Patel notes SMIC announced 7 million phones this year, calling it very high volume production.
“SMIC just came out yesterday and said they're gonna ship 7,000,000 of these phones this year. Right? That is not low volume. That is very high volume, 7,000,000 phones.”
Patel estimates SMIC yield by analyzing tool orders since companies don't publicly disclose China sales.
“And you have to do a lot of napkin math to figure this out because no one publicly releases how many tools SMIC is buying from them.”
Patel estimates SMIC's seven nanometer yield at 60-70% based on tool orders and Huawei's phone shipment volumes.
“And the third was looking at the volumes and such, right? So how many tools have they ordered?”
Patel says SMIC's Shanghai fab has 45 to 50 high-end lithography tools enabling 60,000 wafers monthly at seven nanometer.
“Shanghai has anywhere from 45 to 50 high end immersion lithography tools is is what's like believed by intelligence as well as like many other folks.”