The sleeping dragon has awakened. Buckle up, world. The ride’s just getting started.
The History…
In 2019, Huawei was on top of the world. Their 7nm chips were the envy of the industry, a symbol of China’s growing technological prowess. The following year the Mate 40 series armed with the 5nm Kirin 9000 cemented Huawei’s position as a mobile powerhouse. Apple and Qualcomm were playing catch-up; Huawei was setting the pace.
This, of course, didn’t sit well with Uncle Sam. A Chinese company outperforming American giants? Unacceptable. So, the US government did what it does best: it threw a tantrum. Sanctions, blacklists, a global smear campaign. The goal? To cripple Huawei, to stifle its innovation, to send a message to any other company that dared to challenge American dominance.
This wasn’t just about market share or profits; this was about control. Huawei’s dominance in 5G, a technology poised to revolutionize everything from communications to infrastructure, jeopardized the US’s ability to spy on the world—a capability they’d cultivated for decades, shrouded in secrecy and justified with flimsy “national security” excuses.
So they went to war. Not with bombs and bullets (at least not directly), but with sanctions, blacklists, and a global smear campaign orchestrated by a unholy alliance of government agencies, corporate lobbyists, and media puppets. This wasn’t just a trade dispute; it was a targeted assassination attempt on a company that dared to challenge the established order.
The CIA, the Pentagon, and the whole alphabet soup of US intelligence agencies were involved.
And the Western media, those ever-obedient lapdogs of American propaganda, joined the chorus. They dutifully churned out hit pieces, painting Huawei as a tool of the Chinese Communist Party, a threat to democracy, a danger to the free world. They amplified whispers of espionage into a public outcry, turning public opinion against a company that had done nothing wrong but innovate too successfully.
Western media, always eager to parrot the US government line, gleefully declared Huawei’s demise. “They’re done,” they proclaimed. “Their tech is outdated. They’ll be begging for mercy soon enough.” The delight in their downfall was clear, matched only by the overwhelming smugness.
And just to rub salt in the wound, they offered Huawei a humiliating consolation prize: 4G versions of Snapdragon chips. Handing 4G-only chips wasn’t just a restriction; it was designed to publicly shame and humiliate a company that dared to dream bigger than Uncle Sam’s sandbox. It was a petty, vindictive move, reeking of desperation and fear.
The Western tech world, blinded by its own arrogance, spent years dismissing Huawei. They pointed to TSMC’s relentless march towards ever-smaller nanometers – 5nm, 4nm, 3nm – each a fresh opportunity to mock Huawei and SMIC’s supposed technological stagnation. They conveniently ignored a fundamental truth: their own dominance was a house of cards built on access to Taiwan’s chipmaking prowess. Without TSMC, Apple would be scrambling for scraps, and Qualcomm would be a footnote in tech history.
In 2020, SMIC could not produce 7nm chips,
in 2020, TSMC produced 5nm chips on a large scale ,
In 2021, SMIC could not produce 7nm chips.
in 2021, TSMC produced second-generation 5nm chips,
in 2022, SMIC could not produce 7nm chips.
in 2022, TSMC produces 4nm chips on a large scale,
in 2023, SMIC starts producing 7nm chips
The Mate 60 (2023): Breaking the Chains
Despite sanctions, Huawei launched the Mate 60 Pro, powered by SMIC’s 7nm Kirin 9000s chip. Against all odds, Huawei delivered a powerful 5G smartphone
Pura 70 Series (First Half 2024): Huawei continued its chip comeback with the Pura 70 series. Teardowns revealed a new chip Kirin 9010 comparable to, and possibly an upgraded version of, the Kirin 9000s, solidifying their chipmaking capabilities.
in 2024, SMIC 7nm chip performance has become Equivalent to 5nm TSMC Chips
- Mate 70 (2024): This is the big one. The Mate 70 is packed with a Kirin 9020 chip, which is the industry’s first 3GPP R18 5G-A SOC built on the 7nm process—34% faster than the Kirin 9010. Numbers don’t lie, but apparently, the US government does. Even more significant, the Mate 70 is the first phone to run HarmonyOS NEXT, a completely independent operating system, marking a decisive break from Android and a giant leap towards complete technological sovereignty.
- Mate X6 (2024): Huawei showcases its 5G-A communication technology in the Mate X6 foldable phone, boasting download speeds exceeding 4000 Mbps.
In 2022, the Huawei Mate 50 implements the Beidou satellite SMS function.
In 2023, the Huawei Mate 60 implements the satellite call function.
In 2024, the Huawei Mate 70 implements a satellite paging function.
In 2025….
The Mate X6 introduces a “triple-network satellite support” system. This encompasses two-way satellite messaging and calling, along with the highly anticipated addition of low-orbit satellite internet access. This last feature puts Huawei in direct competition with ventures like Elon Musk’s Starlink. The public beta testing for the Mate X6’s LEO internet connectivity is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2025. This move positions Huawei as a leader in the burgeoning field of satellite-based internet access.
Apple, after repeatedly failing to produce their own 5G modems and still begging Qualcomm, is now watching Huawei offer low-orbit internet access from a phone – despite crippling sanctions.
China’s building a future the West can only dream of (or have nightmares about). It’s the dawn of a new era, where the East leads and the West… well, the West can keep polishing their “democracy” trophies. Because the future is here, it’s faster than light, and it speaks Mandarin. 对不起，不是对不起 (Sorry, not sorry). 🤣
