Huawei’s latest flagship features a Kirin 9000 processor that is completely “made in China”. The smartphone symbolizes the rise of the Chinese chip industry.

The Huawei Mate 60 and Mate 60 Pro were quietly announced early last week. The devices will initially only appear in China, but there are plans to bring them to Europe later. They are the first flagships that Huawei has released in a long time and also deserve the name.

Made in China

This is thanks to the processor. At the time of the announcement, Huawei didn’t reveal too many details about the Kirin 9000. TechInsights then did their own research and found that the chip is based on SMIC’s 7nm process. This confirms suspicions that Huawei is working closely with the largest Chinese chipmaker to circumvent US restrictions.

The Mate 60 Pro should therefore herald Huawei’s comeback in the flagship segment. Since being blacklisted by Washington, Huawei has continued to release smartphones, often with outdated chips the company had lying around. The smartphones are therefore hardly given any attention and Huawei has completely dropped out of the ranking of the best-selling smartphone brands.

It’s far too early to tell if the Mate 60 Pro is Huawei’s big comeback in the smartphone industry. In any case, the smartphone seems to be able to keep up with the top models. Initial reviews from Chinese users say that the Mate 60 can reach faster speeds than competing devices and also has satellite connectivity built into the chip.

With all the Chinese

Huawei’s return to the flagship segment also has geopolitical implications. The US government is doing everything it can to deny Chinese companies access to the technology needed to make advanced chips. The fact that Huawei, together with SMIC, has apparently succeeded in building a smartphone processor that at least comes close to what Qualcomm and MediaTek can do shows that Chinese companies are sticking to their plan despite the restrictions.