With the rapid development of the mobile Internet, smart phones have become an indispensable part of people's lives, and Huawei, as a world-renowned brand, has always been committed to providing users with high-quality and advanced mobile phone products. Recently, Huawei's new machine returned with Kirin chips, bringing technological innovation to the industry chain and driving the domestic substitution of key links in the industry chain.
In the following, we will take the Huawei mobile phone industry chain as the research object to discuss in detail the product layout, market situation, and technical route of Huawei mobile phones. At the same time, we will analyze what competitive advantages Huawei mobiles will have. Based on the above discussion, we focus on the innovations through the release of Huawei's new machine to promote the growth of the mobile phone industry chain. Through this information, we hope to help you understand Huawei's mobile phone industry chain.
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01
Overview of Huawei's mobile phone business
1. Huawei mobile phone products have multiple series of layouts, covering consumer segments
Huawei's terminal business began in 2003 and is an important part of the overall business architecture. Huawei's terminal business, known as the consumer business in the early days, began with the Huawei mobile phone business unit established in 2003, and has a history of 20 years, and has always occupied an important position in the group for many years. Currently, Huawei's terminal products cover mobile phones, PCs, tablets, wearable devices, mobile broadband terminals, home terminals, and consumer clouds. The terminal business serves consumers, families, and enterprise organizations, and is an important part of Huawei's corporate vision of "Building a Fully Connected, Intelligent World".
Huawei's mobile phone layout at various levels and price points: clear division of labor, focusing on mid-to-high-end models. After the success of P6 and Mate7, Huawei's mobile phone business has gradually gained a foothold, and the strategic layout of multiple series for various consumer segments has become clearer.
Mate series (more than 4000 yuan): high-end business series, mainly for business people, Kirin advanced processors, consumer groups are mostly men.
P series (more than 4,000 yuan): the main fashion flagship, with its excellent performance, strong photography and fashionable appearance of the main young and middle-aged groups.
Nova series (ranging from 1000-4000 yuan): positioning the mid-end mainstream, mainly focusing on young consumer groups who pay attention to appearance and taking photos, the pricing is relatively lower than Mate series and P series, more young star spokespersons, marketing strategy benchmark OV.
Mai Mang series: Positioned as young mobile phones, it is mainly a cooperative customized series between Huawei and operators, with operator preferential packages, and is a model mainly promoted offline sales.
Play Series (1,000 RMB to 2,000 RMB): Huawei's entry-level model with average configuration and targeting the 1,000-yuan machine market.
Honor series (Huawei has sold the Honor brand affected by US sanctions): including high-end models Magic series, two flagship V series and digital series, Play series for the game market, mid-range models S series/X series/i series, and low-end play series (updated anymore).
2. Huawei mobile phone market
With its advantages of self-developed processors, leading imaging and other specifications, and accurate market positioning, Huawei was the first smartphone brand in China and the second in the world. According to IDC, Huawei's smartphone market share was less than 5% in 2013, and then Huawei rose rapidly, growing into the first smartphone brand in China and the second in the world in 2019, with sales of 240 million units and a global market share of nearly 20%.
However, due to the supply of 5G chips, only Qualcomm and MediaTek 4G processors could be purchased, and the competitiveness of Huawei's flagship Mate and P series weakened and delayed the release, and Honor was sold in November 2020. According to IDC, Huawei smartphone sales will only sell more than 30 million units in 2022 (about 8.8 million units of the Mate+P series and about 14.9 million units of the Nova series).
3. Latest developments
On August 29, Huawei suddenly announced the release of the Mate60Pro, and the standard version also opened pre-sale the next day, earlier than the previous market expected the release time of the new machine, and on September 8, the Mate60Pro+ and MateX5 also opened pre-sale. The new machine brings many innovative highlights, taking the Mate60Pro as an example: 1) return with the Kirin 9000s processor; 2) Although 4G or 5G cannot be identified from the screen interface, the actual download speed is comparable to Apple's high-end 5G flagship machine; 3) The satellite communication function has been upgraded, and the world's first smartphone equipped with satellite call function; 4) Support Starflash wireless short-distance interconnection; 5) Access to Pangu AI large model; 6) Leading specifications for optics and exterior parts, equipped with rear triple camera (including periscope) + front dual camera, the screen is first equipped with the second generation of Kunlun glass, and the drop resistance is increased by 1 times.
02
Huawei mobile phone technology route
1. The development of smart phones has entered a mature period, and high-end is the general trend
In 2022, China's smartphone market as a whole fell by 16% year-on-year, hitting a decade low, but since 2014, the market share of high-end smartphones (priced above $500) has steadily increased and has now reached 26%. However, compared with developed countries, the domestic high-end smartphone market still has great growth potential. According to the Counterpoint report, as of 2022, the market share of high-end smartphones in developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany will exceed 50%. It is expected that by 2035, China's high-end smartphone market share will exceed 40%, further highlighting the market growth space.
High-end smartphone trends include processor performance, artificial intelligence computing power, imaging capabilities, and more. Chip design companies will develop higher performance, more efficient microarchitectures and even new instruction sets for processors. This will significantly improve the overall performance of the flagship SoC platform. The computing power of high-end smartphones is expected to be close to that of PCs. Second, major Android smartphone brands can provide more differentiated features in their high-end products through self-developed hardware and algorithms. At the same time, Counterpoint believes that OEMs with self-developed chips can better cope with the challenge. Finally, wireless technology will continue to advance. With large bandwidth and low latency, smartphones have become centers for content consumption and production. With the emergence of computing networks, smartphones will become super entrances to cloud services such as cloud applications, cloud gaming, and cloud enterprises, and smartphones are becoming more and more closely integrated into smart homes, intelligent transportation, and smart cities.
