production

The biggest Chinese chips is about to start production at 5 Nm. Your plan is to have the 3 Nm in 2026

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TO SMIC (Semiconductor manufacturing international corp), The largest Chinese semiconductor manufacturer has cost it more than two years to refine its most advanced integration technology what is necessary to produce integrated 5 Nm circuits. And he has not just traveled this path. Huawei has traveled it from the hand of Huawei. Dr. Kim, an expert in chips manufacturing who has worked in Samsung and currently investigating TSMC in the US, He maintains that SMIC It is about to start the production of 5 Nm chips. It is perfectly credible because, as we have just seen, we know with certainty that this company has been Working in this technology. And, in addition, Dr. Kim is a reliable source. However, this expert has pointed out something crucial that we should not overlook: the performance per wafer that SMIC has currently achieved in its 5 Nm nodes is less than 30%. When semiconductor manufacturers produce a chip wafer, some of those nuclei do not work properly. It is normal. And when they launch a new lithographic node, their performance by wafer usually has a wide margin, but little by little, as engineers refine their integration processes, this parameter improves. A mature lithography can deliver to integrated circuit manufacturers a very high performance, but an incipient technology usually moves in the orbit of 50% performance, so only half of the chips produced work correctly. SMIC 3 and 5 nm chips are possible thanks to the SAQP technique The problem is that for an integration technology to be profitable from an economic point of view, its performance by wafer has to be At least 70%. And, as we have just seen, Dr. Kim argues that the SMIC 5 NM node is below 30%. It is objectively a very poor performance, but we know what this low figure explains: the technique used by this manufacturer to produce these semiconductors. It is known as Multiple patterningand SMIC has used it for more than a year and a half to make 7 NM chips for Huawei and other customers. The 5 Nm chips that SMIC will manufacture for Huawei are possible thanks to a technology known as SAQP This strategy consists in transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process. It works, but is responsible for wafer performance is clearly improvable. However, in all probability the integrated 5 Nm circuits that presumably SMIC will manufacture soon for Huawei are possible Thanks to a technology known as SAQP (Self-alledhed Quadruple Patterning), which is nothing more than a Multiple patterning more aggressive and sophisticated than the one used to manufacture the soc Kirin 9000s of 7 nm and other chips. A report published two days ago by the Taiwanese media Economic Daily News ensures that SMIC will start the manufacture of 3 Nm semiconductors equipped with GAA transistors (Gate-alall-around) For Huawei in 2026. However, this is not all. This article also maintains that this last company has already completed laboratory tests that pursue the manufacture of integrated circuits using carbon nanotubes. Huawei’s plan presumably is to give this innovation to SMIC to adapt it to large -scale production. The enormous effort that Huawei, SMIC and other Chinese companies involved in the design and manufacture of semiconductors are the result of their inability to access the equipment of extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) produced by the Dutch company Asml Because of US sanctions. With these SMIC machines could make 3 and 5 nm chips delivering a performance by wafer similar to that they have achieved TSMC or Samsung. However, the need to produce these integrated circuits using deep ultraviolet equipment (UVP) of ASML, which are less sophisticated, forces them to resort to the SAQP technique. It works, as we have seen, but these companies lose a lot of competitiveness due to the poor performance by wafer and the high cost that this technology entails. More information | Economic Daily News In Xataka | The US has declared the total war on Huawei: he does not want him to sell his chips for the most advanced outside of China

It is not a production crisis, it is a crisis of priorities: the European electric labyrinth

