Huawei Can ‘Disrupt The Competitive Dynamic’ Between Competitors If It Expands The Kirin 9000S To Less Expensive Phones, Says Report

beijingwalker · Oct 29, 2023

Huawei Can ‘Disrupt The Competitive Dynamic’ Between Competitors If It Expands The Kirin 9000S To Less Expensive Phones, Says Report

Omar Sohail•Oct 29, 2023 04:54 AM EDT

The Kirin 9000S might not be mass produced on a cutting-edge process, but with Huawei’s options cut down to almost zero due to export limitations placed by the U.S., its existence holds a ton of significance. Currently, the chipset fuels several models hailing from the Mate 60 lineup, but one research analyst states that the former Chinese giant should start considering expanding this SoC to cheaper options in the future.

Huawei’s market share continues to grow in China, according to the latest research, but analyst claims that the expansion of cheaper models is necessary to disrupt the market

The Chinese smartphone market fell 5 percent in shipments for Q3 2023 compared to the same period a year ago, but Huawei continues to gain ground in this region compared to its competitors. Apple, which has a solid foothold in China, saw its annual growth decline by 6 percent, with some industry watchers believing that Huawei’s Mate 60, powered by the Kirin 9000S, was the reason for this. However, to really disrupt the market, Canalys Research Analyst Lucas Zhong says that Huawei should expand the Kirin 9000S to low-to-mid-range models.

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“The Huawei Mate 60 series launch sparked the market. If Huawei expands the new Kirin chipset into its low-to-mid-range portfolio in the future, it has the potential to disrupt the competitive dynamic among leading vendors. Meanwhile, the HONOR X50 series focuses on durability improvement as a new unique selling point, adding momentum to shipments in the third quarter.
Apple’s new iPhone 15 series introduced bigger upgrades to meet consumers’ expectations. Android vendors, however, showed ambitions in the foldable category with a plethora of launches, including Xiaomi Mix Fold3, HONOR V Purse, Magic Vs2, OPPO Find N3 Flip, Find N3, and Huawei Mate X5, providing consumers with offerings in different form factors, specifications, and price ranges.”

However, if the Kirin 9000S will start being used in low to mid-range smartphones, then Huawei has to develop an improved version of the silicon for its next flagship series. According to an earlier report, Huawei has three supply chain partners lined up to prepare for the P70 launch next year, but there is no word if it will be powered by the Kirin 9000S or something better.

At this time, SMIC, the Chinese semiconductor firm, can only mass produce the Kirin 9000S due to lack of advanced EUV machinery, so multiple entities will have to think of something quickly if they want to continue this momentum going into 2024. There were rumors circulating that Huawei is developing a new Kirin SoC on the 5nm process, but there have been no updates regarding that chip, so let us keep our fingers crossed for what comes next year.