Huawei Soars on Homegrown Tech: New Phone Packed with China-Made Parts
A recent teardown analysis of Huawei's latest high-end phone, the Pura 70 Pro, reveals China's growing technological independence. The phone packs more components from Chinese suppliers, including a new flash memory chip and an improved processor, likely made by Huawei's own chip division, HiSilicon. This news comes as Huawei makes a comeback in the high-end smartphone market after facing US sanctions for four years. Huawei's resurgence is being closely monitored as it reflects the ongoing US-China trade tensions and China's push to become self-sufficient in technology. While the Kirin 9010 processor seems like a modest upgrade from Huawei's previous chip, the increased use of Chinese parts is a significant development.
In a recent teardown, iFixit's lead technician Shahram Mokhtari observed a significant increase in domestically-made components within the Huawei Pura 70 compared to the Mate 60. While an exact percentage wasn't provided, Mokhtari described it as a clear push towards self-sufficiency. "This is about them making everything themselves," he said, referring to the Chinese-made parts found throughout the phone. Huawei has remained silent on the matter.
The Pura 70 series, launched in late April, has already achieved impressive sales figures and is reportedly outselling iPhones. This success, coupled with concerns about the effectiveness of US sanctions, has analysts predicting a rise in Huawei's market share and raising eyebrows among policymakers in Washington.
CHINA-MADE FLASH MEMORY CHIP
When repair companies like TechInsights took apart the Mate 60 phone that came out last August, they found memory chips (both DRAM and NAND) made by a South Korean company called SK Hynix. Even though SK Hynix said they stopped selling to Huawei, analysts think those chips were just leftover stock.
The newer Pura 70 phone is similar. It still has a DRAM chip from SK Hynix, but this time the NAND chip seems to be packaged by Huawei's own chip division, HiSilicon. This NAND chip uses tiny memory units (called dies) that can each store a terabit of data, which is on par with what big companies like SK Hynix, Kioxia, and Micron offer.
The experts couldn't quite figure out who actually made the base material (the wafer) for this NAND chip because the markings were unfamiliar. But they suspect HiSilicon might have made the controller chip for it as well.
One expert, named Mokhtari, even said they're confident it's a HiSilicon chip based on their teardown analysis.
On the other hand, SK Hynix insists they've been following the rules since restrictions on Huawei were put in place, and they haven't done any business with them since then.
INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS
According to repair experts iFixit and tech research firm TechSearch, the processor powering the new Huawei Pura 70 Pro suggests the company hasn't made significant progress in developing advanced chips with Chinese partners since their Mate 60 series launch.
Both iFixit and TechSearch believe the Pura 70 Pro uses a processor similar to the Mate 60's, built by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) using the same 7-nanometer (nm) manufacturing process. This is noteworthy because news of the previous Kirin 9000S chip, also built on a 7nm process, caused concern among US lawmakers last year. They worried that sanctions on Chinese chipmakers might not be effective in slowing their technological advancements.
The near-identical processor in the Pura 70 Pro suggests that Chinese chip manufacturing might indeed be experiencing a slowdown. However, iFixit cautions against underestimating Huawei's capabilities. They point out that SMIC is still expected to achieve a significant leap by transitioning to a more advanced 5nm manufacturing process by the end of the year. SMIC did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.
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