Huawei unveils new smartphone 'Mate 90' applying 'Tau Law' under US public regulations

(Shanghai = Yonhap News) Correspondent Cha Byeong-seop = As it is reported that China's Huawei has installed a self-designed chip in its new smartphone 'Mate 90' ​​series announced on the 1st (local time) in response to the United States' restrictions on exporting advanced semiconductors to China, attention is focused on the success of the new product.

Reuters and the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Huawei installed a 'Tau chip' based on the 'Tau law' in the Mate 90 series smartphones, and that the 'Mate 90 Pro Max Premium Edition' has improved performance by about 31% compared to the previous generation.

The premium model introduced this time is equipped with Huawei's cutting-edge system-on-a-chip (SoC) 'Chirin 9050 Pro' chip made with logic folding technology.

According to the Bernstein report, the Chirin 9050 Pro chip corresponds to the 7-nano process, but surpasses the performance of Apple's 3-nano A17 Pro chip, and it is evaluated that Huawei has reduced the semiconductor technology gap with Apple from 4 years to 3 years.

Previously, Huawei announced Tau's Law in May in the hopes of overcoming the limitations of 'Moore's Law' in the semiconductor industry.

While Moore's Law focuses on 'geometric and spatial reduction' that makes transistors smaller, Tau's Law focuses on 'time reduction' by attempting a paradigm shift and reducing signal transmission time.

Logic folding, which is considered the core of Tau's law, is a method of reorganizing the internal wiring of a semiconductor into a three-dimensional arrangement instead of the existing two-dimensional arrangement.

Huawei Managing Director Yu Chengdong said at a recent press conference, "Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment technology is certainly valuable for cutting-edge semiconductor production, but it is not available in China. This is why Huawei is developing logic folding and Tau's law to close the gap."

Huawei plans to increase the use of semiconductors with logic folding technology in its smartphones in the future.

Reuters predicted that this new product will be a test of whether Huawei can continue to develop its smartphone lineup amid U.S. restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductor equipment to China.

The 'Mate XT2' model, which Huawei announced on the 12th of last month, is the first product with the Chirin 9050 Pro chip, and about 100,000 units have already been shipped, and total sales are expected to exceed 1 million units.

Meanwhile, Huawei explained that the operating system (OS) used in the new product is also 'Harmony OS 7', which Huawei is distributing itself.

Regarding the supply and demand of semiconductors, Managing Director Wee said that the company is still facing constraints in the supply of cutting-edge semiconductors and that "the production capacity for chips for smartphones is still tight."

Regarding the trend of Chinese companies raising mobile phone prices due to the rise in memory semiconductor prices, he said that it costs an average of $200 (approximately 270,000 won) extra per mobile phone, and said, "We will have to raise product prices, but more slowly."

In addition, Huawei did not disclose the manufacturer of the Qirin 9050 Pro, but Reuters added that it is likely that it is SMIC, China's largest foundry (semiconductor consignment production) company.