Huawei has managed to integrate a 5G modem into a high-end application processor produced domestically, despite sanctions, according to the South China Morning Post, citing a post in social media. This would put Huawei on the same level as Qualcomm and well ahead of many competitors.
Huawei's flagship smartphones Mate 70 and Pura 80 are based on the Kirin 9020 system-on-chips (SoC), but up until recently, the company never confirmed this fact. The Kirin 9020 itself packs two high-performance Arm cores that run at up to 2.50 GHz, six mid-tier cores up to 2.15 GHz, and four efficiency cores up to 1.60 GHz — paired with the Maleoon 920 GPU (Arm Mali?) running at 840 MHz and, what is now revealed, an integrated Balong 6000 5G modem. The chip is made by SMIC using its 7nm-class fabrication process and is the first one that packs a 5G modem.
