Huawei uses old memory technology on Mate 60 Pro smartphone

Huawei's latest Mate 60 Pro smartphone uses memory technology that will be released at least from 2021.

Previously, TechInsights disassembled Huawei's Mate 60 Pro smartphone and discovered that in addition to the chip manufactured on the 7-nanometer process, there was also a memory chip manufactured by SK Hynix.

Mate 60 Pro sử dụng chip tên mã Kirin 9000s do SMIC sản xuất và linh kiện bộ nhớ từ SK Hynix.

The Mate 60 Pro uses a chip codenamed Kirin 9000s manufactured by SMIC and memory components from SK Hynix.

This has raised questions about how Huawei, a company blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce, was able to access memory chip technology from the South Korean chipmaker. Now, the technology world has an answer.

TechInsights experts said the memory they saw in the Mate 60 Pro smartphone is the same memory chip modules that have appeared on Lenovo Group devices since at least 2021. Huawei also used this type of memory for the Mate X3 and P60 Pro duo launched earlier this year.

The Chinese tech giant's latest smartphone has surprised the US by featuring an advanced domestically-built processor, as Washington imposes multiple export restrictions on advanced semiconductor technology on Beijing.

SK Hynix, a memory chip maker based in Incheon, South Korea, was also dragged into the controversy when its components were identified as being in the Mate 60 Pro.

Hynix representatives confirmed that they have not done business with Huawei since the US sanctions took effect and are investigating the origin of the components the Chinese company used.

Meanwhile, officials in Washington have also begun a deeper investigation into the Mate 60 Pro smartphone and the chip used in this device. The appearance of the new phone model in the mainland has increased pressure from Republican lawmakers calling on the Biden administration to completely cut off the connection between Huawei and SMIC (China's leading semiconductor manufacturer) from US suppliers.

In a letter to the President, the group of lawmakers argued that the equipment that Huawei technology company has just launched on the market has shown the ineffectiveness of the US sanctions that have been imposed on the company so far.

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