Huawei may delay the launch of the Mate 40 series due to U.S. restrictions

Huawei's Mate 40 series phones, which are expected to debut in the fourth quarter of the year, may not go on sale until early 2021. As per the Nikkei Asian Review, Huawei has told a few of its suppliers to delay production for its upcoming flagship Mate 40 series.

The Chinese company is currently trying to assess the impact of tighter U.S. export controls on its smartphone business. Since the U.S. has started cracking down on the supply of chips to Huawei and its subsidiaries by chipmakers using American technology, it has been forced to reassess its inventory of HiSilicon chips and explore alternatives. Huawei is apparently looking at buying chips from MediaTek and Qualcomm, although it may have to redesign the mechanical parts of the phones if it decides to switch to a new chipset.

Citing two supply-chain sources that are familiar with Huawei's plans, the report says the mass-production schedule for the Mate 40 series has been delayed. The sources suggest the mass production of the Mate 40 series could be delayed by up to two months, as Huawei is still resolving supply-chain issues following the new restrictions by the Trump administration.

Despite the delay in mass production of the Mate 40 series, it is possible that Huawei may not delay the launch of the flagship phones. It could unveil the phones first and then begin selling them a few weeks later. We expect the Mate 40 series to be unveiled sometime in the fourth quarter of the year.

For a short time this year, Huawei beat Samsung to become the largest smartphone maker in the world