The White House is seeking detailed information on Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone, which analysts have described as an important milestone for the Chinese tech group four years after US restrictions crippled its handset business.US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that the US needed to get “more information” on the precise “character and composition” of a chip powering Huawei’s newly released Mate 60 Pro, in answer to a briefing question on whether US controls on exports of advanced semiconductor technology were being thwarted.
While Huawei has declined to reveal details of its suppliers for the Mate Pro, a dismantling of the phone by the consultancy TechInsights last week suggested it contained a 7-nanometre processor made by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. SMIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The partially state-owned Chinese chipmaker became subject to export restrictions three years ago, when the US commerce department said there was an “unacceptable risk” of chip technology being diverted to it for “military end use”.