Huawei has told some suppliers to delay production for its upcoming Mate series of phones it weighs potential supply-chain disruptions from an escalating U.S. crackdown, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Wednesday citing several sources familiar with the situation.
Huawei has asked for halts to production of some components for newest flagship smartphones, and has also trimmed orders of parts for the coming quarters, the report said.
Huawei usually unveil the latest Mate series of phones, which is Huawei's answer to Apple's new generation of iPhones, in the second half of the year.
Huawei's Mate 30 series, introduced last year, was its first phone lacking support from Google Mobile Services after the U.S. added Huawei to the so-called entity list to restrict its access to American technology.
Huawei usually adopts its most advanced processor designs from its from its own HiSilicon semiconductor design unit for the Mate lineup, but the U.S. move has forced it to reassess its inventory of HiSilicon chips and look at alternative suppliers for the Mate, the report said.
Huawei has delayed its mass-production schedule for the Mate series, the report cited two supply-chain sources familiar with Huawei's smartphone manufacturing plan as saying.
"We now see the postponement of the mass production of Mate series will be for at least one to two months," one person said, adding that this was because Huawei was still finalizing and resolving supply-chain issues following the new U.S. restrictions.
Another executive with a Huawei supplier said his company had planned to begin making parts for Mate phones this month, as well as Huawei's Honor brand of phones. But the executive said Huawei had already told the company to put production on hold until further notice.
"One of the reasons to pause is that Huawei is reviewing the inventory level of its HiSilicon mobile chips and is busy verifying other mobile platforms by [Taiwanese chip designer] MediaTek and Qualcomm [of the U.S.]. But verifying other mobile platforms could lead to redesigns of the mechanical parts of the smartphones, which will take time," the executive said.
The postponement of production plans does not necessarily mean the launch of the latest Mate models will be delayed, the report noted.
Huawei's new flagship Mate 40 series was expected to be released around October. Last year's Mate 30 series came with a number of innovative features, including a curved screen and virtual volume buttons that are Located on the edge of the screen, replacing the physical buttons.
According to Letsgodigital, on July 6, 2019, Huawei filed a design patent application with the State Intellectual Property Office and made it available to the public on June 16, 2020.
We know that the Huawei Mate 30 already supports a side-by-side virtual shutter feature, but this patent hints that the Huawei Mate 40 series might go a step further and integrate some other camera features to the side of the screen as well.
Late last month, well-known leaker @RODENT950 said on Twitter that Huawei's next-generation flagship chip, called the Kirin 1000, is based on the 5nm process and will be available on the Mate 40 series phones first.
As is customary, Huawei's new Kirin flagship processors are launched each fall and then handed over to the Mate series for the debut.
The Mate 40 series was expected to feature the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 RS Porsche design, etc., but it's not sure if the Mate 40 Pro+ will be available.
