[News] China’s Phytium Hits 10 Million CPU Sales as U.S. Chips Face Government Ban

---

---

According to a report from TechNews, citing Tom’s Hardware, since the Chinese government blocks the use of American chips such as AMD and Intel in government operations, Chinese chipmaker Phytium claims to have sold over 10 million units of its FeiTeng series processors.

As noted by a report from Xinhua News Agency, these chips are widely used in key national projects and industries, ranging from cloud servers to end-user terminals.

The report from Tom’s Hardware points out that despite Phytium being placed on the U.S. Entity List and unable to legally import or use U.S.-made components, the company has successfully developed and launched advanced chip solutions. For instance, in 2023, it introduced the 64-core FeiTeng Tengyun S2500 server CPU and the FTC870, with performance comparable to ARM’s Neoverse N2 chips. Additionally, the company released the FeiTeng Tengrui D3000 desktop processor for office environments.

Phytium is not the only Chinese company benefiting from China’s shift away from Western chips, as the report notes. Loongson also shipped 10,000 chips to Chinese schools. Moreover, Loongson has applied one of its processor in the Tiangong Space Station, marking a milestone in China’s push for semiconductor technology.

Other chipmakers, such as Huawei and Hygon, are rapidly expanding their market share, particularly as Chinese telecom companies gradually move away from Western technology, as highlighted by the report.

The report mentions that while many claim these Chinese chips are still about a decade behind the latest American technology, China is making significant progress in advancing its homegrown processors despite Washington’s bans and sanctions.

This may explain why U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo described efforts to hinder China’s chipmaking progress as a “fool’s errand,” according to the report. The U.S. Senate has also noted that the White House’s measures against the Chinese tech industry are largely ineffective, primarily due to insufficient funding for the Department of Commerce.

Phytium and other domestic tech companies in Chinese industries might reshape the future of China’s semiconductor sector, as highlighted by the report. With the Chinese government making large-scale purchases of these chips, the companies can reinvest their revenues into research and development, further enhancing their technical capabilities. Private enterprises may also follow suit, particularly as these domestic chipmakers can provide cost-effective chips with adequate performance.

Read more

• [News] ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet: U.S. EUV Export Ban Causes China’s Chip-Making to Lag by 10-15 Years
• [News] Over 14,000 Chinese Chip Firms Reportedly Shut down in 2024 amid Accelerating Reshuffle

(Photo credit: Phytium)