Huawei Technologies of China is unable to develop smartphones as expected due to sanctions from the US government. The impact is clearly visible in 2021, and the share of global smartphone shipments, which temporarily reached the top in 2020, has recently been overtaken by other emerging Chinese manufacturers and has dropped significantly in the ranking. Chinese manufacturers now competing for the top share with Samsung Electronics and Apple are moving from Huawei Technologies to Xiaomi.
That said, the company hasn't given up on its consumer business and is still launching new smartphone models. In fact, on July 29, 2021, the new smartphone model "HUAWEI P50" series was announced for China.
Since the contents are as previously reported, I will avoid detailed explanation, but because it is the latest model of one of the company's flagship models "P" series, especially the high-end model "HUAWEI P50 Pro" has a maximum zoom of 200 times. It has very high camera performance such as corresponding to. However, on the other hand, since the chipset "Kirin" series developed by HiSilicon Technology under its umbrella can no longer be manufactured due to sanctions from the U.S. government, can smartphones with such high performance be stably supplied to consumers? There were some doubts about the question.
The solution the company showed was a little surprising. Not only the "Kirin 9000" but also the "Snapdragon 888" made by Qualcomm was adopted for the HUAWEI P50 series chipset.
Adopting different chipsets for the same smartphone is common in high-end models of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy series, and it is not uncommon in itself. So it's no wonder that the Snapdragon 888 is used to supplement the inventory of the Kirin 9000, which it wouldn't be able to manufacture anymore, but the question is that the supplier imposes sanctions on Huawei Technologies. It means that it is a US company.
The main reason why Qualcomm was able to supply chipsets seems to be that Qualcomm obtained permission from the US government. According to some reports in November 2020, Qualcomm received permission from the U.S. government to sell semiconductors to Huawei Technologies, which led to the installation of Qualcomm chipsets in the HUAWEI P50 series. I can think of it.
Certainly, even before the HUAWEI P50 series, there were some cases where the company adopted Qualcomm chipsets. For example, Qualcomm's "Snapdragon 865" is also installed in the latest tablet "HUAWEI MatePad 11" made by the company, which was released in Japan in July 2021.
Of course, sanctions from the US government continue, so there are still restrictions such as the need to adopt HarmonyOS 2.0 instead of Android as the OS. However, as long as we can receive a stable chipset supply from Qualcomm, we can say that it is a bright material for the company to be able to continuously provide smartphones and tablets.
But that doesn't mean the company can regain its former momentum, and the impact of US government sanctions remains strong. Because when I check the chipset of HUAWEI P50, it is described as "Snapdragon 888 4G", and for some reason mobile communication is compatible up to 4G instead of the latest 5G.
The company used to aggressively launch 5G support in the Kirin series, and it seems very unnatural that it is equipped with Snapdragon 888, which should be able to support 5G, but only supports up to 4G. But that's a testament to the continued impact of US sanctions.
It is believed that the US government has allowed Qualcomm to sell only semiconductors for 4G, not for 5G. Therefore, the Snapdragon 888 that Huawei Technologies can procure is only one that does not support 5G, which is considered to be the main reason why it does not support 5G.
Looking at the response of the US government, it can be seen that it is not the chipset itself that the US government is most concerned about, but 5G and related technologies.
In the first place, Kirin and Snapdragon, and more specifically, Apple's "A" series and "Tensor" developed by Google are based on the same British ARM technology for CPU and so on. Therefore, even though each company has its own ingenuity in camera and AI related functions, there is no technically decisive difference in each company's chipset except for communication, and it exports itself. However, it can be said that the US government decided that it would not lead to technology leakage and prioritized Qualcomm's business.
On the other hand, regarding 5G, since it is considered to be indispensable for the digitization of companies and society in the future, it is judged that if the technology flows to countries other than friendly countries, it will have a big impact on security, and the US government will sell it. It is thought that it does not allow. Since China has become a world leader in 5G technology, the US government, which is intensifying its conflict with China, is considered to be extremely cautious about 5G technology.
As a result, it is unlikely that the U.S. government will allow Huawei Technologies to manufacture and sell semiconductors related to 5G, and for the time being, Huawei Technologies can only develop devices that do not have 4G or mobile communication capabilities. Is expected to continue. And considering that the 5G compatibility rate of new smartphone models is already increasing rapidly, mainly in developed countries, even if Qualcomm receives a stable supply of chipsets in the future, we think that it will lead to the recovery of the company's share. To be honest, it's difficult.
The question then is how the company will survive in the market despite these restrictions. If it becomes impossible to support 5G, it will be difficult to increase the market share even in the Chinese market at your knees, so will you focus on the low price range where there is still a need for 4G, or will continue to be "high end even with 4G" like the HUAWEI P50 series Is it? The company's strategy will continue to attract attention, including whether it will hit the global market again.