Huawei's 2020 smartphone shipments to drop 10% to 170 million units, report says

With the US Commerce Department's ban on Huawei taking effect September 15, Huawei's smartphone sales this year are expected to drop 10 percent to 170 million units compared with previous plans, market research firm TrendForce said in a report released Tuesday.

If the ban isn't eased later, the market could see a reshuffle, benefiting handset makers such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo, the report said.

TrendForce noted that Huawei is facing semiconductor supply woes, and in addition to processors and panel components, there are lens modules, which have been hit by the ban. If it doesn't get a shipment license, then Huawei will take a substantial hit in the first half of 2021.

Under strong U.S. sanctions and pressure from allies, Huawei has abandoned many of its businesses. In Australia, for example, Huawei announced the elimination of 1,000 high-tech, high-income jobs and the termination of $100 million in research and development investments.

Earlier, AMD and Intel each revealed that they had been granted export licenses.