TSMC is driving flagship phone chips towards 5.00GHz, boosting Apple, Qualcomm and MediaTek, while Huawei remains stuck below 3.00GHz due to sanctions and SMIC capacity constraints.
According to Kurnalsalts, companies like the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple, Qualcomm and MediaTek have done rather well from sticking with TSMC, because leading-edge nodes make their chipset roadmaps look almost uncanny. Later this year, we are meant to see SoCs hit 5.00GHz, a first, while Huawei is left puffing behind without access to the foundry giant’s tricks.
Huawei did not jump into EUV lithography fast enough, and its Kirin chipsets still have not broken the 3.00GHz barrier because it is leaning on SMIC’s 7nm process. A chart shared by Kurnal shows Job’s Mob, Qualcomm and MediaTek steadily cranking performance-core clocks towards that 5.00GHz target.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 already runs at a default 4.61GHz, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro rumoured to reach 5.00GHz. MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro is tipped to pull off something similar, while Job’s Mob A19 Pro performance cores are said to land at 4.26GHz.
That rise lets newer SoCs notch chunky gains in single-threaded and multi-threaded work, with Huawei missing out on the spoils. Still, it is not all on Huawei, because US trade sanctions ban it from doing business with TSMC.
The sanctions have been in place since 2019, so Huawei really should have clocked that China’s access to bleeding-edge lithography would get severed. Instead, it has been stuck watching SMIC churn wafers on older DUV gear, because the foundry is capped at 7nm without newer EUV machinery.
China has reportedly built an EUV equipment prototype, but there is still no firm word on when mass production starts. Huawei’s Kirin 9030 has not crossed 3.00GHz, which is the sort of ‘night and day’ gap that shows how much a foundry partner can swing technological progress.
Chasing 5.00GHz does not dodge the brutal reality of thermodynamics, since higher clocks tend to bring nasty temperature spikes and thermal throttling. Handset makers will lean on beefier vapour chambers, miniature active fans and Heat Pass Block, then hope ‘night and day’ does not turn into a pocket heater.