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While the great powers of the world They are disputing strategic places for the extraction of essential minerals in technology, Like lithiumEurope is freeing a silent but equally criticism battle: electricity. The conflict. He Iberian Peninsula Blag and from Heathbrow Airport He has exposed the weaknesses of energy systems in Europe: Interconnection problems, lack of energy backup and deficiencies in networks. Although if it seemed little, energy expert Richard Milne for Financial Times He added that it is not a lack of capacity, but of how existing electricity is assigned. Exemplifying. Because to understand what the analyst refers to a good comparison. In his article, Richard Milne He explained that the Nordic countries – recognized by its high interconnection and Your ability to generate Large amounts of clean energy – are the perfect scenario to analyze how poorly equipped are European countries in a context where the demand for electricity continues to increase. On the one hand, the case of Norway where a data center for Tiktok has been prioritized in front of a strategic ammunition plant by virtue of the principle “first to arrive, first to be treated.” On the other hand, Sweden has supported steel projects to emerging battery companies for a national electricity supply share. After Northvolt’s bankruptcycritical voices have been raised that question whether to continue allocating large amounts of energy to green steel projects is sustainable. For its part, Greenland has abundant hydroelectric resources, but its leaders face a dilemma: to attract industries that generate employment or prioritize lower social impact projects, such as data centers? There are more cases. The situation is not exclusive to the Nordic countries. In Spain after the blackout, the difficulty of the “Energy Island” was evidenced, where The lack of interconnection It complicates the export of energy to other countries. In addition, the system lacks Storage infrastructure and Gridorming technology to stabilize the network. Instead, the situation in France is paradoxical. The production of renewables has grown so much that it has forced nuclear power plants To operate to the idle to avoid an excess of supply. This decision has caused Energy distribution problems. First to arrive, first to be treated. Richard Milne He has argued That the root of this European energy crisis is the result of uncoordinated climatic policies and a long -term lack of strategic vision. Instead of establishing clear priorities on which sectors they should receive electricity, governments have opted for a simplistic and disorderly approach. The answer from the Executive. The energy analyst has made special emphasis in which on the political level the answers have been disordered and uncoordinated. In the column he has detailed that while Norway has allocated its energy resources to the electrification of gas and oil plants, Sweden has opted for emerging battery companies. For its part, Greenland has discussed whether to prioritize high employment industries or projects with less social impact. However, until now there has been a concerted effort to establish a common strategic framework at European level that defines clear priorities over the use of green electricity. Forecasts. To avoid falling into a structural energy crisis, Europe needs strategic rethinking. Is it possible to establish a common criterion to decide which sectors should be prioritized? How can it be guaranteed that green energy really contributes to climatic objectives without compromising industrial development? As He has warned The energy analyst, Europe must initiate a serious and coordinated debate on the strategic uses of electricity, defining priorities based not only on economic criteria, but also on its environmental and social impact. Image | Pexels Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

China had never been an important actor in global oil production. That is starting to change

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Recently, China has completed drilling of the vertical well of oil deeper from Asia, reaching a depth of 10,910 meters. At first glance, it may seem one more achievement In that career for megaestructurebut it is a symptom of something else: a strategy to reinforce your energy security and reduce its dependence on foreign crude. Record on record. In March 2025, China reached a new peak in its oil production, with an average of 4.6 million barrels per day, According to data cited by Global Times. This figure marks the culminating point of a trend that It has been in silence for years. Despite the fluctuations of the market, especially with the tariff war, Chinese production has continued to increase in a planned and sustained way. Drill, Baby, Drill. Or in Chinese: Zuan Ba, Bao Bei, Zuan Ba. This famous motto that is coined to Trump could also be applied to China. However, what happens in the Asian giant is a very different version. As He explained The energy analyst Javier Blas, Beijing is betting on squeezing his former conventional fields, many of them active from the Era of Mao. Summarizing it more easily: while in the US fracking and horizontal schist drilling They are based on profitabilityIn China, energy security is priority. In fact, state giants such as CNPC, Sinopec and Cnooc They have invested For years around 80,000 million dollars annually to sustain this strategy. In addition, the country is known for being a large importer of oil, so during these years the reserves were not known. However, in this growing silent production, According to Reutershas achieved a 167%replacement ratio. The state oil company CNOOC has declared that its proven reserves exceed 7 270 million barrels, which ensures stable production for the next 10 years. A strategy inwards. This year is fulfilled The established period for China’s autonomy with its “seven -year action plan to improve oil and gas exploration and development efforts”. Although its objective is not only to produce more, but to depend less and less abroad and not have to be subject to the tensions of global geopolitics. But for now …Keep importing and has changed a couple. Chinese refineries are importing Canadian crude record amounts after cutting American oil purchases at 90% due to commercial tensions. As has indicated Bloomberg, the expansion of a pipeline in western Canada, opened less than a year ago, has already provided China and other oil importers of the East Asian to greater access to the vast crude oil reserves in the Alberta tar sands region. Beyond its borders. China’s energy turn does not occur in a vacuum: it has direct implications for the rest of the world. In the first place, greater Chinese self -sufficiency will weaken the weight of export countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, pressing further OPEC+ in its struggle for maintaining crude oil prices. With China pumping more oil locally, its demand for imports becomes more strategic and selective, displacing commercial flows and influencing the global barrel price. In addition, in this way you will have more autonomy to act in commercial tensions without compromising your energy supply. In short, it is sending a clear message: “Each barrel counts.” While the world looks at the Middle East or Texas, the real silent boom is happening in Asia. Image | China News Service and Pexels Xataka | Tariffs are already being charged to their first great victim of the global economy: the price of oil

