Huawei P40 reportedly uses parts sourced from US, reveals teardown

Huawei just debuted its 2020 flagship smartphones and it seems that the hardware is more than enough to take on Samsung. The Galaxy S20 series debuted a little more than a month ago and is currently the benchmark for quality and performance. Meanwhile, the P40 series is shaping up to be a tough contender for the South Korean tech firm. However, the active ongoing trade sanctions are the biggest caveat for the Chinese brand. Thus, to the surprise of regulators, the P40 handsets are allegedly using components sourced from the United States.

This came to light recently after the Financial Times reportedly took apart the Pro version of the smartphone, as published by Ars Technica. The actual teardown was supposedly done by a Shenzen-based outfit called XYZone, which likewise supplied the information as to which brands provided the parts. The telecommunications company form China is currently banned from sourcing products, programs, and services from the providers in the US and it's subsidiaries.

Last year, the same publication likewise did the same to the P30 after its release. At that point in time, the trade sanctions were not yet in place unlike now. Therefore, what's fascinating about the P40 Pro is the fact that several of its components were from chipmakers that were included in the trade ban documents. These included Qualcomm, Skyworks, and Qorvo for its radio frequency front-end module.

Gavekal Dragonomics technology analyst Dan Wang stated that "Huawei has shown resilience by replacing many US components over the course of a single phone-design cycle. Its continued use of Qorvo and Skyworks chips also shows that it's too difficult to break dependence on US technology." The P40 series is Huawei's imaging powerhouse for 2020 that uses Leica's cutting-edge technology.

Early comparisons with the Galaxy S20 lineup show that it has distinct advantages when it comes to photography. Samsung's flagship is apparently plagued by autofocus issues, which should be addressed by the latest software update. Furthermore, users reported that the 100x Space Zoom feature is practically sub-par than what was promised.

On the other hand, early reviews of all three of the P40 smartphones show that it is more promising. Nevertheless, without Google Mobile Services, it will be difficult for Huawei to promote its products to western markets.