Huawei has reportedly decided to cancel the planned announcement of a new Windows laptop at the CES Asia 2019 trade show this week. The move seems to be the result of the company"s ongoing legal troubles with the United States.
The news is not entirely surprising, as Huawei"s PC business has been far less capable in adapting to US aggression compared to the smartphone wing. The company is already cancelling production orders and has started halting development on new products.
Without access to the Windows operating system from Microsoft or microprocessors provided by AMD and Intel, Huawei simply doesn"t have the necessary components to make a sellable notebook. Thus, postponing the announcement of new laptops until its legal issues are resolved seems not only like the smart move to make, but also a necessary one.
Interestingly, this is the first major change in the company"s product plans that we know of, and goes against the resilient and business-as-usual image Huawei has been trying to peddle to the outside world ever since the US government decided to raise the stakes in its battle against the tech giant.
Huawei had previously reported year-on-year growth of 330% with respect to its PC business in 2018, but with its stock of current models dwindling and the company pushing back new product announcements, those numbers are likely to take a significant hit in 2019.