Huawei has not been doing well on the smartphone front following the US ban from 2019.
The technology has however not fallen behind in the space because it has made several attempts to stay afloat and relevant. It has since zeroed down on devices that ship without Google services, although they have proved a tough sale in markets that depend on Google products.
In a bid to streamline its business, Huawei sold the Honor arm in 2020. It was a bod development that is likely to escalate because there are credible rumours that the company is in the process of selling its P and Mate series brands (although it is still working on the P50 series that should go live towards the end of Q1 2021).
Besides the sale of its premium brands, Huawei gas reportedly cut its component supply for smartphones, which means that we will see fewer Huawei devices this year.
Word has it that Huawei has requested its suppliers to reduce component orders by 60 percent for 2021. The linked report also says that the components requested can only see the manufacture of about 80 million smartphones.
In context, the number is significantly lower than what the company produced in 2020 at near 190 million devices.
The request could also imply that the number of phones shipped will be notably lowers, probably 50-60 million units.
It should be noted that Huawei is one of the 5G pioneers. However, the components ordered are limited to 4G devices. This is probably due to the US ban that doesn’t allow it to import 5G systems.
The developments have not been announced officially by the Chinese company. Still, it is obvious that US restrictions are hurting its smartphone division. The matters could deteriorate to something drastic like Huawei leaving the smartphone business altogether if the two countries do not come to some form of agreement.
