A rumor has surfaced, noting that Huawei will be using 5nm processors for its flagship devices in 2021. However, these will not be Kirin chips.
Last month, Trump’s administration banned companies from supplying components to Huawei if it was made using US technology.
As such, TSMC, SMIC, and other chip manufacturers are banned from supplying chips to Huawei. The US Government has, however, given Huawei a 120-day grace period before the ruling takes effect; hence TSMC can still provide chips to HiSilicon until September 15. Given the ruling, Huawei is forced to find a third party chip manufacturer for its 2021 flagship devices.
Since TSMC and SMIC are technically banned from supplying to Huawei, this leaves MediaTek and even Samsung as the only chip vendors left to provide Huawei’s chips.
