Huawei said to skip this year's Mate series flagship phone launch for first time since 2013

Huawei will not release a new Mate series flagship phone this year, the first time since the company launched the Mate series in 2013, LatePost reported Wednesday.

According to Huawei's previous practices of new phone releases, the Mate 50 series is supposed to be released in September this year with a new generation of Huawei's own chips to compete with the iPhone 13.

But US sanctions have made it difficult for Huawei to get support to develop and produce a new generation of high-end chips, meaning it will be difficult for Huawei to come up with new technology after the 5nm chips released in 2020, the report said.

Meanwhile, Huawei's previously hoarded high-end chips and other components are being rapidly consumed. According to the Shanghai Clearing House, Huawei's inventory of components, semi-finished products, and finished goods is RMB 59 billion less in size in the six months from the end of September 2020 to the end of March 2021.

Since 2021, Huawei has only released the Mate X2 foldable phone with little supply. The new P series P50, which was supposed to be released in March, is also not yet available but had a brief appearance at the end of the HarmonyOS launch on June 2.

According to Canalys data, Huawei shipped 18.6 million units of cell phones in the first quarter of 2021, down 70 percent from 59.1 million units in the same period of 2019.

Huawei has made maintaining its stock of users a core strategy for its mobile business, with measures including low-cost replacement of batteries, back covers and even components such as screens, motherboards and cameras for Huawei phone users, as well as the official launch of HarmonyOS for cell phones, the report said.

Huawei is also increasing its investment in hardware products beyond cell phones. In the past month, Huawei has launched more than a dozen new products, including watches, headphones, tablets, monitors, TVs, laptops and routers.

"Despite the slump in the phone business, Huawei is also facing a talent shortage," the report said, citing a person close to Huawei's consumer business, adding that Huawei is putting more manpower into products that would otherwise not be particularly valued. Revenue from Huawei's hardware products outside of phones grew 65 percent year-over-year in 2020.