In his escape from tariffs, Google wants to move its production to India, according to The Economic Times

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Alphabet Inc is in conversations with Dixon Technologies and Foxconn (two of its main suppliers) to move part of its global smartphones production to India from Vietnam. According to, The Economic Times. The movement responds to the tariff crisis in the United States, after the imposition of global tariffs and the uncertainty of what will end up happening in countries such as Vietnam, which in the first instance were under a tariff of more than 40%. THE HOUSE OF THE PIXEL. The Google Pixel They are technically American mobile but their manufacture, Like the rest of the big playersIt is out of the United States. Pixel are manufactured mainly in China and Vietnam, two of the countries most punished by Trump’s tariffs. Fleeing from China. Time before the package of measures to fight commercially with China, Google had been trying to get the production of its devices out of China. Almost three years ago we had news about a specific movement: Google was moving the production of the Pixel 7 to Vietnamkeeping in China that of fold models, the most expensive to produce. A movement similar to Samsung’scompany that produces mainly in Vietnam and that has barely a presence in China. If a 10%global tariff is maintained, the supply chain would not suffer too much. If it turned to more than 40% initial, the photograph would change completely. Looking at India. It is not the first time that Google manufactures phones in India through its partners. Initially, the company moved part of the production to this emerging country to supply the local market, and now it would be in conversations with Dixon Technologies and Foxconn not only to produce more phones, but for the production of components. Cases, loaders, fingerprint sensors and batteries, are some of the components that Google wants to stop importing to be able to manufacture them locally in India. In the first tariff ads, India would correspond to a 26%tariff. Times and costs. According to Economic Times, Dixon and Foxconn have been manufacturing between 43,000 and 45,000 Pixel smartphones per month in India exclusively for local market, seeking to make their smartphones could be competitive in price against Apple and Samsung. Dixon is responsible for producing between 65 and 70% of the new Pixel, and Foxconn of previous models. This movement to increase production in India would have a horizon of two to three years, a much shorter term than Google had planned in a pre-aroncel scenario. Currently, Google has almost 14% market share in the United States, so maintaining a competitive price to continue having muscle in its local market is key. They are not alone. The Google movement responds to a practice that the smartphone industry has been executing for years. Apple, who has tried in recent years move part of its production to India, It has not arrived on time, and its supply chain continues to depend mainly on China. Samsung dodged the bullet fleeing to Vietnam, and even the great chips manufacturers have been considering to escape from China to avoid geopolitical instabilities. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Analysis: A great candidate for Best Android of the Year … with a big pending matter

