3nm Kirin 9010 SoC will appear with the Huawei Mate 50

It has only been a few months since Huawei announced the Kirin 9000 SoC, which is available in two versions (Kirin 9000 and Kirin 9000E) and is only used in the Huawei Mate 40 series. Sources have now revealed the first details about the company’s next flagship SoC, which it claims will be called the Kirin 9010. The SoC is expected to be manufactured in a 3nm process.

3nm Kirin 9010 SoC will appear with the Huawei Mate 50

If everything goes according to plan, then the company will successfully switch to the 3nm process technology and release a new SoC this year, presumably in the fourth quarter, and the SoC will debut in the Huawei Mate 50.

Prior to the release of the 5nm Kirin 9000 SoC, there were reports that the Mate 40 may be the last Huawei flagship to use the Kirin SoC, but sources are confident that this is not the case. The Huawei P50 phones are also expected to feature the Kirin 9000 SoC.

If Huawei succeeds, Qualcomm and Samsung could also switch to a 3nm process before the end of the year. Apple is also expected to prepare a 3nm SoC that will be manufactured by TSMC, but it will not appear until 2022.

Huawei and Honor will occupy 4% and 2% of the smartphone market next year

A new forecast by research firm TrendForce says that independent company Honor, which no longer has anything to do with Huawei, will only be able to occupy 2% of the global smartphone market next year.

Of course, the sale of Honor will hit Huawei very hard, which is barely afloat under the pressure of US sanctions and their aftermath. If this year analysts give the company only 14% of the global smartphone market; then next year, according to the forecast, the company’s share will drop to 4%. With such results, the company will have to fight for a place in the top ten leaders, since they will definitely not be able to get into the top five.

US sanctions imposed on Huawei are limiting the company’s ability to procure required components; affecting Huawei’s ability to manufacture and market new smartphones. The sanctions were the main reason behind Huawei’s decision to sell its Honor brand.

Another Chinese company Xiaomi, according to the forecast, will significantly strengthen its position next year. TrendForce analysts make a modest forecast for Xiaomi’s share to increase from 12% to 14%. However, Xiaomi itself is much more optimistic and intends to sell from 240 to 300 million smartphones. The company wants to get ahead of Apple and possibly compete for the top spot with Samsung.

Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi topped the smartphone market in Q3 2020

Analytical agency Gartner has published another report on the smartphone market. So, in the third quarter of this year, 366 million smartphones were sold worldwide; which is 5.7% less than in the same period last year. And although the drop is noticeable, it is less than 20%; which the market fell by in the first half of the year.

Samsung is still the leader with 80.82 million units sold and 22% of the market. In general, of the Top 5 manufacturers, only Samsung and Xiaomi were able to increase sales – by 2.2% and 34.9%, respectively. Huawei is in second place with 51.83 million smartphones sold – its market share is 14.4%. Xiaomi sold 44.41 million smartphones – equivalent to a market share of 12.1%.

Apple is in fourth place. Between July and September, the company sells 40.6 million smartphones – its market share was 11.1%. Interestingly, Oppo is not far from Apple. In the third quarter, it sold 29.89 million smartphones (the market share of this company is 8.2%).