The Huawei Mate 40 is likely still on track to be released this year. But it may be the last phone to use the company’s own high-end chipset. New reports indicate that the company will not be able to continue producing Kirin 9000 chips after 15 September.
The mentioned date is when US suppliers will not be allowed to sell components to Huawei without the US government’s approval first. This means they will not be able to sell parts to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which makes the Kirin chips for Huawei.
There are other chipmakers within China that could make it. One example is Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). But according to Engadget, Huawei CEO Richard Yu said that SMIC isn’t able yet to make up for the loss of TSMC’s contribution. Perhaps as a result, the supply of the Huawei Mate 40 will also be limited when it gets announced.
Huawei has been in a tight spot ever since it was initially placed in the US’ entity list. Ever since, the company’s phones lost access to Google’s Mobile Services, leading to the company’s phones shipping with its own Huawei Mobile Services. This looks to be the next blow to the company.
(Source: Engadget)
