Key facts
- Huawei launched its Mate 90 smartphone series, relying on its in-house HarmonyOS 7 and a new Kirin 9050 Pro chip.
- The Kirin 9050 Pro chip uses a "LogicFolding" technique for 3D internal wiring, aiming for denser and faster processing.
- US restrictions on advanced semiconductor shipments continue to limit Huawei's access to cutting-edge chipmaking tools.
- Rising component costs have led Chinese smartphone makers to increase prices and focus on premium models.
- Huawei holds approximately 75% of China's foldable phone market, with its Pura X Max selling over 1.2 million units since April.
Huawei Technologies unveiled its Mate 90 smartphone series on Thursday, October 1, 2026, aiming to bolster its market position despite ongoing US restrictions on advanced semiconductor shipments. The company is leaning on its homegrown HarmonyOS 7 operating system and a new chip architecture to drive performance.
Richard Yu, Huawei's consumer business chief, acknowledged that the supply of advanced chips, including those for smartphones and the company's Ascend AI processors, remains constrained in China. He noted that Chinese manufacturers continue to rely on deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography technology, with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) still under development.
The Mate 90 series, which succeeds the Mate 80 line launched in November 2025, features premium models powered by the Kirin 9050 Pro chip. This system-on-chip utilizes Huawei's proprietary "LogicFolding" technique, which restructures internal wiring in three dimensions to achieve denser and faster processing, although it requires more wafers.
While Huawei did not officially name the manufacturer of the Kirin 9050 Pro, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's leading logic foundry, is widely believed to be producing these chips, as well as Huawei's Ascend AI processors. SMIC has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The new phones run on HarmonyOS 7, Huawei's proprietary operating system, which supports over 450,000 applications and services. Huawei has not yet disclosed pricing for the Mate 90 series.
Chinese smartphone makers are currently navigating rising costs for components like memory, which Yu stated have added an average of $200 to handset costs, impacting profit margins. This has led companies to increase prices and focus on higher-end devices. Despite a 7% year-on-year decline in China's domestic smartphone shipments between January and August, Huawei's shipments in the country grew by 13% during the same period, according to IDC.
In the foldable phone segment, Yu welcomed Apple's entry with the iPhone Duo, noting Huawei's dominant 75% share in the Chinese market. He reported that sales of Huawei's Pura X Max foldable phone saw a 76% week-on-week increase following Apple's announcement, with over 1.2 million units sold in China since its April release. Counterpoint Research forecasts Apple to ship 6 million iPhone Duo units in 2026, with China representing nearly a quarter of that total.