Huawei’s chip breakthrough

Huawei’s new phone suggests that SMIC, China’s top chipmaker, has succeeded in mass-producing 7nm chips, an important step towards technological self-sufficiency. But it is too early to conclude that US export controls have failed. SMIC’s 7nm chips push their existing lithography machines close to their limits and Chinese firms still face major barriers to acquiring the more advanced machines needed to progress much further.