Huawei mate 80 uses upgraded China-made Kirin chip
Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone, the Mate 80 series, is powered by an upgraded China-made chip, highlighting Beijing’s continued push for semiconductor self-reliance despite lagging behind global leaders, a report by Canadian research firm TechInsights shows.
According to the report, published on December 8, Huawei’s Kirin 9030 processor is manufactured by China’s top chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), using its N+3 process technology. This represents an improvement on SMIC’s earlier 7-nanometre N+2 node, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
TechInsights described the N+3 process as a “scaled extension” of SMIC’s previous 7-nanometre technology, but noted that it still trails more advanced 5-nanometre processes currently used by industry leaders Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.
“However, in absolute terms, N+3 remains substantially less scaled than industry 5-nanometre processes from TSMC and Samsung,” the report said.
Neither Huawei nor SMIC immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Huawei’s renewed use of domestically produced chips has drawn international attention as the company continues to navigate U.S.-led restrictions on access to advanced semiconductor technologies. TechInsights has been closely tracking Huawei and SMIC’s progress in this area.
In October, Chinese authorities added TechInsights to the country’s “unreliable entity” list, a move that followed the firm’s publication of multiple reports analysing advances in Huawei and SMIC’s chipmaking capabilities.
Similar news