Huawei's high-end Mate+P series has peak sales of nearly 75 million units, and the Nova series is positioned as a young consumer group, with peak sales of nearly 30 million units. Huawei Mate, P series flagship machine with self-developed Kirin processor, industry-leading optical, charging, appearance design and other specifications and precise positioning, performance can compete with Apple, Samsung and other giants, Nova series in young consumer groups are quite popular, according to IDC, in 2019 high-end machine Mate+P series sales once reached nearly 75 million units, Nova series can also reach nearly 30 million units. As a traditional leader in high-end mobile phones, Huawei will continue to lead innovation and is expected to contribute flexibility to the entire industry chain.
2. Huawei is expected to occupy the dominant position in the market share of folding screen mobile phones
Folding screen mobile phones are the incremental space of future mobile phones. In the global context, the folding screen mobile phone market is receiving increasing attention. According to the forecast of International Data Corporation (IDC), the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of folding screen mobile phone shipments will reach 27.6% between 2022 and 2027, and the market share is expected to increase from 1.2% to 3.5%, while the traditional smartphone market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of only 2.1% in the same period.
In 2022, China's folding screen mobile phone shipments increased by 154% year-on-year, showing strong market demand; Under the background of domestic manufacturers gradually joining the folding screen mobile phone market and accelerating the speed of product iteration, 2023 is expected to usher in the rapid development of the folding screen mobile phone market, and it is expected that the shipment of folding screen mobile phones will exceed 5.5 million units, and the market scale will be further expanded. From 2020 to 2022, Huawei's performance in the domestic folding screen mobile phone market is particularly prominent, maintaining a market share of more than 50%, far ahead of other domestic brands. In May 2023, Huawei revised the shipment target of the MateX3 from the previously set 1.47 million units to more than 3 million units, further demonstrating the leading position and market recognition of Huawei's folding screen. As more manufacturers invest in the folding screen field, Huawei is expected to continue to dominate market share with its first-mover advantage in the industry.
03
Huawei's mobile phone competitive advantage
Huawei takes technological advantages and self-operated channels as the starting point, and takes multiple measures to improve user stickiness.
1. Huawei focuses on R&D and emphasizes technological independence
Huawei's R&D capabilities are industry-leading, and a large number of technology patents have been formed, which not only enhances the competitiveness of consumer electronic products, but also enhances the brand reputation. In the two core high-end model series of Mate/P, Huawei has successively released breakthrough innovations such as 4G LTE patented technology, high-performance AI chips, high-definition cameras, and wired/wireless fast charging technology, and took the lead in carrying flagship Kirin chips of various generations, which have become the publicity highlights of various generations of mobile phones, and successfully created a high-reputation brand that highlights technological independence.
2. Promote channel construction and enhance service attributes
Since 2014, Huawei has vigorously expanded its self-operated channels beyond the original agent + operator sales channel system. At present, Huawei has formed a multi-level channel network of flagship stores + smart life pavilions + whole house intelligent authorized experience stores + authorized experience stores, and its service quality has been continuously improved. At the end of 2014, Huawei's consumer business had a total of 630 brand image stores around the world, and by the end of 2019, Huawei had about 6,000 experience stores, with a rapid growth rate in the number of experience stores and rapid enhancement of the service attributes of its channel system. From 2014 to 2016, Huawei's public channel sales revenue (including directly operated stores, cooperative stores, and online stores) increased rapidly from 41% to 71%, and the brand's control over channels continued to increase.
Build a directly operated flagship store, create a technology space, and provide in-depth experience. The global flagship store is a major innovation in Huawei's channel system and has made a positive contribution to enhancing the brand image. On September 28, 2019, Huawei's first global flagship store was put into use in Vientiane Tiandi, Shenzhen, with a novel design to transform the store into a cultural landmark and "meeting room in the heart of the city". Huawei's flagship store adopts a multi-storey single-family building, and the exterior wall adopts a large area of floor-to-ceiling glass, highlighting the flagship positioning and technological attributes. Huawei's global flagship stores regularly hold free courses on topics such as photography, videography, and sports and health, and regularly invite professionals in art, painting, and tourism to share them, continuously improving brand tonality and effectively enhancing brand identity and user stickiness.
3. Build a brand community and achieve remarkable results in user management
Huawei has rich experience in building user communities, regularly launches online and offline communication activities, and has established a brand service system, with high user activity and loyalty. In 2012, Huawei officially established the Pollen Club as Huawei's official fan exchange and interaction platform. The Pollen Club communicates with loyal brand users on new information, products, and services, and extends Huawei's brand service experience by organizing online + offline communication activities. In 2014, the pollen club community size exceeded 10 million. Huawei also actively interacts with users through social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Weibo, Toutiao, Zhihu, and Douyin. According to data released by research agency QuestMobile, Huawei accounted for 28% of active smartphone devices in China in June 2021, followed by Apple (21.6%).
