PowerLeader, a Chinese company, has announced the release of its own x86 CPU, the “Pstar P3” (model name P3-01105). This chip has many similarities with Intel’s Core i3-10105 from early 2021, including the same clock frequency of 3.7 GHz. It is unclear whether this is a licensing deal between PowerLeader and Intel, as the American tech giant has not made such a deal since 1982. The Chinese manufacturer expects to sell 1.5 million units per year, mainly for servers.
The emergence of the Pstar P3 could be the next case of Chinese IP theft, as the US and Europe have imposed export restrictions on Chinese chip production. However, China has already produced its own CPUs, such as the Loongson 3D5000 with 32 cores. While this chip is not yet on par with AMD and Intel’s offerings, it is a step towards national self-sufficiency in chip production. In the coming years, China is likely to produce increasingly sophisticated CPUs and GPUs, and the use of “borrowed” IP from America and Europe could help them achieve this.
