Huawei Debuts Last Premium Phone Series Under U.S. Sanctions

What’s new: Huawei Technologies Co. Thursday unveiled its long-anticipated Mate40 line of premium phones, the first release since the Trump administration fully cut off the Chinese telecom giant from major chip suppliers.

Equipped with an upgraded camera and Huawei’s latest advanced Kirin 9000 chipset, the Mate40 series is potentially the last major release powered by Huawei’s self-designed advanced chips.

The world’s largest smartphone maker stockpiled 15 million to 20 million Kirin 9000 chipsets, produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) with U.S. equipment. That will be enough to support production till 2021 but will be far less than the usual demand for Huawei’s previous Mate series of phones, according to Taiwan-based Isaiah Research.

What’s the context: Under updated sanctions imposed by the U.S. government, Huawei’s major chipmaking partners stopped supplies to the company in mid-September.

Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business, said in August that the trade ban means the Mate40 handsets would be the last smartphones featuring the company’s most advanced processor.

The short supply casts a shadow over Huawei’s phone business outlook. The company accounted for more than 45% of China’s smartphone market at the end of June, IDG data showed.

At the Thursday release event, Yu said the U.S. sanctions are “unfair” and put Huawei under “extreme difficulties.”

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Related: Update: Huawei Says Supply of Flagship Chipsets to End Under U.S. Sanctions

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimson@caixin.com).

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