4. Smart selection cooperation continues the 5G mobile phone business
(1) In the early stage, the smart selection model focused on cross-border cooperation to create an intelligent life interconnected ecology
Huawei is committed to building an intelligent connected ecosystem, focusing on smart life scenarios such as home and travel. In 2018, Huawei proposed the "1+8+N" smart ecosystem strategy, focusing on building smart life experiences in important scenarios such as smart homes, smart vehicles, and sports and health. Under the "1+8+N" strategy, mobile phones are the main entrance, AI speakers, tablets and car machines and other equipment as auxiliary entrances, and will be further combined with lighting, security, environment and other pan-IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Building an intelligent ecosystem requires both software-level interconnection and the support of many hardware devices, Huawei first launched the Hilink intelligent interconnection platform, and then launched the IoT brand Huawei Smart Choice.
In the early days, the smart selection model was mainly used in the field of smart home. Huawei Smart Home covers dozens of products such as lamps, curtains, air purifiers, cameras, and smart kitchenware, which can be connected to the Harmony ecosystem and connected with Huawei terminal devices. As of September 2023, Huawei's Smart Home Business has officially cooperated with well-known industry enterprises such as Philips, Joyoung, IAM, Dua, OPPLE, and Hals.
Huawei has clear boundaries in cooperation, adopts an asset-light model, and provides two types of support: technology + channels. Under the Smart Selection cooperation model, Huawei participates in product development from three aspects: "core + device + cloud", and promotes and sells Smart Products through Huawei channels (including Huawei's self-operated channels and Huawei franchisees). "Core" refers to Huawei's provision of HiSilicon IoT chips to Smart Select products, "end" refers to Huawei's participation in the development of connection technology and enhances the interactive experience of products with Huawei's AI advantages, and "cloud" refers to Huawei's participation in building smart home clouds and third-party clouds, and opening up operations and platforms to partners. In terms of hardware, Huawei gives full play to the advantages of partners, and Huawei does not participate in manufacturing.
(2) The smart selection mode is extended to mobile phones to effectively alleviate the problem of chip supply interruption
Huawei's high-end chips are facing supply cuts, and smart choice cooperation brands are not subject to relevant restrictions. Huawei has been subjected to multiple rounds of sanctions during 2019-2021, and the high-end chips used by this brand are still in a state of complete supply cutoff, unable to purchase advanced process chips from suppliers such as Qualcomm, and Huawei Kirin chips cannot be foundry. The four rounds of sanctions have not restricted the chip procurement or outsourcing of Huawei partners (except affiliated companies).
Develop 5G mobile phone business through smart selection mode to mitigate the impact of sanctions on revenue. In 2021, 5G mobile phones have become the mainstream demand of the market, and mainstream manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO and VIVO have fully participated in the competition of 5G mobile phones. Huawei is restricted by the ban, self-research or procurement of 5G chips are restricted, 5G technology cannot be used in this brand's mobile phones, smart selection cooperation has become one of the important strategies to continue the 5G mobile phone business.
In 2021, Huawei and its partners jointly launched a number of Smart Mobile brands, including China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, TCL, and Nokia. Smart mobile phones generally adopt Huawei design, which is similar to the configuration of some Huawei models, and is produced in accordance with Huawei's quality control standards. Huawei maintains a clear boundary in the cooperation of smart mobile phones, does not participate in mobile phone manufacturing, and does not provide Kirin chips or Hongmeng operating systems. Smart mobile phone brands can enjoy the channel support provided by Huawei, Mai Mang, VIKO and Hinova series smart mobile phones have launched the HUAWEI Mall App, and Huawei offline authorized stores also sell smart mobile phones (TD Bridge brand).
04
Huawei mobile phone industry chain
1. Huawei's mobile phone industry chain suppliers combing
The return of the MATE 60/X5 series with Kirin chips has triggered a boom in domestic consumer purchases, and as shipments are expected to continue to be revised upward, suppliers of parts and components of the relevant industrial chain will directly benefit.
Huawei's new machine returns with Kirin chips and leads many innovations, which will drive the growth of companies related to the industry chain. 1) Huawei's innovation focus on innovations such as the return of Kirin chips, satellite communications, and Starflash technology, which is expected to drive the growth of related industry chains. 2) Huawei drives the domestic substitution of key links in the industry chain, such as RF front-ends, analog chips (power management chips, fast charging chips, etc.), and high-end CIS chips.
2. Pay attention to new machine innovation, and the industrial chain looks forward to growth opportunities
(1) Chip
Suppliers of Huawei's mobile phone main chip in history include Qualcomm, HiSilicon, MediaTek and other companies. At present, HiSilicon has established a relatively complete chip product system, HiSilicon products cover smart vision, smart IoT, smart media, smart travel, display interaction, mobile terminals, data centers and optical transceivers and other fields, the products are mainly divided into five categories: AI chip Ascend series, cloud computing processor Kunpeng chip, mobile phone SoC chip Kirin series, 5G base station chip Tiangang and 5G baseband chip Baron, connection chip Lingxiao series. It can be considered that the return of Kirin 9000S chips is of great significance, and it is also optimistic that other large types of chips will fully open import substitution.
The Mate60 series is equipped with HiSilicon Kirin 9000s chip, and the actual download speed is comparable to that of high-end 5G flagship machines on the market. Huawei has not announced the main chip parameters and communication standards, and cannot identify 4G or 5G from the screen interface. However, according to the real machine measurement and online evaluation and disassembly, it can be seen that Mate60Pro is tested as a Kirin 9000s chip, and the disassembled SoC chip shows the HiSilicon logo, and the download speed is generally more than 500Mbps, which is comparable to the iPhone 14Pro, while the MateX3 is 100Mbps.
The release of Huawei's Mate60 series may represent a further breakthrough in domestic Fab manufacturing capabilities, and domestic substitution of upstream equipment/materials/EDA and downstream packaging and testing industries continues.
