SMIC could risk profit to supply Kirin chip for Huawei Mate 70

Huawei Mate 70 series will soon step into the real world. The flagship lineup is getting support from all sides to result in huge success. But it seems a few Chinese suppliers including SMIC may face profit risks amid Huawei Mate 70 launch preparations.

According to DigiTimesAsia, the Huawei Mate 70 series is getting full support in China ahead of its official unveiling. The upcoming smartphone lineup is backed by government and financial support to avoid any issues during or after its launch.

But some Chinese suppliers including SMIC are on the verge of sacrificing profit due to the Huawei Mate 70 series. Inputs reveal that the chipmaker’s revenue for the fourth quarter of this year may slightly decline from the previous quarter.

A major reason behind this decline is the year-end seasonality. In other words, the chip manufacturing firm faces certain fluctuations during this period every year.

Despite the profit risk, SMIC is also working to build a more refined and efficient version of the Kirin chip for the Mate 70 series. The company is in rumors to seed a 5nm processor in the next Mate devices that can boost the performance significantly.

SMIC has also been blacklisted by the U.S. authorities. As a result, the firm is making 7nm chips fabricated on outdated DUV machines. Due to the ban, the company cannot access advanced chipmaking tools to build better and upgraded processors.

SMIC could risk profit to supply Kirin chip for Huawei Mate 70 (Image Credits: Huawei)

However, reports said that SMIC has laid the production lines for a 5nm chip at the outset of this year. The alleged chip has entered the small-scale production already and claims to improve the power efficiency. Read More

The accuracy of this news is still a question. But following these hints, SMIC could risk profit to supply Kirin chips to Huawei Mate 70 models. If true, this risk could turn into a huge success as a 5nm chip would be a breakthrough for the Chinese semiconductor industry.

(source)