Factbox: What is in Huawei's new Pura 70 smartphones

YANG MING MARINE TRANSPORT

09/05/2024 03:00

May 9 (Reuters) - Huawei's new high-end Pura 70
smartphone series quickly sold out after it was launched last
month with analysts touting it as another Apple  AAPL.O  iPhone
challenger and adding to signs of how the Chinese firm is
beating back against U.S. curbs. 
    The Pura series developed by the Shenzhen-headquartered
company has advanced cameras and is known for its sleek design.
In comparison, the Mate 60 series, that marked Huawei's reentry
into the high-end smartphone market last year, emphasises
performance and business features.
    U.S.-based iFixit and TechSearch International who provide
product teardown reports examined the inside of Huawei
Technologies' Pura 70 Pro for Reuters. Here are the findings:
        
    CHIP PROCESSOR
    The Pura 70 phones use an advanced system-on-chip that bears
external markings matching the older Kirin 9000s, the chip used
by Huawei's Mate 60 series that was produced by Chinese chip
foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp's (SMIC)
7 nanometer (nm) N+2 manufacturing process. 
    IFixit, TechSearch and other teardown firms call this chip
the Kirin 9010. 
    
    MEMORY CHIPS
    Like the Mate 60, the Pura 70 uses a DRAM chip made by South
Korea's SK Hynix.
    The Pura 70's NAND flash memory chip, however, bears
markings showing that it was likely put together by Huawei's
in-house chip unit, HiSilicon, according to iFixit and
TechSearch. In comparison, the Mate 60 used NAND chips from SK
Hynix. 
    The Pura 70's NAND chip bears 1 terabyte (TB) of storage
capacity - equivalent to the storage found in many high-end
laptops - but is made up of only 8 NAND dies, meaning that each
has a capacity of 1 terabit (Tbit). This is comparable to
products made by major foreign flash memory producers such as SK
Hynix, Kioxia and Micron  MU.O .
    iFixit added that they believed that HiSilicon may have
produced the NAND chip's memory controller as well.
    The density achieved comes down to the wafers used in the
chip. However, the firms were unable to definitively identify
the manufacturer of the wafer as the markings on the NAND die
were unfamiliar although they believe it is a domestic producer,
they added. 
    
    OTHER CHINA-MADE COMPONENTS
    The Pura 70 Pro phone incorporates a series of other crucial
components designed by HiSilicon such as the WiFi and Bluetooth
modules and power management chips.
    Components such as audio amplifiers and LED flash driver are
sourced from other domestic suppliers such as Goodix  603160.SS 
and Awinic  688798.SS .
    
    FOREIGN MADE PARTS
    However, the phone still incorporates some components from
foreign suppliers. The battery charger is obtained from Taiwan's
Richtek, and most notably, the motion and rotation sensor is
sourced from the German firm Bosch.
    IFixit noted that it was curious that Chinese manufacturers
likely had the ability to produce these sensors domestically,
raising the question over why there was a need to use a
foreign-made one.  

 (Reporting by Brenda Goh and David Kirton; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)
 ((brenda.goh@thomsonreuters.com; +86 (0) 21 2083 0088; Reuters
Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))