1) Packaging and testing terminal: semiconductor manufacturing takes the lead in localization
Huawei's Mate60Pro chip has achieved a high degree of localization this time, thanks to the continuous breakthrough of the domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry chain.
Semiconductor packaging and testing is the first upstream to achieve localization. According to data from the Institute of Chipthought, in the global outsourcing packaging and testing market in 2022, Chinese mainland manufacturers Changjian Technology, Tongfu Microelectric, and Huatian Technology occupy 10.7%, 6.5%, and 3.9% of the market share, ranking 3rd, 4th and 6th in the world, and the top ten manufacturers in mainland China occupy a total of 24.55% of the global market. In terms of advanced packaging technology, domestic manufacturers have also achieved considerable business scale. At present, domestic manufacturers represented by Changdian, Tongfu, Huatian and Yong Si are widely engaged in wafer-level packaging, SIP, FC and other advanced packaging business, and their customers cover leading design companies at home and abroad.
At the same time, third-party test vendors are also rapidly emerging, benefiting from their good cooperation with design company customers, and their market share is growing rapidly. The business capabilities of domestic third-party test manufacturers represented by Weitest cover multiple types of chips such as CPUs, MCUs, SoCs and advanced processes below 14nm.
In addition to the manufacturing side, the localization of packaging and testing equipment is also accelerating, especially in the process of localization of advanced packaging technology, traditional packaging and testing equipment (probe stations, sorting machines, testing machines, solidification machines, etc.) and wafer-level packaging equipment (close to front-end wafer manufacturing equipment) have achieved breakthroughs by domestic manufacturers.
1) Packaging and testing equipment: Advanced packaging has led to an increase in the consumption of packaging and testing equipment, and domestic manufacturers have continued to break through the types of high-end equipment. Such as: Changchuan Technology develops digital testing machine and probe station products; Huafon Measurement and Control released a new model STS8600 for SOC testing; Jinhaitong layout three-temperature sorting machine; Jingzhida layout storage testing machine; New Yichang continues to promote its semiconductor solidification and wire bonding equipment.
2) Wafer-level packaging equipment. The equipment required for wafer-level packaging is similar to that of front-end wafer manufacturing, involving lithography machines, glue coating and development equipment, thin film equipment, electroplating equipment, etching equipment, cleaning equipment, measurement equipment, etc. Many domestic companies have related business: NAURA (etching, film, cleaning, etc.), Xinyuan Micro (gluing development, cleaning), Shengmei Shanghai (electroplating, cleaning, gluing development, polishing), Zhongke Flight Test/Precision Test Electronics (Testing), etc.
3) Packaging and testing materials: Advanced packaging technology requires the continuous improvement and improvement of packaging materials and their structure and processes. Like all materials in semiconductor manufacturing, packaging materials have great added value and unique industrial ecological support, and are one of the core technical barriers to national game and enterprise competition. At present, foreign brands occupy a large share in high-end products, whether in terms of production capacity scale or product structure, they have a stronger and broader global cooperation competitive advantage than Chinese mainland manufacturers, and domestic manufacturers are making continuous breakthroughs with the help of the industrial dongfeng, such as Deppon Technology: Underfill (underfill) glue, AD glue, solid crystal adhesive film (DAF/CDAF), chip-level thermal conductive interface material (TIM1) four chip-level packaging materials are simultaneously cooperating with a number of design companies, packaging and testing companies to promote verification; Huahai Chengke: Products in the field of advanced packaging are in the layout stage, some products have achieved small batches, and some products are in the process of sample delivery and verification; Xingsen Technology: IC carrier board domestic replacement pioneer, mobile phone BT carrier board certification, server side ABF carrier board certification; Tiancheng Technology: IC carrier board copper immersion and electroplating chemicals have broken the overseas monopoly, and have passed the core end customer certification, and will accompany domestic carrier board manufacturers such as Xingsen and Shennan in the future.
2) Equipment side: independent controllable core, localization speed
Semiconductor equipment is the core link of localization and independent control of semiconductor manufacturing. In recent years, Europe and the United States have continued to impose restrictions on China's semiconductor equipment imports, and the localization of equipment has accelerated.
In terms of categories, the current heat treatment, CMP, and wet cleaning equipment have achieved a high share of domestic substitution, supporting domestic wafer factory production in batches; Thin film deposition (CVD, PVD, etc.) and etching equipment are in the stage of verification and mass production rapid expansion; Measurement and testing and glue coating development equipment are still in the certification introduction stage with low localization rate.
3) Material end: independent and controllable is imminent, and new product breakthroughs accelerate substitution
Like equipment, semiconductor materials are also the cornerstone of the integrated circuit industry, which is in the upstream link of the entire industry and plays an important supporting role in the development of the semiconductor industry. Semiconductor materials are mainly used in wafer manufacturing and chip packaging, and with the continuous breakthrough of the process, both advanced process foundry and advanced packaging have put forward higher requirements for the application of materials.
The rise of domestic wafer fabs will drive the increase in domestic demand for semiconductor materials, and the high degree of external dependence and independent controllable urgent requirements, will provide a broader development space for domestic semiconductor materials, in recent years, domestic material leading manufacturers continue to strengthen new product research and development, escort the development of the domestic semiconductor industry.
