Huawei: EDA tools

History

2023: Product Announcement

On March 24, 2023, it became known that the Chinese company Huawei Technologies made a breakthrough in the field of electronics design automation (EDA) for microchips produced according to standards of 14 nm or more.

Amid severe sanctions from the United States, the telecommunications corporation Huawei has faced serious difficulties in developing and manufacturing processors for its equipment and consumer electronics, including smartphones. Therefore, the company is forced to create its own alternatives to foreign solutions and localize production.

Huawei is forced to create its own alternatives to foreign solutions and localize the release of products

Huawei has developed 78 tools related to the hardware and software needed to design and manufacture microchips, Reuters reported. Technology with an indicator of 14 nm is not advanced: such processors appeared in smartphones back in the mid-2010s. Such solutions lag behind modern products [as of the beginning of 2023] by two or three generations. For example, the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max uses a 4nm chip. However, processors with norms of 14 nm or more can be used in telecom equipment and other devices.

Three companies dominate the EDA software market - American Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, as well as Mentor Graphics, owned by the German Siemens AG. All of them supported Washington's sanctions against Huawei. There are several local EDA product developers in China, but experts consider them uncompetitive globally. In such a situation, Huawei needed to develop its own EDA platform: testing of new tools will be completed in 2023, after which they will be used in the design of semiconductor microchips. This move will make Huawei more self-sufficient in the relevant area and reduce the impact of restrictions by the United States.^[1]

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