On September 10, Huawei had unveiled the new EMU 11 and Harmony OS 2.0 software, as well as the new devices such as the FreeBuds Pro, Freelance Pro, Watch GT 2 Pro, Watch Fit, and the new Matebook. At the keynote delivered by Huawei, the brand was also all set to announce the Kirin 9000 chipset along with the full revelation of the Mate 40 flagships. However, there was no mention of its next premium and high-end smartphones - Huawei Mate 40 Series - or the flagship Kirin SoC. None of this was spoken about and there was nothing solid during the HDC 2020 either. Speculations and rumours are buzzing around stating that we might have to wait till the next year to see the flagship.

Last year in 2019, the Mate 30 phones were launched in late September, followed by a limited European launch in late November. Post that, Huawei started expanding launching the phones in some places as late as January this year. So, does it seem that the Mate 40 will follow a similar (but even slower) path to global availability?

The reason behind the delay is not clear yet. One of the reasons could be due to the limited global demand - the Mate 40s are definitely not going to be sold in the United States and are expected to not get a warm welcome in India and few other nations. The situation in Europe, however, is unclear as some countries have blocked Huawei equipment from their carriers, but none seems to have issues with the brand's smartphones. But the company is still anticipating a 30% loss in sales for the new Mate 40 lineup.

Huawei has been cut off from TSMS and will no longer be able to source OLED displays from LG and Samsung. Huawei claims that it has stocked up enough chipsets and is also using BOE displays, however, it may not be adequate for the local Chinese market. Furthermore, there is no clarity whether the delay mentioned applies to every country or only international markets. If the latter is true, the launch in China will take place as scheduled. Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants has heard from sources that the official unveiling event is still scheduled for October.

Is Huawei planning to release the Mate 40 series with Harmony OS on board?

The Huawei Mate 40 lineup will be powered by a next-gen Kirin chipset and likely to become the first set of premium handsets to ship with the Harmony OS, if delayed. In fact, Huawei recently confirmed that it would begin shipping it on smartphones next year. There has been no news or updates on the pricing yet, but we are expecting some updates to be revealed next month or so.

The current expectations are that Huawei Mate 40 series will be introduced in the Chinese Market somewhere around mid-October, but Richard Yu did not comment when asked about this in the Developer Conference. In fact, Huawei has not revealed any concrete plans yet about the release of the new flagships.