In terms of categories, wafer manufacturing materials mainly include silicon wafers, wet electronic chemicals, photomasks, photoresists and auxiliary materials, CMP polishing materials, electronic special gases, target materials, etc. Among them, photomasks, photoresists and precursors are still in the certification introduction stage with a low localization rate, which is also the core link that needs to be broken through independently and controllably; Silicon wafers, electronic gases, and wet chemicals are in the stage of volume acceleration after verification; CMP polishing materials, target materials, etc. have achieved a certain degree of domestic substitution, and the future share has steadily increased.
4) EDA: Domestic manufacturers accelerate catch-up
On February 28, 2023, Huawei announced that it has completed the localization of processes above 14nm with domestic EDA companies. Throughout the domestic EDA enterprises, it has been able to achieve the full process coverage of EDA in the analog and panel fields, and is expected to expand to digital full-process tools in the future. At present, the EDA track has been deeply deployed by many domestic companies, among which BGI Jiutian can achieve full-process EDA tool coverage in the fields of simulation, panel, and RF; Guangliwei focuses on yield improvement and electrical testing at the wafer manufacturing end, which is expected to benefit from the development of the domestic integrated circuit design, manufacturing industry and the demand for EDA software and test equipment at the domestic manufacturing end driven by the continuous expansion of domestic replacement demand; Primarius has mastered the core technology of independent and controllable EDA in key aspects of device modeling and circuit simulation, and can support up to 3n advanced process nodes and various semiconductor process routes such as FinFET and FD-SOI.
(2) Satellite communications
Huawei mobile phones lead satellite communication innovation, and in 2022, models represented by Huawei's Mate50 series will begin to support Beidou satellite messages, and in 2023, the newly launched Mate60Pro series products will support more convenient Tiantong satellite calls. According to Huawei's official website, Huawei's Mate50 series products launched in 2022 are the world's first mass smartphones that support Beidou satellite messages, and in the absence of ground network signal coverage, text and location information can be sent out through the Changlian App, keep in touch with the outside world, and support multiple locations to generate track maps. The 2023 Mate60Pro becomes the world's first mass smartphone that supports satellite calls, making and receiving satellite calls when there is no terrestrial network, freely editing satellite messages, and selecting multiple location information to generate trajectory maps. Mate60Pro+ also supports Tiantong satellite call and Beidou satellite message at the same time, realizing dual satellite communication.
The two chips on the Mate60Pro motherboard RX6003EQK and HTD1010 or related to the realization of satellite communication. According to the latest exposure data of Xinzhixun, Huawei Mate60Pro motherboard is separately equipped with a radio frequency transceiver chip for satellite communication, the model is RX6003EQK, according to the latest exposure data queried by Xinzhixun, RX6003 is a highly integrated RF chip, only a small number of peripheral components are required to cooperate with to realize the satellite signal transceiver and Beidou B1/GPSL1 band reception function. There is also a chip with a model HTD1010 on the Mate60Pro motherboard, which is suspected to be a satellite mobile communication baseband chip.
Huawei's innovation is expected to accelerate the introduction of satellite communications into C-end civil use, and the satellite communication industry chain is expected to usher in growth space from 0 to 1 at the C-end.
(3) Star flash
Huawei's Mate60 series supports the star flash function, which is expected to create a new era of wireless short-range interconnection. NearLink technology is a wireless short-range communication technology used to carry data interaction in application scenarios such as smart cars, smart terminals, smart homes, and smart manufacturing. At the 2023 Huawei Developer Conference HDC, Huawei Device CEO Yu Chengdong officially announced the combination of Hongmeng System 4.0 and Starflash technology. According to Huawei's official website, some Huawei mobile phones with Harmony OS 4.0 and above currently support the use of Starflash, and HUAWEI Mate60 series mobile phones support this function.
The Starflash wireless communication system consists of three parts: the Starflash access layer, the basic service layer and the basic application layer, of which the Starflash access layer can also be referred to as the Starflash Bottom Layer, and the basic service layer and the basic application layer constitute the Starflash upper layer.
Starflash can provide wireless connection performance superior to Bluetooth and WiFi, and can meet the high-speed, reliable and secure wireless connection of emerging multi-scenarios. Existing mainstream wireless short-range communication technologies, such as the disadvantages of Bluetooth rate and delay, WiFi asynchrony, and system efficiency, all cause them to fail to meet the transmission requirements of corresponding scenarios. Starflash wireless communication technology is a new generation of wireless short-range communication technology that is original to the full stack, and the relevant standards are formulated by SparkLink. Starflash provides two types of air interface access technologies: Starflash basic access SLB technology and Starflash low-power access SLE technology. Starflash technology conforms to the industrial development trend of multiple application fields, including smart cars, smart homes, smart terminals and intelligent manufacturing, and can meet the strict requirements of ultra-low latency, high reliability, high speed, anti-interference, high security, and accurate synchronization proposed by emerging scenarios.
The Star Alliance has a rich membership type. According to the official website of the Star Alliance, Huawei is the vice chairman unit of the Star Alliance, and the members of the Star Alliance also include Chuangyao Technology, Tailing Micro, Guoke Micro, Hikvision, ZTE, Aojie Technology, Goertek, OFILM, Inspur Information, Shiyuan Shares, Quectel, Guoxin Technology, Espressif Technology, Goodixin Technology, Goodixin Technology, BYD Electronics, AAC Technologies, etc. The members of the Star Alliance include semiconductor chip companies, security companies, operators, mobile phone manufacturers, automobile manufacturers, IoT device manufacturers, home appliance manufacturers, as well as universities and research institutes.
