Semiconductor research firm TechInsights said in an August 27 report that Huawei’s Kirin 9030 Pro is manufactured using SMIC’s N+3 process, an evolution of its 7nm-class technology. While N+3 significantly improves transistor density over SMIC’s N+2 process, it remains well behind TSMC’s and Samsung’s commercially deployed 5nm processes.
The N+3 process relies on complex deep-ultraviolet (DUV) multi-patterning because SMIC lacks access to EUV lithography, increasing manufacturing complexity and potentially reducing efficiency, cost competitiveness, and yields. SemiAnalysis similarly found that the Kirin 9030 Pro’s performance is roughly comparable to Android flagship chips from three years ago and trails current flagship processors from Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Samsung.
TechInsights previously concluded that N+3 can produce commercially viable smartphone chips but is poorly suited for large AI data-center processors, where larger chip sizes could amplify yield problems.
Source: Epoch Times, August 30, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/8/29/n14839226.htm