In recent years, the tension between China and the United States has become more and more obvious in the high-tech field, especially in the chip industry. The blockade and suppression of Huawei by the United States not only led to the breakdown of Huawei's cooperative relationship with Qualcomm, Google and other leading companies, but also began to restrict chip technology. However, Huawei did not give up because of this, but gradually made breakthroughs through independent research and development, such as the Kirin 9000 series chips launched last year and the recently released Kirin 9000s, which surprised and shocked Western countries. However, Huawei's breakthrough is only the beginning, and in the face of problems in 2nm lithography machine technology, Huawei seems to be completely targeted.
ASML in the Netherlands has announced that it has conquered the production technology of 2nm lithography machine and is ready to start mass production. This news is undoubtedly good news for the entire semiconductor industry. Nowadays, the chip process technology is getting smaller and smaller, and the process technology of the lithography machine directly affects the production of the chip, so the breakthrough of the 2nm lithography machine is crucial for any chip company. However, although ASML claims to have conquered 2nm lithography technology, it has not been treated fairly in the process. According to the previous understanding, ASML is subject to the restrictions and bans of the United States, so it tends to choose American companies, such as Intel, on the ** of 2nm lithography machines. The reason why the United States is doing this is obviously to use the advanced process of 2nm lithography machine to bring competitive advantage to its own enterprises. Only in this way can they have a chance to overtake in foundry.
Because of this purpose of the United States, after ASML began to produce 2nm lithography machines, the United States put pressure on it, hoping that ASML would give priority to American companies, such as Intel, and take measures to restrict or even ban Asian companies such as Samsung and TSMC. Upon learning of this request, ASML said that it was absolutely impossible, that the lithography machine must be carried out in accordance with the principle of fairness, and that they were not subject to the ban in the United States. The next step can only be taken if ASML agrees. Therefore, Huawei seems to have to admit that it can't eat grapes but say that grapes are sour. Although Huawei has made certain breakthroughs, the technical support of 2nm lithography machines is still needed in the follow-up research and development process, and only through this advanced process can Huawei chips continue to maintain their leading position. However, due to the US blockade and crackdown, Huawei simply cannot buy 2nm lithography machines from ASML, and other Asian companies such as Samsung and TSMC cannot get help from ASML. Although Huawei's breakthrough has given confidence to other companies, in the face of pressure from the United States, ASML has no choice but to choose to go to Intel, which makes Huawei fall into a passive situation for a period of time. Huawei is deeply aware that companies that have a cooperative relationship with ASML are undoubtedly the ones who start with Huawei, otherwise this situation would not have occurred. As a result, Huawei immediately conducted an investigation into Zunpai Communications and eventually found some clues. It turned out that these ASML-related enterprises purchased lithography machines directly from Zunpai Communications, and the purchase scale was quite large.
Through the investigation, Huawei has thoroughly realized that Zunpai Communications has completely stolen Huawei's technology. The reason why Zunpai Communication was able to produce ASML's lithography machines so easily must be inextricably linked to ASML. And all this is the result of Zhang Kun. Surprisingly, Zhang Kun is a U.S. citizen who worked at Qualcomm for five years before joining Huawei. Now, he can easily get so much investment, and there must be a shadow of the United States behind it. All operations of Zunpai Communications are undoubtedly in the interests of the United States in order to put Huawei in a completely passive position. This is undoubtedly a huge blow to Huawei. Not long ago, after Huawei became aware of the problem of Zunpai Communications, Huawei's relevant departments began to conduct a large-scale self-examination. Such an incident has also sounded the alarm bell for other companies, making them deeply realize that breakthroughs in independent research and development are not always so lucky, and there may be various unknown things behind them.
To sum up, such a thing is a huge impact on the entire technology industry, and it has once again made people realize the importance of independent research and development. However, in the current environment, this is not enough, everything behind it is likely to be influenced by profit-driven, and it also exposes that the problem of theft and plagiarism is still very serious in the current era, especially in the high-tech sector. In such an environment, how to carry out independent research and development and protect technology is undoubtedly a difficult problem faced by every enterprise.