(4) Folding screen
Folding screen is the direction of rapid growth of mobile phones as a whole into the stock market, and the innovative iteration of hinges, OCA optical glue, cover plates and other links will fully bring volume and price to relevant suppliers. 1) Cover: UTG is the mainstream upgrade route, with good bending performance, better light transmittance, better strength, the current domestic supply of materials is limited, but with Kaisheng Technology (Huawei is expected to large-scale commercial UTG) as the representative of the domestic company's technical level is close to the global lead, while Lens Technology as a cover leader continues to lead the technology upgrade. 2) OCA optical glue: the United States, Japan and South Korea started early, mastered the core technology, OCA optical adhesive can greatly improve the optical performance and wear resistance of the cover, and the technical capabilities of domestic Sky (OCA optical adhesive core supplier) rank among the world's first-line level. 3) Hinge: one of the core structures of the folding screen, worth more than 40 US dollars, need to use MIM, liquid metal and other processes, mainly provided by Korean suppliers to provide solutions, Huawei through the integrated telescopic structure of the double-rotating eagle wing hinge, reduce the horizontal stretch of the hinge on the screen when folding, domestic representative companies include Jingyan Technology (MIM main supplier), Yi'an Technology (liquid metal main supplier), Tonglian Precision (global MIM first-line manufacturer), etc.
3. Huawei's high-end machine recovery is expected to accelerate the domestic replacement of core components, focusing on RF front-end/analog/CIS and other links
Under the control of US sanctions, Huawei has always been at the forefront of domestic substitution and achieved positive results. China Securities News reported that Huawei completed the replacement development of 13,000+ devices and the repeated replacement of 4,000+ circuit boards in three years, gradually completing the localization of various components.
(1) RF front end
High-end RF front-end modules and filters are still monopolized by the US and Japanese leaders, paying attention to the technological breakthroughs and new product progress of domestic leaders. RF front-end is a key signal processing chip for mobile phone communication, and the RF front-end value of 5G equipment is significantly higher than that of 4G equipment. Previously, domestic sub3GHz main module L-PAMiD, high-end filters still rely on American and Japanese suppliers, domestic manufacturers have made obvious breakthroughs in technology in the past few years, and the progress of domestic substitution in the industrial chain is expected to accelerate, domestic manufacturers with L-PAMiD module production capacity or potential include: Zhuosheng Micro (the production line of Xinzhuo filter is progressing smoothly, and L-PAMiD is expected to be launched at the end of the year), Vichuangxin (L-PAMiD module has achieved mass production), Huizhiwei (with L-PAMiD module mass production capability) and so on.
(2) Analog chip
In the past, mobile phone charging management chips were mainly dominated by overseas leaders, and the share of domestic leading manufacturers is expected to increase. High-power wired fast charging has gradually become the standard for high-end smartphones, and the wireless charging function is expected to be gradually degraded from high-end mobile phones to more models, and the national 80W new regulations are expected to further improve the wireless charging power level of mobile phones. International manufacturers such as TI and ST were the main suppliers of mobile phone charging management chips, and in recent years, domestic charging management chips have seized market opportunities and rapidly increased their share in domestic mobile phone manufacturers.
In terms of fast charging, the internal configuration of the mobile phone needs to be equipped with a charge pump, at present, many domestic manufacturers have realized the replacement of domestic charge pump chip products, among which the shipment of charge pump charge management chip of Nanxin Technology ranks first in the world, and Shengbang shares, Aiwei electronics, Xidiwei and other products have been launched. In terms of wireless charging, Meixinsheng has realized the 1-100W series power coverage of the dual ports of wireless charging receiver and transmitter, and has become one of the main suppliers of customer A wireless charging chips, and has entered the supply chain of leading mobile phone brands such as Honor and Transsion. At the same time, Huawei mate60Pro is also equipped with a variety of types of sensing chips, including infrared sensors, Hall sensors, gyroscopes, ambient light sensors, proximity light sensors, etc., and new projects such as Meixinsheng ambient light detection sensors have completed research and development, entering the stage of tape-out or trial production, and some products have entered the verification of ODM manufacturers.
（3）CIS
In terms of imaging, the Huawei Mate60Pro is equipped with a super-optical 50-megapixel main camera, with an adjustable physical aperture of ten stops, and a super-macro telephoto 48-megapixel camera and an ultra-wide-angle 12-megapixel camera. The Mate60Pro+ is equipped with a 48-megapixel ultra-spotlight main camera, with a 40-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 48-megapixel ultra-macro telephoto camera to support autofocus.
In terms of CIS suppliers, Huawei's previous high-end camera CIS suppliers are overseas leading Sony. With the technological progress of domestic Smartwell, Weier and other manufacturers in high-end CIS, it is expected to gain more share. Weier Co., Ltd. is the industry's leading CMOS image sensor manufacturer, with the company's new products of more than 50 million pixels in Q3 2023 mass production and delivery, the company's mobile phone CIS revenue is expected to grow steadily, and the product structure is expected to continue to optimize. Smartwell has launched two high-end CIS product SC550XS and SC520XS for the 50 million pixel product track, which can meet the needs of flagship smartphone main and front camera, ultra-wide angle and telephoto camera, and the SC550XS focusing on the high-end flagship main camera market has been mass-produced in the first half of 2023, and another high-end product SC520XS has also entered the small-scale mass production stage.
