Huawei is reportedly delaying the production of its upcoming flagship smartphone, the Mate 40, for at least one to two months. Based on a report by Nikkei, the Chinese tech company has asked some of its partners to halt the production of key components required for the device due to the recent US sanctions.
Earlier in May, the Trump administration approved measures to cut Huawei’s access to global chip suppliers. This had left the company uncertain about its HiSilicon semiconductor division’s ability to supply enough parts for the Mate 40’s mass production, such as the Kirin mobile processors, communication chips and AI accelerator chips. With the restriction from using any US-made equipment to manufacture chips, HiSilicon is finding it difficult to complete orders for the smartphone maker.
Huawei is said to be reassessing its inventory of HiSilicon chips and is looking at alternative suppliers for the new Mate smartphone. Sources familiar with the matter suggests that the company is checking the viability of actually using MediaTek and Qualcomm chips. They also noted that switching to a different mobile platform could also force Huawei to redesign the mechanical parts of the device, which will take time.
Meanwhile, another source told Nikkei that the company is reportedly cutting down its overall orders for smartphone components by up to 20-percent for the July to September quarter. Huawei could revise this even lower in the December quarter, they added.
(Source: Nikkei)
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