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Huawei's 2021 smartphone production is estimated at 60% less compared to 2020 as rumors of a delayed P50 launch emerge

The P50 might look like this. (Source: LetsGoDigital)
The P50 might look like this. (Source: LetsGoDigital)
A Chinese news site claims that Huawei plans to make not much more than 80 million phones in 2021, as opposed to the ~189 million units it shipped in 2020. Meanwhile, other reports suggest it will also cut the P50 series' supply, and also possibly delay their unveiling until later in the year than usual.

Huawei has been expected to launch successors to the flagship P40 series in March 2021. However, according to a new report from CS.com, this may now not transpire. The rumored postponement is apparently caused by delays in shipments for components needed to manufacture the upcoming P50 series.

The OEM normally releases affordable variants in addition to the main Pxx, Pxx Pro and Pxx Pro+ models. Instead, the P50 is now projected to be the new Lite instead, as it might be powered by the Kirin 9000E rather than the "full" 9000.

Therefore, the P50 Pro might turn out more like the new vanilla, whereas the Pro+ might be the only true flagship of the range. These rumors mirror new assertions published by Nikkei Asia that Huawei has also reduced smartphone production across the board in 2021.

This decision - in which Huawei might cut its output to just 80 or even 70 million units for this year - is apparently related to the dearth of 5G chipsets caused by the fall-out of a trade dispute with the US. The OEM might have seen a light at the end of this particular tunnel with Joe Biden's confirmation as President - however, the latest word is his administration sees no reason to remove Huawei from the Entity List.

Therefore, Huawei might have no choice but to put the emphasis on lower-end, 4G-only phones in 2021. As for more premium units such as the P50 series, they might have to contend with Mate 40-series units for dwindling Kirin 9000 counts. This SoC crunch is probably just going to get even worse in light of the OEM's plan to go ahead and launch the Mate X2 foldable phablet.

Grab a Mate 40 Pro on Amazon...while they last...

 

 

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2021 02 > Huawei's 2021 smartphone production is estimated at 60% less compared to 2020 as rumors of a delayed P50 launch emerge
Deirdre O'Donnell, 2021-02-20 (Update: 2021-02-20)