(4)OLED
Huawei Mate60Pro is equipped with a 6.82-inch FHD OLED screen, supports 1-120Hz LTPO adaptive refresh rate, 140Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, and 300Hz touch sampling rate. At the same time, Huawei folding screen X5 will be on the shelves of HUAWEI Mall on September 10, MateX5 adopts a four-curved folding body design, dual LTPO screen, 6.4-inch outer screen and 7.85-inch folding screen, the inner screen adopts a waterdrop design, with no crease performance. The inner and outer dual screens have a consistent display effect, with a maximum brightness of 1800nit.
In terms of OLED screen suppliers, domestic manufacturers currently have a number of flexible OLED production line layouts, and with the increase in smartphone OLED penetration, the localization rate of OLED screens has also steadily increased. Specifically, BOE has a prominent leading position in OLED, Visionox OLED technology has accumulated deeply, and Shentianma and TCL Huaxing also have layouts. BOE currently has three flexible AMOLED production lines in mass production, and shipments in the first half of 2023 exceeded 50 million, a year-on-year increase of nearly 80%, while the flexible OLED high-end folding product COE+LTPO technology achieved exclusive supply to brand customers. Visionox mainly focuses on the OLED market, focusing on AMOLED products in the mid-to-high-end market, and continues to make efforts in the field of innovative products such as folding, low power consumption, high refresh rate, full screen, and under-screen camera, and its customers include many of the world's leading smart phones and smart wearable head manufacturers such as Honor, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo.
05
Related companies
1. Zhuosheng Micro: Fab-Lite enterprise, RF front-end platform, building barriers through self-built production lines
Layout RF front-end product platform, application fields continue to expand. Founded in 2012, the company takes RF switches and LNA and other RF discrete devices as the starting point and gradually expands to RF module products. In 2019, it launched LNABANK, DiFEM, L-FEM and other receiving terminal module products, and achieved mass production and sales in 2020. In terms of transmitter modules, L-PAMiF was launched in 2021 and sold in bulk in 2022, and L-PAMiD is currently in the process of research and development. From the perspective of application fields, the company has expanded from smart phones to communication base stations, automotive electronics, Bluetooth headsets and other fields.
The business model was officially changed from Fabless to Fab-Lite mode, and the self-produced filter line entered the stage of mass production. Through the self-built production line, the company's business model officially changed from Fabless to Fab-Lite model. The Xinzhuo project to build an advanced 6-inch filter production line has been launched since 4Q20, 1Q22 process through, 2Q22 small batch production, 4Q22 fully entered the mass production stage, the company has successfully established self-production capabilities in SAW filters, high-performance filters, duplexers and quadruples. On the basis of the 6-inch filter production line, the company has gradually built the production and manufacturing capacity of 12-inch IPD filter products by adding advanced equipment and building a professional and technical personnel team, and has completed the process through line and product-level verification, and entered the stage of small batch production.
2. Vectronic: RF front-end platform design enterprise, actively expand diversified business fields
Improve the layout of each product line of RF front-end and officially launch a complete set of RF front-end solutions. Founded in 2010, the company adopts the Fabless business model, takes power amplifiers as the starting point, has mature 2G to 5G RF power amplifier module products, and is steadily moving from MMMB products and TxM integrated RF power amplifier module products to the field of highly integrated RF power amplifier modules. The company successfully launched L-PAMiF products in 2020 and shipped them in large quantities in 2021 and L-PAMiD in small batches in 2022. In terms of receiver modules, the company successfully launched LNABank and L-FEM in 2021 and achieved mass sales in 2022. At present, the company has officially launched a full set of RF front-end solutions to customers.
Actively expand diversified business areas, and some automotive-grade chips have passed certification. On the basis of the field of consumer electronics, the company strives to provide high-performance RF front-end solutions for automotive-grade module manufacturers to realize intelligent vehicles and autonomous driving functions, and some automotive-grade chips have passed certification in 2022, and signed strategic cooperation agreements with BYD, Quectel and other companies.
3. Huali Chuangtong: Satellite application is the company's core business, with chip-to-terminal integration capabilities
Since its establishment, the company has always actively cooperated with the development needs of national satellite applications, and deeply cultivated the application field of Beidou + Tiantong satellite technology. The company's main business covers satellite applications, simulation testing, radar signal processing, unmanned systems, rail transit and other national strategic emerging industries. The main business income mainly comes from satellite applications, radar signal processing, electromechanical simulation testing, simulation application integration products and services. At this stage, the main products are chip module products, terminal products, test products and system-level products, etc., and are committed to providing independent and controllable core devices and modules, terminals, systems and solutions for aerospace, defense electronics, special equipment and other national defense markets, as well as providing products, solutions and operation services for transportation, emergency communications, disaster early warning, smart cities, satellite big data and other industries.
Based on the self-developed satellite navigation and satellite communication core chip technology in the field of satellite applications, the company has formed a relatively full industrial chain pattern of "chip + module + terminal + platform + system solution", providing customers with a full range of satellite application products and solutions. It has prospectively laid out the field of chip design and development, focusing on the design and development of baseband chips and high-precision chips in satellite navigation and satellite communications, and has successfully launched a number of satellite communication navigation baseband chips. In the field of satellite mobile communication, the company is one of the few enterprises in China with the development capabilities of Tiantong satellite mobile communication baseband chip, and has developed a variety of satellite communication terminals according to customer needs and application scenarios, which can realize the communication transmission and guarantee of calls, information and data in the absence of ground communication network.
