Huawei May Release Multiple Flagship Chips Including A 5G One

Apart from the Kirin 985 on Huawei Mate 30 series, Huawei might release the world’s first 5G chip that integrates application processors (AP) and baseband radio processors (BP).

If the system-on-a chip (SoC) comes true, Huawei will likely be the first company to provide an AP+BP solution on a 5G mobile phone. 5G devices now use add-on processors, such as Huawei’s Kirin 980 with Balong 5000 5G multi-mode chipset, Samsung’s Exynos 9820 and Exynos 5100, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 and X50.

SEE ALSO: Huawei Officially Launches 5G Version of Huawei Mate 20

The integrated chip will be released in October to December, according to Nikkei. But Kirin 985 will be available earlier to catch up with the newest Mate 30 series so as to compete with iPhone’s new modules.

Huawei’s competitors Apple is also working on its own chips. Apple acquired most of Intel’s smartphone modem business at the price of one billion dollars on July 26. With that acquisition, about 2200 Intel staff members will join Apple, taking related copyrights and equipment with them.

Apple is going through a tough time in developing 5G. It has been involved in over 50 court cases with Qualcomm, possibly the only company that can provide Apple with 5G chips. The legal battles made Apple turn to Intel for future chip supply.