Huawei Smartphone Chips No Longer Top Secret as Stores Get Green Light to Share Details with Customers
Huawei's distributors are now sharing details of the processor used in the company's flagship smartphones with customers. The chipset in Huawei's Mate 60 series is the HiSilicon Kirin 9000s, an in-house design. Huawei's 5G chip, the Kirin 9000s, was a breakthrough that boosted the company's market relevance in China.
This comes despite the fact that the US-sanctioned tech giant has remained silent on the matter.
Customers visiting Huawei stores in Beijing are now being informed by staff that the chipset used in the company's flagship Mate 60 series is the HiSilicon Kirin 9000s, an in-house design. However, this information is not publicly displayed or mentioned anywhere on the smartphone itself.
Huawei has been tight-lipped about its 5G chip, which caused a stir in the market when it was launched in August 2023, as it was not expected to be possible due to US sanctions. A third-party teardown analysis revealed that the 7-nanometer chip was indeed the Kirin 9000s, although Huawei has never officially confirmed this information.
This breakthrough has sparked a sense of national pride in China and has helped Huawei regain its position in the country's vast smartphone market. However, the supply of these advanced chips remains limited due to the inability to manufacture them in overseas wafer foundries.
Employees at Huawei's Beijing outlets have reported that some stores still do not have sufficient stock of the Mate 60 series, indicating ongoing supply chain challenges despite the initial demand during the launch in August last year.
Since the release of the Mate 60 series smartphones, Huawei's progress in semiconductors has been closely monitored. Recent teardown reports suggest that the company's latest Pura 70 series also runs on chips manufactured using the same 7-nanometer process as the Mate 60 chip.
Despite its ambitions, Huawei has rarely spoken publicly about its efforts to overcome the obstacles posed by US sanctions, which aim to hinder China's technological advancements in semiconductors and artificial intelligence. These sanctions were imposed by Washington out of concerns that US-origin technology could end up in the hands of the Chinese military, posing a threat to US national security.
Analysts predict that Huawei's comeback will continue to disrupt the equilibrium in China's smartphone market this year. However, supply chain bottlenecks resulting from intensified US sanctions could impede its growth.
According to TechInsights, Huawei is expected to ship over 50 million handsets in China this year, reclaiming the top spot in its home market with a 19% market share, up from 12% in 2023.
Both Huawei's Mate 60 and its latest Pura 70 flagship models are equipped with 5G connectivity. Previous analysis by TechInsights revealed that the HiSilicon 9000s and Kirin 9010 chips powering the Pura phones, which were designed by Huawei's fabless semiconductor subsidiary, were manufactured by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's largest chip manufacturer. SMIC also produced the Mate 60 chips.
Huawei is now facing the challenge of allocating chip production at SMIC, as its Ascend computer chips have become the preferred local alternative after US chip giant Nvidia faced tighter restrictions on exporting its higher-performance graphics processor units to China-based customers.
Huawei's distributors are now sharing details of the processor used in the company's flagship smartphones with customers.
The chipset in Huawei's Mate 60 series is the HiSilicon Kirin 9000s, an in-house design.
Huawei's 5G chip, the Kirin 9000s, was a breakthrough that boosted the company's market relevance in China.
Source: SCMP