Huawei, once one of the largest manufacturers of smartphones in the world, has been facing a trade blockade by the United States of America since 2019 that would deprive it of several elements necessary for the normal development of its commercial activity. More recently, the Chinese company cannot even use processors with access to 5G mobile networks.
It all started in May 2019 when the US Department of Commerce placed Huawei on the “black” list of suspicious entities. As a result, US companies have since been barred from doing business with the China-based tech company.
Huawei could have a new chipset with access to 5G mobile networks
What is at stake is not a reversal of the policies applied by then-President Donald Trump and reinvigorated by the current US chief executive. Far from it, in fact. Sanctions are still in place, and Huawei has to rely only on Asian companies like SMIC.
How is the agency progressing? Reuters, the Chinese company Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) will develop, in partnership with Huawei, its own processor with support for 5G mobile networks. This new chipset will apparently be manufactured according to SMIC’s N+1 lithography process.
It should be noted that SMIC’s manufacturing process can match solutions from Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung and other chipset manufacturers with the 7nm standard. However, by mid-2023 it is far from the most powerful and energy-efficient standard, as 3nm solutions are in the works.
First batch could bring production of up to 4 million 5G chipsets to Huawei
This development can effectively help Huawei bring at least new equipment to the market with support for next-generation mobile networks. years after completing the stock of HiSilicon chipsets, traditionally the chipsets used by the brand in its mobile phones, Huawei was deprived of new processors with access to 5G.
Since then, it has used processors from the North American Qualcomm, deprived of 5G. In fact, all of the latest Huawei phones available outside of China use limited processors in their modem networks to 4G LTE.
Although the brand explored other solutions with Qualcomm and MediaTek itself, it was not possible to move forward with the production of components with these companies due to geopolitical tensions between the US and China.
Solution to the lack of 5G chips in sight, a good first step
Now, it seems, Huawei’s first smartphone with the new 5G chipset will launch later this year. It is a first step towards recovery, thanks also to the efforts made by SMIC.
It remains to be seen, of course, how this new partnership with Huawei will reflect and how the market will receive its new mobile devices. It should be noted that their terminals are also left without access to Google services.
In any case, we remind you that his spiritual heir, Honor, is officially present in Europe. In fact, Honor recently brought new equipment without any restrictions and access to Google services, also available in Portugal.