Thanks to a teardown by consultancy TechInsights, Huawei's newest Mate 70 smartphone has a core that is not significantly more advanced than its previous generation. It has a Kirin 9020 processor that was fabricated using the 7 nm process node, the same as the Kirin 9010 that Huawei used in the Mate 60 Pro. Despite what was expected to be a more assertive processor, this is a downgrade to what we expected.
Huawei's Mate 70 Chip: No Major Redesign, Says TechInsights
In its feature, TechInsights pointed out that the Kirin 9020 processor is not a radical departure from the design but an evolution of the existing layout. This goes a notch lower than rumors that suggested that the firm could introduce a 5nm chip to power its latest smartphone. However, even for the incremental improvements, the firm is assuming improved design that yields increased performance, rather than adopting a more sophisticated process to manufacture a proposed superior design.
Huawei continues to rely on domestic semiconductor manufacturing because of the Kirin 9020's production by the Chinese chip foundry, packaging, and testing company Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). Nevertheless, the situation in the global semiconductor industry has certain limitations that make it possible for SMIC to help Huawei improve chips’ performance while not introducing more sophisticated fabrication techniques.
That HiSilicon, Huawei’s chip-making unit, has chosen to stick with the 7nm process node for the Kirin 9020 processor indicates that the firm’s design strategy is set more on reliability and performance. While the chip might not be novel, Huawei’s fundamental approach of incrementally polishing technologies employed in the devices guarantees that they offer efficient performance without requiring drastic innovations in assembly techniques.
This approach is also in line with the greater trend in the semiconductor industry toward incremental changes, as opposed to radical revamping of entire product portfolios. The Mate 70 does not step out with huge innovations; adding the Kirin 9020 processor means that there is still hope for Huawei to compete in the high-end smartphone category, supply chain disruption and technology restraints included.
Huawei Faces Challenges in Advancing Chip Tech, Experts Say
New studies show that Huawei is currently having some challenges in its search for new record highs in chip development, although it made high-end ICT success with the Mate 60 last year. The Mate 60 was in the spotlight for housing an intellectual chip that overperformed given the years of U.S. sanctions. This was regarded as a success in Huawei, which they considered a success despite the many restrictions being placed on the tech industry. Nonetheless, its latest model, the Mate 70, is an indicator that the firm could be slowing down in achieving this portfolio.
The firm TechInsights also pointed out that the processor of the Mate 70, known as Kirin 9020, which has been developed using the 7nm process, is not a major advancement. The gradual enhancement found on the chip design may be an indication that Huawei is struggling to break through the semiconductor development to the next level. The Mate 60 was one of Huawei’s best technological successes, while the scaled-up Mate 70’s chip demonstrates the cap Huawei is currently at in regards to further enhancement of its chips due to a lack of better manufacturing equipment.
TechInsights last year predicted that SMIC, the manufacturer of Huawei’s chips, succeeded in modifying deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines to address this issue to manufacture the 7nm chips. These machines, essential for making the smaller and more superior chips, were still on the market from ASML, a Dutch firm. This workaround enabled SMIC to still fabricate chips, though not as efficiently as through the use of state-of-the-art EUV lithography equipment used in other world foundries.
While again achieving a great achievement with the Mate 60, Corrections Therefore, some of these constraints resulting from the use of older technologies and production methods seem to hamper Huawei’s next step of advancement in chip development. This is a particular problem for the company running on the 7nm process node, heavily relying on the China-based SMIC’s capabilities, facing the struggle of matching up with competitors that are cutting to the more efficient 5nm or 3nm processes.
This challenge of new leaps in chip making raises eyebrows on Huawei’s long-term plan in semiconductors. Although the company has demonstrated its capability to advance its technologies in disadvantaged conditions, further reliance For example, continued reliance on older technologies may hinder the company from matching up with global giants in the next generation of smartphone chips. That Huawei continues to make incremental improvements but seemingly lacks the ambition to revolutionize the layout of the chips at this stage.
SMIC's Limitations and Mate 70's Sales Outlook
It is equally important to note that SMIC has not been able to make further enhancements in chip manufacturing due to limited availability of better lithography machinery, particularly EUV. The lack of EUV machines presents SMIC with difficulties in straining chip performance and in increasing yield to comparable levels of the global market competitors. This has been a major thing for Huawei's advancement in the semiconductor industry; however, the company continues to try to progress in the limitations.
Since 2020, EUV lithography equipment developed by ASML, a Dutch firm, has been off-limits to China, further compounding SMIC’s problems. These restrictions have made it difficult for SMIC to obtain the premium tools needed to develop the intricate semiconductor nodes. However, to stick to the delivery time of the latest Mate 70, Huawei has had to use the older 7nm node for the Kirin 9020 chip, which could have offered so much more in terms of performance.
The collection of chips from TechInsights provides a lot of information about the Kirin 9020, and a few significant changes are observed in the circuit floor plan of the chip for better performance and efficient energy consumption. Though, such improvements were done in a way that maintains the compatibility with existing 7 nm process used by SMIC, which emphasizes the fine tuning of current technology as the company’s priority. The die area of the Kirin 9020 is also 15% bigger than that of the Kirin 9010, which is a measure to enhance its performance density within the confines of the manufacturing technologies available.
However, due to the limitations of the existing SMIC technology and the effects of the US sanctions, the innovations in Huawei’s Mate 70 are slightly less than the innovations in previous models. Still, the Kirin 9020 chip is a new positive development, though it does not meet certain revolutionary leaps as some industry gurus have anticipated. This reality is, however, made worse by the fact that Huawei has had limited access to some of the most advanced semiconductor production tools.
At the same time, it has become clear that Huawei has high orders for the Mate 70, and the company strives to fulfill them. But now, the specialists have expected the Mate 70 will elicit less interest than the Mate 60 did last year. Thus, the sales expectations of the Mate 70 could disappoint, revealing potential problems in Huawei’s future, as it has to operate in a saturated and limited world market.
