The Kirin 9000s chipset was the first stepping stone for Huawei to stop relying on foreign technology, but it was a difficult road, especially with U.S. sanctions weighing on the neck of the former Chinese giant. Rumor has it that the company wants to make its Mate 60 series more accessible to customers from a pricing standpoint, and with the launch of the P70, this would be the ideal move. However, a source said this is unlikely unless production of the Kirin 9000s recovers.
Insiders who have closely followed Huawei's move have praised the latter for even mass-producing the Kirin 9000s, with various reports suggesting that such behavior should be seen as a miracle due to all the obstacles the company faces. However, there is a difference between successfully launching the chipset and maintaining its production to power millions of Mate 60s in China. According to tipster Jinan Digital, assuming that SoC production picks up, the pricing of Huawei's current flagship series may be reduced.
Unfortunately, production can only pick up if SMIC finds a way to increase production, which is said to be a challenge for the DUV machines it currently has. At Biden's request, ASML was banned from supplying advanced EUV equipment to Chinese companies, which means SMIC will have to leverage its existing hardware, which is easier said than done. China's largest semiconductor maker is also reportedly building a 5nm production line for Huawei, but the chips are said to cost 50% more than TSMC would have cost to make wafers under the same lithography technology.
*, yield and time-consuming hurdles could plague SMIC's 7nm technology, forcing it to charge Huawei's Kirin 9000s, which would result in the Mate 60 being priced at the high end of the spectrum. An earlier report said that the U.S. *** believes SMIC will not be able to produce enough Kirin 9000s**, and from the current situation, these claims may be true. For Huawei, time is of the essence, especially if it wants to maintain its newfound momentum on its own turf.