Tech war: Huawei’s silence over its latest Mate smartphone’s advanced chip raises speculation on where and how it was made
- Chinese benchmarking website AnTuTu has identified the Mate 60 Pro’s central processing unit as the HiSilicon-designed Kirin 9000s, which supports 5G
- Huawei’s deliberate silence on that CPU reflects the lengths the firm has taken to quietly revive its smartphone business amid US sanctions
The new Mate’s graphics processing unit was identified as another Chinese-designed chip, the Maleoon 910, according to AnTuTu, which did not provide details.
These various test results could not be independently verified by the South China Morning Post.
Huawei said in a statement on Tuesday that the Mate 60 Pro was the “most powerful Mate model ever”, without mentioning its CPU or the handset’s 5G connectivity.
Privately-held Huawei’s deliberate silence on the CPU that powers its latest Mate model reflects the lengths the company has taken to quietly revive its smartphone business, which has been hobbled by US sanctions.
Huawei surprises with presales of its latest Mate handset, costing 6,999 yuan
Still, speculation that SMIC might have progressed in making more advanced chips using less-advanced deep ultraviolet lithography systems saw Chinese chip stocks rally on Wednesday.
Hong Kong-listed SMIC, whose shares closed up nearly 1 per cent to HK$19.22, declined to comment.
Huawei’s revenue surges thanks to brisk smartphone sales in China
The expected beneficiaries of Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro launch include SMIC and IC testing and packaging firm Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Tech, according to a note by Kuo Ming-chi, analyst at TF International Securities, on Wednesday.
Other component suppliers mentioned in Kuo’s report included Japanese filter provider Murata, US-based GlobalFoundries and Taiwanese foundry Win Semi.
The speculation swirling around the technology driving the Mate 60 Pro is expected to be a boost to the market, according to Ivan Lam, a senior research analyst at Counterpoint.
Huawei launched a surprise presale of the Mate 60 Pro, carrying a 6,999 yuan (US$962) price tag, on Tuesday via its online mall, which saw the handset’s inventory run out a few hours later. On Wednesday, the company started pre-orders for basic model the Mate 60, which costs 5,999 yuan.
Huawei renews licensing deal with Ericsson in bid to monetise its tech patents
Amid the speculation surrounding the Mate 60 Pro’s 5G CPU, Huawei is still expected to face a number of supply chain challenges such as production yield rates, according to an industry insider who declined to be identified.
US-sanctioned Huawei sharpens focus in home market with local government deals
“I was very clear that for all of our controls, we’re not interested to change them and we’re not interested to negotiate them,” Raimondo said in response to a question.
She said China was not opposed to establishing a better export-control enforcement information exchange, which would allow the US to better conduct “end-use” checks on Chinese companies.