The production of renewables in Europe is so strong that it is forcing nuclear power plants to work

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In Europe there is a division around the closure of nuclear. Some countries have already disconnected them at all, such as Germanyor are in the process of doing so, like Spain. Meanwhile, France keeps them as a pillar of its electrical system. However, the arrival of spring has evidenced something that was suspected: the rise of renewables have forced nuclear plants to stop. A lot of light and little demand. The production of renewable energy has saturated the electrical networks in several European countries. According to Bloombergthe immediate consequence has been the fall in electricity prices, which on holidays (Easter and Easter) and with low demand have even become negative. In Spain, five of the seven nuclear reactors They stopped or reduced their burden And, in the case of France, its electric company, known by its acronym EDF, has cut its atomic production in an average of 4GW daily in March, double a year earlier. Negative prices When talking about negative price it may seem that electricity will be free, but it is not. This means that the electric market, based on time auctions, can yield negative prices when there is too much supply and very little demand. In those hours, producers or electrical companies have to pay to place their energy on the network. Renewables, which have legal priority of access, continue to function. On the other hand, nuclear cannot lower their power so quickly and operate in these conditions, especially in countries such as Spain where the tax burden has increased by 71% since 2019, According to PWC. The clean boom. The rise of renewables is promoting many countries to operate with energy 100% cleanrecently Spain He joined this new coverage. Yes, it is true that the increase in installed total capacity has grown vertiginously in a few years, reaching almost 700 GW According to the Global Energy Review 2025. In this commitment to clean generation systems, storage systems also enters batteries either Reservoirsin addition to creating A good electric structuredespite the fear of companies around The uncertainty of the closure of nuclear. What about nuclear energy? If the nuclear operate less hours and with low prices, they lose profitability. And if they also have to stop and restart due to demand variations, costs rise and technical risks increase. As has detailed The New York medium, France, with 70% of its electricity still of nuclear origin, is seeing how that technical rigidity collides with a system in transformation. EDF has warned that frequent variations hinder maintenance and routine tests. Spain already has put closing date To all its reactors between 2027 and 2035, and other countries follow that path. Forecasts According to Staffan Bergh, chief analyst of Bodecker Partners: “We will see many more hours with negative prices, and these will only increase during spring.” In this line the analyst explained that it is not necessary to install more renewable, but in knowing how to use them well, manage them better and complement them with intelligence. Image |Nuclear forum Xataka | A Tesla co -founder has done business with tariffs: it extracts rare land from old batteries without going through China

LaLiga breaks with mediopro. Production passes to Telefónica and a Swiss giant who comes from retransmitting world

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LaLiga has closed the contest to renew its audiovisual production and has done so marking distances: Mediapro disappears after decades to the front, and enters strong HBS (Host Broadcast Services), which takes three of the five blocks offered. This Swiss company is the new person in charge of showing the world the first and second division matches during the next five seasons, which at least until 2027 will continue to be broadcast in Spain by Movistar and Dazn. This affects production. Why is it important. Production is no longer an addition, it is part of the product. In an industry that competes for global attention, how football looks is almost as important as the game itself. And LaLiga, which in this sense has been winning for years, wants to play in the same league as the Premier and the Champions. The backdrop. HBS is not new in this. It has been producing all soccer World Cups since 2002, and has worked in Champions, Eurocups and Olympic Games. His arrival in LaLiga is marked by the technical and quality approach to retransmissions, with a commitment to international standards and centralization of key services. In detail: HBS will be in charge of the production of LaLiga EA Sports and LaLiga Hypermotion (1st and 2nd division) parties, in addition to technical and centralized services. TSA (Telefónica Audiovisual Services) will deal with the contribution and distribution block, that is, to bring these signals to national and international operators. Mediapro is out of the scheme after years being the main supplier. Telefónica, which already distributes LaLiga and European competitions, reinforces its position as a sports technical infrastructure, in turn part of Its strategy of being less and less telecus and more technological. He is not the protagonist, but a key part of the ecosystem that holds the viewer’s experience. Yes, but. One of the five blocks has been deserted: the content creation. LaLiga reserves that space to integrate it with other contracts. Perhaps for wanting to have more control and flexibility about the narrative that surrounds its most valuable product. The big question. Why now? The change is part of a new stage for LaLiga: greater control, greater international projection And an answer to criticism – as those of Real Madrid– On the editorial approach of retransmissions. In fact, six years ago The White Club already broke with Midopro For these same criticisms. In Xataka | There are people paying $ 100 to see basketball matches in the cinema. The immersion is amazing Outstanding image | LaLiga

