Huawei, the Chinese tech giant that has been under severe US sanctions for years, has surprised the world by launching a new smartphone that features its own 5G chip. The Mate 60 Pro, which went on sale online on Tuesday without any prior advertising, has sparked speculation and curiosity among analysts and consumers about its performance and capabilities.
How did Huawei make its own 5G chip?
The Mate 60 Pro is powered by a new Kirin 9000s processor that was designed by Huawei’s HiSilicon chip division and fabricated in China by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), according to a teardown of the handset that TechInsights conducted for Bloomberg News. The chip uses advanced technology from SMIC, which is also under US restrictions, and is believed to be comparable to the 7+nm or 5nm processes used by leading chipmakers such as Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung.
The Kirin 9000s is the latest iteration of Huawei’s flagship chip series, which was first introduced in 2018. The previous version, the Kirin 9000, was launched in 2020 and used in the Mate 40 Pro, but Huawei had limited supplies of it due to the US sanctions that cut off its access to chipmaking tools and materials. Huawei had stockpiled some chips before the sanctions took effect, but they were not enough to meet the demand for its high-end smartphones.
The US sanctions were aimed at preventing Huawei from developing and acquiring advanced technologies that could pose a security risk, according to the US government. Huawei has denied any wrongdoing and said it is fighting back against the unfair treatment. The company has also invested heavily in its own research and development, as well as in domestic chipmakers such as SMIC, to reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers.
What are the features and performance of the Mate 60 Pro?
The Mate 60 Pro boasts a 6.76-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2772 x 1344 pixels and a refresh rate of 90Hz. It has a quad-camera setup on the back, with a 50-megapixel main camera, a 20-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 12-megapixel telephoto camera, and a laser autofocus sensor. It also has a dual-camera system on the front, with a 13-megapixel selfie camera and a 3D depth-sensing camera. The phone has a battery capacity of 4400mAh and supports wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
According to AnTuTu, a Chinese benchmarking website, the Mate 60 Pro scored an impressive 721,000 points in its performance test, surpassing the previous record holder, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, which scored 708,000 points. The phone also showed impressive download speeds that exceeded those of top-line 5G phones from other brands, suggesting that it is capable of supporting the latest generation of mobile networks.
The phone is priced at 6,999 yuan ($964) for the base model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It is available in four colors: sea green, silver, black, and white. It runs on Huawei’s own operating system, HarmonyOS, which was launched in June as an alternative to Google’s Android.
How has the market reacted to the Mate 60 Pro?
The launch of the Mate 60 Pro has generated a lot of buzz and excitement among Chinese consumers and media, who see it as a sign of Huawei’s resilience and innovation amid the US pressure. The initial batch of the phone quickly sold out online, and Huawei’s flagship store in Shenzhen said new stocks would only arrive by mid-September at the earliest.
Chinese chip stocks also surged in value after the launch of the phone, reflecting the optimism about the prospects of China’s semiconductor industry. SMIC’s shares rose by more than 10% on Wednesday, while other chip-related firms such as Will Semiconductor and Hua Hong Semiconductor also gained significantly.
However, some analysts have cautioned that Huawei still faces many challenges and uncertainties in its smartphone business, as it still lags behind its rivals in terms of market share and global presence. Huawei’s smartphone shipments fell by more than half in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, according to research firm Canalys. The company also faces competition from other Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme, which have expanded their presence in overseas markets such as Europe, India, and Southeast Asia.
Moreover, some experts have questioned whether Huawei can sustain its production of its own chips in the long term, given the limited capacity and quality of SMIC compared to other leading chipmakers. SMIC is also subject to US sanctions that limit its access to advanced equipment and materials, which could hamper its ability to improve its technology and meet the demand for Huawei’s chips.
