Huawei’s Surprise Chip Raises Stakes in Tech Clash
Sep 29, 2023
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Huawei's new smartphone powered by a China-made processor reveals China's tech advancement. The US-China relationship and its impact on Apple's investment stake in China are discussed. The importance of semiconductors for Huawei and China's progress in closing the technology gap are explored. The release of Apple's iPhone 15 and its features are highlighted. Leading Asian chip companies and challenges they face are discussed. The shift in Apple's production and its geopolitical impact are analyzed.
China's tech advancements, as demonstrated by Huawei's homegrown processor, have revealed that its tech savvy is more advanced than many believed, escalating global tensions.
The profitability of chip production by SMIC, the manufacturer of Huawei's latest phone, raises questions about its ability to make money based on chip quality and yield management.
Deep dives
China's Technological Advancements: The Rise of Huawei's Mate 60 Pro
The podcast discusses how US-led sanctions on Chinese technology firms aimed to create a barrier between China and the advanced smartphone components. However, Huawei's latest smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, shocked everyone by featuring a Chinese homegrown processor, indicating China's progress in narrowing the gap with the West. The podcast highlights the surprise of discovering the level of Chinese technology within the phone, particularly the modem on the APU. It explains the significance of a 7-nanometer chip and how it allows for more transistors, resulting in increased performance. It also reveals the West's underestimation of China's progress and compares the chip's performance to other leading smartphones.
Profitability and Success of SMIC: Huawei's Chip Manufacturer
The podcast addresses the profitability of producing chips by SMIC, the manufacturer of Huawei's latest phone. While it acknowledges that chip profitability may not matter for the Chinese government, it speculates on SMIC's ability to make money based on the quality of its chips and yield management. While SMIC lacks access to advanced tools like Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), its immersion tools allow it to continue progressing, albeit with some limitations. The discussion also touches on SK Hynix memory chips in the Mate 60 and how they may have entered the phone indirectly due to commodity factors. It highlights the challenges of measuring profitability and the ability of the government to support sustained industry growth.
Apple's Innovation Challenges and the Future of iPhone Technology
The podcast explores Apple's ability to generate groundbreaking innovations and its current challenges in maintaining the 'wow factor.' It discusses Steve Jobs' unique ability to innovate and Apple's struggle to replicate his success. The focus shifts to Apple's latest iPhone 15, highlighting the adoption of a USB-C port and the improvements in camera functionality and AI image processing. While the A17 chip in the iPhone 15 offers longer battery life and better performance, the podcast suggests that incremental advancements may be reaching their limits. The discussion emphasizes the importance of incremental advantages to drive iPhone upgrades and Apple's focus on content and user experience within its ecosystem.
US-led sanctions on Chinese tech firms were meant to put a barrier between China and the cutting-edge of smartphone know-how. Little wonder, then, that Huawei drew a collective gasp when it revealed its new smartphone -- the Mate 60 Pro -- is powered by a homegrown, China-made processor.
Almost overnight, the world woke up to the reality that China’s tech savvy was more advanced than many believed, giving global tensions a new sense of urgency.
Where does the U.S.-China relationship go from here? And how might it shape fortunes at Apple, which has an outsized investment stake in China?
Dan Hutcheson, Vice Chair of TechInsights joins co-hosts John Lee and Tom Corbett for a wide-ranging discussion of how recent events are reshaping the relationship between China, the U.S., and the high-stakes quest for tech supremacy.