Huawei’s Kirin Chips Could Make a Comeback as Per This Report

Huawei's chipmaking arm, HiSilicon, has been struggling with the restrictions imposed by the US government. These restrictions have significantly hampered the company's operations, resulting in a noticeable hiatus in the introduction of new Kirin chips. However, the subsequent appearance of potential configurations on the Chinese social media platform Weibo has sparked speculation about the resurrection of the Kirin chip lineup. These configurations, as well as rumors of new Kirin offerings, shed light on Huawei's strategic initiatives to overcome these challenges and reestablish its presence in the chip market.

Clues from Weibo

A Weibo user by the name of Fixed Focus Digital shared what seems to be two potential configurations for an upcoming Kirin chip. These configurations hint at the possibility of a Kirin chip resurgence, indicating that HiSilicon might be gearing up for a new chapter.

Potential Configurations

Fixed Focus Digital has revealed two configurations for its new chipset. The first configuration has two Cortex-X3 and two Cortex-A715 CPU cores, four Cortex-A510 CPU cores, and an Arm Immortalis-G715 MC16 GPU. The second configuration has two Cortex-X1 and three Cortex-A78 CPU cores, three Cortex-A55 CPU cores, and an Arm Mali G710 MC10/6 GPU. The first configuration is more powerful, while the second configuration is more cost-effective.

Rumored Kirin Offerings

Another Weibo post corroborates the speculation and lists three new offerings: the Kirin 720, Kirin 830, and the Kirin 9100.

The Kirin 720 and Kirin 830 are expected to be released later this year, while the Kirin 9100 is expected to be released next year, possibly alongside the Huawei P70.

According to Twitter user @tech_reve, the mysterious Kirin chip could be manufactured using SMIC's advanced N+2 (7 nm) technology. This would allow Huawei to bypass US restrictions and produce its own chips.

However, a report by MyDrivers suggests that an alternative approach is gaining traction. This approach involves stacking two 14 nm chips on top of each other to achieve performance comparable to that of 7 nm chips. Notably, this technique maintains a power consumption of just 7 Watts, ensuring that the chip can efficiently power modern smartphones without draining too much energy.

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