Huawei Unveils Mate 90 Series Despite US Sanctions and Chip Shortages

Despite stringent US sanctions and semiconductor supply shortages, Chinese technology giant Huawei has unveiled its new flagship smartphone series, the Mate 90.

Officially launched on Thursday, October 1, the series features an entirely new chip architecture and Huawei’s proprietary, Android-free operating system, HarmonyOS 7.

The Mate 90 Pro Max is powered by the high-performance Kirin 9050 Pro processor, built using a specialised three-dimensional wiring technology called LogicFolding. By moving beyond conventional planar chip designs to a multidimensional structure, the processor delivers substantially higher speed and capability, offering approximately 31 per cent better performance than the previous Mate 80 series.

Due to US sanctions restricting access to advanced chipmaking technologies, Huawei has had to rely on domestic deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography.

Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu said rising prices for memory chips and components had added approximately US$200 to the cost of each handset. The new series includes the Mate 90 Pro Max, featuring 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, priced at 9,999 yuan (approximately US$1,491). The starting prices of the standard and Pro models have been set at 5,999 yuan and 6,999 yuan, respectively.

Huawei’s Android-independent HarmonyOS 7 ecosystem already includes more than 450,000 apps and technology services. The company controls approximately 75 per cent of China’s foldable-device market.

Richard Yu has also welcomed competition from Apple’s recently unveiled iPhone Duo foldable smartphone. Despite geographical restrictions and trade barriers, Huawei is strengthening its position as a global smartphone competitor through its own technology, processors and software, with the Mate 90 series serving as evidence of that progress.

//DBTech/BMT/OR//