Huawei launches another 7nm processor built by sanctioned Chinese fab SMIC — Kirin 9010 builds on previous design

HiSilicon
(Image credit: HiSilicon)

Huawei's latest Pura 70 smartphone, launched earlier this month in China, is powered by the company's latest HiSilicon Kirin 9010 application processor made by China fab SMIC. The chip is based on SMIC's 7nm-class process technology, according to findings by TechInsights reported by Bloomberg. The findings demonstrate that despite the U.S. government's efforts to limit Huawei's ability to develop advanced processors and SMIC to produce them, new chips just keep coming. 

Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin 9010 system-on-chip is produced by SMIC, China's largest contract maker of semiconductors, on its 2nd Generation 7nm-class process technology that is sometimes called N+2, according to TechInsights analysis. This is the very same process technology that SMIC used to make the Kirin 9000s SoC released last August inside the Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone. 

TechInsights has yet to make details about the Kirin 9010 processor public, but GSMArena reports that the Kirin 9010 has the same general-purpose CPU core count as the Kirin 9000s: one ultra-high-performance core, three high-performance cores, and four low-power Arm Cortex-A510 cores. The only noticeable difference between the Kirin 9010 and Kirin 9000c is that the former clocks its UHP core at 2.30 GHz, whereas the latter manages to run it at 2.62 GHz. 

The new Pura 70 smartphones also have 16 GB of memory, whereas the flagship Mate 60 Pro has 12 GB. This indicates that the new handset has a reworked memory subsystem, although we have no idea whether the Kirin 9010 application processor is involved. 

The Kirin 9010 name suggests that this chip is a version of the Kirin 9000s, though it is hard to say whether this is a more advanced version (given the lower clock, it does not seem to be more advanced) or just a re-spin aimed at improving yields and maybe refining some features. 

In fact, premium Huawei tends to introduce all-new processors with its Mate-series smartphones that launch in the fall to coincide with the launch of new iPhones. In spring, Huawei used to introduce its P-series high-end handsets (now called Pura) that relied on the SoCs already adopted by Mate-branded smartphones. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Kirin 9010 is HiSilicon's new flagship application processor for mobile phones. 

One of the important questions about the Kirin 9000s and Kirin 9010 SoCs is whether SMIC can produce enough of them. We do not know, but based on market checks data from Jefferies (cited by Bloomberg), Huawei's Pura 70 smartphones were sold out in a couple of days, so apparently, Huawei could not build enough handsets.

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • Shirou
    Might be good to do a little more surface level research before an article!!
    The SC and MC are up a bit, while the freq_max is down. This is because of its new Taishan architecture, roughly 25% IPC gains with the clock loss nets about a 10% performance gain.
    9010 is really just minor optimizations on the 9000 though, as the name and half-cycle implies.
    Reply
  • NinoPino
    Shirou said:
    .... This is because of its new Taishan architecture, roughly 25% IPC gains with the clock loss nets about a 10% performance gain.
    This should imply a good efficiency gain.
    Reply
  • GSMArena reports that the Kirin 9010 has the same general-purpose CPU core count as the Kirin 9000s: one ultra-high-performance core, three high-performance cores, and four low-power Arm Cortex-A510 cores.

    I'm not fully sure whether we can trust this website, but here the specs are totally different. IDK.

    https://nanoreview.net/en/soc/hisilicon-kirin-9010
    HiSilicon Kirin 9010 – an 12-core chipset that was announced on April 18, 2024, and is manufactured using a 7-nanometer process technology. It has 2 cores TaiShan V121 at 2300 MHz, 4 cores TaiShan V121 at 1550 MHz, and 6 cores Cortex-A510 at 2180 MHz.
    Reply
  • zsydeepsky
    9010, like 9000s, supports SMT.
    so when you saw 2 cores TaiShan V121 at 2300 MHz, 4 cores TaiShan V121 at 1550 MHz, it means 1 core @ 2300MHz and 2 cores @ 1550 MHz
    Reply