Modular Jack Modular Jack HuiZhou Antenk Electronics Co., LTD , https://www.atkconn.com
At the 2017 Berlin Consumer Electronics Show, Chinese companies made a strong impression. The Kirin 970 chip was introduced on this global stage, and the author learned about it through various social media posts from platforms like "Buff B," "Boil," and Others that claimed "Qualcomm is afraid." Driven by curiosity and a desire to learn, the author carefully read these articles and came to a conclusion: behind all the hype, most of the so-called "world-first" claims were self-promotional.
There are many interpretations of the Kirin 970. This article focuses on one specific example titled “Boiled Chinese, 1.3 Billion People, Congratulations to Huawei, Generation of God Machine.â€
Before diving into comparisons, the author wants to clarify that this content is not driven by national pride. It’s important for readers to remain professional when discussing such topics.
Huawei’s Mate and P series phones are indeed industry leaders in design, quality, and innovation. However, the improvements in their processors don’t match the same level of advancement as other aspects of the phone. While the speed increase may be modest, it's still worth acknowledging that the Kirin processor is a leading product in China’s semiconductor industry.
Most articles I read focused on process technology, AI, NPU, quasi-5G, Cat18, dual ISP, HDR10, DDR4X, and UFS2.1. Let’s take a closer look at some of these features. Of course, some articles also mentioned Samsung being weak or MediaTek being eliminated, but we’ll address those later.
**Process Technology: Theoretical Comparisons Are Hasty**
All the articles agreed on one data point: the Snapdragon 835 has 3.1 billion transistors, the Apple A10 has 3.3 billion, and the Kirin 970 has 5.5 billion, making it seem more advanced. But the 10nm process is only about 100 square millimeters — roughly the size of a fingernail.
Samsung has already started advancing its second-generation 10nm LPP process. However, Huawei, Qualcomm, and Apple do not have the capability to directly manufacture 10nm chips. Currently, only Samsung and TSMC have mature 10nm production lines, while GF and Intel are focusing on 7nm R&D.
The Snapdragon 835 was the first mobile chip to use a 10nm process, followed by the Apple A10X and MediaTek X30. So, using 10nm isn't something to be overly excited about for the Kirin 970. Still, there's hope that Kirin will move to 7nm soon.
According to Moore’s Law, more transistors mean better performance, but this comparison only makes sense if the architecture is similar. Both the Snapdragon 835 and Kirin 970 use ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture, but the difference lies in how they implement it. The Snapdragon 835 uses Qualcomm’s Kyro 280 microarchitecture, which is developed from ARM’s designs, while the Kirin 970 uses the public version of A72 and A53. From known performance data, the Kyro 280 outperforms the public version in both performance and power efficiency. Therefore, the actual performance of the Snapdragon 835 is likely better than the Kirin 970.
It's easy to make a chip with a lot of transistors, but it's much harder to reduce the chip size while maintaining performance and functionality.
**AI, NPU: Is It Really the World’s First AI Chip?**
The Kirin 970 includes a peripheral called NPU, and some articles claimed it was the first AI processor with a built-in neural network unit. They said it could be 25 times faster than a CPU under certain tasks and had 50 times lower power consumption. One article even stated that no one expected a Chinese company like Huawei to lead in this area.
After reading these claims, the author felt excited, especially after reading the last sentence. But upon further analysis, the NPU on the Kirin 970 turned out to be less impressive.
In reality, the concept of NPU was already implemented in the Snapdragon 820, which introduced the Qualcomm Neural Processing Engine. It supported machine learning applications like Scene Detect and Smart Protect. The name of this peripheral was also referred to as NPU.
Most current AI and machine learning functions in mobile devices come from Google’s TensorFlow, which can run directly on the Hexagon DSP in Qualcomm chips. The Hexagon 682 DSP on the Snapdragon 835 is low-power and highly efficient. In fact, Qualcomm stated that the Hexagon 682 could perform 25 times faster than the CPU in machine learning tasks — the same figure cited for the Kirin 970.
So, is the Snapdragon 835 stronger, or is the Kirin 970 better? It’s hard to say without comparing GPU performance, as both support machine learning but use different architectures.
**Quasi-5G, Cat18, UFS2.1: Happy, You’re Free**
One claim was that the Kirin 970 had the world’s first “quasi-5G†baseband, supporting LTE Cat18 with download speeds twice as fast as Qualcomm chips. This statement made the author almost fall off his chair.
What exactly is “quasi-5G� Supporting 5G is one thing, but claiming it’s “quasi-5G†is misleading. According to this logic, anyone could claim to be a prospective husband of Reba or Trump’s son. It’s confusing.
While Huawei CEO Yu Chengdong often emphasized that high-carrier support doesn’t always translate to real value for consumers, HiSilicon still supported LTE Cat18. That’s commendable, but the math in the original article seems off. The Snapdragon 835 supports LTE X16, with a peak download speed of 1 Gbps, while the Kirin 970 reached 1.2 Gbps. That’s a 20% improvement, not twice as fast.
On February 22, 2017, Qualcomm announced the X20 modem, which supported LTE Cat18 with a peak download speed of 1.2 Gbps. Samsung also announced a similar modem in August 2017. So, the Kirin 970 wasn’t the first to support Cat18.
As for true 5G, Qualcomm released the X50 modem in early 2017, which promised 5G speeds of up to 5 Gbps — a 4.16x increase over Cat18.
Regarding UFS2.1, it’s not a groundbreaking feature. Many other chips already support it.
**In Conclusion: Kirin 970’s Rise Is Not Without Challenges**
With Huawei’s growing global phone shipments, the market share of Kirin processors has increased rapidly. Compared to domestic competitors like Spreadtrum and Unisoc, HiSilicon has made significant progress. But is this improvement really enough to make Qualcomm and Samsung nervous?
Qualcomm started with chips, and Samsung is similar in terms of terminal brands. Their CPUs and GPUs are based on ARM’s public architecture, and their baseband technologies are comparable. So where is the gap? Is it in the NPU? Perhaps, but from another perspective, China now has a semiconductor company that can compete with Samsung and Qualcomm — even if it’s slightly behind. With each generation, like from 960 to 970, it’s clear that HiSilicon is closing the gap. Our Chinese processors are now capable of competing with the best in the world.
**Where Is the Haisi Kirin 970 Processor Made?**
Based on common knowledge, the Kirin 970 is manufactured by TSMC. However, the Kirin 970 hasn’t been officially released yet. The highest currently available is the Kirin 950.
Due to delays in TSMC’s 16nm FF+ production and prioritization of Apple’s A9 chip, the Kirin 950 might be delayed until late this year, which could significantly impact Huawei’s phone sales.
TSMC has previously given priority to Apple’s production over traditional customers like Qualcomm. Last year, TSMC ignored Qualcomm’s demands and allocated 20nm capacity to Apple’s A8 chip, causing some backlash.