Intel inside? Chinese firm Powerleader’s ‘home-grown’ chip suspected of being a rebadged microprocessor from US giant, test results show

Microprocessor benchmark testing on Geekbench found that Powerleader’s Powerstar chips were identical to Intel’s Core i3-10105 Comet Lake CPU

Shenzhen-based Powerleader, which has no track record in semiconductor development, has been using Intel chips on its computer products

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Should the Geekbench findings get confirmed, Powerleader’s Powerstar CPU would mark the latest scandal to tarnish China’s development of indigenous chips, following the infamous Hanxin case in 2006. Image: Shutterstock

Published: 8:00pm, 30 May 2023Updated: 4:35pm, 31 May 2023

A purported new “home-grown” chip introduced by a Chinese computer hardware producer this month is suspected to be a rebadged integrated circuit (IC) from Intel Corp, according to a report by online tech news site Tom’s Hardware, based on the results of a central processing unit (CPU) benchmark testing via online cross-platform utility Geekbench.

Testing site Geekbench, a platform run by Canadian software developer Primate Labs, published the key parameters of Shenzhen-based Powerleader’s Powerstar P3-01105 CPUs on May 26 and found the chips identical to Intel’s Core i3-10105 Comet Lake CPU.

The South China Morning Post was unable to independently verify whether the Powerleader chip was indeed an Intel IC in disguise.

Shenzhen-based Powerleader, which has no track record in semiconductor development, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Phone calls made to its head office in Shenzhen and sales service contacts went unanswered.

A man holds between his fingers an example of Intel Corp’s eighth-generation Core i3 microprocessor. The 10th generation of this chip, code-named Comet Lake, was reportedly rebadged as Powerleader’s Powerstar P3-01105 central processing unit. Photo: Shutterstock

Intel has not made any comments on Powerleader’s chip.

Intel inside? Chinese firm Powerleader’s ‘home-grown’ chip suspected of being a rebadged microprocessor from US giant, test results show

Microprocessor benchmark testing on Geekbench found that Powerleader’s Powerstar chips were identical to Intel’s Core i3-10105 Comet Lake CPU Shenzhen-based Powerleader, which has no track record in semiconductor development, has been using Intel chips on its computer products

Microprocessor benchmark testing on Geekbench found that Powerleader’s Powerstar chips were identical to Intel’s Core i3-10105 Comet Lake CPU

Shenzhen-based Powerleader, which has no track record in semiconductor development, has been using Intel chips on its computer products