TOKYO — Japanese telco SoftBank Corp's low-cost mobile brand Ymobile said on Wednesday (May 22) it would delay the launch of Huawei P30 Lite smartphone, following the imposition of trade restrictions on the Chinese manufacturer by Washington.

The smartphone from Huawei Technologies was due to go on sale on Friday but a SoftBank spokesman said the telco wanted to be confident it could sell the product in light of the US restrictions.

The US Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying US goods last week, a major escalation in the trade war between the world's two top economies, saying the firm was involved in activities contrary to national security.

Another Japanese telco, KDDI Corp, said on Wednesday it was putting the launch of the Huawei P30 Lite Premium handset on hold. Japan's largest telco, NTT Docomo, said it was considering putting on hold reservations for the Huawei P30 Pro smartphone.

However, Docomo told the Japan Times on May 16 that that it will be launching a new high-end Huawei model in the summer.

Both KDDI and SoftBank told the Japanese publication that they made their decisions as it remains unclear whether US technology giant Google will continue providing services, including its Android operating system, to the Chinese smartphone-maker following the declaration of a national emergency over technology threats by US President Donald Trump last week.

However, current Japanese users of the Chinese smartphone need not fear, said Mr Wu Bo, Huawei Device Co.’s regional president covering Japan and Korea.

He told the Japan Times that “there will be no impact on our existing products and services” in either of the two countries.

Following TODAY’s report that some mobile phone shops in Singapore have stopped buying Huawei phones, a Huawei spokesperson reiterated that all its products which have been sold as well as those that are being sold “will not be affected”.

“Users will be able to continue using these services as they normally would,” the spokesperson said.

Huawei had previously stressed that it “will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei smartphone and products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally”.

According to Chinese media, a senior Huawei employee said the company is planning to implement a countermeasure to US restrictions by introducing its own operating system for its smartphones later this year.

Alphabet Inc's Google suspended some business with Huawei, Reuters reported on Sunday. The firm's smartphones run on Google's Android operating system.

The United States temporarily eased the restrictions on Huawei on Monday, to minimise disruption for customers. The move is likely to allow companies such as Google to continue providing support such as software updates to Huawei smartphones sold on or before May 16. AGENCIES