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Tech war: Huawei’s silence over its latest Mate smartphone’s advanced chip raises speculation on where and how it was made
- Chinese benchmarking website AnTuTu has identified the Mate 60 Pro’s central processing unit as the HiSilicon-designed Kirin 9000s, which supports 5G
- Huawei’s deliberate silence on that CPU reflects the lengths the firm has taken to quietly revive its smartphone business amid US sanctions
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Iris Dengin Shenzhen
Huawei Technologies’ silence over the advanced semiconductor that powers its new Mate 60 Pro flagship smartphone has become the subject of intense speculation in China, as questions abound about where and how the chip was made under strict US trade sanctions.
At the Mate 60 Pro’s surprise launch on Tuesday, Huawei declined to provide details about the handset’s processor or on whether it supports 5G mobile networks, prompting industry analysts, tech bloggers, consumers and other interested parties to look for answers outside the company.
Based on tests that it conducted on the smartphone, Chinese benchmarking website AnTuTu on Wednesday identified the central processing unit (CPU) in the Mate 60 Pro as the Kirin 9000s from Huawei’s chip design unit HiSilicon. The CPU has a 12-core configuration and a top clock speed of 2.62 gigahertz, according to AnTuTu.
Although HiSilicon’s website did not provide any information about that CPU, the firm’s existing Kirin 9000 and 9000e chipsets both support 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence applications, and are built on the advanced 5-nanometer manufacturing process. The new Mate’s download speeds can reach 500 megabits per second, which exceeds the 100Mbps speed requirements for 4G networks, according to independent tests run by some consumers.

The new Mate’s graphics processing unit was identified as another Chinese-designed chip, the Maleoon 910, according to AnTuTu, which did not provide details.
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