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Is SMIC N+3's Metal Pitch Smaller than Intel 18A's?

Source: newsletter.semianalysis.com
Author: STEEL Team
Date: Published Jun 14, 2026

Context

SemiAnalysis reports a 32.5-nanometer minimum metal pitch in SMIC's N+3 process, compared with 36 nanometers in the shipped Intel 18A Panther Lake processor. Metal pitch describes the spacing of neighboring wires, so this is a specific wiring measurement rather than a whole-chip performance ranking. The teardown explains why: usable density also depends on other wiring layers, resistance and routing constraints. It also notes that 18A supports a tighter 32-nanometer option. The result demonstrates aggressive local wiring density in the examined chip, while leaving broader performance and manufacturing comparisons unresolved by that number alone.

Key takeaways · AI-distilled

SMIC N+3's 32.5nm minimum metal pitch is about 10% tighter than the 36nm in Intel's 18A Panther Lake. True but cherry-picked: N+3 buys that pitch with aggressive DUV multi-patterning, which costs process maturity, yield and cost per wafer.
Without EUV lithography, SMIC still reaches TSMC N6-class logic density using multi-patterning plus design-technology co-optimization. Density is reachable through effort; efficiency is not, and the efficiency gap is far wider than the performance gap.
The Kirin 9030 Pro performs like a three-year-old Android flagship. Apple's efficiency core delivers 20% higher integer performance than Huawei's prime core while drawing 1W against 4.5W, a roughly 4x power difference on the same work.
The 9030 kept nearly the same ~140mm2 die as the 9020 and spent the shrink on capability: a fourth middle core, 20% more shared L3, double the tiny-cluster L2. Per-core area fell about 22% while total cluster area barely moved.
Per-clock integer gains of 17% on the middle core and 14% on the tiny core came at flat or lower frequencies, which means microarchitecture, not process; a shrink alone cannot buy IPC. Both cores still failed to hold their rated peak clocks.

Key quotes

“SMIC has not overtaken Intel or TSMC.”

“Export controls have not stopped Huawei and SMIC from shipping advanced silicon, but they have forced a different path.”

“China is not closing the gap with Inte”

Read the source newsletter.semianalysis.com