Trade War with China
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I had used the Huawei MediaPad X2, and got to say its processor the Kirin 930 was a very capable and efficient CPU. My previous devices, the Xiaomi Mi4 (Snapdragon 801) and Redmi Note 2 (Mediatek Helio X10), both overheat like crazy.
Well, that were 2 years ago. I reckon Huawei should have made some more improvements since then.
Well, that were 2 years ago. I reckon Huawei should have made some more improvements since then.
Previously I got the Nexus 6P which is my first Huawei made device. This is a real quality device made by Huawei for Google and using stock Android experience which is directly updated by Google. This was the last Nexus before Google moved to Pixelphone.
Then I got the Huawei P9 and by I was really impressed by it in all counts except for the OLED display which looks last generation from Samsung. The build of the device is fantastic, the battery life is very good, is fast and works great with everything I throw at it. The dual lens Leica branded camera is exceptional. I still have this device and still feels very solid. Inspired by it, I bought a Huawei Mediapad M3 for Android game playing. This has to be among the best Android tablets I ever used.
I am seeking the Mediapad M5, but it appears to be very hard to find.
Lately I got to check out Xiaomi and I am very impressed with the MiMix line.
Lethe
Captain
Your example proves my point. The UK is still a very wealthy nation on a per capita basis, as are most European countries, but their power in the international system is limited because they simply aren't big enough. The power of Europe has declined not only because other countries and regions have become wealthier, but because Europe simply isn't home to as much of humanity as it used to be. In 1900, Europe was home to some 25% of the global population, today it is around 10% and continuing to decline. Russia has never been able to challenge the European states for per capita wealth and level of development, but Russia was for several centuries a major player because it was at least in the same league (in the way that other countries with large populations like China and India were not) as the European powers, whilst being so much larger than them. And as Russia's population declines, the relevance of the country on the international stage will slowly decline also.
Even if a long list of developing nations are successful over a period of generations and accumulate per capita wealth similar to that of the United States -- which is a monumental task in itself -- they will still trail the United States significantly because, with a handful of exceptions -- China, India, Nigeria -- they will all be significantly smaller than the United States, which in the medium term will be home to >400m people.
The United States is not going to mismanage its way out of being one of the world's greatest powers in the foreseeable future. It's raw ingredients of wealth and population are too strong for that, to say nothing of the advantages of incumbency (see how hard it is even for China to play catch up, and most countries are not run nearly as well) and America's uniquely favourable strategic geography. If you want to envision a world where the United States is not one of the leading players, your best bet is on civil war and national collapse -- the same dream some Americans have articulated for China (and some Chinese for India), and for the same reasons.
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SinoSoldier
Colonel
I have to disagree that tech companies will ditch one SoC for another just to aid China in achieving "independence". The ban only applies to ZTE and hence we will continue to observe a dependency on foreign chips from other companies. I highly doubt that a company is willing to jeopardize the competitiveness of their products just so they could domesticate the chip industry. Additionally, the US ban is in place for only seven years, so unless a Chinese supplier can develop and produce a SoC that is more capable and much less costly than their foreign counterparts within that timespan, it is quite unlikely that it would jumpstart China's homegrown chip industry the same way a complete arms embargo had forced the rise of China's MIC.
The Kirin 970 is faster, but please take a look at the other components of the benchmarks:
The Kirin 970, as compared to the Snapdragon 845 and the Samsung Exynos 9810:
- Has a lower frame generation speed
- Inferior GPU
- Slower max download speed
- Unknown camera support
If Huawei or another Chinese vendor were so successful in producing in-house SoCs, we would've seen them flood the Chinese smartphone market already.
I think you had a premise that differs from plawolf if I understand his post correctly which I share. You are assuming that other companies agree that ZTE bares all the fault. However, I believe other companies only agree that ZTE is guilty of breaking American domestic law, but they see that law being a bad law for their business. There are many such laws everywhere, people has to live with them, but they will do everything to bypass them preferably through legal means. So here comes the "substitution of the unreliable supplier".
For ZTE and any other company (not limited to Chinese), they want a supplier who is not at risk of fulfilling their commercial commitment due to political mood swing like the "Iranian sanction". The substitute is not necessary Chinese, it can be European or Japanese so long as these countries do not behave like US. The "Chinese domestic components" is just one of the many options, but it is the most secured option.
You would be right in a perfect world that is only ruled by commercial interest. Companies will not ditch one SoC (Qualcomm etc.) for another just to aid China etc. By we leave in a time where there are many Trumps, so the need of substitute.
If I put other company in the picture, after seeing ZTE's suffering and hint of investigation on itself, Huawei will be eager to substitute American elements too. That is the alarm. The ban today is only on ZTE, but it can be on anybody tomorrow, that is the lesson that people get. We know Huawei also want to do business in Iran.
Take European companies for another example. Trump just left the Iran deal, re-imposing (in 6 months) sanctions on anybody who does business with Iran. France (for one) has a 15 year contract (together with SINOPEC China) to develop an Iranian oil field. That is a threat to France too (by extension the EU). What is EU going to do with that? In this case there is no US component, but the key is the same, business is hurt by Washington's swinging mood, substitution is needed by EU. The substitution is "drop USD for oil trade with Iran, use Euro", China is pushing to settle with RMB and drop SWIFT (a clearance system based in US). The substitution is not easy as these oil companies have business somewhere in the world that US may be able to apply pressure, but the warning is clear and the motivation is certain.
To summarize, it is not other companies drop one SoC to aid China independence, it is all other companies to secure their future business unhindered by Washington. China, EU, India, Japan, SK (Iranian oil consumer etc.) are on the same boat.
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