End of suspense over the Kirin 9010 processor at the heart of Huawei’s new generation of flagship Pura 70 smartphones marketed in China since April 18. According to the Canadian reverse engineering firm TechInsights, which analyzed it in detail, it is manufactured by the Chinese founder SMIC using 7 nanometer technology, the same as that used for the Kirin 9000 processor powering the Mate 60 Pro smartphone launched in the summer. 2023.
SMIC, the largest Chinese semiconductor manufacturer and the world’s fifth largest chip founder behind TSMC, Samsung, GlobalFoundries and UMC, has therefore still not succeeded in moving to the next generation of 5 nanometer engraving. And for good reason: it is the subject of an embargo from the United States, Japan and the Netherlands on advanced technologies such as EUV lithography, considered a necessary step for the miniaturization of chip engraving below the threshold of 7 nanometers.
Design Tips
This puts Huawei two technological generations behind the latest smartphones from Apple or Samsung, whose processors are manufactured at TSMC or Samsung using 3 nanometer technology. But that does not prevent its Pura 70 smartphones from being in the era of generative AI, ahead of the iPhone 15, the latest generation of Apple iPhone. HiSilicon Technologies, Huawei’s armed arm in semiconductors, which designed this processor, has it found a way to compensate for the lack of finesse of the engraving with design tricks so that it can be handled efficiently generative AI tasks? The TechInsights firm does not yet reveal these details.
Back of the Kirin 9010 processor at the heart of Huawei’s Pura 70 smartphones (photo credit: TechInsights)
China has many semiconductor foundries. But it is SMIC which carries its hopes of propelling the country into advanced chip production technologies (today 7 nanometers and less). According to semiconductor experts, it has the ability to advance to 5-nanometer technology without going through EUV lithography. In this race for miniaturization, it can count on the help of Huawei, which sorely needs this progress for its smartphones, its ultra-portable PCs and the AI servers in its cloud. But if he succeeded in this feat, it would be at the expense of production yields and economic efficiency, these experts emphasize.
Vertical integration strategy
Like Apple, Huawei is cultivating a vertical integration strategy which consists of mastering the key chips of its products and the AI services of its cloud. Since the entry into force of the last round of American sanctions in September 2020, it can no longer manufacture its processors at the Taiwanese founder TSMC, of which it was the second largest customer in 2020 behind Apple. He is now forced to go through SMIC even if it means accepting being behind in the production technologies of his chips.
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