Huawei can purchase MediaTek 8100 and 9000 chips, but the main reason for not doing so is that it chooses to purchase Qualcomm chips, which are more useful.
Dimensity 8100 and Dimensity 9000 are designed by MediaTek. For integrated SOCs, the prerequisite for mass production of chips must be integrated design first. Dimensity chips now support 5G signals, which means that a 5G radio frequency chip needs to be integrated inside the chip. Huawei's Kirin is limited to the manufacturing of 5G radio frequency chips.
The main reason why Huawei can use Qualcomm's 4G chips is that Qualcomm's SOC is a product independently designed by the United States, and the radio frequency chip inside is also the intellectual property of the United States. Although the United States has imposed sanctions on Huawei, American companies do not agree with the country's actions.
After Qualcomm issued a ban on Huawei in the United States, it negotiated with the government. The general meaning is: If the United States does not allow Huawei to independently develop chips, this will not restrict Huawei's development, but may actually Handing billions of dollars of the market to other Qualcomm rivals.
It is reported that after Huawei was sanctioned, it signed purchase letters with Qualcomm and MediaTek at the same time. MediaTek's SOCs have a very high market share in the mid- to low-end price range. If Huawei's market share is added to the mix, MediaTek's product share will reach two-thirds in the future, far exceeding Qualcomm.
MediaTek Dimensity, in the past, was mostly used in mid-to-low-end products, with almost no high-end products, all dominated by Snapdragon SOCs. Now, MediaTek has released the Dimensity 9000 based on the arm v9 architecture and TSMC's 4nm process. This chip was first used in OPPO's find x5 series. This is the first time that MediaTek's chip has been used in high-end models.
And this SOC has obvious advantages compared with the Snapdragon 8, which is also an arm v9 architecture and uses Samsung's 4nm process.
This also confirms that Qualcomm’s original idea was correct. If the cooperation between Huawei and MediaTek is released, Qualcomm’s market share is likely to be overtaken by MediaTek.
As for why Huawei doesn’t purchase MediaTek’s 8100 and 9000 now, on the one hand, these two new SOCs need a long time to run in, especially Huawei’s imaging algorithm, which requires a lot of time to try. optimization. Moreover, MediaTek's overall SOC design is not as good as Qualcomm's products and is prone to overturning.
On the other hand, MediaTek Dimensity’s 5G radio frequency front-end still uses American technology, which is difficult to purchase. Qualcomm's Snapdragon itself is a domestic product in the United States. Huawei's use of Qualcomm's SOC can also be regarded as increasing Qualcomm's market share, which will help American semiconductor technology and its share in the industry. From all aspects, Huawei's current use of Qualcomm's SOC is the safest choice. The only choice is to survive first and then think of ways to break the situation.