Huawei’s latest Mate 80 smartphone uses an improved China-made Kirin 9030 chip, highlighting progress—and limits—in China’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency.
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| Huawei’s Mate 80 runs on an improved SMIC-made chip, signaling incremental gains in China’s chip industry amid sanctions and global competition. Image: CH |
Shenzhen, China — December 13, 2025:
Huawei Technologies’ latest flagship smartphone, the Mate 80 series, has once again drawn global attention to China’s semiconductor ambitions, as new analysis shows the device is powered by an improved domestically manufactured chip that still trails the world’s most advanced technologies.
According to a report by Canadian research firm TechInsights published on December 8, the Kirin 9030 processor inside the Mate 80 is manufactured by China’s largest foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), using an enhanced version of its 7-nanometer process. The chip represents a step forward for China’s chipmaking capabilities, but not a leap that closes the gap with industry leaders.
TechInsights said the Kirin 9030 is produced using SMIC’s N+3 process, described as a scaled extension of its earlier 7-nanometer N+2 node. The refinement suggests SMIC has been able to extract additional performance and efficiency gains despite being cut off from advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment due to U.S.-led export controls.
Yet the firm cautioned that the progress remains incremental. In absolute terms, SMIC’s N+3 process is “substantially less scaled” than the 5-nanometer-class technologies currently in mass production at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Samsung Electronics. That disparity affects transistor density, power efficiency, and overall performance—critical factors in premium smartphones and advanced computing.
For Huawei, the Kirin 9030 is more than a technical upgrade. Since U.S. sanctions curtailed its access to cutting-edge foreign chips in 2019, the company has leaned heavily on domestic suppliers to sustain its high-end smartphone business. Each new generation of Kirin chips therefore serves as both a commercial product and a political signal of resilience.
The Mate 80’s reliance on SMIC underscores the growing interdependence between China’s flagship technology firms and its semiconductor industry. Success for one bolsters the strategic importance of the other, particularly as Beijing prioritizes self-reliance in critical technologies.
The report’s publication also highlights rising tensions around independent analysis of China’s chip progress. In October, Beijing placed TechInsights on its “unreliable entity list,” following its repeated teardowns and assessments of Huawei and SMIC chips. The move reflects how semiconductor research has become politically charged, with technical findings increasingly viewed through a geopolitical lens.
Neither Huawei nor SMIC responded to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Huawei’s latest handset illustrates a broader reality of China’s semiconductor drive: steady advances achieved under constraint, but no rapid convergence with the global frontier. While SMIC’s improved 7-nanometer process demonstrates ingenuity and persistence, it remains at least a generation behind the most advanced manufacturing nodes.
For now, the Kirin 9030 signals momentum rather than parity. As the global chip race intensifies, the key question is whether China can continue to narrow the gap—or whether structural barriers will keep its most advanced chips one step behind the world’s leaders.