China is planning to ‘rip and replace’ Intel and AMD chips
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeChina has plans to force foreign-made chips out of its telecom systems, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The country’s officials reportedly told its telecom providers to replace foreign chips,...
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China has plans to force foreign-made chips out of its telecom systems, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The country’s officials reportedly told its telecom providers to replace foreign chips, such as those made by Intel and AMD, by 2027.
Under the order from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, telecom providers will have to check their networks for any foreign-made chips and then create a timeline for their removal. This change will mainly affect Intel and AMD, sources tell the WSJ, as the two California-based companies provide the “bulk” of the processors included in China’s networking equipment.
The move echoes the US government’s efforts to “rip and replace” cellular equipment made by the Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei over security concerns. The US has also blocked Nvidia and AMD from exporting their most powerful AI chips to China and is asking other countries to cut down on chips sent to China.
This has led China to focus on developing processors of its own. Last year, Huawei released its first phone with an in-house 5G chip made by China’s SMIC. There are still some concerns over whether China’s homegrown chips can perform as effectively as those from Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, however.
Even if they aren’t, China’s purported plan to phase out foreign chipmakers from telecom equipment could take a chunk out of Intel and AMD’s revenue. As noted by the WSJ, Intel made 27 percent of its revenue from China in 2023, while AMD took in 15 percent from sales in the country last year.
