New Chip Seen Boosting Huawei's Market Share

Alan Patterson, EETimes
9/7/2018 05:01 PM EDT

TAIPEI — Huawei, which has overtaken Apple to become the new No. 2 in smartphones, is expected to increase its market share with the introduction of a new chip, according to analysts.

Huawei announced the company’s next flagship SoC, the Kirin 980, at the IFA trade show in Berlin early this month. The company claimed a number of world’s firsts, saying that the Kirin 980 is the only 7-nm chip to be announced so far and the only SoC with two neural processing units (NPUs), leading the trend toward AI in smartphones.

TSMC, which made the Kirin 980, is also using a 7-nm process to produce the Apple A12 application processor, which Apple is expected to announce on Sept. 12 with the release of its latest line of iPhones.

Apple does not say when its processors are in production, instead focusing on the introduction of its latest smartphones. The Kirin 980 is a technological advance for Huawei that is likely to help the company gain market share against companies that lag behind in 7-nm development, according to Andrew Lu, the head of technology with Sinolink Securities.

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