The last moment before Huawei's self-sufficiency would become a memory
On October 22, 2020, Huawei prepared to unveil its Mate 40 series — three flagship phones that carried within them both the height of the company's engineering ambitions and the shadow of an ending. Powered by the newly developed Kirin 9000 chipset, the devices marked the final chapter of Huawei's self-reliance in processor design, as geopolitical pressures from the United States, United Kingdom, and beyond had severed the supply chains that made such independence possible. What looked like a product launch was, in the longer view, a farewell — the last time a Huawei flagship would carry a chip the company could call its own.
- Huawei CEO Richard Yu confirmed the October 22 launch date on Weibo, accompanied by a teaser video that revealed little beyond the moment of unveiling itself.
- Three models — the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, and Mate 40 Pro+ — arrived with 108MP cameras, 9P lens configurations, and 66W fast charging, representing the polished peak of Huawei's flagship formula.
- Beneath the hardware milestones, a deeper tension ran through the announcement: the Kirin 9000 debuting in these phones would also be the last Kirin chipset Huawei could bring to a flagship device.
- US-led sanctions, compounded by bans from Australia and the UK's exclusion of Huawei from 5G infrastructure, had systematically closed off the semiconductor supply chains the company depended on.
- With no path to continue manufacturing its own processors, Huawei faces a strategic reckoning — future flagships will depend on third-party chipmakers, fundamentally altering the company's identity and independence.
In early October 2020, Huawei's executive director Richard Yu took to Weibo to confirm what many had been anticipating: the Mate 40 series would launch on October 22 at 2 p.m. Central European Daylight Time. A brief teaser followed — an eye blinking open — spare enough to say little, yet enough to signal that something significant was coming.
The lineup would comprise three models: the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, and Mate 40 Pro+. Regulatory filings in China had already confirmed their existence, and leaks had filled in the contours. A 108-megapixel main camera, a 9P lens configuration for sharper image rendering, and 66W charging speeds — the kind of incremental refinements that define flagship evolution — were all expected across the series.
Yet the true weight of the announcement rested not in the cameras or the charging curves, but in the chipset. The Mate 40 series would be the first Huawei phones to run on the new Kirin 9000. It would also be the last. By the autumn of 2020, a coordinated geopolitical response had reshaped the landscape around the company: US sanctions had targeted its supply chain, Australia had moved against it, and the United Kingdom had formally barred Huawei from its 5G infrastructure. The ability to design and manufacture its own processors — a cornerstone of Huawei's flagship identity — was no longer sustainable.
What followed the Mate 40 would require a different architecture entirely, with Huawei turning to outside chipmakers for the processors its own engineers could no longer supply. The October 22 launch, then, carried a quiet finality: a celebration of what Huawei had built, and the last moment before that chapter closed.
On October 22, Huawei would take the stage to unveil its Mate 40 lineup—three phones that represented both a technological milestone and a farewell. The company's executive director, Richard Yu, announced the date in early October via Weibo: 2 p.m. Central European Daylight Time, or 5:30 p.m. Indian Standard Time. A teaser video followed, spare in its details, showing only an eye that blinked open to reveal the launch moment.
The Mate 40 series would consist of three models: the base Mate 40, the Mate 40 Pro, and the Mate 40 Pro+. Regulatory filings in China had already confirmed their existence, and leaks had begun to sketch out their specifications. The main camera across the lineup was expected to reach 108 megapixels, a figure that had circulated in rumors for months. To sharpen the overall image quality, the phones would reportedly employ a 9P lens configuration—a technical refinement aimed at clarity.
Charging speeds would reach 66 watts, according to data that had surfaced in China's Compulsory Certification database in late September. This was the kind of incremental improvement that defined flagship phone evolution: faster, more capable, more refined.
But the real significance lay in what powered these devices. The Mate 40 series would be the first Huawei phones to use the company's new Kirin 9000 chipset. It was also, however, the last. By October 2020, the geopolitical walls had closed in. The United States had already moved against Huawei; Australia and other nations had followed. In July, the United Kingdom had barred the company from its 5G infrastructure. These restrictions meant that Huawei's access to the semiconductor supply chain—the ability to design and manufacture its own processors—was tightening. The Kirin 9000 would be the final flagship chip the company could bring to market under these conditions.
What came after would require a different path. Future Huawei phones would need to rely on chipsets from other manufacturers, a fundamental shift in the company's strategy and a visible sign of how thoroughly the sanctions had reshaped the smartphone industry. The Mate 40 series, then, was not just a new product launch. It was a threshold—the last moment before Huawei's self-sufficiency in processor design would become a memory.
Citações Notáveis
Launch confirmed for October 22 at 2 p.m. CEDT (5:30 p.m. IST)— Huawei executive director Richard Yu, via Weibo
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does it matter that this is the last Kirin chipset in a flagship phone?
Because Huawei built its own processors. That's rare. Most phone makers buy chips from Qualcomm or MediaTek. Huawei designed theirs. The sanctions cut off their ability to manufacture at scale, so they can't do it anymore.
So they're being forced to use someone else's chip going forward?
Essentially, yes. And that's a huge blow to a company that spent years building expertise in chip design. It's not just about the phone—it's about control, about being able to innovate independently.
The specs sound impressive. 108MP camera, 66W charging. Does that matter if the chip situation is so dire?
It matters to the people buying the phone that day. But you're right to sense the shadow. These are good specs, but they're also the last of their kind under Huawei's own architecture.
How many countries had already banned them by October?
At least the US, Australia, and the UK. Others were following. It wasn't one decision—it was a cascade.
What does this mean for Huawei's future in smartphones?
It means they have to reinvent themselves. They can still make phones, but they're no longer the company that controlled every layer of the technology. That's a different business.