Huawei's Mysterious Advanced Chip in New Mate 60 Pro Smartphone Sparks Speculation Amid US Sanctions

Huawei Technologies' silence concerning the advanced semiconductor that powers its latest flagship smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, has sparked intense speculation in China. The company's silence has raised questions about where and how the chip was made, given the strict US trade sanctions. At the smartphone's surprise launch, Huawei did not give any details about the handset's processor or whether it supports 5G mobile networks. This has led industry analysts, tech bloggers, and consumers to seek answers outside the company. Chinese benchmarking website AnTuTu identified the Mate 60 Pro's central processing unit (CPU) as the Kirin 9000s, designed by Huawei's chip design unit, HiSilicon. This CPU has a 12-core configuration and a top clock speed of 2.62 gigahertz. Although HiSilicon's website did not provide any information about this CPU, the firm's existing Kirin 9000 and 9000e chipsets both support 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence applications, and are built on the advanced 5-nanometer manufacturing process. Huawei's lack of disclosure about the CPU reflects the company's efforts to quietly revive its smartphone business, which has been hampered by US sanctions. Both Huawei and HiSilicon were added to the US government's trade blacklist, known as the Entity List, in 2019. Under tightened US restrictions imposed in 2020, Huawei cannot obtain advanced integrated circuits (ICs) from major contract chip makers. Despite these restrictions, speculation that Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), mainland China's largest chip foundry, might have progressed in making more advanced chips using less-advanced deep ultraviolet lithography systems, saw Chinese chip stocks rally. Huawei launched a surprise presale of the Mate 60 Pro, which sold out within a few hours. The early release can test the market's reaction, providing reference for stock levels amid an industry slowdown. This can also help manage expectations regarding its target consumers ahead of Apple's launch event in September. Amid the speculation surrounding the Mate 60 Pro's 5G CPU, Huawei is expected to face a number of supply chain challenges such as production yield rates. Huawei, which briefly surpassed Samsung to lead global smartphone shipments in early 2020, now faces the challenge of convincing consumers who have switched to other 5G smartphone brands in the past few years to reconsider its products in the market.