On February 28, Xiao Yaqing, minister of industry and information technology, said that 1.425 million 5G base stations have been built in China, and the number of 5G mobile terminal connections has reached 520 million. Is this good news? Yes, but for Huawei, this data is no different from a hypnotic. Because at the end of 2020, there were only 718,000 domestic 5G base stations, and the number of 5G mobile phone terminal connections was 200 million. In just one year, the number of base stations and users has doubled. If Huawei in 2022 still uses 4G Kirin chips, Then Huawei's situation will be more difficult.
Why is the unicorn so important?
Some friends may have to say, is not to sell a few less mobile phones, why make a fuss? The author's opinion is that Huawei can indeed not make money selling mobile phones, but Huawei must maintain its own heat in the mobile phone market. On the one hand, in the process of reviewing the growth history of millet, Lei Jun said that "the mobile phone market is very cruel, and it is easy to fall behind, but it is difficult to return to the public vision after falling behind." Huawei's shortage is staged, and in order to ensure that the market always has its own place, he also has to come out and bubble often.
On the other hand, Huawei's consistent adherence to the 1+8+N strategy relies on mobile phones to "carry goods". You may wish to ask yourself, if the Huawei conference has nothing to do with the Kirin mobile phone, will you listen to Yu Chengdong's introduction in English, his new IOT device? To put it bluntly, it doesn't matter how many phones Huawei sold after the conference. What matters is how many tablets Huawei sells, how many stereos. After all, mobile phones always have a day to update, and it is best to support the installed capacity of Hongmeng, which is Huawei's new IOT products.
Domestic manufacturers have successively expressed their positions
Based on this, it is particularly important to solve the problem of RF chip supply as soon as possible and let the Kirin chip support 5G. Fortunately, Huawei is not alone. On March 4, Fumanwei made it clear on the interactive platform that the company's 5G RF chips are completely independently developed, have complete independent intellectual property rights, and are accelerating the progress of factory construction, so as to supply more users. On March 9, Zhuoshengwei also stated on the interactive platform: the 5G RF chip developed by the company is completely independently developed and will further enhance the company's anti-risk ability.
Will they help?
Since then, everyone has been both expectant and worried. It is expected that Huawei may soon be able to use domestic 5G RF chips and completely get rid of the dilemma of "5G chips can only be used for 4G". The worry is that in the short term, Huawei is not a target worth risking. After all, Huawei's mobile phone shipments are no longer as good as they were, and they will be further reduced with the reduction of Kirin chip inventory, helping the risks outweigh the benefits. Hongmeng is an example, even if it is open source, as of now, no other mobile phone manufacturers are willing to join.
Domestic manufacturers are indeed righteous enough
In early April, domestic RF chip manufacturers gave us a surprise. Huawei Mall was actually on the shelves, along with the P40, the HUAWEI P40 Pro, which has been out of stock for a long time. The chip on board this phone is the 7nm Kirin 990 5G. This move is equivalent to giving a "real hammer". In the past year and a half, Huawei's Kirin chips have been 5nm Kirin 9000, Kirin 9000E and Kirin 9000L. But where the Kirin 990 5G chip inventory is abundant, Huawei will definitely give priority to the use of 7nm chips.
The reason is very simple, the mainstream of the market in 2021 is 5nm chips, and the mainstream in 2022 will be 3nm chips. Huawei's "card order" can only be 7nm first, then 5nm, otherwise it is likely to be mediocre because the process is two generations behind. Therefore, the Kirin 990 5G can only be Huawei's original Kirin 990 inventory, plus the DOMESTIC MANUFACTURERS' RF 5G chips. Don't forget, Huawei has an investment company called Hubble, which knows the development of domestic semiconductors very well, and it is not surprising that the Kirin 990 has been left until now. (Li Shuangxi)