Huawei was supposed to launch its newest flagship smartphone, the P40 Pro, via an event in Paris, France, on March 26. But due to the threat posed by the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Chinese tech giant has recently announced that the launch will be an online event only instead.

We’re excited to bring you our next chapter of #VisionaryPhotography at our upcoming online launch – stay tuned and we’ll see you on March 26th #HUAWEIP40

Save the date: https://t.co/en6RzFDDJ9 pic.twitter.com/R55NHqarhj — Huawei Mobile UK (@HuaweiMobileUK) March 10, 2020

Move to online event for “safety and comfort of everyone”

With the 2020 release of the P40 flagship series, Huawei is widely expected to build or even improve upon the features and specifications offered by last year’s P30 devices.

However, with the continuing spread of the coronavirus in Europe, it is not surprising for the world’s second-biggest mobile phone brand to take a far safer approach in launching its latest flagships.

Rafal Kwiatkowski, the global PR representative of Huawei, certainly said as much through a series of Twitter posts. According to Kwiatkowski, the decision to turn the P40 Paris launch event into one that’s completely virtual was made in order to protect “the safety and comfort of everyone.” Here are the full tweets:

1/2 This was me last year working on the global P30 launch in Paris, our most successful event so far. I was really looking forward to doing it once again because we have some special things to announce. pic.twitter.com/2Cm1hSyFW1 — Rafal Kwiatkowski (@R_A_F_A_L) March 10, 2020

2/2 But this year is like no other and for the safety and comfort of everyone the global P40 will be virtual and streamed online. I’ll miss seeing the media and our global PR teams but it’s the right thing to do. Stay tuned, the P40 powerhouse is coming. — Rafal Kwiatkowski (@R_A_F_A_L) March 10, 2020

Rise of confirmed cases in France, global cancellation of events

The upcoming March 26 virtual launch for the P40 series would not be the first time that Huawei had decided to opt for an online event instead of an actual, physical event in launching a new phone.

Some may remember how the phone maker delivered the Barcelona launching of its Mate XS, its newest foldable handset, by streaming it on the worldwide web. One can hardly blame Huawei, especially after the Mobile World Congress, which takes place annually in Barcelona, was cancelled earlier this year.

Furthermore, there are now more than 1,700 confirmed COVID-19 cases in France, with close to three dozen people already dead in the country because of the outbreak.

Shifting to an online event only launch would definitely qualify as a sound decision for Huawei, all things considered. The phone maker would not be alone in taking measures against the threat of COVID-19 – other tech giants are also getting significantly affected as well.

What to expect from this year’s P40

While it is true that the official specs of the P40 Pro are yet to be made public, that has not stopped various industry watchers from trying to guess the newest features that this year’s series will offer to Android users.

Various leaks that have surfaced in the last few weeks suggest that Huawei’s 2020 offering will come with improved camera specs, possibly a 52-megapixel camera sensor (courtesy of Sony), as well as a 10x, perhaps even a 13X, optical zoom camera.

Apart from the photography-related features, fans of the Chinese phone brand might also be looking forward to the 5G support on the P40 Pro.

Huawei’s other challenges in 2020

Not counting coronavirus concerns, Huawei has another matter to deal with. Because of the United States’ decision to blacklist Huawei in America, it’s possible that this year’s P40 series will have to get by without any Google app.

This could pose an extra challenge for Huawei users from European markets and other regions outside of the United States.

Featured image courtesy of Flickr / Kārlis Dambrāns