Huawei says its smartphone chips are running out due to U.S. sanctions

Huawei says that it’s running out of processor chips for its smartphones due to U.S. sanctions, as reported by the Associated Press.

The tech giant lost access to U.S. components and technology last year, and faced further issues when the U.S. prevented companies from using U.S. technology to manufacture components for Huawei.

Huawei says production of its Kirin chips will stop mid-September because they are created by contractors that require U.S. manufacturing technology.

The company’s president, Richard Yu, says Huawei doesn’t have the ability to create its own chips. Yu outlined this during an industry conference and said that it will be a big loss for the company.

“Unfortunately, in the second round of U.S. sanctions, our chip producers only accepted orders until May 15. Production will close on Sept. 15. This year may be the last generation of Huawei Kirin high-end chips,” he said during the conference.

Yu also stated that Huawei’s smartphone sales will likely be lower than last year, but didn’t provide any further details.

These comments come as Huawei shipped more smartphones worldwide than any other manufacturer for the first time in Q2 2020, according to a report from analytics firm Canalys. Its overseas shipments fell 27 percent in the quarter, but it’s dominating its domestic market.

The company boosted its Chinese shipments by eight percent. Huawei now sells over 70 percent of its smartphones in mainland China.

Source: Associated Press