4. Nanxin Technology: the leader of charge pump charging management chips, actively expanding product lines and downstream markets
The company is a market-leading supplier of power and battery management chips, ranking first in the world in charge pump charge management chip shipments in 2021. Founded in August 2015 and listed in April 2023, the company is a semiconductor design company focused on power, battery management and embedded. As one of the leading analog and embedded chip design enterprises in China, the company can provide end-to-end wired and wireless complete fast charging solutions from the power supply end to the equipment end, covering 10W to 200W, including charging management chips (including charge pump charge management chips, general charging management chips, wireless charging management chips), DC/DC chips, AC/DC chips, charging protocol chips and lithium battery management chips. It can be widely used in consumer electronics fields such as mobile phones, notebooks/tablet computers, power adapters, smart wearable devices, energy storage power supplies, power tools and other industrial fields and automotive fields. At present, the company's products have entered Honor, OPPO, Xiaomi, vivo, moto, Anker, Zimi, DJI, Hikvision, Volvo and other well-known brands, and downstream customers cover three major fields: consumer electronics, industry and automotive.
5. Meixinsheng: The rapid development of wireless charging, the layout of optical sensing, automotive electronics new growth
The company is an integrated circuit design enterprise focusing on the development and sales of high-performance analog and digital-analog hybrid chips, mainly engaged in wireless charging series products and LED lighting driver series products, including highly integrated MCU digital control SoC power supply - wireless charging core, and analog power supply - LED lighting driver chip. After years of accumulation, the company has formed a rich product line, able to provide customers with more than 700 chip products, which can be widely used in communication terminals, consumer electronics, lighting applications and smart home and many other fields.
Excellent product quality and technical strength, helping the company to enter the mainstream supply chain. Through strict quality control and continuous technological innovation, the company can provide customers with high-quality, reliable and stable chip solutions, the company's intelligent drive products dimming depth reaches 1%, dimming resolution reaches 0.1%, standby power consumption is less than 10mW, at the industry-leading level, so it has won the recognition and trust of customers, which also provides support for the company to occupy a mainstream position in the supply chain, and becomes the preferred partner of many intelligent terminal manufacturers and LED lighting manufacturers. The company's customers cover many mainstream intelligent terminal manufacturers and LED lighting manufacturers.
The performance indicators of the company's wireless charging series products are also leading the industry, the maximum receiving power of the company's receiver chip is 100W, and the Q value detection accuracy of foreign object detection is less than 0.1%, which is higher than the industry average. The company's wireless charging series products end customers cover brand A, Xiaomi, honor, Transsion and other well-known brands, LED lighting driver chips, the company has established long-term cooperative relations with Signify, Landvance, Tongshida, Mulinsen Lighting, Foshan Lighting, NVC Lighting, Sanxiong Aurora, Lidaxin, Debang Lighting, Sunshine Lighting, Kaiyao Lighting, Meizhi Optoelectronics and other well-known enterprises.
6, BOE A: The leading position in OLED is prominent
Founded in April 1993, BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. (BOE) is the world's leading semiconductor display technology, product and service provider, providing smart port products and professional services for information interaction and human health, forming a "1+4+N" aircraft carrier business group with semiconductor display business as the core, MLED, sensors and solutions, intelligent system innovation, smart medical engineering and other undertakings. After nearly 29 years of development, BOE has become a global leader in the field of semiconductor display, with a comprehensive layout in the field of LCD, OLED and MLED, with 12 G4.5-G10.5LCD production lines and 3 G6AMOLED production lines, leading the world.
Among the mainstream applications of LCD, the shipping area of the five major application fields of smart phones, tablet computers, notebook computers, monitors, and TVs ranks first in the world, and it is in the first echelon in innovative applications such as splicing and automotive; OLED market share has steadily increased, the company successfully entered Apple's supply chain in 2020, and by the first quarter of 2023, the company's share in the AMOLED mobile phone panel market reached 21%, ranking second in the world, rapidly narrowing the gap with Samsung; MLED is advancing rapidly, directly displaying COGP0.9, COBP0.9-P1.5 full series of products to achieve mass production, achieving revenue of 847 million yuan in 2022, and actively expanding upstream, holding Huacan Optoelectronics in 2022 to build the advantages of the whole industry chain; in addition, the company has a deep layout in microdisplay, MicroOLED, FastLCD technology to help AR/VR and other new applications of near-eye display.
Fixed-increase acquisition of Huacan Optoelectronics to further improve the MLED layout. In November 2022, the company issued an announcement that it intends to subscribe for the A shares of Huacan Optoelectronics, becoming the largest shareholder of Huacan Optoelectronics, through the subscription of Huacan Optoelectronics shares, it will help the company to further improve the MLED layout in the "1+4+N ecological chain", and it is expected to accelerate the completion of the layout of key links of LED chips in the future, complement the existing business to form a complete business system, enhance business competitiveness from technology, products, production capacity, market, talents, etc. The industrialization process of MicroLED is expected to be further accelerated, and the acquisition of MLED will further open up the entire MLED industry chain.
06
Market outlook
According to Jiwei.com, industry insiders expect that the Mate60 series of mobile phones will ship 6 million to 8 million units this year and 14 million units next year. Supply chain news also pointed out that the Mate60 series has been increased to 15 million to 17 million units, according to the China Securities News cited by TecWeb, Huawei smartphone shipments are expected to reach 40 million units in 2023.
It can be considered that the return of the new machine with Kirin chips may have a pulling effect on user replacement, which is expected to help Huawei return to the king. Subsequent Nova and P series new machines are also expected to continue the innovation trend of the Mate60 series.
END
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