[News] Huawei May Reserve Kirin 9100 Only for Premium Mate 70 Models Amid SMIC Yield Issues

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According to Liberty Times, citing Wccftech, while initial expectations suggested that Huawei’s new Mate 70 smartphone would feature a next-generation flagship SoC, like the Kirin 9100, recent rumors indicate that Huawei may instead equip the standard Mate 70 model with a different Kirin chip. Only the high-end models, such as the Pro, Pro+, and RS Ultimate, are likely to receive the advanced Kirin 9100 chip.

Wccftech reports that this decision highlights Huawei’s ongoing challenges with chip yield rates, which have limited its ability to produce the new high-performance chips at scale. Consequently, Huawei has been compelled to reserve these advanced chips for higher-priced models.

Leaked information previously indicated that the Kirin 9100 is manufactured by SMIC using a 6nm process, according to Wccftech. However, since SMIC is limited to using older DUV equipment, production costs remain high, and yields are still constrained, preventing Huawei from producing these chipsets in large quantities. As a result, Huawei can only use this chip in a limited number of high-end models, as the report noted.

As for the standard version of the Mate 70, the report indicated that it may feature a different Kirin chip that’s slightly less powerful than the high-end processor. Some speculate that the standard model might adopt the previous generation Kirin 9000s or 9010, and at this stage it is still uncertain whether the Kirin 9100 will appear in the top-tier versions of the Mate 70 series, as the report from Liberty Times pointed out.

Read more

• [News] Huawei Expected to Unveil Mate70 and Foldable Device Following Apple’s iPhone 16 Release
• [News] Huawei’s Mate 70 Will Reportedly Use a Kirin SoC Made with SMIC’s 7nm Node instead of 5nm

(Photo credit: Huawei)