Zhaoxin to launch a 16nm x86 CPU in 2018

I can't remember the last time I wrote something about VIA but it's easy to forget that Intel and AMD aren't the only companies in the x86 market. Most of the other companies with a x86 license have seemingly vanished off the face of the earth but now there's a report that Shanghai Zhaoxin Semiconductor has developed an in-house ZX-D series processor.

The name doesn't ring a bell but apparently Zhaoxin is jointly owned by VIA Technologies and the Shanghai Municipal Government. The ZX-D processor will be manufactured by Shanghai Huali Microelectronics (HLMC) on a 28nm process in the second half of 2017. Additionally, DigiTimes reports that Zhaoxin inked a deal with TSMC to make its next-generation ZX-E 8 series on a 16nm process in 2018.

Even though the fabless Chinese firm lags far behind what's offered by AMD or Intel, the company has reportedly attracted orders from PC makers like Lenovo:

Zhaoxin is committed to developing China's homegrown processors, which will require support from its manufacturing partners, Fu noted. The company is looking to cooperate with leading foundries such as TSMC, which provides advanced-node technologies for high-performance and low-power processors and other chip solutions, Fu said.

Zhaoxin is still lagging far behind its international peers, but the company has been making steady progress in its own development, [company vice president Cheng] Fu said. Zhaoxin's CPUs have attracted orders from PC vendors such as Lenovo. Nevertheless, Zhaoxin still has a long way to go to catch up with international CPU vendors, Fu admitted. Zhaoxin was founded in April 2013 and recently received a $37.31 million cash injection from VIA Technologies.