Huawei Bets on Chip Breakthroughs and HarmonyOS to Regain Global Edge

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Huawei Mate90 Pro Max

SHENZHEN, CHINA — Huawei is doubling down on homegrown technology to strengthen its competitive edge, with new semiconductor breakthroughs, AI capabilities and the growing HarmonyOS ecosystem at the center of its long-term strategy.

Speaking at an international media roundtable on October 3, Huawei Executive Director and Consumer BG Chairman Richard Yu said the company had invested more than CNY1.8 trillion in R&D between 2007 and 2025, driving advances across chips, operating systems, AI and smart devices.

One of the latest breakthroughs is LogicFolding, a semiconductor technology developed under Huawei’s Tau Scaling Law. The technology vertically stacks logic layers and improves high-density interconnects to shorten critical paths and reduce latency.

Huawei has applied LogicFolding to the Kirin 9050 Pro chip used in its newly launched Mate 90 series. The company says the chip delivers 31% higher overall device performance than its predecessor and enables on-device AI models with up to 30 billion parameters.

Yu said LogicFolding will not be limited to flagship devices.

“Yes, more of our phones will definitely use these LogicFolding chips in the future,” he said, while acknowledging that advanced semiconductor production capacity in China remains constrained.

Beyond hardware, Huawei is expanding its own software ecosystem through HarmonyOS. More than 90 million devices currently run HarmonyOS 6 and HarmonyOS 7, with the number expected to reach 100 million by the end of 2026. The ecosystem has also surpassed 450,000 apps and services and attracted 11 million registered developers.

Yu said Huawei is considering gradually bringing HarmonyOS to international markets, as the company seeks to rebuild its overseas consumer business.

Huawei's strategy extends beyond smartphones, encompassing PCs, tablets, wearables, audio devices, smart homes, connectivity products and intelligent electric vehicles. The company also sees AI, including its Ascend computing platform and openPangu models, as a key driver of future growth.

After years of restrictions on access to advanced technologies, Yu said Huawei has increasingly relied on its own technologies and China's domestic supply chain.

The company is now seeking to expand its global footprint step by step, with technological independence and a broader ecosystem becoming the foundation of its next phase of growth. (*/red).