Huawei has informed suppliers that it will cut smartphone shipments by at least 60% in 2021.
The Trump administration banned the Chinese company from participating in US networks, and pressured its allies to do the same. Government and intelligence officials around the world have cited the security risk Huawei poses, given its close ties with Beijing and the Chinese intelligence community. The company has been banned from one country after another, cut off from its smartphone chip suppliers and dropped to the third-place smartphone company, behind Samsung and Apple.
According to Nikkei, the company is only securing enough components to ship 70 to 80 million smartphones in 2021, down from the 189 million it shipped in 2020.
The company’s woes even forced it to sell off its Honor brand of budget phones, but it remains hopeful things will turn around for its flagship line.
The company was pinning its hopes on the Biden administration taking a software stance and lifting the restrictions. So far, however, it appears the new administration has no intention of changing direction, leaving Huawei with little recourse.