Machined Female header Machined Female header HuiZhou Antenk Electronics Co., LTD , https://www.atkconn.com
At the 2017 Berlin Consumer Electronics Show, Chinese companies made a notable impact. The Kirin 970 chip was introduced on this global stage, drawing attention from tech enthusiasts and media alike. I first learned about this development through various social media posts, including articles from platforms like "Buff B," "Boil," and Others that claimed "Qualcomm is afraid." Driven by curiosity and a desire to learn, I carefully read these pieces and came to a realization: most of the so-called "world-first" claims were self-proclaimed.
There are numerous interpretations of the Kirin 970. This article uses an example titled “Boiled Chinese, 1.3 Billion People, Congratulations to Huawei, Generation of God Machine.†Before diving into comparisons, I want to clarify that this content is not meant to spark national pride or bias. It’s simply an analytical look at the technology and the hype surrounding it.
Huawei’s Mate and P series phones are indeed industry leaders in design, quality, and innovation. However, when it comes to processor improvements, they don’t match up as closely with other aspects of the phone. Although the speed increase is modest, the Kirin processor still stands out as 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. I will now attempt to provide a more balanced view of these features.
**Process Technology: Theoretical Comparisons Are Hasty**
Many articles highlighted the number of transistors in the Snapdragon 835 (3.1 billion), Apple A10 (3.3 billion), and Kirin 970 (5.5 billion), suggesting the Kirin 970 is more advanced. However, the 10nm process is already widely used, and the size of the chip—about the size of a fingernail—doesn't automatically equate to superiority.
Samsung has already started rolling out its second-generation 10nm LPP process. At the time, Huawei, Qualcomm, and Apple couldn’t manufacture 10nm chips themselves. Samsung and TSMC had established 10nm production lines, while GF and Intel were already working on 7nm. So, the use of 10nm for the Kirin 970 wasn’t groundbreaking.
Moreover, Moore’s Law suggests more transistors mean better performance—but only if the architecture is comparable. While both the Snapdragon 835 and Kirin 970 use ARM's big.LITTLE architecture, the Snapdragon 835 uses a custom Kyro 280 microarchitecture, which outperforms the public version of A72+A53 used in the Kirin 970. Therefore, the actual performance of the Snapdragon 835 is likely better.
**AI, NPU: Is It Truly the World’s First AI Chip?**
The Kirin 970 includes an NPU (Neural Processing Unit), and some articles claimed it was the world’s first AI chip. They said it could be 25 times faster than a similar-sized CPU on specific tasks and reduce power consumption by 50 times. Some even called it a breakthrough, claiming Huawei was the first to introduce an AI chip in a mobile phone.
However, the concept of NPU wasn’t new. Qualcomm had already introduced the Neural Processing Engine on the Snapdragon 820, supporting machine learning applications. The Hexagon DSP in later models, such as the Snapdragon 835, also handled AI tasks efficiently. In fact, the performance of the Hexagon 682 DSP was reported to be 25 times faster than the CPU, similar to what was claimed for the Kirin 970.
**Quasi-5G, Cat18, UFS2.1: Happy, You’re Free**
Some articles claimed the Kirin 970 had the world’s first “quasi-5G†baseband, supporting LTE Cat18 and offering twice the speed of Qualcomm chips. But what exactly is “quasi-5G� It seems to be more of a marketing term than a real technological leap. Qualcomm had already released the X16 modem, supporting LTE Cat16 with speeds up to 1.0 Gbps, and later the X20 modem reached 1.2 Gbps.
In fact, the Kirin 970’s Cat18 support was not the first. Samsung also announced a baseband supporting LTE Cat18 in August 2017. Additionally, Qualcomm had already launched the X50 modem for true 5G, promising speeds up to 5 Gbps—far beyond what the Kirin 970 could offer.
As for UFS2.1, while it’s a faster storage standard, it’s not a revolutionary feature on its own.
**Conclusion: The Growing Influence of Kirin 970**
With Huawei’s growing global smartphone shipments, the market share of Kirin processors has increased significantly. Compared to domestic competitors like Spreadtrum and Unisoc, Haisi has made impressive progress. But is this improvement enough to make competitors like Qualcomm and Samsung feel threatened?
While Qualcomm and Samsung have long dominated the chip market, there are signs that Chinese manufacturers are catching up. The gap may not be as wide as some claim, and with continued improvements, Chinese processors could one day compete directly with the best in the world.
**Where Is the Haisi Kirin 970 Produced?**
According to common knowledge, the Haisi Kirin 970 is manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). However, the Kirin 970 had not been officially released yet at the time of this writing. The highest production model was the Kirin 950.
Due to delays in TSMC’s 16nm FF+ production and Apple’s priority in receiving capacity, the Kirin 950 might have faced production delays, impacting Huawei’s smartphone releases. TSMC had previously prioritized Apple’s A9 processor over traditional customers like Qualcomm, showing how supply chain dynamics can affect even major brands.