Huawei Relies On MediaTek As A New Major SoC Supplier

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei is trying to find new ways to counter the massive sanctions imposed by the US government by using chips from alternative sources. To do this, more and more processors are being purchased externally.

As the Taiwanese industry service DigiTimes reports, citing its internal research, Huawei is increasingly switching to third-party platforms for its smartphones. Instead of the products from the in-house HiSilicon chip manufacturer, SoCs from third-party companies such as MediaTek are to be increasingly used.

MediaTek as a quick solution, Qualcomm & Samsung only alternatives

MediaTek’s new 5G-capable processors from the Dimensity series are already in use in some of Huawei’s first new smartphones, although their distribution has so far been limited to China. Most recently, the company began to purchase larger numbers of the mid-range SoC MediaTek Dimensity 800 series, which are mainly installed in cheaper smartphones from Huawei and its subsidiary brand Honor.

Interesting: Huawei Beats Samsung To Become World Leading Smartphone Manufacturer

For the second half of 2020, it is now expected that Huawei will also start to buy MediaTek’s stronger 5G SoCs. In addition, the Chinese company also wants to try to buy chips from Qualcomm and other manufacturers to alleviate the problems with the production of its own chips at TSMC. The world’s largest contract manufacturer of smartphone processors may no longer produce chips for Huawei due to a renewed tightening of US sanctions. 

As of September, TSMC may no longer supply Huawei. At the same time, one should also look for other partners who can contribute their processors. However, in addition to Qualcomm and MediaTek, there are actually only Samsung and the Chinese provider UniSOC that can deliver smartphone platforms. However, Samsung is one of the main competitors for Huawei in the smartphone sector, while UniSOC cannot keep up with the other providers from a technical point of view. In the case of Qualcomm

would also require a license from the US authorities, without which the Californians may not deliver their products to Huawei.