Huawei Technologies introduced its Mate 90 smartphone lineup on Thursday. The company is focusing on its proprietary operating system and redesigned chip architecture to boost performance amid US restrictions on advanced semiconductor supplies.
On Tuesday, the day before the launch, Huawei consumer business head Richard Yu told journalists that the company continues to face difficulties in securing advanced chip supplies. He noted that 'the capacity for producing advanced semiconductors in China remains very limited, and Huawei's Ascend AI chips also utilize this same capacity.'
The premium models, including the Mate 90 Pro Max, are equipped with Huawei's Kirin 9050 Pro chip. This system-on-a-chip is created using a technology Huawei calls 'LogicFolding.' This method restructures the chip's internal wiring in three dimensions instead of the traditional flat layout, which ensures denser and faster data processing, although it requires more wafers for production. Yu stated that Huawei plans to apply this technology to a greater number of its future smartphones.
He also mentioned that the production of advanced chips in China still relies on Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines. Although Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) technology, used to create the world's most modern chips, is 'valuable,' Chinese manufacturers continue to work on mastering it.
Huawei has not disclosed the manufacturer of the Kirin 9050 Pro chip. It is widely believed that China's leading logic foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), produces Kirin chips for the Mate series, as well as Huawei's Ascend AI processors. SMIC did not respond to requests for comment.
The smartphones run on HarmonyOS 7, an Android-independent operating system, which the company claims supports over 4,509,000 applications and services. Huawei reported that the top Mate 90 models demonstrate a 31% increase in overall performance compared to the Mate 80 series, released in November 2025.
The Mate 90 Pro Max with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage will cost ¥9,999, which is ¥29,000 more than the comparable predecessor version at the time of release. Standard and Pro models start from ¥59,999 and ¥69,999, respectively.
Memory Shortage Issue
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are facing rising component and memory costs, forcing them to increase prices and redirect more shipments to premium segments. Richard Yu noted that the increase in memory prices added an average of $200 to the cost of each device, negatively impacting Huawei's margins. He emphasized: 'We are also forced to raise prices, but at a slower pace.'
According to International Data Corp, the volume of smartphone shipments in China fell by 7% year-over-year from January to August, while Huawei's shipments grew by 13%. IDC also reported that the average selling price of smartphones in China increased by 11.3% year-over-year in the second quarter, reaching $543, while Huawei's average price decreased by 14.7% to $628.
Apple released its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, last month, entering a category long dominated by Samsung Electronics and Chinese competitors like Huawei. Yu stated that Huawei holds about 75% of the Chinese foldable phone market. 'I am very pleased to see the launch of a similar product by our colleagues,' said Yu. He added that sales of the Huawei Pura X Max foldable phone, which is similar in size to the iPhone Duo, increased by 76% in the week of September 10th to 13th immediately following Apple's launch. Shipments of the Pura X Max in China exceeded 1.2 million units since its release in April.