In the US they have realized that Covid has had an unexpected effect on its restaurants: it has triggered its production

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The Covid has not sat badly at the US bars. At least if we talk about productivity levels. Even though pandemic He hit with viciousness to the hospitality of half the world (including the Spanish), He sank the billing From the sector and condemned not a few businesses at the close, American premises reached during the health crisis a level of labor productivity by 15% greater than they had before COVID, a notable increase that has not been diluted. The explanation is very simple: express visits. The Covid heritage. That the pandemic was devastating for the hospitality and forced to close Many businesses It is clear. However, however, a group of researchers from Chicago and New York universities asked a question that goes a little further: Did Covid-19 influence the productivity of the premises? And if so, in what sense? Is that effect still maintained? Their conclusions were reflected in A study that has just published the National Bureau of Economic Resarch (NBER) with a quite eloquent title and that gives a clue to which direction its findings point to: ‘The curious increase in productivity in US restaurants’. A percentage: 15%. The team of economists has not only found that effectively the performance of restaurants seemed to increase during the years of the health crisis. Has even encrypted that increase, as they need in The conclusions Of its report: “We verify that, after being practically constant for almost 30 years, real work productivity in restaurants increased more than 15% during the Covid-19 Pandemia.” The data is interesting because it does not only reflect a specific and past reality, related to the worst years of the Coronavirus. After sliding that percentage (15%) the researchers clarify that this turn has not yet diluted its effect. “This increase has been maintained even when many conditions have returned to prepondondemic levels.” And what was the reason? Clarified and calculated the increase in productivity, the following doubt was obvious: what was the reason? What did he answer? To answer all these issues, experts examined about 100,000 restaurants distributed by the US, focusing on aspects such as sales or the number of consumers attended by each employee. They also had access to information about visits thanks to mobile phones. The sample is wide, but presents certain characteristics that should be taken into account. To start the experts set in a very specific business profile, the Limited service hospitality (LSR), the one in which the interaction between the staff and the client is minimized, as in many premises of Fast food. The study in fact that focused on three subcategories: restaurants in the style of Taco Bell or McDonald´s, buffets and coffee shops such as Starbucks. For the sample to be wide, they covered more than 600 brands. Why this choice? The study It clarifies that the LSRs represent about 45% of the employment and sales of the sector in the US already throughout the last decades its productivity has evolved in a “very similar” way to the whole of the restoration sector. In addition, limited services offered an extra advantage: economists have complete information on their visits. Combing (thousands of) data. With all that information about the table, economists began drawing conclusions. And the first were striking. “Microdatos reveal significant growth in productivity, already measured in sales per employee or even in a more basic/physical average of the total number of customers per employee,” he says The study Published by Nber, which also rules out that this rebound can be explained by economies of scale, a greater weight of the sector or changes in demand. The experts also found that if the employees sold more it was not because they spent more time in their positions. When they were proven that the average weekly hours worked between July 2022 and June 2024 was 25.1 hours, “the same”, they clarify, that from 2006 to 2008. “In fact the current hours per worker are actually a bit below the pre-covid average from 2018 to 2019”. What is the cause? The rhythm. Or rather, the duration of visits. The researchers appreciated “significant descents in the amount of time” that customers spent in restaurants, with an increase especially pronounced in the group of consumers that remained in the premises 10 or even less minutes. That phenomenon was found during the pandemic years and did not seem to dissipate once the health crisis has been overcome. “The average permanence time of customers decreased and most of the reduction was due to the increase in the percentage of visits that lasted less than 10 minutes,” says the study. Your reading It is therefore clear: the increase in the performance of the restaurants “is strongly correlated” with the reduction of the time that customers pass in business, especially with express visits, which do not reach the quarter of an hour. Beyond the minutes. The data of the minutes clarified part of the mystery about the increase in performance (shorter visits translate into the possibility of attending a greater number of customers without increasing the templates), but letting another equally important question be bumping: why? Why was that increase in fleeting visits, 10 or even less minutes? Researchers are clear: leading food. “The frequency of these carrying food clients increased during the COVID-19, even in restaurants in Fast foodand it has not decreased “, They conclude Economists. The key would therefore be Deliverythe increase in orders made by telephone or customer apps that then collect their orders to eat them at home, office or any other place. “If businesses can satisfy these fast customers, in addition to the usual ones, with the same labor, the data will reflect a clear and legitimate increase in productivity,” economists add in their article. An advance with nuances. The 15% yield increase is positive for business, but there are experts who already invite you to value it with perspective. Douglas Hoktz-Eakin, president of the US Forum of Action, I pointed After examining the study that there is … Read more

