Huawei has succeeded in import substitution – the Qingyun L540 laptop consists of more than half Chinese components

The Financial Times, with the support of TechInsights specialists, was able to assess the degree of import substitution of components and software in the Huawei Qingyun L540 laptop, which is intended for the domestic Chinese market and is probably inevitably popular in the government procurement segment. More than half of its electronic components in value terms are of Chinese origin, experts say.

Image source: Financial Times, TechInsights

To begin with, when packaging this laptop, the Chinese managed to replace not only Microsoft operating systems, but also application software. The platform used is the Linux-based Unity operating system. There is an office suite of applications, a multimedia player and a photo editor developed in China. In particular, the application package of the Chinese company Kingsoft is responsible for editing text documents with the “.wps” file extension. Files with this extension have already appeared on the official websites of Chinese authorities.

«Import substitution” of hardware turned out to be somewhat more difficult. As a central processor, laptops of this model use a 5nm HiSilison Kirin 9006C chip, which was produced by TSMC before the introduction of US sanctions. It includes four Cortex-A77 cores with a frequency of up to 3.13 GHz and another four Cortex-A55 with a frequency of up to 2.05 GHz. The processor also includes an integrated Mali-G78 MP22 graphics core. Huawei is still forced to use old stocks of these processors, which it formed in anticipation of the entry into force of American sanctions.

The laptop’s USB controller was generally developed by the American company Microchip. The controller manufacturer does not explain how it got into the Huawei laptop. But the South Korean SK hynix “distinguished itself” twice in this FT and TechInsights report. Firstly, it turned out to be the supplier of RAM chips for this laptop. Secondly, the laptop’s solid-state drive also turned out to carry memory chips from this Korean brand. Specific instances of the chips were packaged around December 14, 2020 at the Chinese SK hynix facility. At that time, US sanctions against Huawei were already in effect, and the Korean supplier claims that it strictly complies with all export restrictions.

Huawei supplies these laptops with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controllers independently; the sound amplifier is built on a Chinese Goodix chip. In general, out of the $182 cost of the chips in this laptop, $109 is for components of Chinese origin, with the most important of them transferred to “domestic supplies.” This can definitely be considered a success in the context of tough Western sanctions against China. At least Chinese government agencies and state-owned companies are not left without new computers.