Sanction-banned components found in Huawei smartphone
@Huawei
TechInsights analysts have discovered memory chips from the South Korean company SK Hynix in the Huawei Mate 70 Pro and Mate 70 Pro+ smartphones, despite the current US sanctions that limit the supply of high-tech equipment to China, News.az reports the South China Morning Post .
The flagship models use 12 GB (Mate 70 Pro) and 16 GB (Mate 70 Pro+) DRAM and 512 GB NAND flash memory from SK Hynix, manufactured using a 14-nanometer process technology and EUV lithography.
This came as a surprise to experts who expected the use of Chinese counterparts from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC). Some Huawei models, such as the Nova 13 Pro, already use Chinese-made memory. SK Hynix itself has stated that it strictly adheres to the restrictions and has stopped doing business with Huawei since the sanctions were imposed. Huawei declined to comment.
While Huawei surprised the world by releasing the Mate 60 Pro with its processor, most of the premium P and Mate series smartphones from last year still use SK Hynix memory. The new Kirin 9010 and 9020 chips in the Mate 70, manufactured by SMIC using a 7nm process technology, do not represent a significant technological leap.
Analysts predict limited sales of the Mate 70 due to modest chip improvements and the lack of Android support. The series runs on HarmonyOS Next, Huawei’s operating system, which is not compatible with Android apps.
Interestingly, SK Hynix began mass producing the DRAM chips used in the Mate 70 back in 2021, nine months after the US imposed restrictions on Huawei’s technology supplies. Despite the advancement of 10nm technologies, the 14nm process remains prevalent due to its reliability and high performance.
The flagship models use 12 GB (Mate 70 Pro) and 16 GB (Mate 70 Pro+) DRAM and 512 GB NAND flash memory from SK Hynix, manufactured using a 14-nanometer process technology and EUV lithography.
This came as a surprise to experts who expected the use of Chinese counterparts from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC). Some Huawei models, such as the Nova 13 Pro, already use Chinese-made memory. SK Hynix itself has stated that it strictly adheres to the restrictions and has stopped doing business with Huawei since the sanctions were imposed. Huawei declined to comment.
While Huawei surprised the world by releasing the Mate 60 Pro with its processor, most of the premium P and Mate series smartphones from last year still use SK Hynix memory. The new Kirin 9010 and 9020 chips in the Mate 70, manufactured by SMIC using a 7nm process technology, do not represent a significant technological leap.
Analysts predict limited sales of the Mate 70 due to modest chip improvements and the lack of Android support. The series runs on HarmonyOS Next, Huawei’s operating system, which is not compatible with Android apps.
Interestingly, SK Hynix began mass producing the DRAM chips used in the Mate 70 back in 2021, nine months after the US imposed restrictions on Huawei’s technology supplies. Despite the advancement of 10nm technologies, the 14nm process remains prevalent due to its reliability and high performance.
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