On September 6, Huawei released its latest Kirin 990 series chipset. It uses the 7nm FinFET Plus EUV process and integrates the DaVinci Neuro-processing Unit (NPU) and 5G modem. The Kirin 990 processor series has debuted in the 4G and 5G versions of the Mate 30 flagship series. But Huawei is competing with the leaders in the mobile SoCs industry. So it should keep the momentum gaining. Otherwise, it will lay behind others. The next process node is going to be 5nm. And many chip makers have already started research and development of this new process node. Huawei is no exception. And seems the first chip with this manufacturing process is going to be the Kirin 1000.
According to Huawei Central, industry sources pointed out that Huawei has begun to use the 5nm technology to prototype the Kirin 1000 processor. It should be put into commercial operation in the second half of next year. The Kirin 990 chip uses the A76 CPU architecture, and the Kirin 1000 will use the A77 architecture. Of course, there is currently no official confirmation of the news.
If nothing else, the Huawei Mate 40 series will take the lead in adopting this new chipset series. Due to the launch of the Kirin 990 processor, Huawei will continue to use it in the upcoming flagship smartphone until the Kirin 1000 in the third quarter of 2020.
It is worth to mention that the long-standing war between the US and Huawei have become a constant topic of discussion. Huawei’s CEO, Rei Zhengfei has been so vocal since the US placed a ban on Huawei. Recently, Ren Zhengfei said that it is a fact that Huawei can survive without the supply of the US. According to him, a large number of Western companies already has products without US parts. This boosts their confidence.