There is a problem that everyone is very concerned about. Kirin 9000 is obviously a SoC integrated with 5G baseband chip. Why doesn't Huawei P50 Pro support 5G network? What is the reason?
The key here is: RF chip.
In 2020, foreign media dismantled Huawei P40 and found that although the localization rate of this mobile phone was high, its RF components still depended on American companies such as Qualcomm, Qorvo and Skyworks, which was equivalent to "blocking Huawei's neck".
For example, the world's first 5G RF chip was designed and developed by American company Qorvo.
Yes, RF chip is one of the key technical fields where there is still a huge gap between China and foreign countries.
Moreover, although they later obtained a supply license for Huawei, this is a limited supply license, and 5G RF chips are still restricted.
Radio frequency chip, simply understood, is the key component connecting the mobile phone baseband and the mobile phone antenna. It is mainly responsible for sending and receiving wireless information, including filters, power amplifiers, RF switches, low noise amplifiers and other important components. Known as "the jewel in the crown of analog chips."
It is estimated that the revenue of RF chips in Qualcomm may reach 8% of the total revenue this year, and will continue to grow in the future.
By 2022, the market scale of RF front-end chip module is expected to reach $22.7 billion, and with the rapid development of Internet of Things, the market scale of RF chip will further expand to $25.8 billion by 2025.
At present, American and Japanese companies have highly monopolized the global RF chip market, accounting for more than 80% of the total share, while the share of domestic RF chips is less than 10%, and the domestic self-sufficiency rate can be said to be quite low.
Not only is there a gap in technical strength, but more importantly, RF chips belong to the important technology of "grinding a sword in ten years". More than ten years' R&D investment by foreign giants has set up quite high patent barriers, which makes it impossible for China enterprises to catch up with foreign giants in a short time.
Of course, starting late does not mean that there is no good news.
In February this year, domestic RF front-end chips entered the supply chain of 5G mobile phones for the first time, which is the biggest progress in the past two years, but there is still a huge gap with foreign giants in specific performance.
Finally, the biggest advantage of knowing the shortcomings is that you can know where to work hard. Since the short board of domestic RF chips has become a key issue on the table, the next efforts, struggles and research have a clear direction, and the results are just around the corner.