Photo: Dado Ruvic, Reuters
The latest US government action against China’s Huawei takes direct aim the company’s HiSilicon chip division — a business that in a few short years has become central to China’s ambitions in semiconductor technology but will now lose access to tools that are central to its success.
Established in 2004, HiSilicon develops chips mostly for Huawei, and for most of its existence has been an afterthought in a global chip business dominated by US, Korean and Japanese companies.
HiSilicon is also central to Huawei’s leadership in 5G, stepping into the breach when the US cut off access to some US chips last year.
But the US export control rule aims to block HiSilicon’s access to two crucial tools: chip design software from US firms including Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, and the manufacturing prowess of “foundries”, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, that build chips for many of the world’s top semiconductor firms.
While there are alternatives to American machines, replacing US technology is not as simple as swapping out a machine
The new US rule requires licences for companies using US machinery to build Huawei-designed chips and delivered to the Chinese firm.