China has in his hands the world production of chips and batteries thanks to the gallium

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On December 2, one of the most aggressive Chinese sanctions packages of those who have deployed USA so far entered into force. And is that the government led by Joe Biden included 140 more companies on your blacklist. These prohibitions are aimed as Chinese companies that design and produce The lithography equipment involved in the manufacture of advanced semiconductors, hence the impact they are presumably having on the Chinese chips industry is deep. As expected, China soon react. Just one day later the government led by Xi Jinping announced the prohibition of export of critical minerals to the US. Among them are three essential chemical elements for the semiconductor industry, as well as some materials that are characterized by their extreme hardness, and that, therefore, can be used for military applications, such as gallium, Germanio and antimony. According to Japan, restrictions will affect the supply chains of chips and batteries China currently produces 59.2% of Germanio, 48% of the antimony and nothing less than 98.8% of the gallium. “This measure entails a considerable escalation of the tension to which supply chains are already subjected. It is difficult to access some raw materials,” Jack Bedder holdsco -founder of the Project Blue consultant. “It is logical that China responds to the growing restrictions of current and imminent US authorities with their own restrictions on these strategic minerals,” Peter Arkell points outPresident of the Global Chinese Mining Association. “It is a commercial war without winners.” Japanese Gallium imports since China have fallen no less than 85% between August 2023 and the same month of 2024 Several Japanese officials and executives linked to the semiconductor industry are aligned with Jack Bedder’s thesis. According to Financial Timesthese experts are warning of the US governments, Japan and their allies that the restrictions imposed by China on Galio’s export and other strategic raw materials will affect deeply to the supply chains of semiconductors and batteries. However, this is not all. Japanese officials suspect that the Chinese government could force them to inform them about all the products that contain Gallic exported by Japan to the US. Otherwise the administration of Xi Jinping could even more harden the measures that have caused that Japanese Gauling imports from China have fallen no less than 85% between August 2023 and the same month of 2024. Japanese companies are the ones that most Gallic, Germanio and Grafito consume. More than US, European, Taiwanese or South Korean companies. If the Beijing Government hardens its control over the Gallium the electric motors of Tesla cars from Japan, the lasers of Gallium Arseniuro used by Broadcom or some of the chips integrated in Apple’s iPhone could be affected by China’s export licenses. This situation reminds us of something important: no industrialized country can remain outside the economic and commercial war that the US and China hold. More information | Financial Times In Xataka | The era of supermaterials is about to begin. And we can thank the AI

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