Chinese GPU Makers Aiming for 5 and 7 nm GPUs in 2022

According to DigiTimes, several Chinese GPU makers are aiming to build GPUs using 5 or 7 nm nodes this year, something that might be a challenge for them, considering that TSMC’s key customers are already said to have pre-paid TSMC to get preferential access to these nodes. The companies in question are Innosilicon, who works with Imagination Technologies IP, Changsha Jingjia Microelectronics and Biren Technology, all of which are largely unknown players in the GPU market space.

Innosilicon’s Fantasy One is said to offer performance similar to GeForce RTX 2070, which means it might even be a competitor for Intel’s Arc GPUs, assuming the Fantasy One doesn’t end up being a pipe dream. Changsha Jingjia Microelectronics is said to have announced it first GPU back in December last year with the JM9 series, which is said to offer around 80 percent of the performance of a GeForce GTX 950, which puts it in the office PC category these days and almost make you wonder why they bothered. Finally Biren Technology announced the BR100 in October last year and it’s apparently already manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm node, although no word on performance is available. The bigger question is if any of these products will have any impact in the GPU market, since at best, they might offload some customers in the PRC from buying GPUs from AMD, Intel and Nvidia, until these companies have proven that they can deliver viable drivers alongside their hardware.