<div id="readability-page-1"><div><div><p>Huawei Technologies' latest Mate 80 series smartphones are powered by an upgraded in-house chip after its foundry partner made improvements to the 7-nanometre node process despite US export restrictions on advanced technology, according to a new report.</p><p>The Kirin 9030, the processor behind Huawei's Mate 80 Pro Max, was manufactured by China's top foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) using the N+3 process, which is a &#34;scaled evolution&#34; of the chipmaker's previous 7-nm node technology, according to Canadian semiconductor research firm TechInsights.</p><p>Despite &#34;meaningful density improvements&#34; in its N+3 process, SMIC's capabilities were still behind leading chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Samsung Electronics, the report showed.</p><p>Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.</p><p>&#34;In absolute terms, N+3 remains substantially less scaled than industry 5-nm processes from TSMC and Samsung,&#34; TechInsights analyst Rajesh Krishnamurthy said in the report.</p><figure><div><div><p><span><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/bwXTnLywgYJIvBUKGlZuMQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/south_china_morning_post_us_228/dc56f82bbda4663964a59f9f0c0fed8a?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="960" height="720" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/bwXTnLywgYJIvBUKGlZuMQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/south_china_morning_post_us_228/dc56f82bbda4663964a59f9f0c0fed8a"/></span></p></div></div></figure><p><em>Huawei's flagship Mate 80 series smartphones. Photo: Handout alt=Huawei's flagship Mate 80 series smartphones. Photo: Handout&gt;</em></p><p>The process was also expected to struggle with &#34;significant yield challenges&#34;, as it relied on deep ultraviolet (DUV) multi-patterning to achieve aggressive metal scaling, according to Krishnamurthy.</p><p>The findings reflected China's ongoing abilities to push the limits of advanced chipmaking using DUV lithography, as Chinese companies are barred from accessing the most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, creating a key bottleneck for China's semiconductor manufacturing progress.</p><p>Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.</p><p>The Kirin 9030 chip was unveiled with the launch of the Mate 80 series smartphones in late November. Huawei claimed the chip delivered up to 42 per cent better performance than the Kirin 9020, the processor behind the Mate 70 smartphones.</p><p>The industry closely watches chip developments by the Shenzhen-based telecommunication equipment giant as a barometer of the nation's overall chip progress.</p><p>TechInsights' previous reports showed that the Kirin 9020 and the Kirin X90 processor in Huawei's MateBook Fold Ultimate Design laptop were made with SMIC's 7-nm process, dampening speculation that Huawei had made the leap to SMIC's 5-nm process.</p><p>Huawei has grappled with sweeping US export controls since Washington added it to a trade blacklist in 2019, which cut off its access to US-origin semiconductor technology. SMIC was added to the same blacklist in 2020.</p><p>In October, TechInsights, which regularly publishes reports on Huawei's chip progress, was added to China's &#34;unreliable entity list&#34; by the Ministry of Commerce, which prohibited it from doing business with the country.</p><p>This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.</p><p>Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.</p></div></div></div>

HUAWEI

<p>Huawei's latest Mate 80 series smartphones feature the Kirin 9030 processor, developed with SMIC's improved 7-nm N+3 process, despite US export restrictions. The chip shows China's progress in chipmaking but still lags behind TSMC and Samsung's 5-nm processes. The Kirin 9030 offers 42% better performance than its predecessor. Huawei and SMIC face challenges due to US trade blacklists.</p>

Huawei's Kirin 9030 processor shows China's chip progress despite US export curbs: report