This same chip, which appeared earlier in Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro smartphone, reportedly caught U.S. export control officials by surprise. Meanwhile, industry leader TSMC plans to begin mass production of 2nm chips later this year – three generations ahead of SMIC’s 7nm technology.
Huawei’s use of older chip technology suggests that SMIC has yet to achieve mass production at the 5nm node. Additionally, the MateBook Fold was launched with Huawei’s own operating system, as Microsoft’s Windows license for Huawei has expired.
Source: CNA, June 24, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202506240126.aspx