A few days ago we reported the Huawei Mate 60 Pro and Mate 60 equipped with an unannounced HiSilicon Kirin 9000s chip. This existence was only confirmed after the device underwent the Antutu 3D benchmark test which showed its performance to be comparable to the Snapdragon 888 and equipped with 10 CPU cores.
Bloomberg today reported that the Kirin 9000s has cellular capabilities comparable to 5G on the iPhone. Speeds of up to 380 Mbps were successfully achieved in tests conducted with the help of TechInsight. More surprising is that the Kirin 9000s are manufactured using 7nm technology by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC). It shows China can now produce 7nm chips without using US-owned technology.
Previously, technological barriers imposed by the United States prevented China from producing 16nm chips and below. The latest chips at this time are 3nm produced by TSMC and Samsung. But the Kirin 9000s show China is now one step ahead using local technology.
Huawei is predicted to release 5G devices again this year. What makes the launch of the Mate 60 series strange is that it was done suddenly and the chip used was not announced by Huawei at all.