The increasingly stringent sanctions affecting China’s technology industry are forcing the country’s players to completely rethink their strategy in order to survive. In the past, Huawei has been heavily affected by sanctions, most of which were imposed by the US. The company has learned from this and adopted a new philosophy: to dispense with American products not only for smartphones, but also for other product ranges such as laptops. To be independent, the company first decided to stop relying on foreign products and introduce its own technologies to the Chinese market. Instead of using the Windows operating system and Intel processors, the company began working on HarmonyOS PC software and the Kirin PC SoC. Huawei’s HiSilicon division seems, according to rumors, to be closing in on the launch of the Kirin X90, an inch announced internally as a competitor to Apple’s M3/M4. The chip could be presented perhaps by the end of March 2025.
Huawei no longer wants to suffer US sanctions
The future processor is said to be designed for desktop or notebook computers, and to feature an ARM instruction set, although things are not yet entirely clear. The chip could be built around Taishan V120 cores based on Armv8 or Armv9 architecture, which are not subject to US trade restrictions.
Like Apple chips, the Dram would be integrated into the SoC. As for the design itself, Huawei’s chip subsidiary may have used 7nm SMIC technology for its new chip, the only option currently “officially” available. But we’re not immune to a few surprises.
Since the beginning of the year, information has been circulating about Huawei’s intention to launch a new AI PC running HarmonyOS in April. Potentially a way of satisfying the Chinese domestic market with products equivalent to the AI PCs being pushed by Microsoft. The mysterious Kirin X90 SoC could play a key role in the company’s ambitions for PCs and “domestic” AI. Will this PC ever leave China?