TSMC told US of chip in Huawei device after TechInsights finding: source

TAIWAN Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) notified the US a couple of weeks ago that one of its chips had been found in a Huawei device after a teardown by the tech research firm TechInsights, according to a person familiar with the matter.

TechInsights informed TSMC about the chip in advance of publishing its findings in a report, the person said, and the chip company notified the US Department of Commerce.

TSMC said in a statement on Monday (Oct 21) that it had proactively communicated with the Commerce Department regarding the matter. It said it had not supplied chips to Huawei since mid-September 2020.

“We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time,” the company said.

The chip’s existence in a Huawei device is in apparent violation of export controls on China’s Huawei, which was placed on a US trade restriction list in 2019 for national security purposes.

TechInsights declined to comment. REUTERS