After the surprise launch of the Mate 60 Pro on August 29, Huawei refused to provide information about the device's chip or network connectivity, prompting analysts, experts, bloggers, users, and others to jump in to find answers.
Based on tests conducted on the phone, benchmarking website AnTuTu identified the CPU in the Mate 60 Pro as the Kirin 9000s from Huawei's HiSilicon chip design division. The CPU has 12 cores and a maximum clock speed of 2.62GHz, according to AnTuTu.
Although HiSilicon's website does not have information about this CPU, the Kirin 9000 and 9000e chipsets both support 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, manufactured on an advanced 5nm process.
The Mate 60 Pro's download speeds can reach 500 Mbps, which is higher than the 100 Mbps of 4G networks, according to independent testing by some users.
The Mate 60 Pro's graphics processing unit (GPU) is identified as the Maleoon 910, another Chinese-designed chip, according to AnTuTu.
In its latest announcement, Huawei claims the Mate 60 Pro is “the most powerful Mate ever,” without mentioning the CPU or 5G connectivity.
Huawei’s deliberate silence on CPUs reflects the company’s efforts to quietly revive its smartphone business, which has been crushed by US sanctions. Both Huawei and HiSilicon were added to the US trade blacklist in 2019. With new sanctions in 2020, Huawei can no longer buy advanced microchips from major chipmakers like TSMC or Samsung Electronics.
Meanwhile, SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker, can only make 14nm chips because Washington has restricted exports of advanced chipmaking equipment such as EUV lithography machines. Still, speculation that SMIC may have made progress in producing next-generation chips using DUV lithography machines sent mainland semiconductor stocks soaring on August 30.
According to analyst Ming Chi Kuo, those who benefit from the Mate 60 Pro launch include SMIC, chip packaging and testing company Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Tech, filter supplier Murata, GlobalFoundries and Win Semi.
Researcher Ivan Lam commented that Huawei released its latest smartphone to test the market reaction. Priced at 6,999 yuan and sold online, the Mate 60 Pro quickly sold out in a few hours. A day later, the company started taking pre-orders for the standard version of the Mate 60, priced at 5,999 yuan. The last 5G smartphone that Huawei produced was the Mate 40 in October 2020. It used HiSilicon's Kirin 9000 chip.
Huawei still faces supply chain challenges, including production success rates, and ran out of its HiSilicon chipset stockpile last year, according to a report by research firm Counterpoint.
In addition, Huawei also has to solve the problem of convincing many customers who have switched to other smartphone brands in recent years when considering bringing products to the market.
(According to SCMP)
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