Huawei seeks global comeback led by Kirin chipset and HarmonyOS Next
You don't have to be a fan of Huawei to admit that the Chinese manufacturer has done an amazing job trying to make itself relevant again in the global smartphone market. If you recall, Huawei was right up there with Samsung and Apple and was on the verge of becoming the top smartphone manufacturer in the world, a goal that the company almost reached until the U.S. placed the company on the entity list in 2019 for being a national security threat.
Being placed on the entity list prevented Huawei from accessing its U.S. supply chain and as a result, without Google, Huawei had to develop its own operating system. HarmonyOS Next, the latest version of Huawei's OS, is completely independent of Android and uses native apps developed by Huawei that are part of the company's successful ecosystem.
Huawei was placed on the entity list and exactly a year later it lost the ability to obtain cutting-edge 5G chips
Exactly one year after being placed on the entity list, the U.S. Commerce Department instituted an export rule change that prevents foundries using American technology from shipping cutting-edge chips to Huawei. Without access to Android, Google, and its own 5G chipsets, Huawei was no longer a threat to Samsung and Apple and had to use 4G Snapdragon application processors on its P50, Mate 50, and P60 flagships.
The Kirin 9000 was an application processor designed by Huawei and built by TSMC back in 2020 for the Mate 40 series. | Image credit-Huawei
But things changed in August 2023 when Huawei introduced the Mate 60 line. For the first time since 2020's Mate 40 series, Huawei unveiled a phone that was powered by its own chipset, the Kirin 9000s which was built by China's largest foundry SMIC using its 7nm node. The Kirin 9000s featured 5G support and the release of the Mate 60 line set off a nationalistic wave in China even though the chipset was two generations behind the silicon used by other top-name phone manufacturers.
Huawei not only is the top manufacturer of premium smartphones in China but it is gearing up to make a push in the global markets according to a new report. Huawei is handicapped because its inclusion in the entity list prevents the company from including Google on Huawei phones and this has kept the firm from making a push in global markets. But Huawei's own app storefront has enough apps available to serve as a decent alternative to the Google Play Store on Android.
The lack of one key semiconductor manufacturing tool is keeping Huawei's Kirin AP chips generations behind rivals
Reportedly, Huawei is looking to make a push into 60 countries with one publication noting that Huawei's latest foldable, the Mate X6, was displayed outside of China in markets such as Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong. The only thing keeping Huawei from busting out all over like it did in the old days before the U.S. placed restrictions on the company, is Huawei's inability to obtain 3nm chips.
Even though SMIC is the third largest foundry in the world behind TSMC and Samsung Foundry, it is unable to acquire the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines needed to build chips using a node under 7nm. Unless a company inside China develops an EUV alternative, Huawei could remain behind its rivals when it comes to device performance and energy efficiency. Despite this shortcoming, Huawei's mobile ecosystem, combined with its ability to keep innovating even with one hand tied behind its back, could allow the company to continue with its comeback by taking its phone lineup, including the tri-fold Mate XT, to other countries.
That doesn't mean you should expect to see U.S. carriers welcome Huawei with open arms; that bridge was burned years ago. The last Huawei phone officially sold in the states was the Mate 30 Pro released in 2019. What you could see is Huawei expanding to 60 overseas markets where the company and its phones are welcomed instead of sanctioned and shunned.
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