Huawei seems to be in a rush to launch Mate 40 before iPhone 12 to preserve market share

We may start seeing Mate 40 teasers as soon as next week. The formal announcement is reportedly slated for October 22, and preorders will commence in China on the same day. The dates roughly coincide with iPhone 12’s alleged release time frame.

The series, which apparently consists of the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, and Mate 40 Pro Plus, will go on sale in China on October 30.

Global launch plans are not clear at the moment. Per a previous leak, the handsets will reach international markets only next year, and that too in limited numbers.

The US has levied several bans on Huawei, and the long and short of it is that the Chinese company has been cut out of the global supply chain. On the supply side, this means it lacks the components to sustain operations. From the demand perspective, its phones have lost global appeal since they no longer come with Google’s apps and services. The situation is so bad that it could slip to the seventh spot next year. In Q2, it sold more phones than any other vendor.

The Mate 40 phones will reportedly be powered by the 5nm Kirin 9000 chip, which could be Huawei’s last proprietary silicon. The highest-end model is expected to sport a 6.7-inches waterfall screen with a refresh rate of 90Hz and a dual-sensor front camera. It will reportedly have a quad-camera array at the back with a 108MP primary sensor. 

The new phones will apparently support 66W fast charging. They will come preinstalled with open-source Android 11 with EMUI 11 on top. The Pro model has reportedly been spotted in the wild too.

Mate 40 pro On the subway (screenshots from video clip) pic.twitter.com/RQc8DkgAPQ

— Teme (特米) (@RODENT950) September 25, 2020