Huawei Says HiSilicon Designed the Sensor in Its XMAGE Z10 Camera
Huawei has confirmed that the image sensor inside its XMAGE Z10 camera module was designed in house by HiSilicon, its chip design unit, closing a question that earlier coverage of the module had left open. The disclosure came at the company's 2026 Kirin media briefing, held at its Lianqiu Lake research centre in Shanghai, where a semiconductor executive also detailed the security features of the Kirin 9050 mobile chip.
Xu Songyu, who heads wireless terminal chip product management in Huawei's semiconductor business, said the module uses a HiSilicon developed 50 megapixel sensor with a one inch RYYB colour filter. He spoke after Huawei had shown an architecture diagram for the Kirin 9050 series earlier the same day, and the sensor detail went further than that session did.
And the confirmation matters because it settles who makes a part that sits at the centre of Huawei's premium phone strategy. Reports had already described the sensor's size and colour filter without identifying the designer, at a time when Huawei's ability to design and tune its own imaging components is a point of pride for the company and a subject of scrutiny for its rivals.
The Kirin 9050 series is built to work with a new generation of Huawei developed CMOS image sensors, custom optics and a professional imaging ISP. The company's pitch is that it can now tune the whole chain, from the sensor and the lens through to the processing on the chip, rather than assembling parts sourced elsewhere.
The XMAGE Z10 module attaches through Huawei's HyperClick mount, which ships in H1 and H2 versions for the Mate 90 Pro Max Collector's Edition and the Mate 90 RS, supports screwless quick release, and carries its own optical image stabilisation module that works with the Kirin chip. It is priced at 5,999 yuan, or 19,499 yuan as a collector's kit.
And the security claims earned as much airtime as the optics. Huawei said the Kirin 9050 series is among the first mobile chips to pass testing for resistance to quantum attacks, with support for cryptography meant to hold up against future quantum computers. The company also described it as its first chip level privacy security platform, in which a mobile security processor works alongside a separate security chip to protect secure boot, data, privacy and communications.
For audio and video, the chip combines DSP and NPU heterogeneous computing with low latency FFTS scheduling and hardware H.266 video decoding. Huawei said the combination improves call clarity and audio processing, and makes video playback smoother and more power efficient on weak networks.
What Huawei did not do was name the testing body behind the anti quantum certification, or publish fuller specifications for the new sensor. That gap is worth noting for anyone weighing the claim, since a security certification is only as strong as the laboratory that grants it.
So the briefing made two arguments at once, that Huawei controls more of its camera stack than outsiders had assumed and that its flagship chip should be judged on security as much as on performance. Neither claim can be checked from outside the company for now, and nothing was said about when the sensor's full specifications will follow.
Huawei confirmed that the sensor in its XMAGE Z10 module was designed in house by HiSilicon
Xu Songyu, head of wireless terminal chip product management, gave the disclosure at the Kirin briefing in Shanghai
The XMAGE Z10 uses a 50 megapixel one inch RYYB sensor and costs 5,999 yuan, or 19,499 yuan as a collector's kit
The Kirin 9050 series is described as among the first mobile chips to pass testing for resistance to quantum attacks
Huawei did not name the testing body behind that certification or publish fuller sensor specifications
Source: Pandaily
