Huawei reportedly has slashed component orders for its forthcoming Mate 40 series products by 30%, according to sources from Taiwan's handset supply chain makers.
Huawei is set to launch its Mate 40 lineup this month, which may arrive in four versions: Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro+ and Mate 40 Porsche Design.
The vendor originally ordered related parts and components for 16 million units of the Mate 40 devices. But it asked its suppliers to lower the amount to 11 million units as late as the end of August, apparently affected by the fresh US trade curbs, said the sources.
But some market observers said that Huawei may see its total shipments for its Mate 40 lineup to reach as low as 8.4 million units, a 30% discount from their initial projected shipments of 12 million units for the new lineup.
Huawei's smartphone business woes could affect the operations of its supply chain makers in Taiwan and China, and in particular the supply chain may see a number of smaller components and parts suppliers in China to be forced out of the market, commented the sources.
Huawei's reductions of its component orders will eventually push its supply chain makers to seek alternative orders from new clients – a task which is not easy because each handset brands have already established their respective supply chain and would not switch their suppliers immediately, said the sources.
Huawei outraced Samsung Electronics to become the world's top smartphone vendor in the second quarter of 2020, and its smartphone shipments totaled 105 million units in first-half 2020.
However, the company's total smartphone shipments for the entire 2020 could fall behind the 240 million units it shipped a year earlier due to insufficient supplies of mobile chips, Huawei's consumer business group CEO Richard Yu has indicated.
Huawei will still account for a 45-46% share of China's smartphone market in 2020, but could see its share retreat to as low as 15-17% in 2021, according to the latest forecast of Digitimes Research.
Huawei said to cut component orders for new smartphones by 30%
Photo: Digitimes file photo
Article translated by Steve Shen and edited by Joseph Tsai
