Because China is banned from receiving the latest lithography gear from Dutch company ASML, SMIC had to build the Kirin 9000s for the Mate 60 series using its 7nm process node which puts it well behind rival foundries like TSMC and Samsung Foundry which are both shipping 2nm silicon later this year. For years now there has been speculation that Huawei and SMIC have been working on a substitute for ASML’s Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography machines which are needed to take chip production under 7nm unless an alternate technology has been created.
The EUV is able to print extremely thin circuitry patterns on the silicon wafers that chips are built in layers on. The circuitry is thinner than human hair and needs to be in order to help place billions of transistors inside a chip. Huawei is currently testing a system called laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP) technology which can create the short 13.5nm wavelength needed to build the most advanced chips.
Huawei is beefing up its Kirin application processors for smartphones. | Image credit-Huawei
Huawei needs to do something to shake up its application processors so that they can be improved. The innovative side-opening Pura X flip phone will supposedly be the first device to take advantage of some small improvements that Huawei is bringing to its Kirin 9020 application processor (AP). For example, the new Kirin 9020 will offer a 5% improvement in power efficiency over the Mate 70 Pro’s Kirin 9020 SoC. In other words, the Kirin 9020 AP used on the Pura X will not only generate a more efficient performance than the Kirin 9020 powering the Mate 70 Pro, it also will have a huge reduction in energy drainage.
Huawei will be able to offer this improvement thanks to a change in the chip’s packaging that improves the transmission efficiency between the chip and integrated memory. It also improves heat dissipation, reduces energy drainage, and improves its performance. Huawei is currently working on the photography-based flagship for early 2026, the Pura 80 series. At this stage, it is unclear whether the phone will sport a new chipset or an enhanced Kirin AP.
