Rostec had difficulties developing a smartphone on a domestic processor due to the refusal of the Taiwanese factory TSMC to work with Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine. This is reported by Vedomosti with reference to a source close to the state corporation and an interlocutor close to the Russian electronics developer.
The problem is related to the fact that the Skif processors for the smartphone were produced at TSMC. At the same time, the Scythians from the Elvis research and production center overheat during the operation of the smartphone, which complicated further development.
The representative of Rostec did not confirm the technical difficulties of the project: “Tests of the new AYYA T2 trustphone on the domestic processor are going on as usual.” However, the interlocutor did not answer the question about the timing of the release of AYYA T2.
The AYYA T1 smartphone was introduced by Rostec at the end of 2021, it was positioned as a smartphone with an increased level of information security, the ability to mechanically turn off the camera and microphone. Initially, it worked on the Taiwanese MediaTek Helio P70 processor (produced by TSMC), but in the future the gadget was supposed to be transferred to the domestic "Skif" of the Elvis concern. A source in one of the Russian retailers claims that sales of the AYYA T1 gadget from Rostec do not exceed several dozen per month.
Earlier, Taiwan stopped exporting chips with a clock frequency of more than 25 MHz, as well as equipment for their manufacture to Russia and Belarus. As an engineer, a chip designer in the aerospace industry, told The Insider on an anonymous basis, due to a problem with chips in Russia, the program of new smart electricity meters, which began to be produced in millions of copies, has almost completely stopped. Also, new cars were allowed not to install ERA-GLONASS systems, because there are no more chips for them. According to him, all Russian telecommunications equipment also has foreign chips. When asked if Russia could replace Taiwanese chips, the expert mentioned Chinese factories, but they depend to some extent on the United States.