Huawei Says Flagship HiSilicon Kirin Smartphone Chips Running Out Under US Sanctions

US pressure on Huawei's suppliers has made it impossible for the company's HiSilicon chip division to keep making the chipsets.

Huawei Says Flagship HiSilicon Kirin Smartphone Chips Running Out Under US Sanctions
Highlights
  • Huawei Consumer Business Unit CEO Richard Yu made the comments
  • HiSilicon makes a wide range of chips including its line of Kirin SoCs
  • The Huawei Mate 40 will still feature flagship Kirin SoCs
Advertisement

Huawei Technologies will stop making its flagship Kirin chipsets next month, financial magazine Caixin said on Saturday, as the impact of US pressure on the Chinese tech giant grows.

US pressure on Huawei's suppliers has made it impossible for the company's HiSilicon chip division to keep making the chipsets, key components for mobile phone, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Unit was quoted as saying about the upcoming the launch of the company's new Mate 40 handset at an industry conference, China Info 100. A report by Chinese publication IT Home cites the Yu to say Huawei Mate 40 will still sport a flagship Kirin SoC.

With US-China relations at their worst in decades, Washington is pressing governments around to world to squeeze Huawei out, arguing it would hand over data to the Chinese government for spying. Huawei denies it spies for China.

The United States is also seeking the extradition from Canada of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on charges of bank fraud.

In May the US Commerce Department issued orders that required suppliers of software and manufacturing equipment to refrain from doing business with Huawei without first obtaining a license.

"From Sept. 15 onward, our flagship Kirin processors cannot be produced," Yu said, according to Caixin. "Our AI-powered chips also cannot be processed. This is a huge loss for us."

Huawei's HiSilicon division relies on software from U.S. companies such as Cadence Design Systems Inc or Synopsys to design its chips and it outsources the production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which uses equipment from US companies.

Huawei declined comment on the Caixin report. TSMC, Cadence and Synopsys did not immediately respond to email requests for comment.

HiSilicon produces a wide range of chips including its line of Kirin processors, which power only Huawei smartphones and are the only Chinese processors that can rival those from Qualcomm in quality.

"Huawei began exploring the chip sector over 10 years ago, starting from hugely lagging behind, to slightly lagging behind, to catching up, and then to a leader," Yu was quoted as saying. "We invested massive resources for R&D, and went through a difficult process."

© Thomson Reuters 2020


Is Nord the iPhone SE of the OnePlus world? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Huawei, HiSilicon, Huawei Mate 40, Kirin
OnePlus Nord Internals Exhibited by Carl Pei in New 'Tear-Up' Assembly Video
Twitter Said to Have Expressed Interest in Buying TikTok's US Operations
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »