Huawei Mate 50 series could stand cancelled due to US ban
Ryan-Thomas Shaw / Android Authority
TL; DR
- According to reports, Huawei will kill one of its highest quality smartphone series this year.
- The Mate 50 flagships may not be launched as a direct result of the U.S. ban.
Huawei has been in turbulent waters since the US imposed multiple sanctions in 2019. After the company sold Honor and dropped out of the top five smartphone makers list, the company is reportedly considering killing one of its flagship series this year.
According to reports from China (via GSMArena) Huawei won’t release its Mate series phones this year due to a lack of high-end Kirin chips.
The Mate 50 lineup should hit the market in September or October. However, Huawei has not yet launched its P50 series, which ideally should have been released now, as the P40 series debuted in April last year.
It looks like Huawei, like most other tech companies, is grappling with the impact of the global chip scarcity. Of course, it doesn’t help that the US has cut off Huawei’s access to foreign chip manufacturers who use or license US technology.
If Huawei kills the Mate flagships this year, it will be a first for the company since launching the Premium range in 2013.
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro was one of the best all-round smartphones last year, but it was clouded by the lack of Google services. Even the P50 series won’t have Google apps on board, diminishing their global prospects. Given the circumstances, the Mate streak’s death seems inevitable for at least 2021. Huawei hasn’t officially confirmed the development, however, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
