I was asked about my salary expectations, and now I’ve been put on hold for two weeks. Is this a common scenario?

I recently finished my final interview for a job last Friday, and they indicated I should expect an update by yesterday or today. I did receive a response, which said:

“As we move forward in the selection process, we would like to gain a better understanding of your salary expectations for this role.”

After I provided my salary range, they replied:

“We are currently reviewing all applications and expect to update you on the status within the next two weeks. If there are any changes or additional updates before then, we will reach out to you.”

Is this typical? It seems like they might be caught between two candidates and are using salary as a deciding factor. What do you think? My friend suggested it could be price negotiations, or that I might be a backup candidate.