Huawei Technologies’ latest series of flagship smartphones contains memory chips made by South Korean semiconductor supplier SK Hynix, according to research firm TechInsights, as Chinese-made options remain limited amid a US-led export ban on advanced chipmaking equipment to the mainland.
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In a teardown report published last week, analysts at the Canadian firm said they found SK Hynix’s 12-gigabyte low-power mobile DRAM and 512GB NAND inside a Huawei Mate 70 Pro handset. The higher-end Mate 70 Pro Plus featured the same NAND and a 16GB DRAM from SK Hynix.
SK Hynix manufactured these mobile DRAM devices using 14-nanometre technology and advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography, according to TechInsights senior analyst Jeongdong Choe. NAND is a type of memory used for flash storage, while DRAM, short for dynamic random-access memories, is commonly used in smartphones and computers.
Huawei declined to comment. SK Hynix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Christmas Day is a public holiday in South Korea.
An SK Hynix representative said last year that the company no longer did business with Huawei since the introduction of US restrictions against the Chinese firm.
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