A new teardown of the Huawei 910C AI chip has confirmed what many suspected—China’s flagship AI processor isn’t entirely homegrown. While built at SMIC, the chip relies on smuggled TSMC dies and last-gen HBM memory from Samsung and SK Hynix.

Huawei 910C AI chip uses TSMC cores despite bans

Despite U.S. export restrictions, Huawei reportedly secured nearly 3 million TSMC dies through a shell company. These are now showing up in the 910C, China’s primary replacement for Nvidia’s H100 chip. While SMIC handles assembly, its 7nm process yields remain inconsistent. That forced Huawei to rely on older TSMC silicon to meet growing demand.

Samsung and SK Hynix memory confirmed inside the Huawei 910C AI chip

Teardown analysts have verified that the 910C contains high-bandwidth memory (HBM) from both Samsung and SK Hynix. These components were likely stockpiled by Huawei just before memory export restrictions were enforced.

To extend its supply, Huawei has reportedly started:

• De-soldering HBM chips from loosely packaged or repurposed devices
• Recycling components that were acquired before the bans took full effect
• Relying on older-generation memory, as newer HBM is harder to source

Even so, memory remains the biggest bottleneck. Domestic alternatives still lag behind, and with limited supply, Huawei’s ability to scale up 910C production faces real constraints.

Huawei faces performance and packaging setbacks

While the Huawei 910C AI chip can rival Nvidia’s H100 in price, it only delivers about half the performance. Reports also describe the 910C as poorly packaged and vulnerable to thermal throttling serious concerns for large-scale deployment.

Production outlook for 2026

Huawei has enough TSMC dies to produce roughly 653,000 units by next summer. However, the limited supply of usable HBM caps the ceiling. Even so, government-backed loans for domestic chip and memory production now total in the billions, with aggressive expansion underway.

China’s AI chip push won’t slow down

The Huawei 910C AI chip may not be perfect, but it’s a bold workaround to trade restrictions. With local investment skyrocketing, the next version could come faster and hit harder.