Huawei is reported to have pulled back on plans to launch its next smartphone at Mobile World Congress next month, following speculation it would use the event to showcase its P20 flagship.

South Korean publication Etnews said the introduction had been delayed due to “internal and external tasks such as preparation for American smartphone markets, stabilisation of supply and demand for next chipsets, [and] improvement in standards of triple cameras”.

But a delay also means Huawei’s consumer unit will not go head-to-head with premium Android smartphone rival Samsung, which is set to launch its Galaxy S9 in Barcelona.

While Huawei announced its P10 flagship at Mobile World Congress 2017 – filling a void left by Samsung, which launched its Galaxy S8 at a standalone event in March 2017 – it previously launched laptops and wearables at the event. So in this regard, the decision not to unveil P20 during February 2018 is a return-to-form.

Etnews suggested Huawei will instead debut tablet PCs and two-in-one laptops.

Reports also suggest LG Electronics will not launch its next flagship smartphone at the event, with it instead likely to unveil new variants of its V30 smartphone – first unveiled at IFA 2017. Like Huawei and Samsung, LG also launched new devices at MWC as well as using standalone events.