Huawei has been preparing for the worst, which happened with the recent U.S. ban, by stockpiling components. HiSilicon has been secretly developing back-up products for years and now the Huawei chip division is switching gears and ramping up its orders with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd).

The Taiwan-based chip-maker recently said that it would continue to supply chips to Huawei, and now it has to produce extra components. HiSilicon wants to make sure that Huawei has enough 7nm Kirin 980 chips to ensure adequate supply for the flagship P30-series through at least the end of this year, DigiTimes reports.

The P30 and P30 Pro are not the only devices that are based on the Kirin 980 chip. The foldable Mate X is also one of the phones relying on the Kirin 980 processor, alongside the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, devices on which the processor debuted in October of last year.

The Mate 30, which is already in testing and will arrive in October, is supposed to introduce a new Kirin processor, maybe the Kirin 990, but its future could be uncertain with the current status quo.