For several years, Huawei has been using its homebaked Kirin chipsets to power Huawei and Honor smartphones. However, due to the revision in the US ban in September, it is unable to use Kirin chipsets on its smartphones. This could be the reason why that the recent phones from the brand have featured Dimensity chipsets. Fresh information coming from China reveals that the upcoming Huawei phones could be driven by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets.
According to a Chinese publication, a source has revealed that Qualcomm has been given permission to supply its chipsets to Huawei. This indicates that the upcoming Huawei phones could be featuring Snapdragon chipsets.
Last month, Huawei announced the Mate 40 series of smartphones. The Mate 40 Pro and Mate Mate 40 Pro Plus is equipped with the all-new 5nm Kirin 9000 chipset. Due to the shortage in supply of the new chipset courtesy of the US ban, the company has been difficulty in selling the Mate 40 Pro and Mate 40+.
In the first quarter of Q1, Huawei is expected to announce the P50 series of flagship phones. If TMSC is disallowed by the U.S. government to work with Huawei, it is likely that the P50 lineup could be equipped with the upcoming Snapdragon 875 flagship chipset. There is a possibility that even the Mate 40 series could be made available with SD875 chip.
The deal with Qualcomm could be on a temporary basis until TSMC can do business with Huawei. Meanwhile, the Chinese brand has reportedly stocked up MediaTek chipsets, which it can also use on its upcoming smartphones.
