The Huawei Mate 50 might be canceled

Since 2013, Huawei has released a new P-series flagship in the spring and a Mate-branded model in the fall. But the ongoing US trade restrictions could force the brand to skip its next Mate-series devices.

Is this the end of the Huawei Mate series?

A new rumor (via Notebookcheck) claims that Huawei is so focused on serving its existing customers and releasing the next-generation P50 series that it’s now willing to skip the upcoming Huawei Mate 50 series.

More than a choice, the move seems to be Huawei making the most of a bad situation. It has limited resources at the moment, so it makes sense to focus on one flagship while also keeping existing users happy.

For context, the Huawei P50 series is at least three months behind schedule and there’s still no sign of a release. In fact, when the Huawei P50 Pro was showcased earlier this month, the brand made no mention of specs or a launch date.

And by serving existing customers, today’s report means providing battery replacements, replacement displays and glass back panels, as well as cameras and other internal components at a low price.

Huawei’s other priority, aside from hardware, is pushing HarmonyOS 2. The software, which is being marketed as a new operating system but seems to be a forked version of Android, reached 10 million active users in one week.

HarmonyOS could be central to the future of Huawei’s consumer business. After all, without access to the latest 5G chipsets and other key components, it’s difficult to see how Huawei can keep creating competitive hardware in the years to come.