SMIC has successfully manufactured its first 5nm-grade smartphone processor using its N+3 process node, marking a significant milestone for Chinese semiconductor independence. The Kirin 9030 chip has appeared on Geekbench running in Huawei's upcoming Mate 80 Pro Max, demonstrating that SMIC achieved roughly 125 million transistors per square millimeter, comparable to Samsung's 5LPE node density.
The Kirin 9030 features a nine-core CPU configuration with one prime core running at 2.75 GHz, four cores at 2.27 GHz, and four efficiency cores at 1.72 GHz, paired with a Maleoon 935 GPU. In early Geekbench testing with 16 GB of RAM, the chip scored 1,131 in single-core and 4,277 in multi-core tests, though Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station notes these scores don't reflect full performance as the chip wasn't running at peak speeds during testing.
While the Kirin 9030's performance won't match current flagship processors like the Snapdragon 8 Elite or MediaTek Dimensity chips built on more advanced 3nm processes, the achievement represents a crucial breakthrough for China's domestic chip industry. SMIC developed the N+3 node without access to extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, which remains restricted under US export controls. The chip will debut in Huawei's Mate 80 series smartphones, expected to launch soon.
