Huawei Technologies has proved its ability to go around the United States sanctions by launching the Mate60 Pro phone but discovery that the achievement was partly made possible by use of two Korean chips has led Chinese commentators to caution – using colorful terminology – that the company’s success should not be overblown.
TechInsights, a Canadian research firm, said on September 3 that Mate60 Pro’s central processing unit (CPU) was made by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).
Many Chinese commentators praised Huawei and SMIC for being able to make 7 nanometer chips with N+2 processing technology, while the US Commerce Department said it had started probing the matter.
But after TechInsights said on September 8 that it found two memory chips made by SK Hynix inside the Huawei flagship phone, some Chinese columnists have changed their stance.
While the success of Mate60 Pro has filled Chinese people with enthusiasm, they say, it’s time to stop promoting it, which would lead to more sanctions against the firm.
“The US has thoroughly examined Huawei’s new mobile phones over the past two days,” Guan Quan, a professor at the School of Economics of Renmin University of China, says in an article published on Monday. “Its purpose is actually very clear. It wants to find out loopholes and impose more severe sanctions on Huawei.”
Guan says if Huawei can no longer use SK Hynix chips in its new mobile phones in the future, it needs some time to find new suppliers.
‘There is still a technological gap between Huawei and Apple.’
Guan Chan, Remnin University
“There is still a technological gap between Huawei and Apple. Whether Huawei can make more breakthroughs or fully achieve self sufficiency remains unclear,” he says. “We must always remain vigilant and not take it lightly.”
Using a Chinese term for excessive praise, he says, “The peng sha of Huawei will only cause more problems as the company is now at the forefront of the chip war. What China should do now is to stay low profile and accumulate energy.” He adds that Huawei itself does not want to be high-profile.
The term peng sha, which literally means ‘praise’ and ‘kill,’ appeared in ancient Chinese books, as far back as the Eastern Han Dynasty. It came from a story in which an official showed off his strong horse but the animal eventually died of exhaustion as people on the streets kept applauding and encouraging it to run. The term has become internet slang in recent years.
Wang Xinxi, a Guangdong-based technology columnist, also says people should avoid the peng sha of Huawei.
“South Korea and the US have started investigating Huawei’s supply chain,” Wang says. “As the chip war has not come to an end, Huawei should stay silent and continue to strengthen itself. We should not exaggerate Huawei’s capability.”
He says the stir over the SK Hynix connection signals that a new phase of the US-China chip war has begun. He says Huawei needs more time and space to achieve full self-sufficiency in its supply chain.
Chinese memory chips
Last Friday, TechInsights said Huawei sourced most of Mate60 Pro’s parts domestically, with the exceptions being two SK Hynix chips – a DRAM and a NAND chip.
SK Hynix said in a statement that it had stopped doing business with Huawei since the implementation of the US restrictions against the Chinese firm. It said it is now investigating the issue.
“SK Hynix is strictly abiding by the US government’s export restrictions,” the company said in a statement.
Due to pressure from the US, South Korean chipmakers including SK Hynix and Samsung ceased to sell memory chips and application processors (APs) to Huawei as of September 15, 2020.
Analysts said Huawei could either purchase the SK Hynix chips through third-parties or use its inventory. Huawei has so far declined to make any comments on the matter.
A Henan-based columnist says Huawei uses SK Hynix chips because they read and write at higher speeds than chips made by Chinese firms. He says SK Hynix’s DRAM has a LPDDR5 setting while its NAND is in UFS4.0.
According to public information, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT)’s DRAM has a LPDDR4 setting while Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC)’s NAND is in UFS3.1.
The speed of a LPDDR5 chip is about 50% faster than a LPDDR4 one. The speed of a UFS4.0 chip is twice as fast as that of UFS3.1.
Xu Shangfeng, a Guangdong-based writer, says in an article published on Monday that people should not be over-worried that the US will impose more curbs on Huawei.
“Over the past few years, Huawei has stayed low profile, strengthened its fundamental technologies and made many breakthroughs in its chips, operation system and applications,” he says. “Before launching its phone, Huawei must have already prepared some back-up plans.”
He does not elaborate on what Huawei’s back-up plans might be. He says there are not many cards that the US can play now.
Read: China bans iPhone while touting Huawei’s Mate60 Pro
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at @jeffpao3