Huawei Mate 40 series is still on track to debut with Kirin processor based on 5nm process. Interestingly, it is said to launch with Kirin 1000 processor as opposed to previously rumored Kirin 1020 chipset. The HiSilicon Kirin 1000 seems like a natural successor to Kirin 990 and might debut at IFA 2020 this year. The information comes amidst rumors that Huawei will lose out on supply from TSMC due to the restrictions imposed by the US government.
Huawei Mate 40 to use Kirin 1000 SoC
A known leakster who goes by the Twitter handle @RODENT950 claims that Huawei Mate 40 series will use 5nm Kirin 1000 SoC. In the tweet, the leakster mentions that Huawei will use Kirin 1000 processor fabricated using TSMC’s 5nm process. There were rumors doing the rounds that TSMC has cancelled orders from Huawei due to US restrictions. However, it now seems possible that the company might have already placed the order before the new regulation went into effect.
This could also mean that Kirin 1000 will be the last SoC based on TSMC processor. The Chinese giant might have to look for another partner for its future chip designs. For Huawei, the future definitely looks uncertain but it seems to be looking at Samsung or SK Hynix as potential partners. There is no fine detail available about this product design and future plans just yet. Huawei might lose in a big way if it loses access to TSMC’s fab process in 2021 as it looks to challenge Qualcomm and Samsung.
Mate 40 series use 5nm K1000 soc manufactured by TSMC.
Samsung also started to build 5nm production lines.— Teme (特米)😷 (@RODENT950) May 23, 2020
The Kirin 1000 was rumored to be an octa-core chipset fabricated using a 5nm process by TSMC. It is said to use four ARM Cortex A78 cores for performance. However, the exact configuration of this SoC remains unknown. There were also rumors that Huawei has moved to Kirin 1020 as the replacement to Kirin 990 for the Mate 40 series this year. With the trade ban still in place, Huawei needs more than a stellar smartphone to prove its critics wrong.