Huawei’s semiconductor ambitions have been seriously hobbled ever since it was placed on the US Entity List. It does not help that the US and China are in a trade war, and Chinese companies are having a harder time gaining access to advanced semiconductor technology. However, Huawei is getting ready to show the world how it’s done with its 3nm chipsets in 2026.
Huawei 3nm chips could debut in 2026
According to a report from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, Huawei is planning to tape out its 3nm chipsets by 2026. For those unfamiliar, the taping out process is essentially the final stage before production begins. This is where the chip’s design, along with all the verification and simulations, is completed, and it is sent off to the foundry for manufacturing.
This means that Huawei could launch products powered by its 3nm chip in 2026 or early 2027. If true, this would be groundbreaking news. It would also close the gap between Huawei and its competitors, such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Samsung, who already have 3nm chips in the market and plan to chase 2nm chips in the next few years.
The report claims that Huawei and its foundry partner, SMIC, have been planning 3nm chips for a while. However, the US-China trade war has slowed things down. Huawei also plans to use GAA technology for its 3nm chipset. It will also use 2D materials like carbon nanotubes instead of silicon transistors. This will improve the energy efficiency of Huawei’s chipsets.
Huawei’s efforts so far
You wouldn’t be alone if you thought Huawei was in serious trouble after landing on the US Entity List. However, the company has shown remarkable resilience over the years. Despite being banned from accessing advanced semiconductor technology, Huawei and SMIC have managed to produce 5nm chipsets without using the critical EUV machines.
While launching a 3nm chip in 2026 would make Huawei late to the game, it’s still a solid effort. It proves that even without access to advanced technology, Huawei is still very much a relevant player in the industry. In fact, NVIDIA recently said that Huawei is probably a bigger rival to its business than Intel and AMD. It probably wouldn’t be too long before we start seeing 2nm Huawei chips hit the market.
